President Donald Trump said immigrant gang MS-13 is equivalent to al-Qaida, promised to build a southern border wall, and attacked the media in a speech in Iowa Wednesday.
WATCH TRUMP DISCUSS IMMIGRATION AND THE WALL:
The president made sure his rally for his 2020 re-election campaign sounded like one. He attacked the media, at one point calling NBC “phony,” said he understood “lock her up” chants, and referenced “that famous escalator ride” before his campaign announcement speech.
A White House official told The Daily Caller that this was “vintage Trump.”
Now that he is in office Trump promoted accomplishments such as approving the construction of the Keystone pipeline, getting out of the Paris climate change accord and confirming Neil Gorsuch as Supreme Court justice.
Trump also spoke about his future in office. The president called for a “great tax deal,” healthcare reform “with heart,” building a southern border wall, and constructing “gleaming new roads and bridges.”
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday that the White House is conducting a review of immigration policy and Trump previewed legislation that he supports.
He said that a bill will be rolled out soon that requires immigrants to be able to financially support themselves and bars them from receiving welfare for five years.
President Trump also touched on foreign policy during the speech and said that he had been dealt a “bad hand” by the Obama administration. However, he assured the audience that “we are going to get it fixed.”
The administration recently gave Defense Secretary Jim Mattis full control over troop levels in Afghanistan as the U.S. seeks to cut back losses in that 16-year long fight.
The president echoed campaign rhetoric and said that he was not beholden to donors and special interests. Trump received criticism for appointing former top Goldman Sachs executive Gary Cohn as his main economic adviser, and he made a point of defending this choice Wednesday night.
He joked, “At those particular positions I don’t want a poor person.”
