# Trump's first press conference as president-elect **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 11, 2017, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878 "2017-01-11T17:33:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878/81 "2017-01-12T15:10:24Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > No, I’m saying that there are a lot of jobs that are hard to attract US citizens to do. Chief among them is picking produce. **If you want to pay five bucks for a tomato,** build that wall. Day workers, maids and the like are hard to find Americans who will do the work. Ditto marrying ferret-wearing orange-skinned shitgibbons. Unless you believe that farm workers pick 2-3 tomatoes an hour, that’s utter bullshit. [New York Times.](http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/08/17/could-farms-survive-without-illegal-labor/the-costs-and-benefits-of-a-raise-for-field-workers) (2011) > [@](#): > > Consumers who pay $1 for a pound of apples are giving 30 cents to the farmer and 10 cents to the farm worker; those spending $2 for a head of lettuce are giving 50 cents to the farmer and 16 cents to the farm worker. > > For a typical household, a 40 percent increase in farm labor costs translates into a 3.6 percent increase in retail prices. If farm wages rose 40 percent, and this wage increase were passed on to consumers, average spending on fresh fruits and vegetables would rise about $15 a year, the cost of two movie tickets. However, for a typical seasonal farm worker, a 40 percent wage increase could raise earnings from $10,000 for 1,000 hours of work to $14,000 — lifting the wage above the federal poverty line. ---
**Author:** ![Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pearl_Clutching_Provocateur)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878/82 "2017-01-12T15:27:00Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > No, I’m saying that there are a lot of jobs that are hard to attract US citizens to do. Chief among them is picking produce. If you want to pay five bucks for a tomato, build that wall. Day workers, maids and the like are hard to find Americans who will do the work. Ditto marrying ferret-wearing orange-skinned shitgibbons. Hell, I would actually subsidize their wages to see white liberals picking crops. Make it a 30/hr job. What you’re going to find out is that they believe manual labor is great for brown people. White people. Not so much. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878/83 "2017-01-12T15:33:12Z")
> [@Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](#): > > Hell, I would actually subsidize their wages to see white liberals picking crops. Make it a 30/hr job. What you’re going to find out is that they believe manual labor is great for brown people. White people. Not so much. Most of us are well educated and can earn that and more in the market as it is. That doesn’t mean we can’t empathize with those who work so hard for so little for the things that we take for granted. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878/84 "2017-01-12T15:35:29Z")
> [@Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](#): > > Hell, I would actually subsidize their wages to see white liberals picking crops. Make it a 30/hr job. What you’re going to find out is that they believe manual labor is great for brown people. White people. Not so much. Local farms and farm to table movement is virtually all white liberals picking crops, eggs, poultry and meat and selling them at local farmer’s markets. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878/85 "2017-01-12T15:38:56Z")
> [@Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](#): > > Hell, I would actually subsidize their wages to see white liberals picking crops. Make it a 30/hr job. What you’re going to find out is that they believe manual labor is great for brown people. White people. Not so much. I believe you are [wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong…wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong…wrong](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrjwaqZfjIY). I am a white liberal, I know dozens of white liberals, and they’d (we’d) all be thrilled to have a job that paid $30/hr. I already bust my ass at a desk job plus my own small business that’s 75% physical labor working with small farms that are almost 100% white. And I know a lot of unemployed factory workers that would kill for a job you describe. So I’m not sure what or who it is you’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878/86 "2017-01-12T15:53:14Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > It isn’t the media boycotting Trump. It’s the media refusing to be bullied by an insecure narcissist. It’s not the media doing anything. It’s wishful thinking because no reporter is actually going to forego the opportunity to ask Trump a question at his next press conference when called upon just because he didn’t call on CNN. And I imagine that if any reporter did, they’d be promptly fired by whichever company they work for. ---
**Author:** ![OwnRules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ea666f/32.png) [@OwnRules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OwnRules)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878/87 "2017-01-12T16:06:38Z")
For some much needed levity, I enjoyed [The Rude Pundit’s](http://rudepundit.blogspot.com.es/2017/01/lets-just-pretend-russian-dossier-is.html) take: > [@](#): > > If you were unfortunate enough, you got to watch or listen to the freak show this morning where President-Elect and human/gila monster hybrid Donald Trump sputtered and free-associated his way through what you might consider answers to the questions in a press conference. It was one of those embarrassing moments for the entire nation that we all better get used to. At some point, Trump is going to be at a gathering of world leaders and one of them is going to say, “What the fuck are you saying, you fucking brain damaged moron? Fuck, I thought Bush was dumb.”… ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878/88 "2017-01-12T16:11:35Z")
I hope it’ll be Angela Merkel. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878/89 "2017-01-12T16:13:22Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I only watched the excerpts, and all I can say is… what a circus. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. I’ve been saying all along that dissing the CIA (and other spy agencies) is a dangerous move, and now I see he’s doubled down on that by calling them Nazis. That is not going to end well. This is actually the one thing that might let me sleep at night. Trump is just the sort of megalomaniac who would try to use the intelligence apparatus of the United States to investigate his enemies and hide any malfeasance on his part. However if he constantly denigrates them it is unlikely that they will work on his behalf. The only concern would be if tries to purge the entire civil service and replace it with his cronies, but at least then we will see it coming. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878/90 "2017-01-12T16:34:39Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I hope it’ll be Angela Merkel. If he came up from behind her and grabbed her _a la_ GeeDubya, she’d break his arms. And if there were a video, I would pay twenty bucks to have it. Hell, I’d pay that much just to _see_ it! Once! ---
**Author:** ![Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pearl_Clutching_Provocateur)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878/91 "2017-01-12T16:37:23Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > I believe you are [wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong…wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong…wrong](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrjwaqZfjIY). I am a white liberal, I know dozens of white liberals, and they’d (we’d) all be thrilled to have a job that paid $30/hr. I already bust my ass at a desk job plus my own small business that’s 75% physical labor working with small farms that are almost 100% white. And I know a lot of unemployed factory workers that would kill for a job you describe. So I’m not sure what or who it is you’re talking about. I’d love to put it to a test. Not to blue collar factory workers but the Trump protesters with blue hair. My broader assertion is that a false narrative has been created that overstates our need for immigration. If we need more farm workers, the wages should increase rather than increase the labor supply. By allowing illegals into the country, we’re subverting the free market. If at 30/hr, there are still shortages then let’s increase the immigration. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878/92 "2017-01-12T16:41:16Z")
I am pleased to see such a reasonable proposal from you. Clearly, our efforts are having a positive effect! ---
**Author:** ![OwnRules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ea666f/32.png) [@OwnRules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OwnRules)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878/93 "2017-01-12T17:12:41Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > [He has a claque comprised of paid staffers.](http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Paid-staffers-were-on-hand-to-cheer-for-Trump-at-10852157.php) > > …Also, all those folders were filled with [blank copy paper](http://www.politicususa.com/2017/01/11/trump-busted-empty-fake-folders-conflict-interest-docs-press-conference.html). Trump and his lackies wouldn’t allow the reporters to inspect them (so why even bring them out?!)… Ironically enough making the Orange Moron elect the only provider of real “fake news” at the presser. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878/94 "2017-01-12T18:49:20Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Dude, don’t slander the Muppets like that. > I’m having trouble thinking of any actual Muppet that I wouldn’t rather have as President than Donald. Oscar can be very grouchy and mean. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878/95 "2017-01-12T18:54:30Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Also, all those folders were filled with [blank copy paper](http://www.politicususa.com/2017/01/11/trump-busted-empty-fake-folders-conflict-interest-docs-press-conference.html). Trump and his lackies wouldn’t allow the reporters to inspect them (so why even bring them out?!). > I keep thinking to myself, “Are we seriously going to go through with this?!” It’s not an unreasonable guess, lord knows, but that’s not what the CNN photo showed. The link you posted is not to a reputable news org, and all I could find searching for confirmation of this was places like Dem Underground and Altleft parroting the same speculation. (I will say that the folders look suspiciously clean, crisp, and unlabeled in the photo, though I suppose they could’ve been facedown.) ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878/96 "2017-01-12T18:58:36Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > If he came up from behind her and grabbed her _a la_ GeeDubya, she’d break his arms. And if there were a video, I would pay twenty bucks to have it. Hell, I’d pay that much just to _see_ it! Once! I hope hope hope Tracy Ullman, in her HBO show, works something like this into her recurring “Angela Merkl, self-identified reluctant sex goddess” impression sketches. ---
**Author:** ![prodicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d9b06d/32.png) [@prodicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prodicus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878/97 "2017-01-12T19:25:45Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Making an enemy of the media is not a wise thing to do. Ask Richard Nixon. Richard Nixon didn’t have twitter. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878/98 "2017-01-12T19:39:56Z")
> [@prodicus](#): > > Richard Nixon didn’t have twitter. Oh, _why_ did you have to do that?? Now I’m getting that wibbley-wobbley dream sequence effect… :eek: **No…NOOOOO!** 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878/99 "2017-01-12T19:43:38Z")
Trump won, so that means he doesn’t have to show his taxes. Should we then assume he’d have ponied them right up _had he lost_? ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878/100 "2017-01-12T19:48:13Z")
> [@snoe](#): > > It’s not an unreasonable guess, lord knows, but that’s not what the CNN photo showed. The link you posted is not to a reputable news org, and all I could find searching for confirmation of this was places like Dem Underground and Altleft parroting the same speculation. > > (I will say that the folders look suspiciously clean, crisp, and unlabeled in the photo, though I suppose they could’ve been facedown.) Photo from CNN here: [x.com](https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/819298681643995136) And article about it here: [Donald Trump press conference: Folders 'containing his business plan' appear to be blank | The Independent | The Independent](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-press-conference-folders-business-plan-empire-blank-fake-handover-donald-jr-eric-a7523426.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-first-press-conference-as-president-elect/776878.md?page=6)