“We’re at war,” Trump said, referring to the whistle-blower in a 15-minute video obtained by Bloomberg News. “These people are sick. They’re sick.”

“I want to know who’s the person, who’s the person who gave the whistle-blower the information? Because that’s close to a spy,” he added. An audio recording of some of the comments was posted online earlier by the Los Angeles Times.

He added what appeared to be a thinly veiled threat: “You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? The spies and treason, we used to handle it a little differently than we do now.”

Trump’s address to the US mission to the UN wandered freely from Biden to his 2016 election, from coal miners to the size of Democratic Representative Adam Schiff’s neck: “He’s got a neck about this big,” the president said as he pressed his index finger to his thumb. “He’s got shirts that are too big because you can’t buy shirts that are that small.”

At one point, Trump said his only predecessor to appear more presidential than he was Abraham Lincoln.

“I’m the most presidential except for possibly Abe Lincoln when he wore the hat. That was tough to beat,” Trump said. But he added: “I have better hair than him.”

Trump repeated his claims that Joe Biden helped his son, Hunter Biden, improperly win millions in dollars in business from Ukraine and China. Those claims have been at the centre of the controversy over the president’s call with Zelenskiy in which he implores the Ukrainian leader to investigate the Bidens. He referred to the former vice president as “Sleepy Joe Biden who’s dumb as a rock.”

Trump said he keeps alive the rumours among Democrats and the media that he would disregard presidential term limits because it drives them “crazy.” He also disparaged the media coverage of his meeting in New York on Wednesday with Zelenskiy.

“You know these animals in the press. They’re animals. Some of the worst human being you’ll ever meet,” Trump said. “They’re scum. Many of them are scum.”

He also called the whistle-blower “highly partisan”.

“Basically, that person never saw the report, never saw the call, he never saw the call, heard something and decided that he or she, or whoever the hell they saw — they’re almost a spy,” Trump said of the whistle-blower.

The president also talked about his “love” of coal miners. He joked about how miners didn’t want to be retrained for other jobs and aren’t interested in his Manhattan lifestyle.

Trump said he had asked miners whether they wanted to work in technology and “they almost threw up all over the place.”

“Can you imagine miners with massive arms, shoulders – who love what they’re doing – in a line with little tiny widgets?” Trump said. “They’re putting little tiny computer parts together. These big strong guys? They don’t want to be doing that.”

Trump also took credit for what he suggested was an improvement in the UN’s performance.

“I’ve always said about the United Nations it has more potential than any institution that I’ve ever dealt with,” Trump said. “It hasn’t lived up to its potential. It’s starting to more. I think one of the reasons is because I feel that way. I will use the United Nations to our benefit as a country.”

“The United Nations is going to finally live up to its potential,” he said. DM

© 2019 Bloomberg L.P.