The Memo: Trump walks tightrope at Mar-a-Lago press conference

President-elect Trump sought to thread a needle during his Monday press conference at Mar-a-Lago, pushing back at suggestions that his incoming administration would be dangerously radical, even as he avoided any whiff of actual backsliding.

The version of Trump who appeared before reporters at his Florida resort was — at times — tonally different from the rhetorical bomb-thrower from his campaign rallies.

In particular, he sought to mollify those who have cast his nominees, especially Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in a dangerous light.

But there was still plenty to alarm Trump’s detractors — and delight his base — including a threat to sue over a poll from a notable Iowa pollster that gave a far more favorable impression for Vice President Harris than was reflected in November's result in the Hawkeye State.

Trump said he would sue out of a sense of “obligation” rather than because he wanted to do so over the survey from Ann Selzer published by The Des Moines Register.

Trump’s comments on Kennedy were especially striking, however. The scion of the famous family is on Capitol Hill this week, seeking to shore up support from GOP senators. 

If all Democrats were to vote against Kennedy’s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Kennedy could only afford to lose three Republicans.

Kennedy’s extreme skepticism about vaccines is by far the most controversial element of his heterodox beliefs on public health.

Other elements of his views, including his criticisms of overprocessed foods and of the closeness between the pharmaceutical industry and its regulators, find far wider favor.

The recent revelation that a lawyer and friend of Kennedy’s had petitioned to revoke federal approval for a version of the polio vaccine added to the frisson of alarm in public health circles. 

It also earned a thinly veiled rebuke from outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who was afflicted with polio as a child.

“Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed — they’re dangerous,” McConnell, who is stepping down as leader but will have a vote on Kennedy’s nomination as a sitting senator, said in a Friday statement. 

But Trump sought to cast Kennedy’s beliefs in a more reasonable light.

“I think you’re going to find that Bobby is … a very rational guy. You’re not going to lose the polio vaccine. That’s not going to happen,” Trump insisted during his Monday news conference. 

Trump said he himself is a “big believer” in the polio vaccine, and further asserted that Kennedy would not revoke any vaccines.

Trump instead positioned himself as a skeptic of mandates rather than vaccines per se.

Politically speaking, the significance of the remarks on Kennedy is that Trump needs his transition efforts to proceed as smoothly as possible.

He has already lost one high-profile nominee, after former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) withdrew from consideration to be attorney general. Another Trump loyalist, Pam Bondi, who served as Florida’s attorney general, has now been nominated.

In addition to Kennedy, there are question marks over at least two of Trump’s prominent nominees: media commentator Pete Hegseth, who has been nominated to be Defense secretary, and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii), Trump’s pick to be director of national intelligence.

At the Monday news conference, however, Trump further emphasized that he is standing by Hegseth, who had come under pressure amid an allegation of sexual assault, which the former Fox News commentator denies. 

There have also been reports of excessive drinking and mismanagement by Hegseth at other organizations for which he has worked.

Trump contended Hegseth has been “making tremendous strides” with his nomination over the past week, while also paying tribute to his nominee’s media skills and saying that it would be a “tragedy” if he were not confirmed.

More broadly, Trump sought to create some appearance of bipartisanship, however thin, by sympathizing with the plight of New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D). 

Trump suggested he would consider pardoning Adams, whom the president-elect contended has been treated “pretty unfairly.”

Adams was charged in September on bribery, campaign finance and conspiracy offenses. 

Adams, who remains in office, has taken a page from Trump’s playbook, asserting his innocence and insisting that he is the victim of a politically motivated prosecution. 

In keeping with the somewhat conciliatory tone, Trump also seemed to back off the suggestion that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) should appoint the president-elect’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, to the Senate. 

There will be a vacancy because Trump has nominated Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to be his secretary of State.

Speaking of DeSantis and the decision on whom to appoint in Rubio’s place, Trump said, “It’s his choice. Got nothing to do with me. Lara’s unbelievable.”

To be clear, this was not Trump going soft. 

In addition to the threat to sue over the Iowa poll, he also defended, once again, his proposal to impose hefty tariffs on imports into the United States. 

Many experts believe tariffs are an ineffective tool and would add to the inflationary pressures from which the nation’s economy has only recently recovered. But Trump appears to be in no mood for turning.

“Our country right now loses to everybody. Almost nobody do we have a surplus with,” he said.

Trump being Trump, he also weighed in on two of the nation’s most viral stories — the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the appearance of a large number of drones in Northeastern skies.

Trump complained about the popular admiration for the man accused of Thompson’s killing, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, and contended the government knows more than it is admitting regarding the drones.

Above all, though, this was Trump at his least chaotic.

For now at least, the president-elect seems to wants to make the road into power next month as bump-free as possible.

The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage.