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Donald Trump.
- President Donald Trump was set to deliver a speech on tax reform legislation on Wednesday.
- He spoke about a lot more than just tax reform.
- Trump veered off script and discussed ISIS, trade, Democrats, "fake news," and his electoral victory in Tennessee, among many other things.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday was set to deliver a speech promoting tax reform.
Instead, he gave a free-wheeling presentation akin to one of his campaign rallies from 2016 that touched on everything from his tax legislation to ISIS, trade, Democrats, "fake news," and his electoral victory in Tennessee.
He called North Korean leader Kim Jong-un a "sick puppy" and said "with Trump as your president, we're going to be celebrating Merry Christmas again."
It was a wild ride that lasted for the better part of an hour.
"I will tell you this in a non-braggadocios way," Trump said. "There has never been a 10-month president who has accomplished what we have accomplished. That I can tell you."
Delivering the speech in St. Louis, Missouri, Trump spent a significant portion of his address focused on the tax legislation working its way through Congress, which he promised would not be a benefit to himself, even though reports show it could provide his family with a huge windfall.
Trump chastised Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, who was booed when Trump mentioned her name, for not supporting the tax package.
Trump said the senator was "weak" on crime, immigration, and borders, but joked, "Other than that, I think she's doing a fantastic job."
Echoing his recent ramping up of his war on the media, Trump called on attendees to "look at all the fake news back there," pointing to the assembled press covering the event at the rear end of the venue.
In an extended rant focused on his administration's successes in the fight against the Islamic State terrorist group, Trump said "we're doing numbers like ISIS has never seen before" and noted, "terrorists - they're bad."
He assured supporters that critics and the media will soon be saying that Trump is "the opposite of an exaggerator," when considering what he claims to be his administration's early successes.
After pledging that "with Trump as your president, we're going to be celebrating Merry Christmas again" with the passing of tax reform legislation, the president left the stage to a tune familiar to anyone who covered or watched the 2016 campaign - "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by The Rolling Stones.