Donald Trump says he 'outworked everybody who ever ran for office'

(Image credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

last updated 20 January 2017

On the eve of his inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump gave a familiar speech at a dinner for his donors, in which he boasted of breaking records, made jabs at political opponents, and effusively praised his family, including son-in-law Jared Kushner, who Trump believes will solve all the problems in the Middle East.

Speaking at a candlelight dinner at Union Station in Washington, D.C., Trump called his win a "big victory," claiming "records were set that haven't been beaten since Ronald Reagan." Trump, who won the electoral vote but not the popular, said he believes he "outworked everybody who ever ran for office," and said he's already looking ahead to 2020, when he will "win the old-fashioned way, win because we did so well, because it was so overwhelming the thing that we did."

When discussing his Cabinet selections, Trump said he was a fan of all of them. "There's not a pick that I don't love," he added. "And if there was, I'd tell you right now." There's never been a Cabinet like his before, Trump said, and because of that, "the other side is going absolutely crazy." He singled out several people to thank, including campaign manager Kellyanne Conway — he told her "Thank you, baby, thank you," after calling her "my Kellyanne" — and Kushner, a senior adviser. "If you can't produce peace in the Middle East, nobody can," Trump said. His hair also received a shout out. "It may rain, it may not rain, I don't care, it doesn't matter," he said. "The truth is if it really pours it's okay, because people will realize it's my real hair and that's okay." Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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