President Donald Trump (R) spoke at a conference hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists this afternoon. During the conference, President Trump discussed a number of subjects, including inflation, the justice system, and the state of the 2024 presidential election.
The conference, held in Chicago, which will also host the Democratic National Convention in August, saw President Trump answering questions from ABC News' Rachel Scott, Somafor's Kadia Goba, and Fox News' Harris Faulkner. At times tense, the president attempted to draw a distinction between himself and the Biden-Harris Administration, presenting himself as "a political opponent of two people who have weaponized the justice system."
President Trump commented on President Joe Biden (D) dropping out of the race, pointing out that President Biden was "incompetent" and admitting that presidential candidates should adhere to a competency test. He pushed back against calls for Americans to purchase electric vehicles, and he questioned the future of the country under a Harris Administration.
On the subject of inflation, President Trump expressed that "inflation is absolutely destroying our middle class, our working class, virtually every class. Inflation is a disaster in our country. Inflation is a country-buster. It breaks every country." "Interest rates went from 2% to 10%, and you can't get the money. People can't buy houses. They no longer have the American Dream. Young people - young black people - they no longer have the American Dream," he emphasized.
When questioned why he chose Ohio Senator J.D. Vance (R) as his running mate, President Trump explained that he "chose him because he's a very strong believer in work, and the working man and woman, and especially the working man and woman who've been treated very unfairly because you have many of them - many of them in this room - but you have many of those people who were treated unfairly."
While speaking to Fox News' Faulker, she brought up that on the day of his assassination attempt, when answering a question about who his vice presidential pick would be, President Trump provided a "prophetic" answer just 3 and a half hours before the attempt at his life. "Bad things happen, Harris. And that's why this decision is important this time," she recounted him saying. When asked if Senator Vance is ready on to serve as president on "Day 1" should he need to, the former president shared the "great respect" he has for Senator Vance, but he suggested that historically vice president's haven't had a significant influence in votes and that voters were voting for the president.
When asked what he himself would do on Day 1 should he win election, he offered two answers.
"I close the border" and "I bring energy way down," affirming that the U.S. will "drill, baby, drill."
