A month from his inauguration, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump says the United States has "tremendous hope ... promise and ... potential," rejecting the notion offered by first lady Michelle Obama that his election has left the politically divided country feeling hopeless.
"We are going to be so successful as a country again," Trump told a rally Saturday in Mobile, Alabama. "We are going to be amazing."
The first lady, in an interview with talkshow host Oprah Winfrey to be aired Monday, said after the contentious presidential election, "We feel the difference now."
"See, now we're feeling what not having hope feels like," she said. "You know? Hope is necessary. It's a necessary concept. What do you give your kids if you can't give them hope?"
Trump, the 70-year-old real estate mogul turned politician, shrugged off the comment and told supporters at the rally that the first lady "must have been talking about the past."
He praised her and President Barack Obama for graciously receiving him when he visited the White House shortly after last month's election, even as the crowd booed his mention of the Obamas.
'Thank you tour'
Trump spoke at the last stop on his "thank you tour," campaign rallies he's staged in recent days in a number of states the Republican Trump won over Democrat Hillary Clinton in the November election.
He recounted his path to victory and a four-year term in the White House as the country's 45th president, but also renewed some of his favorite campaign vows.
He promised to build a wall at the U.S.-Mexican border to thwart the flow of illegal immigration into the United States and rebuild what he says is a badly depleted U.S. military force.
"But we will be smart about how we spend our money," Trump declared.
The president-elect pledged create more jobs in the expanding U.S. economy, already the world's largest, spend money on repairing the country's crumbling roads and bridges and expand airports, cut the tax rate on U.S. businesses to 15 percent, re-do trade deals and institute "extreme vetting" of immigrants entering the U.S. in a bid to keep out would-be terrorists.
In addition, he said, "My administration will follow two very simple rules: Buy American and hire Americans."
WATCH: President-elect Donald Trump at rally
He told the crowd, "You, the American people, will now be in charge. You will never be forgotten again."
From Alabama, Trump flew to Florida to rejoin his family, who arrived there Friday for an extended Christmas holiday. Aides said the president-elect likely will spend the next week at his Mar-a-Lago mansion along the Atlantic Ocean shoreline, hosting meetings and relaxing with his family.
