President Donald Trump rallied right-wing activists Saturday with a speech offering conservative red meat on immigration, trade and the threat of "socialism" as he sought to move on from a bruising week in domestic and international politics. "We believe in the American dream, not in the socialist nightmare," he said to boisterous applause from hundreds of supporters at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) near Washington.
"America will never be a socialist country," Trump added in a mammoth two-hour speech that seemed to draw energy from the fervent reception offered by some of his influential supporters in the room.
It was his first public appearance since coming home empty-handed, and to criticism from all sides, after a nuclear-disarmament summit with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un. He told CPAC the meeting was "very productive" - but that he would not "make a deal just for the sake of doing it."
The White House is also smarting from explosive testimony on Capitol Hill by Trump's former lawyer and fixer on Wednesday that branded him a cheat and a racist.
Trump, often speaking in mocking tones, portrayed the Green New Deal climate strategy touted by the left of the Democratic party as a socialist plan that will devastate the fossil fuel and automotive industries.
He said progressive healthcare policies would "lead to colossal tax increases" - and accused the Democrats of having "totally abandoned the American mainstream" on issue such as immigration and abortion. With the federal investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia reportedly approaching its conclusion, Trump again berated Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team as partisan hacks out to get him, adding that "these people are sick."
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