On Tuesday night in Fayetteville, North Carolina, President-elect Donald Trump held his second "thank you" victory rally at a venue outside Fort Bragg, pledging to unify the country and pour more money into the military, and formally introducing retired Gen. James Mattis as his nominee for defense secretary. He called "Mad Dog Mattis" one of "the most effective generals that we've had in many, many decades," and when Mattis said he hoped Congress would issue him a waiver from the mandatory seven-year gap between military service and serving as defense secretary, Trump concurred. "You'll get that waiver, right?" he said. "If you didn't get that waiver, there will be such a lot of angry people."
The rally was generally more subdued than the one Trump held in Cincinnati last week. Trump did boast about winning North Carolina and other swing states, but he stopped the crowd from booing when he mentioned the news media. He laid out a vision of a militarily restrained foreign policy, as most recent presidents have, and pledged to repeal ObamaCare, stop illegal immigration, and renegotiate trade deals.
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.
-
Judge threatens Trump team with criminal contemptSpeed Read James Boasberg attempts to hold the White House accountable for disregarding court orders over El Salvador deportation flights
-
Biden slams Trump's Social Security cutsSpeed Read In his first major public address since leaving office, Biden criticized the Trump administration's 'damage' and 'destruction'
-
El Salvador refuses to return US deporteeSpeed Read President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador said he would not send back the unlawfully deported Kilmar Ábrego García
-
Trump says electronics tariff break won't lastSpeed Read The tariff exemptions on smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices are temporary, the administration says
-
Man charged in arson attack on Pennsylvania's ShapiroSpeed Read Governor Josh Shapiro and his family were sleeping when someone set fire to his Harrisburg mansion
-
White House pushes for oversight of Columbia UniversitySpeed Read The Trump administration is considering placing the school under a consent decree
-
Supreme Court backs wrongly deported migrantSpeed Read The Trump administration must 'facilitate' the return of wrongfully deported migrant Kilmar Ábrego García from El Salvador, Supreme Court says
-
Two judges bar war-powers deportationsSpeed Read The Trump administration was blocked from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport more alleged Venezuelan gang members
