--- --- # Donald Trump Says He Still Wants to 'Drain the Swamp'  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Dec 22, 2016 5:12 PM UTC  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Dec 22, 2016 5:12 PM UTC President-elect Donald Trump rejected claims that he had stopped using the phrase “drain the swamp” in a message posted to Twitter Thursday just one day after a [top surrogate](http://time.com/4609257/donald-trump-drain-swamp-newt-gingrich/) said that Trump had directed him not to say it. “Someone incorrectly stated that the phrase ‘DRAIN THE SWAMP’ was no longer being used by me,” Trump [wrote](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/811975049431416832) on Twitter. “Actually, we will always be trying to DTS.” Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a top surrogate for the president elect, [said Wednesday](http://time.com/4609257/donald-trump-drain-swamp-newt-gingrich/) that he had been told that Trump “disclaims” the slogan. “He now says it was cute, but he doesn’t want to use it anymore,” Gingrich told NPR’s “Morning Edition.” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/811975049431416832) Trump has come under fire for using the phrase—which refers to eliminating special interests from Washington—while also relying on a slew of industry lobbyists and insiders to help his transition, including Goldman Sachs president and COO [Gary Cohn](http://fortune.com/2016/12/13/donald-trump-goldman-sachs-gary-cohn/) and alum [Steve Mnuchin](http://fortune.com/2016/12/08/donald-trump-cabinet-mnuchin-kushner-hensarling/). Trump told an audience at a rally in October that he was not always a fan of the phrase. “You know, that phrase started about a week ago, and I thought it was terrible. I didn’t like it at all,” Trump said, according to [CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/21/politics/newt-gingrich-trump-drain-the-swamp/index.html). “I said I don’t know. I just don’t like it. And now it’s become one of the hottest phrases anywhere in the world and I’m saying I like it.” Gingrich also took to Twitter Thursday to clear things up. > [](https://twitter.com/newtgingrich/status/811980472079237121) Donald Trump: We're Still Trying to Drain the Swamp ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4616679/donald-trump-drain-the-swamp/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4616679/donald-trump-drain-the-swamp/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Says He Still Wants to 'Drain the Swamp'","datePublished":"2016-12-22T17:12:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:26:50.849Z","description":"'Actually, we will always be trying to DTS'","url":"https://time.com/4616679/donald-trump-drain-the-swamp/","keywords":["Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4616679/donald-trump-drain-the-swamp/","name":"Donald Trump Says He Still Wants to 'Drain the Swamp'"}}]}] ```