Greenland, gasoline heaters and the Gulf: Takeaways from Trump’s press convention

(This Jan. 7 story has been corrected to take away a reference to a Biden ban on gasoline water heaters in paragraph 20 and to make clear regulation efforts)

By James Oliphant

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump made information with a sequence of assertions and pronouncements throughout a press convention on Tuesday, lower than two weeks earlier than he returns to the White Home.

Listed below are 5 takeaways from his wide-ranging remarks at his Florida resort:

AMERICA FIRST IS EXPANSIONIST

Through the 2024 marketing campaign, Trump spoke usually about retaining his give attention to home points and avoiding worldwide entanglements. 

However on Tuesday, Trump prompt he’s critical about increasing the territory of the USA. He mentioned buying Greenland and retaking management of the Panama Canal have been in America’s nationwide safety pursuits, and he refused to rule out navy drive or financial stress to realize both. 

At one level, he referred to the border with Canada as an “artificially drawn line” and prompt the nation could be higher off if it merely surrendered its sovereignty and have become a part of the U.S., statements that shortly raised hackles in Ottawa. 

It’s not all the time clear whether or not Trump is ready to again a few of his extra outlandish assertions with actions, however his feedback absolutely alarmed governments world wide who worry the U.S. below Trump may act impulsively in overseas coverage issues.

TRUMP NEEDS OPPONENTS

Trump all the time wants opponents to push in opposition to – even when they’re allies.

Along with trolling Canada, the incoming Republican president went after the federal government of Panama, accusing it of overcharging U.S. cargo ships passing although the Panama Canal.

He known as Mexico a “very harmful place” and mentioned he would change the identify of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

As for Denmark, he prompt its declare on Greenland was illegitimate even supposing it has been a part of the Danish state for greater than 200 years. “Individuals actually do not even know if Denmark has any authorized proper, but when they do, they need to give it up, as a result of we’d like it for nationwide safety,” he mentioned.

THINGS ARE BAD, EVEN IF THEY AREN’T

In successful the White Home, Trump capitalized on voters’ anxieties over the state of the U.S. economic system, significantly inflation.

He continued on Tuesday to color a grim image, regardless of a bunch of indicators that counsel the economic system is in truth robust. 

“We’re inheriting a troublesome state of affairs from the outgoing administration,” Trump mentioned.

Customers are nonetheless grappling with the price of groceries, insurance coverage, housing and borrowing cash. On the flip facet, unemployment stays at document lows, wages are rising, the inventory market is hovering and home power manufacturing is at its peak.

However for Trump to concede the positives could be laying the groundwork for assessing his personal efficiency if the economic system begins to lose steam throughout his tenure, which begins on Jan. 20. Higher to inform People issues are dangerous now, earlier than he takes workplace.

DEEP SYMPATHY FOR JAN. 6 RIOTERS

Trump has pledged to concern pardons for a lot of of his supporters implicated within the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. On Tuesday, he expressed how deep his sympathies for these defendants lie. 

Requested if he would contemplate pardoning violent offenders, Trump incorrectly asserted that just one particular person, protester Ashli Babbitt, was killed that day though three others within the crowd misplaced their lives.

He prompt, with out proof, that the FBI could have planted brokers among the many protesters. And he echoed an argument that advocates for the defendants have made: That if those that stormed the constructing had needed an rebel, they might have introduced weapons. Prosecutors, nonetheless, did cost some protesters with having weapons on Capitol grounds.

At one level, Trump complained that some defendants had been prosecuted who “did not even stroll into the constructing.” That might have been an allusion to ex-Proud Boys chief Enrique Tarrio, who’s serving a 22-year sentence for steering the Capitol assault from a distant location. Tarrio requested Trump on Monday for a full pardon for his actions.

WET AND WILD

Trump wouldn’t be Trump with out tangents. He went on an prolonged riff criticizing the Biden administration’s push to control sure sorts of gasoline water heaters to make them extra environment friendly. 

Fuel, Trump mentioned, supplies “a significantly better warmth. Because the expression goes, you do not itch. Does anyone have a heater the place you go and also you scratch?” he mentioned. 

That led to Trump complaining about low-flow taps and bathe heads, saying that even in areas with plentiful water, the Biden administration irrationally seeks to preserve it. 

“It’s known as rain, it…comes down from heaven,” Trump mentioned. “No water comes out of the bathe. It goes drip, drip, drip. So what occurs? You’re within the bathe 10 occasions as lengthy.”

Later, Trump returned to a favourite goal: windmills. “No one needs them,” Trump mentioned, including that he believes the coastal generators are driving whales to kill themselves.

The Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says there are not any recognized hyperlinks between massive whale deaths and ongoing offshore wind actions.

“The windmills are driving the whales loopy,” the president-elect mentioned.