RUSH: No, no, I told him to wrap it up by noon but the lawyer went long explaining the divestment of Trump’s business and so forth. It’s okay. It’s not gonna go on much longer. This is Rush Limbaugh. We’re gonna join the Trump press conference now. It’s a work of art. It’s an absolute work of art. We’re near the end of it, so here we go.
TRUMP: — to see what was happening with the Supreme Court, so I think it was a very, very big decision as to why I was elected.
RUSH: Making mincemeat of the media today.
(reporters all talking at once)
REPORTER: — what were you driving at there, what were you trying to tell them?
TRUMP: I think it was disgraceful, disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake, out. I think it’s a disgrace. And I say that, and I say that, and that’s something that Nazi Germany would have done and did do. I think it’s a disgrace that information that was false and fake and never happened got released to the public. As far as BuzzFeed, which is a failing pile of garbage, writing it, I think they’re gonna suffer the consequences. They already are.
RUSH: Poor Obama.
TRUMP: And as far as CNN going out of their way to build it up — and, by the way, we just found out, I was coming down, Michael Cohen, I was being — Michael Cohen is a very talented lawyer, a good lawyer in my firm, was just reported that it wasn’t this Michael Cohen that we’re talking about. So all night it was Michael Cohen. I said, “I want to see your passport.” He brings his passport to my office, I say, “Hey, wait a minute, he didn’t leave the country.” They had (imitating news media), “Michael Cohen of the Trump organization was in Prague.” It turned out to be a different Michael Cohen. It’s a disgrace what took place. It’s a disgrace and I think they ought to apologize, to start with, to Michael Cohen.
RUSH: It’s the Trump press conference and we’re just finishing up with it here, so hang in, be tough.
REPORTER: Since you’re attacking us — (reporters all talking at once)
TRUMP: No, not you. Not you.
REPORTER: Can you give us a chance?
TRUMP: Your organization.
REPORTER: You are attacking our news organization.
TRUMP: Your organization. You, go ahead. (another reporter interrupts)
REPORTER: Let me ask the question, sir.
TRUMP: Sir, quiet, quiet. (reporter continues to interrupt)
REPORTER: Mr. President-elect —
TRUMP: She’s asking a question, don’t be rude. Don’t be rude. (reporter continues to interrupt)
REPORTER: Can you give us a question?
TRUMP: Don’t be rude. No, I’m not gonna give you a — I’m not gonna give you a question. You are fake news. Go ahead. (reporter continues to interrupt while gallery applauds)
REPORTER: Sir, can you state categorically —
RUSH: Right on! Did you hear that? “You are fake news, I’m not giving you a question.” Right on!
REPORTER: President Obama went too far with the sanctions he put on Russia after the hacking —
TRUMP: I don’t think he went too far.
REPORTER: And will you roll them back? And what do you think of Lindsey Graham’s plan to send you a bill for a tougher one?
TRUMP: Plans to send me a bill for what?
REPORTER: For tougher sanctions.
TRUMP: I hadn’t heard Lindsey Graham was going to do that. Lindsey Graham, I’ve been competing with him for a long time. He’s gonna crack that 1% barrier one day. I didn’t realize Lindsey Graham’s still at it. Sorry.
RUSH: (laughing) This is so good, folks.
TRUMP: I think Lindsey Graham’s a nice guy actually. I’ve heard that he’s a nice guy, and I’ve been hearing it, I’ve been hearing it. Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead, go ahead, you’ve been waiting. Go ahead.
REPORTER: As far as we understand the intelligence community —
TRUMP: Stand up, please.
REPORTER: Ian Pannell from BBC News.
TRUMP: BBC News, that’s another beauty.
REPORTER: (laughing) Thank you. Thank you. As far as we understand the intelligence community are still looking at these allegations as false news, as you describe it. If they come back with any kind of conclusion that any of it stands up, any of it is true, will you consider your position, would you —
TRUMP: There’s nothing they could come back with. Yes, yes, go ahead.
(reporters all talking at once)
REPORTER: Fake news and all the problems that we’ve seen throughout the media over the course of the election, what reforms do you recommend for this industry here?
TRUMP: Well, I don’t recommend reforms. I recommend people that have some moral compass. You know, I’ve been hearing more and more about a thing called Fake News and they’re talking about people that go and say all sorts of things. But I will tell you, some of the media outlets that I deal with are fake news, more so than anybody. I could name them, but I won’t bother, but you have a few sitting right in front of us. So they’re very, very dishonest people. But I think it’s just something we’re gonna have the live with. I guess the advantage I have is that I can speak back. When it happens to somebody that doesn’t have that kind of a megaphone —
RUSH: That he isn’t that.
TRUMP: — they can’t speak back. It’s a very sad thing.
RUSH: That’s part of it, but that’s not —
TRUMP: I’ve seen people destroyed. I’ve seen people absolutely destroyed, and I think —
RUSH: It’s bigger than that.
TRUMP: — and I think it’s very unfair. So all I can ask for is honest reporters, yes.
RUSH: I can’t wait to explain this to you.
(reporters all talking at once)
REPORTER: Follow up on the questions about the U.S. intelligence community and be very clear about what they’re saying. Do you trust your U.S. intelligence officials, and what do you say to foreign policy experts who say you’re actually weakening national security by waging this war of words against that community?
TRUMP: Intelligence agencies are vital and very, very important. We are going to be putting in, as you know, Mr. Pompeo and others. You know the Senator, Dan Coats. We’re gonna be putting in some outstanding people. Within 90 days they’re going to be coming back to me with a major report on hacking. I want them to cover this situation. I also want them, however, to cover maybe most importantly — because we’re hacked by everybody. You know, the United States, our government, out of a list of 17 in terms of intel industries, is the worst, it’s number 17 in terms of protection, if you look at the retail industry, if you look at banking industry, various industries, out of 17 industries they put this in the category of an industry, the United States is last in terms of protecting let’s say hacking defense. Like we had a great hacking defense —
RUSH: That’s gonna change.
TRUMP: — at the Republicans National Committee. That’s why we weren’t hacked. By the way, we were told they were trying to hack us but they weren’t able to hack, and I think I get some credit because I told Reince and Reince did a phenomenal job, but I said I want strong hacking defense. The Democratic National Committee didn’t do that. Maybe that’s why the country is run so badly that way. (reporter interrupts) But wait, let me finish. Within 90 days we will be coming up with a major report on hacking defense, how do we stop this new phenomena, fairly new phenomena because the United States is hacked by everybody. That includes Russia and China and everybody.
RUSH: Mexico.
TRUMP: Everybody. Okay.
REPORTER: President-Elect Trump, President-Elect Trump.
TRUMP: Go ahead. Go ahead.
REPORTER: Mr. President-elect, you said just now that you believe that Russia indeed was responsible for the hacking of the DNC and John Podesta emails, et cetera.
TRUMP: You know what? It could have been others also.
REPORTER: But why did you spend weeks undermining the U.S. Intelligence Committee before getting the facts and then making a public statement —
TRUMP: Well, I think it’s pretty sad when intelligence reports get leaked out to the press. I think it’s pretty sad. First of all, it’s illegal. You know, these are classified and certified meetings and reports. I’ll tell you what does happen. I have many meetings with intelligence and, every time I meet, people are reading about it. Somebody’s leaking it out.
So then I said, maybe it’s my office, maybe it’s my office. I have a lot of great people, maybe it’s them. And what I did, I said I won’t tell anybody I’m gonna have a meeting and I won’t tell anybody about my meeting with intelligence, and what happened is I had my meeting, nobody knew, not even Rhoda, my executive assistant for years. She didn’t know. I didn’t tell her, nobody knew. The meeting was had, the meeting was over, they left, and immediately the word got out that I had a meeting.
RUSH: This is what they don’t know how to deal with, folks.
TRUMP: I don’t want that. I don’t want.
RUSH: He’s dealing with kids.
TRUMP: It’s very unfair to the country. It’s very unfair to our country what’s happened. That report should have never — first of all, it shouldn’t have been printed because it’s not worth the paper it’s written on and I thank the New York Times for saying that, I thank a lot of different people for saying that, but I will tell you that should never, ever happen. Okay —
(reporters all talking at once)
RUSH: He’s loving this, you know, this is the difference.
REPORTER: Can you stand here today once and for all and say that no one connected to you or your campaign had any contact with Russia leading up to or during the presidential campaign. And if you indeed do believe that Russia was behind the hacking, what is your message to Vladimir Putin right now?
RUSH: Come on, these are kids, these are little kids in the media (imitating reporter), “Can you tell us, can you tell us, can you nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah.”
TRUMP: He shouldn’t be doing it, he won’t be doing it. Russia will have much greater respect for our country when I’m leading it than when other people have led it. You will see that. Russia will respect our country more.
RUSH: Right on.
TRUMP: He shouldn’t have done it, I don’t believe he’ll be doing it more. Now, we have to work something out, but it’s not just Russia.
RUSH: Right on.
TRUMP: Take a look at what’s happened. You don’t report it the same way. Twenty-two million accounts were hacked in this country by China, and that’s because we have no defense. That’s what’s we’re run by people that don’t know what they’re doing.
RUSH: Exactly right.
TRUMP: Russia will have far greater respect for our country when I’m leading it, and I believe, and I hope… Maybe it won’t happen. It’s possible. But I won’t be giving a little reset button like Hillary. “Here, press this piece of plastic!”
RUSH: (laughing) Yes! Yes! I love this. Right on.
TRUMP: The guy looked at it like, “What is she doing?” There’s no reset button. We’re gonna either gonna along or we’re not. I hope we get along. But if we don’t, that’s possibly too. But Russia and other countries — and other countries, including China, which has taken total advantage of us economically, totally advantage of us in the South China Sea by building their massive fortress. Total. Russia, China, Japan, Mexico, all countries will respect us far more — far more than they do under past administrations.
REPORTERS: (shouting)
TRUMP: I want to thank everybody. So this is all… Just so you understand, these papers — ’cause I’m not sure that was explained properly. But these papers are all just a piece of the many, many companies that are being put into trust to be run by my two sons, and I hope at the end of eight years I’ll come back and I’ll say, “Oh, you did a good job.” Otherwise, if they do a bad job, I’ll say, “You’re fired.” Good-bye, everybody. (chuckles) Good-bye.
RUSH: Okay, that’s it. That’s Donald Trump. He went about 10 minutes longer. He tried to wrap it up but he had his female lawyer go out there and give a great, detailed explanation of the divestment of his businesses, and she was as thorough… She was just superb, and I was thinking watching her, “Here’s this so-called misogynist Donald Trump, and he’s turning over one of the most important things — the most important events in his business life ever — to this female attorney, and he’s putting her out there to explain all this,” and she was just superb.
Okay, folks, I want to take a little break here and we’ll come back. I want to put all of this in perspective here, what happens starting last night with CNN and BuzzFeed, which got all of this going today. Poor Barack Obama. You know, I have to mention this. There was not one question that Trump got about Barack Obama today. Barack Obama did his farewell address last night, and it’s totally gone. Every bit of the oxygen has been sucked up by Donald Trump, even though it was a fake news story. There’s not a syllable being spoken since last night about Barack Obama’s farewell speech. In fact, even Gloria Borger of CNN didn’t know it, but she was describing the Limbaugh Theorem as she watched Obama last night.
She made the observation, “You know what? This guy’s talking like he hasn’t really been in charge of any of this. He’s talking about all these great things that happened here like he hasn’t really been responsible for any of it.” She got so close to actually defining the Limbaugh Theorem that it was noteworthy. I’ve got the sound bite. I’ve got it ready to go. But, man, not a question from the media, “What did you think of Mr. Obama’s farewell speech?” Not one. There wasn’t one reference to it whatsoever. It’s done and forgotten, like pretty much the Obama administration is except for all those aspects of it that have to be repealed and reworked and redone because such a mess has been made.