Trump talks drones, an Eric Adams pardon and his election boost from TikTok

(NEW YORK) — President-elect Donald Trump said Monday that the Biden administration knows more about the drones that have raised alarms over parts of the country than it’s sharing with the public.

“They know where it came from and where it went. And for some reason, they don’t want to comment. And I think they’d be better off saying what it is. Our military knows and our president knows. And for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense,” Trump said.

In some of his most extensive remarks since winning the presidential election last month, Trump took questions on a number of subjects. He started his remarks with an announcement that SoftBank will make a $100 billion investment in the U.S. that will create 100,000 jobs focused on artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. SoftBank plans to complete the work before Trump leaves office in 2029, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Asked about a potential ban on TikTok unless it finds new ownership, Trump said he has “a warm spot in my heart for TikTok,” because of its effect on his winning a larger share of the youth vote than he did in 2016.

A federal appeals court last week rejected TikTok’s attempt to stop the pending ban and pause the Jan. 19 deadline for a sale.

“TikTok had an impact,” Trump said. “And, so we’re taking a look at it. I don’t know why, but we ended up finishing, we were, there was one poll that showed us down about 30. We were 35 or 36 points up with young people. So I have a little bit of a warm spot in my heart.”

Trump also said he would “take a look” at a pardon for New York Mayor Eric Adams, who was indicted in September on bribery charges.

“I think that he was treated pretty unfairly,” Trump said, and suggested the charges were retribution for Adams speaking out against migrants flooding into the country.

“It’s very interesting when he essentially went against what was happening with the migrants coming in,” Trump said. “And, you know, he made some pretty strong statements like ‘This is not sustainable.’ I said, ‘You know what? He’ll be indicted soon.’ And I said it. That is a prediction, a little bit lightheartedly, but I said it. I said, ‘He’s going to be indicted.’ And a few months later he got indicted. So I would certainly look at it.”

Following reports last week that the personal attorney for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, had previously lobbied the Food and Drug Administration to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine, the president-elect said he had no plans to ban the vaccine.

“You’re not gonna lose the polio vaccine. That’s not gonna happen,” he said. “I saw what happened with the polio. I have friends that were very much affected by that. I have friends from many years ago, and they have obviously, they they’re still in not such good shape because of it.”

Trump’s selection of Kennedy, known an anti-vaccine crusader, to lead HHS has raised concerns about what effects his activism might have on the agency’s mission. Trump said Monday those concerns are unfounded.

“I think you’re going to find that Bobby is much — he’s a very rational guy. I found him to be very rational,” Trump said.

“But we’re going to look into finding why is the autism rate so much higher than it was 20, 25, 30 years ago,” he said. “I mean, it’s like it’s 100 times higher. There’s something wrong. And we’re going to try finding that.”