Everybody wants to be my friend: Trump talks war, TikTok and drones

He announces massive SoftBank investment at his first news conference as President-elect

PALM BEACH, Florida - In his first news conference since his election victory six weeks ago, US President-elect Donald Trump covered the Ukraine war, mysterious drones flying over New Jersey, the future of TikTok and lawsuits aimed at the media he often loves to hate.

Trump displayed the loquaciousness and bravado of his 2017-2021 White House years as he held court in an ornate room at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Dec 16, making an economic announcement and fielding questions for more than an hour.

He bantered with reporters, a departure from the dark rhetoric and anger he often flashed on the campaign trail. He answered questions about Ukraine and Israel, but declined to say whether he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin or whether he would support military strikes on Iran.

He seemed wiser to the ways of Washington and pleased, if a little bit puzzled, about his own new place in it, marvelling at the steady procession of foreign leaders wanting to congratulate him and corporate chief executives rushing to meet him.

"The first term, everybody was fighting me," he said. "In this term, everybody wants to be my friend. I don't know - my personality changed or something."