Takeaways from Trump’s first post-election press conference

President-elect Donald Trump held a wide-ranging press conference Monday, saying he would maintain access to the polio vaccine but was equivocal on other vaccines, vowing to look at reducing drug costs and expressing doubt that his daughter-in-law could be Florida’s next senator.

Trump lasted more than an hour, the first time he took questions from reporters since winning the election. The event harks back to his lengthy news conferences from his first term and is a sharp contrast from President Joe Biden, who does not often take questions from reporters.

Here’s a look at some of what he touched on:

Trump makes some assurances about polio vaccine

Trump defended his choice for health secretary, prominent vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr.but said he is personally a “huge supporter” of the polio vaccine and would maintain access to it.

“You’re not going to lose the polio vaccine,” he said. “It’s not going to happen.”

Over the weekend, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who had polio as a child, spoke in defense of the polio vaccine after a recent report revealed that one of Kennedy’s advisers filed a petition to revoke the approval of the polio vaccine in 2022.

Kennedy has long floated the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism, and Trump has questioned whether there is a link, something he repeated when noting the rising cases of autism being diagnosed.

“Something is wrong and we will find out,” he said.

There are no blood or biological tests for autism; instead, a doctor bases the diagnosis on a child’s behavior. While the diagnosis of autism has been available for at least 80 years, the definition gradually expanded to include milder cases that are more common. A study last year found that about a quarter of children with autism — about 110,000 in the United States — have the most severe version of the developmental disability, which has left them unable to speak or with an IQ below 50 or both.

On Kennedy: “He will be a lot less radical than you would think,” he said. “I think he has a very open mind, or I wouldn’t have put him there.”

Trump blames middlemen for high pharmaceutical drug prices

Trump described a dinner he had this month with Kennedy; Dr. Mehmet Oza celebrity heart surgeon turned talk show host and lifestyle guru whom he has tapped to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; and top pharmaceutical executives where they discussed drug prices.

Trump said he wants to “have a big conversation” about drug prices and “cut out the middleman” he accused of driving up costs.

“I don’t know who these middlemen are, but they’re rich as hell,” Trump said.

Trump’s appearance is a clear break from Biden’s style

The news conference was Trump’s most extensive public appearance since his victory six weeks ago – a rare absence from the public stage for the former reality star.

But it also underscored how Trump, even while still president-elect, has grabbed the spotlight from Biden, who still has a month left in his term. Biden has not held a press conference in months and has had a limited public schedule.

While Trump addressed some of the day’s top-of-mind issues — including sightings of drones flying over the Northeast — Biden himself has remained silent, leaving it to aides to try to reassure the public.

‘I don’t know’ if Lara Trump will be a senator

Trump appeared skeptical that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would nominate his daughter-in-law to be a Florida senator, taking the seat of Marco Rubio, who has been nominated for secretary of state.

Asked if he expected DeSantis to name Lara Trump to replace Rubio, Trump said, “I probably don’t, but I don’t know.” Trump recently spoke with DeSantis at a memorial for Florida law enforcement officers.

Trump’s allies have been pushing DeSantis to nominate Lara Trump, who is married to Trump’s son, Eric, and served as co-chair of the Republican National Committee this year.

“Ron is doing a great job with his election,” Trump said without elaborating.

He praised Lara Trump, including for her work at the RNC, where part of her duties involved focusing on “election integrity,” a priority for Trump after he falsely claimed fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

Trump is open to intervening in a potential TikTok ban

Trump indicated he would look at intervening potential ban on TikTok in the US The popular social media platform must cut ties with its China-based parent company or be banned by mid-January under a federal law.

He did not elaborate, but Trump credited the platform with helping him win the election. His campaign saw it as a bridge to reach younger, less politically engaged voters, especially when clips showing him with celebrities at UFC fights circulated.

“We will take a look at TikTok,” he said. “You know, I have a warm place in my heart for TikTok.”

Trump tried to ban TikTok during his first term, but changed his mind and promised to “save” TikTok. When he takes office, his Justice Department will be tasked with enforcing the new federal law against TikTok.

“Everybody wants to be my friend,” he says

Noting the differences between when he first took office eight years ago and today, Trump said leaders now want to meet with him.

He said they were “hostile” then.

“Everybody was fighting me,” he said of his first term. “During this period, everyone wants to be my friend. I don’t know. My personality changed or something.”

While he left office in 2021 ostracized and angry, Trump has had a stunning turnaround that led to his election victory. Last week he was honored by being named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year and ringing the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange.

Since being elected president, Trump has met with Silicon Valley billionaires, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. He revealed that he had also met with Google co-founder Sergey Brin. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos will meet with him this week, Trump said.

“We’ve got a lot of good executives coming in — the top executives, the top bankers, they’re all calling,” he said. “It’s like the opposite of the first one.”

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Associated Press writers Adriana Gomez Licon in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Zeke Miller and Amanda Seitz in Washington contributed to this report.