Donald Trump, who has yet to take office, said Thursday that he has already accomplished more than President Joe Biden did throughout his whole term, an outsized claim by the president-elect barely a month before the election.
Trump, who has been primarily sequestered at his Mar-a-Lago club in recent weeks as he works to staff his new administration, made the comment while traveling to Long Island, New York, to be honored as part of Fox Nation’s annual Patriot Awards on Fox’s streaming platform.
“I think you have seen more happen in the last two weeks than you have in the last four years,” Trump told the crowd at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts.
“It was a tremendous day, a tremendous night,” he said, recalling his election victory in a 10-minute acceptance speech that sounded like a highlight reel of his campaign rally speeches. It came complete with a live performance of “God Bless the USA” by the singer Lee Greenwood, calls to “get the criminals out of our country” and an embrace of all-paper election ballots and mandatory voter ID.
Trump also cited conversations he’s had with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum since threatening to impose a 25% tariff on all imported goods unless they do more to combat illegal border crossings and drug trafficking.
“Justin came flying right in,” Trump said in reference to Trudeau’s trip to Mar-a-Lago. That prompted some in the audience to chant “51!” — a nod to Trump apparently joking at his dinner with Trudeau that Canada could become the 51st U.S. state.
The annual awards “honor and recognize America’s finest patriots, including military veterans, first responders and other inspirational everyday heroes,” according to Fox. The event was hosted by Fox host Sean Hannity, a longtime Trump friend who stepped in after the president-elect nominated Pete Hegseth, the original host, as defense secretary.
Among those recognized Thursday night were conservative actor and evangelist Kirk Cameron; Gen. Dick Cody, who used his own helicopter to deliver supplies to people after Hurricane Helene; and Jonathan Diller, the New York Police Department officer who was killed during a traffic stop in Queens. His widow, Stephanie, received a standing ovation and thanked Trump for his support. Others invoked Trump as well.
The ceremony also honored Paws of War, an organization that provides service dogs to veterans and helps those serving overseas bring animals they meet in war zones to the U.S. One such reunion played out on stage.
The heartfelt moments were juxtaposed against the kind of boisterous red meat politics that loyal watchers of Fox hosts like Hannity expect.
The anchor used his introduction to take an election victory lap, boasting that Democrats “got their ass kicked.” He played “YMCA” — the song Trump has long used to close out his rallies — and invited audience members to dance like the president-elect. And he offered a series of impressions, mimicking former vice presidential candidate Tim Walz’s enthusiasm and Biden appearing lost, complete with a backdrop of the rainforest where he spoke during a recent trip to the Amazon.
Later, he donned an orange safety vest — a nod to the one Trump wore when he delivered a press conference from a garbage truck during the campaign after Biden suggested Trump’s supporters were garbage.
Trump’s award marks the culmination of Fox’s reembrace of the president-elect, who has had an up-and-down relationship with the network in recent years.
Fox paid $787 million in 2023 to settle a defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems following false allegations made by Fox personalities who repeated Trump’s assertions that the 2020 election was stolen from him due to widespread voter fraud. Fox had a “soft ban” on Trump appearances for more than six months, ending in spring 2023, as its bosses sought to move on. However, when it became evident that people did not want to, Fox and its stars re-embraced Trump.
Individual personalities have undergone their own journeys: Former Fox host Megyn Kelly drew Trump’s ire in a 2015 debate for her sharp question about his treatment of women; now she’s a popular podcast host and Trump supporter. The Dominion lawsuit uncovered emails in which former Fox host Tucker Carlson spoke disparagingly of Trump, including saying he “truly can’t wait” for Trump to become an ex-president. They’ve since made amends.
Through it all, Trump has been quick to take to social media to criticize Fox for content he deems insufficiently loyal.
On Thursday, he was more magnanimous.
“You have incredible people at Fox,” he said before quipping, “A couple I don’t like.”
Trump has begun to appear in public after spending the most of his transition behind closed doors at his Palm Beach, Florida, club. This week, he made an unexpected appearance at a memorial service for three Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputies slain in an automobile accident last month.
This weekend, he will fly to Paris to join other international leaders and dignitaries for a ceremony commemorating the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral, which was destroyed by fire five years ago.
