Mugshots, binder clip and Hells Angels feature in Trump’s one-year anniversary remarks

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump marked the one-year anniversary of his return to the White House on Jan 20 with a wide-ranging news conference that meandered from crime mugshots and immigration raids to the Nile River, Nobel Peace Prize and biker gangs.

Speaking from the White House briefing room podium, Mr. Trump repeatedly veered off message.

He mused about the Nile River being in Egypt, joked about renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of Trump”, made demeaning comments about Somali Americans, complained about not getting enough credit for his record and expressed admiration for the controversial Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.

“They voted for me,” Mr Trump said.

The surprise appearance, shortly before he was due to fly to Switzerland to join other world leaders at the World Economic Forum, was meant to highlight Mr Trump’s achievements during his first year back in office.

But in an 81-minute opening monologue full of superlatives, he veered between self-congratulation and defensiveness, and his core message was often lost.

He then took questions from reporters for 24 minutes, bringing his total time behind the podium to one hour and 45 minutes.

Immigration and crime dominated Mr Trump’s remarks.

He described US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, especially those involved in an immigration crackdown in Minnesota, as patriots and decried people protesting against them as paid agitators. A federal agent

shot and killed a US citizen

there on Jan 7, an incident that has drawn widespread criticism and sparked protests.

Mr Trump in 2026 has deployed the National Guard to Democratic-run cities, and he has threatened to deploy the regular military to Minnesota, moves that have drawn opposition from local officials.

“To me a town, it looks better when you have military people,” he said.

Without providing data, he also said Washington had less crime since

National Guard troops arrived in the US capital

last summer.

“Your lover’s not going to be killed” walking through the city, Mr Trump said.

In remarks that echoed a 2024 campaign speech, Mr Trump repeated many talking points from the last election.

He castigated his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, and again falsely claimed that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

Binder of achievements

Mr Trump paged through a thick wad of printouts entitled 365 Wins In 365 Days, a compilation of what the administration cited as daily achievements since his

second inauguration on Jan 20, 2025

.

It highlighted accomplishments ranging from drastically reducing the number of immigrants entering the country illegally to improving consumer choice for shower heads and toilets.

At one point, the US leader removed a large binder clip from the sheaf of papers and joked that it could have taken his finger off, saying it was probably meant to hurt him.

“I wouldn’t have shown the pain,” he said.

He spent the first 15 minutes displaying mugshots of Minnesota residents whom he said were in the country illegally and had been arrested for serious crimes. After he finished, he tossed the pictures onto the floor beside him.

Mr Trump demonised Somali immigrants, calling them “very low IQ people” and repeated his false assertion that Somalia was not even a country.

He has justified his Minnesota immigration crackdown partly as a response to fraud involving federal hunger programmes by charities and organisations linked to the Somali community there.

The US President also reiterated his exaggerated claim that he has helped end eight foreign wars.

He has repeatedly said that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, which he did not win in December, and has cited that omission as one reason for his

push to acquire the Danish territory of Greenland

.

He added on Jan 20 that he did not believe the Norwegian government’s statement that it does not control the Nobel Foundation, which awards the prize. REUTERS