President Donald Trump seemed at varying points exasperated, energized, amicable and aggressive as he sparred with reporters Thursday. | Getty All the things Trump covered at his epic news conference The president went over a lot of ground during his 80-minute impromptu performance.

President Donald Trump held court with reporters for 80 minutes Thursday, producing no shortage of news in his first solo press conference as commander in chief.

Facing a host of issues and controversies that have swirled around his administration in the four weeks since he inherited the White House, Trump confronted them, seeming at varying points exasperated, energized, amicable and aggressive as he sparred with reporters.


Here are the key moments from the president’s exchanges on a range of topics:

OBAMA

“To be honest, I inherited a mess,” Trump said, blaming former President Barack Obama for handing off what Trump claimed was “a mess.” “We’ll take care of it, folks,” he added. “We’re going to take care of it all. I just want to let you know, I inherited a mess. Beginning on Day One, our administration went to work to tackle these challenges.”

OBAMACARE

Trump said Republicans are in the final stage of repealing and replacing Obamacare, setting mid- to early March as a timeline to submit a plan. “We should be submitting the initial plan in March — early March — I would say,” Trump said. “And we have to, as you know, statutorily and for reasons of budget, we have to go first. It’s not like — quite frankly, the tax would be easier, in my opinion. But for statutory reasons and for budgetary reasons we have to submit the health care sooner. So we’ll be submitting health care sometime in early March, mid-March.”

RUSSIA

Trump said he did not direct former national security adviser Michael Flynn to discuss sanctions with the Russian ambassador. “I fired him because of what he said to Mike Pence. Very simple,” he told reporters. “Mike [Flynn] was doing his job. He was calling countries and his counterparts. So it certainly would have been OK with me if he did it. I would have directed him to do it if I thought he wasn’t doing it. I didn't direct him, but I would have directed him because that’s his job.”

There’s no comparison between WikiLeaks and U.S. government leaks, Trump said. “When WikiLeaks, which I had nothing to do with, comes out and happens to give, they’re not giving classified information,” he said. “They’re giving stuff — what was said in an office about Hillary cheating on the debates, which, by the way, nobody mentions.” One case involves “highly classified information,” Trump said, while the other is “John Podesta saying bad things about his boss.”

Hillary Clinton’s “stupid plastic button” made Americans look like “a bunch of jerks.” Clinton in 2009 gave the Russian foreign minister a red button as a gift to represent the reset between both nations. The button, however, misspelled the Russian word for “reset” on it, instead having the word for “overcharged.” “Hillary Clinton did a reset — remember — with the stupid plastic button that made us all look like a bunch of jerks. ‘Here, take a look.’ He looked at her like, ‘What the hell is she doing with that cheap plastic button?’” Trump said.

“The greatest thing I could do is shoot that ship that’s 30 miles offshore right out of the water,” Trump said, referring to a Russian spy ship spotted off the coast of Connecticut. “Everyone in this country’s gonna say, ‘Oh, it’s so great.’ That’s not great. That’s not great. I would love to be able to get along with Russia.”

Not good, not good, not good, the president said as a reporter mentioned the Russian spy ship found on the East Coast of the U.S., North Korea’s recent test-launch of a ballistic missile and a Russian plane that buzzed a U.S. Navy ship before delivering a bizarre response. “When did it happen? It happened when — if you were Putin right now, you would say: ‘Hey, we’re back to the old games with the United States. There’s no way Trump can ever do a deal with us because’ — you have to understand, if I was just brutal on Russia right now — just brutal — you would say, ‘Oh, isn’t that wonderful.’ But I know you well enough. Then you would say: ‘Aww, he was too tough. He shouldn’t have done that.’

“Nuclear holocaust would be like no other,” Trump said. He stressed that it’s OK if the U.S. got along with Russia and said he wants to do the right thing for the American people and, secondarily, the world. “Don’t forget: We’re a very powerful nuclear country and so are they,” he added. “There’s no upside. We’re a very powerful nuclear country and so are they. I’ve been briefed, and I can tell you one thing about a briefing that we’re allowed to say because anybody that ever read the most basic book can say it: Nuclear holocaust would be like no other.”

Does anyone believe Clinton would be tougher on Russia, Trump asked incredulously. “Does anybody in this room really believe that?” Trump said, noting Clinton’s attempted reset with Russia as secretary of state. “They say I’m close to Russia. Hillary Clinton gave away 20 percent of the uranium in the United States,” Trump said. “She’s close to Russia. You know what I gave to Russia? You know what I gave? Nothing.”

Trump won’t telegraph his moves. “I’m not gonna tell you anything about what response I do. I don’t talk about military response,” Trump said, refusing to publicly state a potential response to the Russian spy ship spotted off the coast of Connecticut or North Korea’s test-launch of a ballistic missile over the weekend. He went on to mock past administrations for announcing their every move. “I don’t want to be one of these guys that say, ‘Yes, here’s what we’re going to do,” Trump said with glee. “I don’t have to do that. I don't have to tell you what I’m gonna do in North Korea. And I don’t have to tell you what I’m gonna do with Iran. You know why? Because they shouldn’t know, and eventually you guys are gonna get tired of asking that.”

“Russia was a ruse,” the president charged. Aside from speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin twice since winning the election, Trump maintained that he has nothing to do with the Kremlin and hasn’t even made a call there in years. “We had a very good talk, especially the second one — lasted for a pretty long period of time,” Trump said of his calls with Putin. “I’m sure you probably get it because it was classified so I’m sure everybody in this room perhaps has it, but we had a very, very good talk. I have nothing to do with Russia. To the best of my knowledge, no person that I deal with does.”

DISCRIMINATION

No one is less racist or anti-Semitic than Trump, according to the president. “No. 1, I am the least anti-Semitic person that you’ve ever seen in your life,” he told a reporter. Trump, however, drew widespread condemnation last month for omitting the slaughtering of 6 million Jews in his Holocaust Remembrance statement, although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday declared at a joint news conference that “there is no greater supporter of the Jewish people and the Jewish state than President Donald Trump.” “No. 2, racism,” Trump continued. “The least racist person … I hate the charge. I find it repulsive. I hate even the question.”

IMMIGRATION

Blame Homeland Security Secretary James Kelly for the travel ban executive order rollout, which the president insisted was “very smooth” and “perfect,” actually, despite it causing chaos at airports and sparking massive protests. Trump said a “bad court” made a “bad decision” when it blocked his executive action from being enforced nationwide and added that he would introduce a new order next week. Trump said he wanted to give a month’s heads-up. “But General Kelly, now Secretary Kelly, said if you do that all these people will come in the month — the bad ones. You do agree there are bad people out there right, that not everybody [is] like you?” he asked. “You have some bad people out there, so Kelly said you can’t do that, and he was right. … Now if I would have done it a month, everything would have been perfect. The problem is we would have wasted a lot of time and maybe a lot of lives because a lot of bad people would have come into the country.”

“We are gonna deal with DACA with heart,” Trump pledged, softening his position on undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. Casting what to do with the program as a very difficult decision for a father and grandfather who loves children, Trump conceded that it’s tough for him to follow the law on that issue but argued that while some of the children who come in join gangs and deal drugs, many are “absolutely incredible.” “I have to deal with a lot of politicians — don’t forget — and I have to convince them that what I’m saying is right,” he added.

MEDIA

The president blasted media from all over the country, accusing outlets from Washington, New York and Los Angeles, specifically, of speaking “not for the people but for the special interests and for those profiting off a very, very obviously broken system.” He maintained that the press is dishonesty, which he added was “out of control.” Trump credited his administration for its “incredible progress” in just one month. “I don't think there's ever been a president elected who in this short period of time has done what we’ve done,” he said. “I turn on the TV, open the newspapers and I see stories of chaos. Chaos. Yet it is the exact opposite. This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine.”

The media with hatred, Trump charged. The public, Trump argued, may not be able to discern what’s true when they read reports, but he knows what’s real and what’s fake. “I know when you’re telling the truth or when you’re not,” the president said. “I just see many, many untruthful things. And I’ll tell you what else I see: I see tone. You know the word: tone. The tone is such hatred.”

Trump revised his characterization of CNN, which he often derides as fake news. “I’m changing it from fake news, though,” he told CNN’s Jim Acosta, pausing for emphasis. “Very fake news. … And you’re not related to our new — you know, I looked at that name,” Trump said, referencing his newly named labor secretary nominee, Alexander Acosta. “I said: ‘Wait a minute. Is there any relation there, Alex?’ No, I checked it. They said, ‘No, sir.’ I said, ‘Do me a favor and go back and check the family tree.’”

“I’d be a pretty good reporter,” the president mused at one point. Trump contended that he knows when he should get a good or bad story but accused the media of often turning “positive” stories into “negative” or “OK” articles. “I understand it. Because I’m there,” Trump said. “I know what was said, who’s saying it. I’m there. So it’s very important to me. Look, I want to see an honest press. … It’s so important to the public to get an honest press. The public doesn’t believe you people anymore. Now maybe I had something to do with that. I don’t know. But they don’t believe you.”

The president disputed media reports of a White House in chaos, insisting there’s “zero chaos” in his “fine-tuned machine” of an administration and that “half” of chief of staff Reince Priebus’ job consists of “putting out lies by the press.” “He’s working so hard just putting out fires that are fake fires. I mean, they’re fake,” Trump said. “They’re not true. And isn’t that a shame? Because he’d rather be working on health care. He’d rather be working on tax reform.”

Trump called out for a “friendly reporter” after tense exchanges with reporters. “I want to find a friendly reporter. Are you a friendly reporter?” Trump asked. “Watch how friendly he is.” Trump wasn’t a fan of the unfinished question, which delved into an uptick of anti-Semitic threats and how the administration planned to address them. “He said he was going to ask a very simple, easy question, and it’s not,” Trump said. “It’s not. It’s not a simple question, not a fair question. OK, sit down. I understand the rest of your question.”

“Now that’s what I call a nice question,” Trump said moments later, praising a UNF News reporter who inquired about first Lady Melania Trump’s decision to open the White House visitor’s office. “Thank you very much.”

“Do you want to set up the meeting?” Trump asked April Ryan, a black reporter who covers the White House for American Urban Radio Networks. Ryan asked the president if he would speak to congressional black and Hispanic caucuses about his agenda for urban areas and inner cities. “No, no, no, I’m just a reporter,” she said to Trump, who in turn asked if the lawmakers were friends of hers. “Set up the meeting. Let’s go,” he told Ryan. “Set up a meeting. I would love to meet with the black caucus.”

CABINET

Trump opened his news conference by announcing his new nominee to head the Labor Department: Alexander Acosta. “He’s a member and has been a member of the National Labor Relations Board and has been through Senate confirmations three times — confirmed, did very, very well,” Trump said. “So Alex, I wished him the best. We just spoke and he’s going to be — I think he’ll be a tremendous secretary of labor.” Trump’s former nominee, Andrew Puzder, withdrew his nomination Wednesday after Senate Republicans informed the White House that Puzder lacked the votes to be confirmed.



ISLAMIC STATE

Trump has ordered the Pentagon to submit a plan to defeat the Islamic State, he said, noting that Defense Secretary James Mattis is “over there now working very hard.” Trump described the Islamic State as a “small group” that has burgeoned and “celebrates the murder and torture of innocent people in large sections of the world.” “They’ve spread like cancer,” in the president’s words. “ISIS has spread like cancer. Another mess I inherited.”



ELECTORAL COLLEGE

Trump wasn’t supposed to win, he reminded reporters. “I wasn’t supposed to get 222 [Electoral College votes]. They said, ‘There’s no way to get 222 — 230 is impossible. 270, which you need — that was laughable,” Trump said. “We got 306. Because people came out and voted like they’ve never seen before. So that’s the way it goes. I guess it was the biggest Electoral College win since Ronald Reagan.” Some of Trump’s claims, however, are false. Obama won 332 electoral votes in 2012, and Trump only received 304 votes in the Electoral College due to a couple of faithless electors who voted against him.



DRUGS

“Drugs are becoming cheaper than candy bars,” Trump said. He announced that he has instructed the homeland security and justice departments “to coordinate on a plan to destroy criminal cartels coming into the United States with drugs.” The U.S. is “becoming a drug-infested nation,” he said, promising to curb the flow of drugs.