Under pressure from the news media to hold a press conference, Donald Trump released a video Monday afternoon in which he announced his plans for his first 100 days in office.
“My agenda will be based on a simple principle: putting America first,” Trump said. “Whether it’s producing steel, building cars or curing disease—I want the next generation of production and innovation to happen right here in our great homeland, America, creating wealth and jobs for American workers,” Trump added.
The President-elect then offered a list of items he planned to pursue in his first 100 days. “On trade, I am going to issue a notification of intent to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a potential disaster for our country,” Trump said. He continued, “On energy, I will cancel job killing restrictions on the production of American energy, including shale energy and clean coal, creating many millions of high paying jobs.”
“On regulation, I will formulate a rule which says that for every one new regulation two old regulations must be eliminated,” Trump said. He next moved on to cyber-security saying, “On national security I will ask the Department of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop a comprehensive plan to protect America’s vital infrastructure from cyber attacks and all other form of attacks.”
Next, Trump turned to immigration. “On immigration, I will direct the Department of Labor to investigate all abuses of visa programs that undercut the American worker,” he said. Finally, Trump announced his plan for a five year ban against lobbying by anyone in his administration.
Not mentioned in the pre-recorded message were a couple of agenda items likely to be a major part of Trump’s 2017. One is his move to shore up border control and begin deporting illegal aliens with a criminal background. The other is the repeal and replacement of Obamacare.
Trump’s message comes as he is being pressured to give a post-election press conference. Earlier today former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway spoke to reporters at Trump Tower promising a press conference was coming soon. From Politico:
“Soon, but he just has action-packed days filled with meetings,” Kellyanne Conway told reporters during a 12-minute gaggle in the lobby of Trump Tower. “These days are overscheduled with meetings. We have people coming in from all over the country meeting with him to give their advice, their counsel, their experience, their vision for the country.”
Going back to Jimmy Carter, no president-elect has waited as long as Trump to address the country after winning.
It’s not hard to understand why Trump is eager to focus on the work of preparing his administration rather than talking with the press. Unlike the kind of celebratory mood the media would be in had Hillary Clinton won the election, the media seems to be in the mood for revenge. Trump did have an off-the-record meeting with major journalists today but according to leaks published by the New York Post, the meeting mostly consisted of Trump letting the media have it for their coverage during the campaign.
Here’s the video of Trump’s comments about his agenda for the first 100 days.
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