In one of his longest – and characteristically wide-ranging – speeches as president, Donald Trump Saturday went after both Democrats and fellow Republicans, said people are…
In one of his longest – and characteristically wide-ranging – speeches as president, Donald Trump Saturday went after both Democrats and fellow Republicans, said people are trying to get him out of office with “bull—-,” and announced he will be signing an executive order to require universities to support “free speech” or forfeit federal dollars.
“You know, I’m totally off script right now,” Trump said early on in his approximately two-hour speech to supporters at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland. “This is how I got elected, by being off script.”
The remark earned him one of his standing ovations.
Trump’s appearance follows a week in which his former attorney Michael Cohen accused him of criminal conduct in testimony before Congress. He also visited Vietnam for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that failed to produce a nuclear weapons deal.
North Korea has contradicted Trump’s account of the failed negotiations in Hanoi. And Trump was criticized Friday for his apparent acceptance of Kim’s denial that he had any involvement in the death of a young American who had been held in North Korean custody.
Trump said Saturday he was in a “horrible position” over the situation with Otto Warmbier.
“In one way, I have to negotiate. In the other, I love Mr. and Mrs. Warmbier. And I love Otto,” Trump said. “It’s a very, very delicate balance.”
‘Of course I hold North Korea responsible’: Trump says Warmbier comments ‘misinterpreted’
Otto Warmbier’s parents: ‘Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son’
In his introduction of Trump, Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, said that when the president wants to recharge, he returns to his base.
After stepping out on the stage and hugging an American flag, Trump did a lot of recharging. He reveled in the applause and remarked more than once that the crowd was still with him during the lengthy address.
“I’m watching those doors and not one person has left,” Trump said near the end, although some people did leave early. “And I’ve been up here a lifetime.”
The speech was more than 30 minutes longer than Trump’s previous longest speeches – a 2017 rally in Alabama and this year’s State of the Union address – according to the website Factba.se, which tracks Trump’s words. At a minimum, it is 25 minutes longer than remarks at a cabinet meeting on 1/2/19.
