Trump’s appearance at the White House press briefing comes as he faces pushback from US’ European allies over tariff threats over Greenland. From listing ‘achievements’ to praising Machado, here are key highlights from POTUS’ address marking his first year back in office after he took over last year
US President Donald Trump made a ‘special appearance’ at the White House briefing on Tuesday,20 January to mark the first anniversary of the start of his second term. However, the ‘special guest’s’ appearance was delayed as per multiple reports.
The White House press briefing schedule on Tuesday had announced Trump as a “special guest,” on the occasion of the 79-year-old completing one year in office since taking over in January 2025.
Reportedly appearing ‘very quiet and low key,’ Trump arrived at the White House almost an hour behind schedule. He appeared with a large binder of files, which he called a list of his “achievements,” reported BBC.
Trump’s speech at White House – Key Highlights
– ‘365 wins in 365 days’: Before Trump began to speak, reporters in the room were handed out copies of a press release talking about “365 wins in 365 days” for the US President. Multiple reporters also posted on social media about the ‘31 page briefing packet’ handed out to them.
– Trump’s take on tariffs: Speaking about the tariffs, Trump said he ‘does not know what the Supreme Court is going to do’. “We’ve taken hundreds of billions of dollars, and if we lose that case it’s possible we’ll have to do the best we can in paying it back,” BBC quoted the President as saying.
– Immigration policies, photos of ‘criminals’: Listing his “achievements”, Donald Trump began his address to the White House by mainly talking about his immigration policies of the past 12 months. He also held up some photos of people who have been arrested in Minnesota, claiming they are “criminal, illegal aliens”.
– ‘10,000 undocumented residents apprehended in Minnesota’: The POTUS claimed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has apprehended 10,000 undocumented residents in Minnesota. Trump’s claims come after the US experienced weeks of unrest and protests after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good earlier this month.
– Machado ‘unbelievably nice woman’: Briefly touching on the topic of Venezuela, Trump hailed this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado as “an unbelievably nice woman.” She gave Trump her Nobel Peace Prize medal when visiting the White House earlier this month. “Maybe we can get her involved in some way,” said Trump.
Donald Trump’s rare appearance at the White House briefing comes as he faces extraordinary pushback from America’s European allies over his planned tariffs over Greenland – tensions he’s likely to confront in person this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.