It was billed as way to say "thank you" to his supporters, but the event President-elect Donald Trump held Thursday night in Ohio felt more like one of his campaign rallies, complete with digs at the media and Hillary Clinton and a promise to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
After starting an hour late due to traffic, Trump called the press "extremely dishonest," and mocked earlier reports that predicted he wasn't going to win. The crowd booed, which Trump said he "loved," adding, "Should we go on with this a little bit longer?" He rehashed Election Night, and scoffed at Evan McMullin, the independent candidate who entered the race as a conservative alternative to Trump. Trump asserted that he won in a "landslide," and after mentioning Clinton, the crowd started to chant, "Lock her up." Several protesters interrupted his speech, drawing jeers from the crowd and a rebuke from Trump, who said, "They don't know Hillary lost a couple weeks ago." He also praised what he called major support from blacks, Hispanics, women, and law enforcement, adding, "For whatever reason, people in uniforms like Trump."
Trump confirmed that he has tapped Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis to lead the Defense Department, calling him "great" and saying the formal announcement will come Monday. Seemingly out of nowhere, he announced that "no one should be penalized for the decision to have a family," and later said he has "no choice" but to repeal and replace ObamaCare. At the end of the rally, Trump declared that this is an exciting time to be alive, but "the script is not yet written. We do not know what the next page will read. I'll tell you, it's going to be a great page."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Trump said to seek government stake in IntelSpeed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to ChinaSpeed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with DisneySpeed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B dealSpeed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance mergerSpeed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profitsSpeed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new highSpeed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliablespeed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
