Donald Trump's 199 wildest lines of 2019
Man, what a decade!
What's that? it's only been a year???
Over the past year, President Donald Trump has talked and talked and talked. He has talked at photo ops at the White House. He has talked at impromptu press conferences while abroad. He has talked at campaign event after campaign event.
And I have watched or read it all -- poring over the transcripts to find the most, um, notable quotes. Below, we've gathered the best of the best -- or worst of the worst, depending on your point of view -- lines of 2019.
Enjoy!
1. "I could be the most popular person in Europe. I could be -- I could run for any office if I wanted to, but I don't want to." January 2 (Cabinet Meeting)
The President celebrated the new year with a 90+ minute Cabinet meeting -- and cameras were rolling the entire time. He answered question after question as his Cabinet sat silently.
2. "President Obama fired him and, essentially, so did I. I want results." January 2 (Cabinet Meeting)
Trump is talking about former Defense Secretary James Mattis, who resigned in protest in the wake of Trump's decision to pull US troops out Syria. Trump didn't "essentially" fire him. At all.
3. "We're talking about sand and death. That's what we're talking about." January 2 (Cabinet Meeting)
The President of the United States offers his thoughts on Syria.
4. "I had a meeting at the Pentagon with lots of generals -- they were like from a movie, better looking than Tom Cruise and stronger -- and I had more generals than I've ever seen." January 2 (Cabinet Meeting)
This is so revealing. All of life is a casting call for Trump. These generals were good because they were good looking and strong. Even more than Tom Cruise!
5. "I said, this is the greatest room I've ever seen. I -- I saw more computer boards than, I think, that they make today." January 2 (Cabinet Meeting)
"Computer boards."
6. "I'm a professional at technology." January 10 (South Lawn)
"Computer boards."
7. "When during the campaign I would say, 'Mexico's going to pay for it,' obviously I never said this and I never meant they're going to write out a check." January 10 (South Lawn)
This is a clear-as-day attempt to rewrite history by Trump during an impromptu news conference on his way to the southern border. He repeatedly said that Mexico would need to make a distinct $5 billion or $10 billion payment to the United States for the wall. And when he asked crowds at his rallies in 2016 who was going to pay for the wall, they shouted back "Mexico!" not "Mexico by way of theoretical gains we will make as a result of a restructured international trade deal!" I mean, come on.
8. "The buck stops with everybody." January 10 (South Lawn)
Is that how that goes? The buck stops with everybody? (Remember: Trump hardly ever takes the blame for anything -- especially the things that are his fault.)
9. "Well, I haven't actually left the White House in months." January 15 (Jeanine Pirro interview)
He had, actually. Lots of times. Hell, he was in McAllen, Texas, two days before he said this.
10. "I would, I don't with care. I mean, I had a conversation like every president does. You sit with the president of various countries. I do it with all countries." January 15 (Pirro interview)
Pirro asks Trump here whether he would be willing to "release the conversation that you had with President (Vladimir) Putin in Helsinki." Here's the thing: He can't do that because, per The Washington Post, "there is no detailed record, even in classified files, of Trump's face-to-face interactions with the Russian leader at five locations over the past two years."
11. "I was obviously a good candidate. I won every debate. I won everything I did, and I won, and I won easily."
When Trump said this, the 2016 election had ended 797 days ago.
12. "I guess they're well over 30 million dollars now on this Russian collusion hoax, and everybody knows it's a hoax. They've spent all this money. Nothing. No phone calls, no meetings, no nothing." January 31 (Daily Caller interview)
Trump was not that far off-base on the price tag -- $25 million had been spent at this point on special counsel Robert Mueller's probe since it began in May 2017. Where he REALLY missed the fact boat was in claiming that the Mueller probe had produced zero tangible results. To date when Trump said this, the investigation had produced 199 criminal counts against 37 people and entities. Seven people had pleaded guilty and four had been sentenced to prison. One -- Paul Manafort -- had been convicted by a jury of his peers. That's not nothing.
13. "I ran a great campaign. I ran a campaign that now they say was better than that gentleman's [Andrew Jackson's] campaign in the 1800s and we did a great job." January 30 (Daily Caller interview)
They say that, do they? (For more on Andrew Jackson's campaigns, read this!)
14. "I hope that she's healthy, I hope she's happy, and I hope she lives for a long time." January 30 (Daily Caller interview)
Trump's response here to a question on Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg following her illness was -- dare I say it -- presidential.
15. "The world is not doing well and we're going great." January 30 (Daily Caller interview)
Trump on the global situation: America
Rest of world
16. "It looks like Elizabeth Warren has not caught on like they thought she would. She fell into a trap. It's called the Pocahontas trap." January 30 (Daily Caller interview)
"The Pocahontas Trap?" Is that a Disney flick?
17. "My intelligence people, if they said in fact that Iran is a wonderful kindergarten, I disagree with them a hundred percent." February 3 (Super Bowl interview)
In this quote from Trump's interview on CBS News before this year's Super Bowl, Trump questioned his intelligence community's assessment of Iran. Worth nothing: His "intelligence people" didn't say Iran was a kindergarten, they simply said they believed the country to be in compliance with the nuclear deal Trump pulled out of in May 2018.
18. "And a lot of people, including me, thought soccer would probably never make it in this country, but it really is moving forward rapidly." February 3 (Super Bowl interview)
Paging @MeninBlazers!!!! This was part of Trump's answer to whether he would allow his son, Barron, to play football.
19. "Roger is somebody that I've always liked, but a lot of people like Roger. Some people probably don't like Roger, but Roger Stone's somebody I've always liked." February 3 (Super Bowl interview)
"Roger is a stone-cold loser." -- Donald Trump in 2008
20. "Even the Mueller report said it had nothing to do with the campaign." February 3 ( Super Bowl interview)
The Mueller report hadn't come out yet.
21. "What a location. I'm in the real estate business, what a location." February 3 (Super Bowl interview)
Donald Trump on North Korea. Yup!
22. "I love this state, and I love the people of this state. We've had a great romance together. You know that. Been a great romance." February 11 (El Paso rally)
Donald Trump and Texas sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g. First comes love then comes ... ah, you know the rest.
23. "This is like the Academy Awards used to be. Used to be. They've gone down a long ways since they started hitting us a little bit, right?" February 11 (El Paso)
There's so much here. First, Trump was comparing his rally to the Academy Awards because of the amount of press that was covering it. (But I thought he hated the media?) Then he's saying that the Oscars, like everything else, aren't as good as they used to be. And finally, he is attributing the decline of the Oscars to the fact that some of the actors have taken shots at him. He truly contains multitudes.
24. "So, someday, with all of us -- this is all of us -- and those hats are beautiful, by the way. Someday." February 11 (El Paso)
This an unedited "sentence" from the President of the United States. Someday.
25. "Where do these people come from? Where do they come from? They go back home to Mommy. They get punished when they get home." February 11 (El Paso)
When a protester interrupts a speech, that's when Trump's real bullying tendencies emerge.
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