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Ticking all the usual boxes – the media, leaks and Russia – President Trump mounted a vigorous defence of his presidency on Thursday, as he delivered what has been described as a “combative” speech.
The speech, which was sure to mention that he had inherited a “mess” on four separate occasions, robustly defended the chaotic first month of his presidency and even described his administration as a “fine-tuned machine.”
“To be honest, I inherited a mess, at home and abroad, a mess,” he said during the 77 minute speech at the White House on Thursday.
“Jobs are pouring out of the country…low pay, low wages, mass instability overseas, no matter where you look. The middle east is a disaster. North Korea – we’ll take care of it folks; we’re going to take care of it all. I just want to let you know, I inherited a mess.”
Trump went on to launch a barrage of attacks on the media, hitting out at “fake news,” saying “the press has become so dishonest that if we don’t talk about it, we are doing a tremendous disservice to the American people, a tremendous disservice. The level of dishonesty is out of control.”
“The reporting is fake … I know when you’re telling the truth or not. The tone is such hatred. I’m really not a bad person by the way. I do get good ratings by the way.”
WATCH: Donald Trump defends his presidency. Post continues after video…
Addressing the headline-making call he shared with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, he said, “terrible it was leaked” before going on to say, “It wasn’t that important.”
The call, in which the President accused Australia of trying to export “the next Boston bombers” to America, saw the new President lay into the PM over a refugee deal forged between Australia and then-US president, Barack Obama.
Responding to questions from reporters, Trump declared that “the leaks are real. The news is fake.”
President Trump went on to express his concern that future calls that are deemed “important,” such as those that detail North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, could also be leaked.
The speech has been dubbed as “combative” and “forceful” by multiple news outlets.
“What happens when I’m dealing with the problem of North Korea? What happens when I’m dealing with the problems in the Middle East?”
“Are you going to be reporting about that too? So, I don’t want classified information getting out to the public and in a way that was almost a test.”
Trump also used the speech to emphatically deny “false reporting by the media” that his administration is linked to Russia.
“The false reporting by the media, by you people, the false, horrible, fake reporting makes it much harder to make a deal with Russia,” he said.
“They’re a very powerful nuclear country and so are we. If we have a good relationship with Russia, believe me, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing.”
