President-elect Donald Trump was upbeat as he entered his New Year’s Eve gala at Mar-a-Lago.
Speaking with reporters on the red carpet outside and flanked by Melania Trump, the president-elect shared his optimism for the new year and his confidence in his Cabinet nominations and in House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) holding on to his gavel later this week.
“I think a lot of progress has been made over the last five weeks. It’s been pretty amazing,” Trump told reporters. “When you look at what’s happened, there’s a whole light over the whole world, not just our country. There are a lot of very happy people.”
And while several of Trump’s Cabinet nominees — Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, and Kash Patel — face strong public opposition, he believes they are doing “very well” in closed-door meetings with senators.
Trump has concerns on the other side of the Capitol as well. Despite his public support for Johnson to continue serving as speaker, there are enough dissenters to scuttle a vote to keep him in charge of the chamber, which could derail Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris from being certified on Jan. 6.
Trump’s endorsement of Johnson so far appears to have had no influence on winning over some of the more conservative members such as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY).
Although Massie has continued to defy Trump, the president-elect said on Tuesday night he is confident Johnson will emerge victorious on Friday.
“We’re going to get a successful vote,” Trump said. “He’s a good man. He’s a very wonderful person, and that’s what you need.”
Trump also gave a nod to President Joe Biden, saying he “wished him well.”
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However, Trump also criticized the Biden administration and Democrats for inflation and the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
“Oh, it’s a shame the whole thing started,” Trump said. “Would have never started if I were president. You wouldn’t have Ukraine. You wouldn’t have Ukraine, Russia problems. You wouldn’t have had the Israeli problem with what happened on Oct. 7, was just a horrible thing. All of the things you wouldn’t have, inflation. Inflation was a disaster.”
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
