President Donald Trump ranted about immigrants, attractive generals, the difficulty of being president and more on Wednesday in his first televised appearance of the year.

In a rambling and often disjointed conversation, the president led reporters and members of his Cabinet through his thinking on issues ranging from immigration to military strategy to the very role of the presidency.

Here are some of the standout moments from the over 90-minute meeting:

Trump claimed there are more than 30 million undocumented immigrants.

Trump says, without evidence, there are probably 30-35 million people in the United States illegally — Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) January 2, 2019

That number is about three times greater than experts’ estimates. Pew Research Center estimated there were 10.7 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. as of 2016.

He said Afghanistan was responsible for turning the Soviet Union into Russia, then said he would have been a good general.

Following a bizarre rant about the Soviet Union, Trump says this about Afghanistan: "Why isn't Russia there? Why isn't India there? Why isn't Pakistan there? Why are we there? We're 6,000 miles away? But I don't mind... I think I would have been a good general." pic.twitter.com/bQ36x1RSZH — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 2, 2019

In one extended rant, Trump put forth his theory that Afghanistan was responsible for turning the Soviet Union into Russia, shared his thoughts on military strategy to fight terrorism and then claimed he would have been a good general. Trump avoided the draft five times.

Trump said he works too hard, despite taking more vacation days than any other president in recent history.

Via WH pooler @tackettdc:



The president said his job would be “a lot easier if I just relaxed

and enjoyed the presidency like a lot of other people have done”



Reminder that Trump keeps the lightest work schedule of any president of either party going back several decades. — S.V. Dáte (@svdate) January 2, 2019

Former President Barack Obama was harshly criticized for taking vacation days ― including by Trump. But Trump has far surpassed Obama in the number of days he’s spent golfing during his presidency.

He repeated a number he made up for what unauthorized immigration costs the U.S.

Fox is now showing Trump's comments at Cabinet. He begins the clip by saying he's "heard numbers as high as $275 billion" for how much the U.S. loses per year from illegal immigration. That's a number he himself made up in the last month. — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 2, 2019

Trump has a long history of spouting greatly inflated or invented numbers for how much illegal immigration costs the U.S. During his presidential campaign, he often claimed it cost $100 billion. That number has risen steadily over the years, unattached to any apparent research or reports, as The Washington Post’s Philip Bump has documented.

Trump summed up the deadly, devastating and years-long conflict in Syria with a minimizing statement.

Trump's assessment of Syria: "We're talking about sand and death. That's what we're talking about." — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 2, 2019

Trump says he'll protect the Kurds anyway, but: "I don't want to be in Syria forever. It's SAND. And it's DEATH." — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 2, 2019

After abruptly announcing plans in December to withdraw all American troops from war-torn Syria, Trump backpedaled somewhat on Wednesday, saying it might take longer than previously expected. “We’re talking about sand and death,” he said. “That’s what we’re talking about.”

The president commented on the physical attractiveness of a group of generals he once met with at the Pentagon.

TRUMP: "I had a meeting at the Pentagon with lots of generals. They were like from a movie. Better looking than Tom Cruise, & stronger. And I had more generals than I've ever seen, & we were at the bottom of this incredible room. I said, 'this is greatest room I've ever seen.'" pic.twitter.com/fTpgDXVso8 — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 2, 2019

This one pretty much speaks for itself, but “computer boards,” anyone?

He complained about being ‘all alone’ over the holidays, ‘except for all of the guys out on the lawn with machine guns.’

Trump says he was all alone in his "big house" over the holidays -- "except for all of the guys out on the lawn with machine guns." He says that he's never seen so many machine guns, and they didn't even wave at him. He adds, "All alone with the machine-gunners." — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 2, 2019

Trump threatened to take unilateral action on a number of his top priorities and then seemed to taunt, ‘Wouldn’t that be scary?’

Trump says that if the courts say Obama had the right to do DACA unilaterally, he can do whatever he wants on lots of other stuff. He adds: "Can you imagine me having this power? Wouldn't that be scary?" — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 2, 2019

Happy 2019.