Trump talks tariffs, Gaza and Greenland, takes jab at Biden in first Oval Office presser

WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump had assembled reporters to watch him sign dozens of executive orders in the Oval Office when one asked him if former President Joe Biden had left a letter for him, a ritual for departing American leaders.

"He may have," Trump said, seeming unsure, as if he hadn't looked yet. "Wait, don't they leave it in the desk?"

He opened a drawer in the Resolute Desk and found the sealed letter, holding it up and musing about reading it together with the assembled media before thinking better of it.

"Thank you very much. I may not have seen this for months," Trump said.

There were many moments Monday that illustrated the dramatic change in leadership as Trump took office. He delivered three speeches in three locations after his outdoor inauguration was canceled because of the cold, each time channeling his no-holds barred, campaign-rally style.

The aggressive tone for the opening salvo of Trump’s second administration, and his pardoning of Jan. 6 rioters and signing a blizzard of executive orders aimed at dramatically reorienting federal policy, were more consequential. The letter discovery was trivial in comparison.

But the Oval Office press event Monday evening, which was carried live on CNN and Fox News, illustrated the unscripted, unpredictable nature of the new president, in stark contrast to a departing leader who was known to be tightly stage-managed.

It’s a contrast Trump’s team was eager to point out Monday, touting a signing ceremony that morphed into an expansive and informal first-day news conference as evidence of a new era of transparency. The event was a stark change from Biden.

“Did Biden ever do news conferences like this?” Trump mused in what seemed to be more of a rhetorical question that served as a jab at his predecessor’s unwillingness to regularly engage the media, especially toward the end of his presidency, a stand-in for questions about his age and mental fitness.

Trump is known for rambling news conferences. He held two during his transition period, and they covered a wide variety of topics.

Monday was no different as the dawn of Trump's second administration gave off some of the same reality television show vibes of his first. He started off contemplating sending military special forces into Mexico to fight drug cartels − “Could happen. Stranger things have happened,” he said – and continued through dozens of questions.

The real estate developer turned president said that authoritarian North Korea has “tremendous condo capability” and that war-torn Gaza has a “phenomenal location.”

“On the sea, the best weather … beautiful things could be done with it," he said. "Some fantastic things could be done with Gaza.”

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Between asides about development potential in some of the most challenged places on Earth, Trump discussed a slew of policies his administration could soon deploy and signed others into law through executive order.

The president said he’s targeting Feb. 1 to place 25% tariffs on good imported from Canada and Mexico, which would have major economic repercussions.

On the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Trump said he’s “not confident” it will hold.

On Greenland, the Danish territory Trump covets, he declared “we need it for international security, and I’m sure that Denmark will come along.”

Trump took questions on everything from TikTok to Venezuela policy to inflation and when immigration raids would start as he prepares a mass deportation operation.

“I don’t want to say when, but it’s going to happen, has to happen,” Trump said.

Trump said billionaire Elon Musk, a close adviser, won’t have an office in the West Wing of the White House, but 20 people working with him will. Musk is heading up Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency.

The freewheeling event even saw Trump direct his new White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, to figure out what’s happening with the drones that have regularly been spotted over New Jersey at night. He seemed to be intrigued by the issue, noting drones have been seen over his estate in Bedminster.

“I would like to find out what it is and tell the people,” Trump said, adding: “Could we find out what that was, Susie? OK? Yeah, why don't we find out − immediately.”

Just like that, Trump’s team was off and running in an unpredictable new direction.