President Donald Trump offered robust insight into the slate of developments unfolding in the White House over the past few weeks, including trade, war in Eastern Europe, Canadian politics, and whether TikTok will survive in the United States.
The president’s comments were made during a press conference on Thursday in the Oval Office primarily focused on his newest move to sign a sweeping reciprocal tariff policy via executive order, which may be implemented as early as this spring.
The president described the reciprocal trade system as “beautiful” and “simple,” and while he elevated the historic moment, he also answered questions from the press on a variety of other topics.
Russia and Ukraine
Regarding the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the president said he believed that Russian President Vladmir Putin truly wants to achieve peace in the region.
“It’s a ridiculous war, and it has to end,” he said firmly.
He also backed up Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments made this week affirming Ukraine could not be allowed to join NATO.
“I thought his comments were good yesterday,” Trump said. “…I don’t see any way that a country in Russia’s position could allow [Ukraine] to join NATO, I don’t see that happening.”
The president reiterated his longstanding position that if he had been president for the last four years, the war overseas never would have happened.
“Biden is incompetent,” he said.
Canada as a state
President Trump has humorously teased Canada by hinting that he may acquire their territory as a 51st state, but it seems that the president is increasingly serious about the idea.
“Canada’s going to have to start paying up,” he said. “We just don’t need their product.”
He noted that if Canada were to be integrated into the United States, “their taxes would come down greatly.”
“Why would we pay $200 billion a year in subsidies to Canada when they’re NOT a state?” he remarked.
The president added, “Canada is going to be a very serious contender to be our 51st state.”
When asked whether he had spoken to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump referred to him as “Governor Trudeau” and said, “This is a different world today – they need our protection.”
TikTok
Whether the social media platform TikTok will survive in the United States after a controversial ban on the company remains to be seen, but President Trump seemed confident a deal could be made.
“I have 90 days from about two weeks ago,” Trump said. “…We have a lot of people interested in TikTok and I hope to be able to make a deal – I think it would be good.”
He said the app was “very popular” and said they might have to get approval from China to sell it domestically.
Trump also credited social media with helping his campaign win the youth vote by 36 percent. He said he felt people now viewed the platform as a positive, not a negative.
“It would be to China’s advantage to have the deal be made,” he commented.
