President Trump held a freewheeling news conference Thursday afternoon to try and counter news reports that his administration is in turmoil.
"I turn on the TV, open the newspapers, and I see stories of chaos, chaos," Trump said. "Yet, it is the exact opposite. This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine, despite the fact that I can't get my cabinet approved."
Trump spent much of the time blasting leaks and what he calls fake news.
Historians may pour over the 75 minutes because these kinds of confrontational exchanges are exceedingly rare in the White House.
Apart from the attacks on fake news, Donald Trump's administration says it does not want a larger appellate panel to review a ruling keeping its travel ban on hold and will instead revise the ban.
The administration said in a court filing on Thursday that it will replace the travel ban with a new one in the near future that will be tailored to last week's court decision.
On Feb. 9, a circuit court in San Francisco allowed a block on the ban, finding that it violated due process.
One of Trump's options is a new order hewing closer to the law, and that appears that is coming next week.
The president talked only vaguely about it Thursday afternoon, but he did blast the court from ruling against him.
"We had a bad decision. That's the only thing that was wrong with the travel ban," he said. "The rollout was perfect."
It is unclear at this hour whether there will be an end to the court battle, in addition to the expected new executive order.
Separately, Trump refuted reports tying campaign aides to Russia.
The New York Times reported Tuesday night that a few did, although it does not appear they talked about the election.
Trump suggested leaks to the media are the real problem.
"I've actually called the Justice Department to look into the leaks. Those are criminal leaks," he said.
Despite having asked for his resignation, Trump defended Michael Flynn for his contact with Russia prior to the inauguration.
"I don't think he did anything wrong," Trump said. "He was just doing his job. The thing is, he didn't tell our vice president properly. And then he said he didn't remember."
As for recent Russian provocations, like a spy ship spotted off the East Coast, Trump called them "not good," but again seemed to blame the media atmosphere for souring U.S.-Russian relations.
"I think Putin probably assumes that he can't make a deal with me anymore because politically, it would be unpopular for a politician to make a deal," Trump said.
Trump also did not talk directly about a spike in anti-Semitic attacks that have risen since the election, quieting a reporter who asked about it.
There were a number of falsehoods, or remarks that cannot be verified.
Top among them, perhaps, Trump stating that he had the largest Electoral College victory margin since Ronald Reagan. In fact, Presidents George H.W. Bush, Clinton and Obama all notched bigger wins.