Since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump has made headlines almost daily, with most of those headlines having something to do with what he said during rallies, press conferences or exclusive interviews.
Global News took a look back at some of President Trump’s most talked-about quotes in 2017. This includes Trump branding a media organization “fake news,” saying there was “blame on both sides” in the Charlottesville protests and referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as “Rocketman.”
Donald Trump calls CNN ‘fake news’
During Trump’s first press conference as president-elect, he refused to take a question from a CNN reporter, branding the organization as “fake news.” Trump’s statement came after CNN reported Russia had personal and financial information about him.
Trump asks black reporter to set up meeting with Black Caucus
In February, Trump was asked by a veteran black journalist if he would meet with the Congressional Black Caucus, to which Trump replied: “I would. You want to set up the meeting? Are they friends of yours?”
WATCH: Trump asks black reporter to set up meeting with Congressional Black Caucus
Chocolate cake and missile strikes
While speaking to FOX Business, Trump said he ordered 59 missiles to strike Syria in response to the Apr. 4 chemical weapons attack. However, what also caught the attention of listeners was that Trump said he was eating the “most beautiful piece of chocolate cake” when he ordered the attack.
WATCH: Donald Trump says he was eating the ‘most beautiful piece of chocolate cake’ when he ordered Syria strike
Ex-FBI director is a ‘showboat’
In an interview with NBC, Trump said he was going to fire FBI director James Comey, regardless of any recommendations made. That’s when Trump called Comey a “showboat” and “grandstander” and added his opinion that the FBI had been in “turmoil.”
WATCH: President Trump calls James Comey a ‘showboat,’ says he did not fire him on deputy AG’s recommendation
No ‘poor’ people allowed
Back in June when Trump held a rally in Iowa, he said he only wanted wealthy individuals to be in his cabinet, telling the crowd, “I love all people, rich or poor, but in those particular positions, I just don’t want a poor person.”
WATCH: Trump: ‘I just don’t want a poor person’ as Commerce Secretary
Boy Scouts and politics
The head of the Boy Scouts apologized to families who were offended by Donald Trump’s “political rhetoric that was inserted into the jamboree” on July 24. Trump had spoken to a gathering of Scouts aged 12 to 18 and veered off into political themes, including criticizing former president Barack Obama.
WATCH: Crowds boo for Barack Obama during Donald Trump speech at Boy Scouts
Trump threatens North Korea with ‘fire and fury’
Donald Trump said that if North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatened the U.S., North Korea would “be met with fire and fury.” According to reports, it seemed that Trump’s comment was a response to the country’s production of a nuclear warhead small enough to fit inside its intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM).
WATCH: North Korea will unleash ‘fire and fury’ if they threaten U.S.: Trump
Charlottesville clash
Following the clash between white supremacists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Va., on Aug. 12, Trump spoke to the media about the violence that erupted, saying there was “blame on both sides… you had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent.”
Trump went on to say that even though there were some bad people in the protest that happened in Charlottesville, there were also those who were “very fine people.”
Counter-protester Heather Heyer, 32, was killed after a car ploughed into her during the Charlottesville rally.
WATCH: Trump on Charlottesville violence: ‘There is blame on both sides’
‘Rocket Man’
Trump told the United Nations General Assembly in September that the U.S. will defend itself if forced, and “totally destroy North Korea.” The president then went on to call Kim Jung Un “Rocket Man,” adding the North Korean leader was “on a suicide mission for himself and his regime.”
WATCH: Donald Trump calls Kim Jong Un ‘Rocket Man’ during UN speech
‘A little out of whack’: Trump
During a visit to Puerto Rico following the devastation of Hurricane Maria, Trump said during a news conference that the island had thrown the U.S. government’s budget “a little out of whack.” Trump then minimized Puerto Rico’s death toll from the disaster, contrasting it with that of Hurricane Katrina.
WATCH: Trump tells Puerto Rico they’ve ‘thrown our budget out of whack’
Adopting an accent
During the middle of Hispanic Heritage Month, Trump held an event at the White House to honour Hispanic heritage and culture — while putting on an accent to tell the crowd, “Pueeerto Rico… we love Pueeerto Rico.”
WATCH: Trump attempts Puerto Rican accent during Hispanic Heritage event
Nuclear weapons in ‘tip-top shape’
While speaking to reporters in the White House, Trump denied rumours that he wanted more nuclear weapons — a 10-fold increase — and instead said he wanted to make sure the arsenal was in “tip-top shape.” Trump also added the weapons should be modernized and rehabilitated.
WATCH: Trump wants U.S. nuclear arsenal in ‘tip-top shape’
‘Water jobs’ and invisible planes
Trump visited a Coast Guard Station in Florida during the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, where he praised the workers for their work and military equipment. During his speech to the Coast Guard and reporters who were in attendance, Trump spoke about the group’s relief work in Texas after Hurricane Harvey, calling the storm a “big water job.”
During the speech, the president also called the Air Force-ordered F-35 fighter jet an “invisible fighter.”
WATCH: Invisible planes, water jobs and other strange things Donald Trump said in Thanksgiving speech to Coast Guard
Trump calls Sen. Elizabeth Warren ‘Pocahontas’
During an event honouring Native American veterans in November, Trump referred to Sen. Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas.”
“You were here long before any of us were here,” Trump said. “Although we have a representative in Congress who they say was here a long time ago. They call her Pocahontas.”
Trump’s comment was met by silence from the audience and vets standing alongside him.
WATCH: Trump jokes about ‘Pocahontas’ at event honouring Native American Second World War veterans
More nicknames for Kim Jong Un
Not only did Trump once again refer to North Korea’s Kim Jong Un as “Little Rocket Man” during a speech in Missouri in November, he also called the leader a “sick puppy.”
WATCH: ‘He is a sick puppy’: Trump references ‘Little Rocket Man’ Kim Jong Un
— With files from Adam Frisk, Andrew Russell, Leslie Young, Rebecca Joseph, Maham Abedi, AP
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