US President Donald Trump held a press conference on Tuesday in which he praised his second term in the White House, saying that the last year has been “an amazing time”, CNN, Sky News and The New York Times (NYT) report.
He stated that he would not read the “book” of his achievements that the White House prepared for the journalists who took part in the briefing.
“We've accomplished more than any administration has ever done in terms of the military, ending wars and ending wars. Nobody's seen anything like it,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
The American leader began his conference by showing a series of photos of “criminals” from the US state of Minnesota – undocumented immigrants who have been arrested by the current Republican administration.
“In many cases, they're criminals, drug lords, drug dealers,” Trump said.
Still, flipping through the photos as he spoke at the lectern, Trump appeared somewhat downcast. He kept quiet for a few moments, looking through the documents, before continuing to show such photos to reporters.
At one point, he switched from discussing the work of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol to discussing his support among Hispanic Americans.
“I love Hispanics. They are incredibly entrepreneurial,” he said.
Trump has succeeded in reducing the number of illegal border crossings, but has not yet achieved his mass deportation goal. Despite the administration's promise to target “the worst of the worst,” the majority of immigrants arrested in large-scale deportation operations in major cities did not have criminal records, according to data available through Oct. 15, the NYT notes.
Analysis of immigration arrests nationwide from the start of Trump's term a year ago through Oct. 15 shows that 67 percent of those detained were charged with at least one crime of some kind. But those charges include minor offenses, such as traffic violations, that have not been expunged from their records. Trump, however, presented his policy in the briefing as having an impact mainly on people who have committed violent crimes.
While presenting the photos, the US leader added: “I am going to a beautiful place in Switzerland. I am sure that I am welcomed with great joy in Switzerland.”
Although he said he would not read the White House document on the achievements of the term that began last January, Donald Trump later returned and began to read “some” of his “accomplishments”.
During his speech, Trump repeatedly attacked his predecessor, Joe Biden, who he reiterated was the “worst president” in US history. Several times he referred to him as “sleepy Joe”.
The president's rare appearance in front of the media came a year into his second term and amid criticism from European leaders over his ambitions to take over Greenland.
Trump is due to travel to Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum this week and announced that he had agreed to meet with “various parties” to discuss the Arctic island.
The first year of Trump's second term has been intense. The US president has launched brutal economic and military actions, alienated his old European allies and more clearly defined the “America First” doctrine, establishing that it emphasizes spheres of influence, not the alliances and international institutions that governed the world after World War II, Reuters, the Times magazine and the NYT previously wrote. After one year of mandate, the results are visible. 2025 brought a dramatic worsening of US relations with European allies and friendlier relations with authoritarian leaders, from Russia's Vladimir Putin to Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman.
The most striking display of Trump's foreign policy has been visible in the Western Hemisphere, where administration officials have made it clear — including through grim posters shared on social media — that the president's Monroe Doctrine 2.0 includes justification for the use of force in the region to secure US interests.
Trump on tariffs: We collected hundreds of billions of dollars
Trump also spoke at the White House on Tuesday about the economy, briefly discussing the US's use of tariffs, without naming specific countries.
“I don't know what the Supreme Court is going to do,” he said, referring to the Supreme Court's ruling on tariffs already imposed by the US last year.
“I think to me it's very clear, it couldn't be clearer. You have the right to issue a license – a tariff is probably less severe than a license might be,” he added.
Trump continued: “I don't know where the case is, but we've collected hundreds of billions of dollars, and if we lose this case, we may have to do everything we can to pay them back. I don't know how that's going to be done very easily without affecting a lot of people, but we look forward to (the final decision in) that case.”
“And we have tremendous national security because of tremendous tariffs and revenues,” Trump pointed out.
The US president has threatened in recent days to impose additional tariffs on European countries if they continue to reject his ambition to take over Greenland.
