President Donald Trump marked one year since his return to the White House on Tuesday with a sprawling and often unfocused news conference that ranged from immigration raids and crime mugshots to the Nile River, biker gangs and his long-standing grievance over the Nobel Peace Prize.
Standing at the White House briefing room podium shortly before departing for Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum, Trump frequently drifted from his prepared message. He mused about the Nile River being in Egypt, joked about renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of Trump,” made demeaning remarks about Somali Americans and complained that he had not received sufficient credit for his record.
At one point, he also expressed admiration for the Hells Angels motorcycle club. “They voted for me,” Trump said.
Anniversary Event Loses Focus
The surprise appearance was intended to highlight what the administration describes as Trump’s achievements during his first year back in office following his second inauguration on January 20, 2025. Instead, the president delivered an 81-minute opening monologue heavy on superlatives and marked by swings between self-praise and defensiveness.
After that extended statement, Trump took questions from reporters for another 24 minutes, bringing his total time behind the podium to nearly one hour and 45 minutes. As the session stretched on, his core message became increasingly difficult to discern.
Immigration and crime dominated much of his remarks. Trump praised U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, particularly those involved in an ongoing immigration crackdown in Minnesota, calling them patriots. He accused protesters opposing the operations of being paid agitators. The comments came weeks after a federal agent shot and killed a U.S. citizen in the state.
A Binder of Claims and Controversy
To underscore his record, Trump flipped through a thick stack of papers titled “365 Wins in 365 Days,” which the White House described as a daily list of accomplishments since his return to office. The compilation cited actions ranging from sharply reducing illegal border crossings to expanding consumer choice for shower heads and toilets.
At one point, Trump removed a large binder clip from the documents and joked that it could have taken off his finger, suggesting it may have been intended to harm him. “I wouldn’t have shown the pain,” he said.
He then spent roughly 15 minutes displaying mugshots of Minnesota residents he claimed were in the country illegally and had been arrested for serious crimes. When finished, he tossed the photographs onto the floor beside the podium.
During the presentation, Trump demonised Somali immigrants, referring to them as “very low IQ people,” and repeated his false claim that Somalia was not a country.
The president also revisited his assertion that he had helped bring an end to eight foreign wars, a claim he has previously exaggerated. He cited conflicts involving Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, Congo and Rwanda, and tensions between Pakistan and India. Trump said the latter dispute had brought the nuclear-armed neighbours to the brink of catastrophe.
“They were really going at it,” he said, claiming that eight planes had been shot down and suggesting nuclear war was imminent. He recounted a visit by Pakistan’s prime minister, asserting that Trump had saved millions of lives.
Trump again argued that he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, which he did not receive in December. He has previously pointed to that omission as a reason for his interest in acquiring Greenland, a Danish territory. On Tuesday, he dismissed the Norwegian government’s statement that it does not control the Nobel Foundation, which awards the prize.
