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United States President-elect Donald Trump was greeted by thousands of supporters at his first rally in Arizona after winning the November election.
Trump used his usual aggressiveness, including threats against Panama and sending a message to billionaire Elon Musk.
Here are some key takeaways from the 75-minute speech:
The newly elected president talks about national unity
Trump was relaxed, enjoying his victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, especially prevailing in the popular vote after not receiving the most votes in 2016 or 2020.
He went so far as to speak of national unity, albeit with a side-compliment to the defeated Democrats.
“We had no riots. We had nothing. It was a beautiful thing to watch,” Trump said. “They just said, 'We lost.' And we want to try to bring everyone together. We will try. We will really try.”
Trump, who likes to say his clear but close victory was a landslide, claimed: “There's a spirit that we have now that we didn't have just a little while ago.”
Trump adds the Panama Canal to his international tough talk
Aside from his motto, “Make America Great Again,” Trump's brand of politics that resonates so strongly with his supporters is “America First.” It encapsulates his criticism of foreign aid, some US military interventions abroad and his plans to impose heavy tariffs on imported goods.
He focused on a new target on Sunday: the Panama Canal and the Panamanian government. Trump has suggested he will try to regain control of the canal if Panama does not adjust the passage fees, which Trump insists are unfair.
He said the US had been “robbed” and attacked 100-year-old former President Jimmy Carter for “stupidly” ceding control of the channel during his tenure in the White House nearly half a century ago.
Within hours, Panama's conservative president, Jose Raul Molino, who was elected in May on a pro-business platform, dismissed the idea as an attack on his country's sovereignty.
The move continues a series of attacks by Trump on foreign leaders. He recently mocked Canada as an American state and called Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “the governor.”
Trump's supporters like the bravado and argue that he is simply using leverage and public pressure in the US's favor. The actual results of the policy remain to be seen.
Trump sends a message to Elon Musk
The president-elect drew a line Sunday at the suggestion that he would be looking over his shoulder at Elon Musk, the world's richest man.
Trump scoffed at recent suggestions by Democrats that he had ceded the presidency to Musk. “No, no. That's not happening,” Trump said. “He's not going to be president.”
Still, the accusation spread freely after Musk's social media posts helped broker a bipartisan budget deal in Congress and pushed Washington to the brink of a partial government shutdown.
Trump also empowered Musk by naming him co-chairman of a quasi-government “efficiency” commission tasked with cutting federal spending.
Trump has long been accustomed to running his business, his campaigns and the White House as the unequivocal number one. And he doesn't particularly like being overshadowed by lieutenants. In Musk, however, he has chosen an ally who has the same experience and approach.
What he didn't mention – the rates
Trump didn't talk much about tariffs, a key plank of his economic platform. After the victory, Trump notably refused to promise that the widespread tariffs would not lead to higher prices for US consumers. The issue was raised in several sessions of the Turning Point Convention. But not by the president-elect, even as he considered other policy issues.
Trump also did not acknowledge any details about the recent budget battle in Washington, his role in it and his failure to convince House Republicans to raise the national debt ceiling or the government borrowing limit — perhaps as long as his term in office. .
That doesn't mean Trump isn't thinking about the battle he'll face early in his term when the short-term deal with Congress expires in March.
But it is remarkable that he sidestepped the issue publicly after intervening so explicitly last week.
Trump celebrates the expanded Republican coalition
The president-elect is amused to live up to political pundits' analysis that he had a weak turnout effort — a “ground game,” in campaign parlance.
He thanked Turning Point and its founder, Charlie Kirk, for their involvement in gathering votes and expanding the GOP coalition.
Trump singled out young, Latino and black voters for their increased support over what he won from those blocs four years ago.
“You've had the regular armies at Turning Point,” Trump said. “It's not my victory, it's your victory.”
