Mugshots, Hells Angels feature on Trump’s anniversary
President Donald Trump marked the one-year anniversary of his return to the White House with a wide-ranging press conference that ranged from crime photos and immigration raids to the Nile River, the Nobel Peace Prize and biker gangs.
Speaking from the White House briefing room podium, Trump repeatedly strayed from his message. He mused about the Nile River being in Egypt, joked about renaming the Gulf of Mexico as Trump Bay, made derogatory comments about Somali Americans, complained that he didn’t get enough credit for his record, and expressed admiration for the controversial Hells Angels motorcycle club.
“They voted for me,” Trump said Tuesday.
His surprise appearance, shortly before he flew to Switzerland to join other world leaders at the World Economic Forum, was intended to focus on Trump’s accomplishments in his first year back in office.
But in his 81-minute, superlative-filled opening monologue, he vacillated between self-congratulations and defense, and his core message was often lost.
He then took questions from journalists for 24 minutes, a total of one hour and 45 minutes behind the podium.
He described U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, especially those currently involved in an immigration crackdown in Minnesota, as patriots and denounced people protesting against them as paid agitators. A federal agent shot and killed a U.S. citizen there this month.
This year, Trump deployed the National Guard to Democratic-run cities and threatened to deploy the regular military to Minnesota; these moves sparked opposition from local officials.
“To me, a town looks better when it has military people,” Trump said.
Without providing data, he also said Washington has seen less crime since National Guard troops arrived in the U.S. capital last summer.
“Your lover will not be killed,” Trump said while walking through the city.
Trump repeated many issues from the last election in remarks reminiscent of his 2024 campaign speech. He condemned his predecessor, Joe Biden, and once again claimed that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.
Trump pored over a thick roll of printouts titled “365 Wins in 365 Days,” a compilation of the administration’s daily achievements since his second inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025.
Many achievements were highlighted, from greatly reducing the number of immigrants entering the country illegally to improving consumer choices when it comes to shower heads and toilets.
At one point, Trump pulled a large file clip from a stack of papers and joked that it was probably meant to hurt him, joking that he might bite off his finger.
“I wouldn’t show the pain,” he said.
He spent the first 15 minutes displaying mugshots of Minnesota residents who he said were in the country illegally and had been arrested for serious crimes. After finishing, he threw the pictures on the floor.
Trump demonized Somali immigrants, calling them “people with very low IQs” and repeating his false claim that Somalia isn’t even a country.
Trump justified his crackdown on immigrants in Minnesota in part as a response to fraud related to federal hunger programs run by charities and organizations with ties to the Somali community there.
Trump also repeated his exaggerated claim that he helped end eight foreign wars. He has repeatedly said he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, which he did not win in December, and cited the omission as a reason for Denmark’s effort to seize Greenland territory.
