We are all familiar, after a prolonged period of stress, with the muscles in our neck relaxing, jaw unclenching, and fists loosening. One could be forgiven for feeling all of this while watching President-Elect Donald Trump’s extensive press conference at Mar A Lago, on Monday.
Over the past four years, as America watched President Joe Biden’s steady and precipitous mental decline, we have grown accustomed to the stress of watching Scranton Joe appear in public, almost with fingers crossed, just hoping he can get through it.
Nobody really listens much to what Biden actually says anymore, on the rare occasions when he says anything, instead we watch to see if that cold, empty stare will return to the eyes of our commander in chief.
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And so, on Monday, when Trump spent over an hour in playful and informative rhetorical sparring with the press, it was as if the sunshine of real, believable leadership finally shone through years of Biden’s cloudy and fuzzy term in office.
Ostensibly, the presser was called to announce that Japanese businessman, and CEO of Softbank, Masayoshi Son, was announcing a $100 billion investment in the US that he says will create 100,000 new American jobs.
The executive from the Far East also said that he is doing so because Trump’s election has him optimistic about America’s economic future.
That would have been good enough, but wait, there’s more.
As is often his wont, Trump stuck around and pretty much answered every question that the press corps had, including many that the current administration struggles to competently address.
Take the mysterious giant New Jersey drones that have flummoxed Biden’s White House for a week. What was Trump’s take? Here’s what he said on Monday: "The government knows what is happening. For some reason, they don't want to comment. And I think they'd be better off saying what it is our military knows and our president knows."
This is exactly what most people have demanded of the Biden administration, and instead, we have had a parade of changing and wide-ranging answers that now have landed somewhere around a condescending, "don’t worry, everything is fine."
Trump also managed to put out a major fire for his nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, by assuring the public that his administration would not ban the Polio vaccine, a rather absurd notion, but one that even Republican Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell has raised.
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Trump said, "You’re not going to lose the Polio vaccine, it's not going to happen," adding, "everything should be looked at, but I’m a big believer in the polio vaccine."
Again, this is a tone that wary Americans have been longing for. One might call it a scientific approach to science, instead of relying on Holy Writs from Dr. Anthony Fauci and the medical establishment.
As the minute hand on the clock made its full revolution on Monday afternoon, Trump addressed potentially pardoning New York City Mayor Adams, who the president-elect says has been treated unfairly by the Justice Department in retaliation for criticizing Biden’s handling of the border.
On the war in Ukraine, Trump reiterated his plans for a quick resolution, in regard to Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, Trump said he is making great strides, he also addressed the looming Tik Tok ban, meetings with tech executives, getting federal workers back in the office, the shooting of United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson, and more.
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But perhaps the best moment came when a reporter asked the incoming president if he would support a preemptive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Trump’s answer was, well, pure Trump, "Why would I say that? Can you imagine if I said yes or no? You'd say: that was strange that he answered that question. Am I going to do preemptive strikes or Iran? Is that a serious question? How could I answer a question like that?"
It was an incredibly stupid question, but one that reveals the farcical charade that has been the press’ relationship to the Biden administration, which would have replied with something like, "Nothing has been taken off the table, and we continue to work with our regional allies to blabbity, blah, blah."
That gentle breeze that you hear whispering through the branches of our body politic and government is the sounds of millions of Americans finally exhaling, safe in the knowledge that we once again have a president who can lead.
And one has to say it, it is nice that we are now so close to having an actual and functioning president of the United States once again.
