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In a wide-ranging and unusually blunt interview with Politico, U.S. President Donald Trump delivers some of his most direct foreign-policy remarks to date. Trump declares that “Maduro’s days are numbered,” criticizes European Union leaders as “weak,” and says Ukraine should “conduct elections” as part of what he frames as a path toward ending the war. He also argues that Russia is now in a “much stronger negotiating position” and urges President Volodymyr Zelensky to “read the latest peace plan.”
Trump doubles down on his endorsement of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán — a move he acknowledges many European leaders “don’t like” — while positioning himself as the only Western figure willing to challenge what he calls the “failed consensus” on Ukraine and Europe.
The interview sheds new light on Trump’s evolving strategy, his views on global leadership, and the geopolitical fractures emerging ahead of the next U.S. election. Watch the full breakdown of his most consequential foreign-policy comments yet.
#trump #politico #interview #apt
Trump doubles down on his endorsement of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán — a move he acknowledges many European leaders “don’t like” — while positioning himself as the only Western figure willing to challenge what he calls the “failed consensus” on Ukraine and Europe.
The interview sheds new light on Trump’s evolving strategy, his views on global leadership, and the geopolitical fractures emerging ahead of the next U.S. election. Watch the full breakdown of his most consequential foreign-policy comments yet.
#trump #politico #interview #apt
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NewsTranscript
00:00President, thank you so much for joining the conversation. Thank you.
00:03So Politico has named you as the most influential person shaping Europe as part of our annual
00:09Politico 28 list. Past names that have topped the list include President Zelensky, Prime Minister
00:15Georgia Maloney, and President Viktor Orban. This year, Politico broke precedent to recognize
00:21an American for the first time in the history of P-28. And sir, there is no question that you are
00:27having a seismic impact on the continent and its politics. One of the most pressing issues in
00:34Europe right now is the war between Russia and Ukraine. Your team has been going back and forth.
00:39I wouldn't say one. I would say the most. The most. You're right. Your team has been going back and
00:45forth between Putin and Zelensky with various drafts of a peace deal. Which country right now is in the
00:51stronger negotiating position? Well, there can be no question about it. It's Russia. It's a much
00:58bigger country. It's a war that should have never happened. Frankly, it wouldn't have happened if I
01:02were president. And it didn't happen for four years. I watched that taking place and I said, wow,
01:07they're going to cause some problems here. And it started and it could have evolved into World War
01:14Three. Frankly, I think it's probably not going to be happening now. I think if I weren't president,
01:20you could have had World War Three. I think you would have had a much bigger problem than you have
01:24right now. But right now it's a big problem. It's a big problem for Europe and they're not handling it
01:29well. The last night you said that you weren't sure if President Zelensky was fine with the most recent
01:38proposal that he isn't ready. I was hearing from your advisors around Thanksgiving that they thought
01:44this thing might be wrapped up by the end of the holiday, but it's still not done. Is Zelensky responsible
01:49for the stalled progress or what's going on there? Well, he's got to read the proposal. He hadn't written
01:54really. He hasn't read it yet. The most recent draft. That's as of yesterday. And maybe he's read it over the
01:59night. It would be nice if he would read it. You know, a lot of people are dying. So it would be really good
02:04if he'd read it. His people loved the proposal. They really liked it. His lieutenants, his top
02:09people, they liked it. But they said he hasn't read it yet. I think he should find time to read it.
02:16Is it time for Ukraine to hold an election, do you think? Yeah, I think so. It's been a long time.
02:23It hasn't been doing particularly well. Yeah, I think it's time. I think it's an important time to
02:28hold an election. They're using war not to hold an election. But I would think the Ukrainian
02:34people should have that choice. And maybe Zelensky would win. I don't know who would win. But
02:39they haven't had an election in a long time. You know, they talk about a democracy. But
02:43it gets to a point where it's not a democracy anymore.
02:47On Sunday, your son, Donald Trump Jr., responded to a reporter's question about whether you will,
02:52quote, walk away from Ukraine. And your son said, I think he may. Is that correct?
02:57No, it's not correct. But it's not exactly wrong. We have to, you know, they have to play ball.
03:03If they don't read agreements, potential agreements, you know, it's not easy with Russia
03:10because Russia has the upper hand. And they always did. They're much bigger. They're much
03:15stronger in that sense. I give Ukraine a lot of, a lot of, I give the people of Ukraine
03:20and the military of Ukraine tremendous credit for the, you know, bravery and for the fighting
03:24and all of that. But, you know, at some point, size will win, generally. And this is a massive
03:32size. You take a look at the numbers. I mean, the numbers are just crazy. This is not a war
03:39that should have happened. This is a war that would have never happened if I were president.
03:43So sad. Millions of people are dead. Many, many soldiers. You know, last month, they lost
03:4827,000 soldiers and some people from missiles being launched into Kiev and other places.
03:57But what a sad thing for humanity. You know, this doesn't affect us. Our country is no longer
04:08paying any money. It was just Biden giving $350 billion so stupidly. And, you know, if he
04:14wouldn't have given him, maybe something else would have happened. But Putin has had no respect
04:19for Biden and he had no respect for Zelensky. He didn't like Zelensky. They really hate each
04:25other. And part of the problem is they hate each other really a lot, you know, and it's
04:31very hard for them to try and make a deal. It's harder than most. I settled eight wars
04:35and this, I would have said, this is the ninth. This would have been the easiest one I would
04:40have said, or one of the easier ones. I mean, I settled one that was going on for 36 years.
04:46I settled Pakistan and India. I settled so many wars. I'm very proud of it. And I do it
04:51pretty routinely, pretty easily. It's not hard for me to do. It's what I do. I make deals.
04:57This one is tough. One of the reasons is the level of hatred between Putin and Zelensky is
05:02tremendous. And you're right. You're not spending money, but you sort of are spending your time and
05:07your energy on it. I want to stop saving, you know, I want to stop seeing people killed.
05:10If this deal, if Zelensky rejects this deal, is there a timeline? Is there a point at which you
05:16say, OK? Well, he's going to have to get on the ball and start accepting things. You know,
05:22when you're losing, who's losing? Do you think Ukraine has lost this war?
05:28Well, they've lost territory long before I got here. They lost a whole strip of seafront,
05:34big seafront. I mean, you look at the maps. I've been here for 10 months. But you go back 10 months
05:41and take a look. They lost that whole strip. It's now a bigger strip. It's a wider strip. But
05:47they lost a lot of land. And it's very good land, too, that they lost. You certainly wouldn't say
05:54it's a victory. They could show you a chart. It's a lot of land I lost.
05:59It's a lot of land. I think that we're going to think of it. If our election wasn't rigged,
06:04it was a rigged election. Now everyone knows it's going to come out over the next couple of months
06:07too loud and clear because we have all the information. But if the election wasn't rigged
06:12and stolen, you wouldn't even be talking about Ukraine right now. The resounding consensus in Europe
06:19right now is that they want to keep supporting Ukraine until they can win this war.
06:26Until they drop, yeah.
06:28Is that realistic in your view?
06:30I mean, look, then they should support it. Europe is, I'm friendly with all of them. I mean,
06:36I like all of them. I have no real enemy. I've had a couple that I didn't like over the years. I
06:39actually like the current crew. I like them a lot. But they, and I know them very well. I know them
06:45really well. Some are friends. Some are okay. I know the good leaders. I know the bad leaders.
06:53I know the smart ones. I know the stupid ones. You've got some real stupid ones too. But
06:57they're not doing a good job. Europe is not doing a good job in many ways. They're not doing a good
07:04job. They talk too much. And they're not producing. We're talking about Ukraine. They talk,
07:11but they don't produce. And the war just keeps going on and on. I mean, four years now it's been
07:20going on. Long before I got here. This is not my war. This is Joe Biden's war. And in terms of
07:26America, it's a very sad thing. And the only reason I really care about it is because I hate to see
07:32young, beautiful people being killed. That's largely why I got involved. I mean,
07:39if you look at the Congo and Rwanda, that's been going on. 14 million people at least killed. Nobody
07:45has any idea how many, but killed. Machetes, a lot of machete killings, vicious. But if you look at the
07:52wars and some of the wars that really were going to be millions and millions of people. The
07:59prime minister of Pakistan said, I saved millions of people by getting involved with the stopping
08:04India and Pakistan from fighting. I do want to go back to Europe for a moment, though, because you
08:08said they're not doing a lot of things right in your view. And just they can't be doing do right
08:13because look what's happened. Well, you your administration just released a new national
08:18security strategy that sent shockwaves throughout Europe. The strategy says a key pillar of American
08:23foreign policy should be, quote, cultivating resistance to Europe's current trajectory within
08:28European nations. How much should European leaders prepare for your administration to push to
08:35reshape the continent's politics? Well, Europe is a different place. What do you mean by that? And if it
08:40keeps going the way it's going, Europe will not be, in my opinion, many of those countries will not be
08:46viable countries any longer. Their immigration policy is a disaster. What they're doing with
08:52immigration is a disaster. We had a disaster coming, but I was able to stop it. You know,
08:58we have no people coming through our borders now. Zero, seven months. I mean, who would believe zero?
09:03We went from millions of people, in some cases, millions of people a month, but millions of people
09:08to no people. That's not what Europe looks like. The opposite. Yeah, I know. Europe, they're coming in from
09:15all parts of the world, not just the Middle East. They're coming in from the Congo. Tremendous
09:19numbers of people coming from the Congo. And even worse, they're coming from prisons of the Congo
09:25and many other countries. And for some reason, they want to be politically correct, which actually I
09:32think is the opposite of politically correct. But they want to be politically correct, and they don't
09:36want to send them back to where they came from. And Europe is, if you take a look at Paris,
09:44it's a much different place. I loved Paris. It's a much different place than it was. If you take a
09:48look at London, you have a mayor named Khan. He's a horrible mayor. He's an incompetent mayor, but he's
09:54a horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor. I think he's not a terrible... London's a different place. I love
10:00London. I love London. And I hate to see it happen. You know, my roots are in Europe, as you know.
10:07Right. And I hate to see that happen. This is one of the great places in the world, and
10:13they're allowing people just to come in and unchecked, unvetted. So how involved are you
10:19going to get? I mean, could we see you getting involved in European elections, for example?
10:23I want to run the United States. I don't want to run Europe. I'm involved in Europe very much.
10:26Might you endorse candidates?
10:29NATO calls me daddy. I mean, I have a lot to say about it. Look, I raised, you know, the GDP from
10:342% to 5%. The 2% they weren't paying and the 5% they are paying. And they're paying it because
10:40when we send things over, NATO pays for it. And I assume they give it to Ukraine. But Europe
10:49is being destroyed.
10:52Would you consider getting involved in some of those elections to put in leaders that
10:56you think are better suited?
10:57Well, I'd endorse. I've endorsed people, but I've endorsed people that a lot of Europeans
11:01don't like. I've endorsed Victor Orban. I endorsed, go back to South America, Latin America, South
11:09America, Millet, Argentina. He was losing in the election, and I endorsed him, and he won
11:15in the Lancet.
11:16With Victor Orban, beyond endorsing, he recently said that you promised him access to U.S.-backed
11:22financial shield worth up to $20 billion. Is that right?
11:25No. I didn't promise him, but he certainly asked for it.
11:28Would you consider giving that to him?
11:30I just think he's doing a very good job in a different sense on immigration. His country's
11:34landlocked. You know, he's got a different kind of a country. He doesn't have the sea,
11:37so he can't have ships coming in with energy. He's got a big pipe coming in from Russia.
11:42They've had it for a long time. It's a different situation he's got.
11:45So would you consider some financial assistance there?
11:48He's really gotten right is the immigration, because he allows nobody in his country. And
11:53Poland has done a very good job in that respect, too. But most European nations, they're decaying.
12:03They're decaying.
12:04You can imagine some leaders in Europe are a little freaked out by what your posture is.
12:11No, they should be freaked out by what they're doing to their countries. They're destroying
12:15their countries.
12:15Well, European Council President...
12:17And they're people I like. Look, they're people I like. I get along with them. You know
12:21that. But they can't let this happen. And it gets to a point where you can't really correct
12:27it. There'll be a point, and it's very close to that point.
12:30And what will that mean?
12:31It will mean that they're no longer going to be strong nations.
12:34Does that mean they won't be allies anymore?
12:36Or they'll be... Well, it depends, you know. It depends. They'll change their ideology,
12:39obviously, because the people coming in have a totally different ideology. But it's going
12:47to make them much weaker. They'll be much weaker, and they'll be much different.
12:50And what will that mean for our relationship with them?
12:52Look at your mayor of London. He's a disaster. He's a disaster. He's got a totally different
12:57ideology of what he's supposed to have. And he gets elected because so many people have
13:02come in. They vote for him now because, you know, it's like, it's one of those things.
13:06But I hate what's happened to London, and I hate what's happened to Paris. I hate when
13:11I see it.
13:13You know, sir, it's sometimes hard to tell when you say these things. Do you intend to
13:17send kind of a message of tough love to our allies, to push them to make reforms? Or
13:22do you think that many of them are just weak, and you don't really want to be allies with
13:26them?
13:26I think they're weak. But I also think that they want to be so politically correct. I
13:33think they don't know what to do. Europe doesn't know what to do. They don't know what to do
13:38on trade either. I mean, I look at a lot of the trade, you know, situation that's going
13:43on over there. It's a little bit dangerous. But Europe, they want to be politically correct.
13:50And it makes them weak. That's what makes them weak.
13:53It sounds like you want to see some pretty massive changes.
13:56Well, I think they should get the people out that came into the country illegally.
14:01I want to ask about NATO.
14:02You know, if you take a look at Sweden. So Sweden was known as the safest country in
14:06Europe, one of the safest countries in the world. Now it's known as a very unsafe, well,
14:10pretty unsafe country. It's not even believable. It's a whole different country. Sweden.
14:15Sweden most recently joined NATO. One of the things that the national security strategy says
14:20is that the U.S. should work toward ending the perception and preventing the reality
14:24of NATO as a perpetually expanding alliance. Are there countries in NATO that you think
14:30shouldn't be in the alliance? Well, I mean, there are countries that are difficult for NATO.
14:38Not that they shouldn't be. I think it's good to have them. Turkey's an example. Erdogan,
14:42he's a friend of mine. Whenever they have a problem with Erdogan, they ask me to call
14:46because they can't speak to him. He's a tough cookie. I actually like him a lot. I think
14:51actually, you know, he's built a strong country, strong military, but they have a hard time dealing
14:57with him and they ask me to call him. And I do call him and I always work it out with him. You know,
15:03he and I work it out right really quickly. We had some people that he released that were taken and
15:09gone through years and years of court cases and everything else. And I said, you know,
15:15you got to release him. And he did. He is, you know, very different than a lot of
15:20the other leaders, but they have a hard time with him. But, you know, they shouldn't really
15:26have a hard time. Should NATO stop accepting new members? Should NATO end where it is now?
15:32Well, you know, there aren't that many left when you get right down to it, right? There aren't that
15:36many left. It was always, long before Putin, it was an understanding that Ukraine would not
15:46be going into NATO. This was long before Putin, in all fairness. And now they pushed, you know,
15:52when Zelensky first went in and first met Putin, he said, I want two things. I want Crimea back
15:57and we're going to be a member of NATO. He didn't say it in a very nice way either. He's a great
16:04salesman. I call him P.T. Barnum. You know who P.T. Barnum was, right? I do. One of the greatest
16:09on Earth. He can sell any product at any time. That was his expression. I can sell any product
16:14at any time. It was true. He said, it doesn't matter whether it works or not. But he's P.T.
16:19Barnum. You know, he got Crooked Joe Biden to give him $350 billion. And look what it got.
16:27Got him. About 25% of his country is missing. And in all fairness to Biden, Obama gave away Crimea.
16:36Right. That all happened in 2014.
16:38Obama. Because Crimea was the heart. You know, I'm a real estate person at heart, right?
16:43I'm very good at real estate. And when I looked, every time I look at that map, I said, oh,
16:48this Crimea is so beautiful. Wow. It's surrounded on four sides by ocean.
16:53It's only got a little piece of land to get to, you know, to the main, well, the main. I mean,
17:00Crimea is massive. But it connects the part of Ukraine that we talk about now.
17:06Right.
17:06Through a small little jetty. It's four sides of ocean in the warmest part. It's got the best weather,
17:14the best everything. And I know you are Ukrainian. And you know Ukraine very well. And
17:21Obama forced them to give up Crimea. That was a, I remember what had happened, but I wasn't involved
17:29like I am now, you know, to the knowledge that I have now. I have great knowledge of Ukraine now. I
17:33have great knowledge of many countries.
17:34Really, this conflict began back in 2014. People forget long before the invasion of a few years ago.
17:41Well, you know when this conflict really began, though, it was simmering for years. But
17:46when Obama gave up Crimea, that was a big thing. I do want to ask. Do you agree with that? That was
17:53a big piece to give up. You are of Ukrainian descent. That was a major, I mean, that was,
17:58I remember, you know, when I first moved to the United States, a lot of people didn't know what
18:03Ukraine even was. And it was in 2014 that people suddenly started to realize how significant
18:09geopolitically. That area really is. No, I just say, from the standpoint of beauty, weather,
18:15everything, Crimea is the warmest. It's just got such great potential. And Obama forced them.
18:24Obama did this. This is not Biden. Well, maybe he was involved, but I doubt he probably didn't know
18:28too much then either. He was never the brightest bulb. But you know, Obama gave away. He made them
18:34give it away. Well, I do think your approach to Europe is so different than any of your predecessors.
18:39I just want to see a strong Europe. And this national security strategy, I mean,
18:43says a lot about the changes that you want. No, but you have to understand. Here's my
18:47approach to Europe. I want to see a strong Europe. When they allow millions of people to pour into
18:53their countries, many of these people are committing tremendous crimes. And again, look at Sweden. I'm not
18:58knocking Sweden. I love Sweden. I love the people of Sweden. But they go from a crime,
19:04free country to a country that has a lot of crime. Now, look at Germany. Germany was crime free.
19:14And Angela made two big mistakes, immigration and energy. But those two are beauties.
19:21Well, one country that is pleased with the change in strategy from the United States is Russia. A
19:28Kremlin spokesperson called the strategy document a, quote, positive step and said the adjustments
19:33they're seeing are, quote, largely consistent with Moscow's vision. Do you think that's a good
19:38thing? Well, I think he'd like to see a weak Europe. And so, you know, to be honest with you,
19:45he's getting that. That has nothing to do with me. But he thinks the changes that you're making and
19:49what you laid out in your vision for Europe is what Moscow wants to see. I have no vision for Europe.
19:55All I want to see is a strong Europe. Look, I have a vision for the United States, America first.
20:00It's make America great again. I do explain to Europe because I think, you know, I'm supposed to
20:06be a very smart person. I can. I have eyes. I have ears. I have knowledge. I have vast knowledge. I see
20:15what's happening. I get reports that you will never see. And I think it's horrible what's happening to
20:20Europe. I think it's endangering Europe as we know it. Europe could be a whole different place.
20:26Your impact. And I think the European people should do something about it.
20:31Your impact does stretch far beyond Europe. I want to talk about another area where
20:35you're making your mark, which is in Venezuela. You've said that Nicolas Maduro's days are numbered
20:41and that the U.S. could soon strike Venezuelan territory. Could we see American troops on the
20:46ground in Venezuela? I don't comment on that. I wouldn't say that one way. The other,
20:50I can say this, that he sent us millions of people, many from prisons, many drug dealers,
20:58drug lords, mental institution, people in mental institutions. He sent them into our country where
21:05we have a where we had a very stupid president. You know that Biden's a low IQ person, especially
21:11nowadays. I mean, he was low IQ 30 years ago, but he was especially low IQ now. And what he did to
21:19our country is not good. Tren de Aragua, the gangs, one of the meanest gangs in the world.
21:24You've locked down the border now. No, no. He sent a lot of these people. He also
21:27sends in a lot of drugs. So we'll see how it all works out. But I can't talk about strategy.
21:32So how far would you go to take Maduro out of office?
21:36I don't want to say that, but... But you want to see him out?
21:39His days are numbered.
21:43Can you rule out an American ground invasion?
21:46I don't want to rule in or out. I don't talk about it. Why would I talk to you,
21:50an extremely unfriendly publication, if you want to call it Politico, that got $8 million from Obama
21:57to keep it afloat. Why would I do that? Why would I talk about that to Politico? I mean,
22:02I'm doing this because you picked me as a man for you. I'm asking for transparency for their
22:07American people because a lot of folks are... Well, people are wondering what is...
22:10I am the most transparent politician, maybe in the world.
22:14A lot of folks are wondering what our goals are in Venezuela.
22:17Sure, but I don't want to talk to you about military strategy.
22:20Well, may I ask then, what is your goal in Venezuela? What do you want to see with the
22:25actions that you're taking?
22:26Well, one goal is I want the people of Venezuela to be treated well. I want the people of Venezuela,
22:32many of whom live in the United States, to be respected. I mean, they were tremendous to me.
22:39They voted for me 94% or something. I mean, it's incredible. I own a big project, Doral. It's a
22:45great place, Doral Country Club.
22:46In there?
22:47Yeah. And it's a very large place, beautiful place, right in the middle of, they call it Little Venezuela.
22:53And I got to know the Venezuelan people very well because of that. I've owned it for a long time.
22:59And they're unbelievable people. The area is such a successful area. Everybody is successful. It's
23:04amazing. They say if a house is for sale for more than three days, there's something wrong.
23:09I mean, a house, if somebody wants to sell the house, they sell it in just a matter of moments.
23:14People love the area. And I got to know the people well. They're incredible people.
23:19And they were treated horribly by Maduro.
23:21And are those the kind of immigrants that you do want to see in America?
23:26Well, they certainly contribute. Yeah, I want to see people. Yeah, I want to see people that
23:30contribute. I don't want to see Somalia. I don't want to see a woman that, you know,
23:35marries her brother to get in and then becomes a congressman, does nothing but complain. All she
23:40does is complain, complain, complain. And yet her country is a mess. You know, it's one of the worst in
23:46the world. Let her go back, fix up her own country. So no, Somalia. And I was right about it. You know,
23:53I started complaining about Somalia long before the scandal. The horrible, the horrible things
24:01they're doing to Minnesota. It's incredible. They have an incompetent governor there, too.
24:05The Democrats are running some bad ships. Speaking of ships, I do want to talk about
24:11the boat strikes. The defense secretary, should he testify, Pete Hegseth, under oath before Congress
24:18about that controversial second strike on the alleged drug boat October? I don't care if he does. He can,
24:24if he wants. I don't care. Do you think he should?
24:26I don't care. I would say do it if you want. He's doing a great job.
24:31Have you watched the video? He was stopping. I watch everything. Yeah. I watch everything. I
24:37see a lot of things. And do you believe that that second strike was necessary?
24:42Well, it looked like they were trying to turn back over the boat. But I don't get involved in
24:46that. That's up to them. The admiral that did that is a highly respected, as you know, a highly
24:52respected man. And we save 25,000 people every time we knock out a boat. On average,
24:58they kill 25,000 Americans. So, you know, I don't like doing that. But the drugs coming in through
25:07the sea are down to, they're down by 92%. And I'm trying to figure out the 8%. Who are they?
25:14Nobody wants to drive boats to America loaded up with drugs anymore. And we're going to hit them
25:19on land very soon, too. Almost all the illicit fentanyl in the United States is actually
25:23produced in Mexico using precursor chemicals from China, according to the DEA. And Venezuela
25:29isn't a significant source or transit country for fentanyl. It barely appears on the DEA's
25:35trafficking assessments. Well, they do send lots of drugs. Those boats come in
25:39largely from Venezuela. So I would say that's a significant. And you can see the drugs. You
25:43can see these bags all over the boat. I mean, just bags and bags and bags.
25:47If it's about drugs, would you consider... But let me tell you what they do do.
25:50They send really, really bad people into our country. And they've done it better than anybody
25:56else. They emptied their prisons into our country. And these prisons are seriously tough.
26:01They entered... All of their prisons have been emptied into the United States of America.
26:07Murderers. 11,888 murderers.
26:10So is this about making sure Maduro sees justice, then?
26:1311,888 murderers were entered into our country. And stupid Joe took all those people. And now we're
26:21getting them out. We're finding them. We found a lot of them. And we're getting them out or we're
26:25putting them in jail. Some are so dangerous and so bad that we don't want to put them back to their
26:30country because they'll find a way to get back in. But these are stone cold murderers. But every time
26:36we knock out a boat, we save 25,000 American lives. So would you consider doing something
26:41similar with Mexico and Colombia that are even more responsible for fentanyl trafficking?
26:45Yeah, I would. Sure, I would.
26:47You pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez and let him out of prison,
26:51even though he was convicted in a massive international drug trafficking scheme.
26:56How is that zero tolerance on drug trafficking?
26:58Well, I don't know him. And I know very little about him other than
27:02people said it was like a Obama-Biden type setup where he was set up. He was the president of the
27:09country. The country deals in drugs like probably you could say that about every country. And because
27:14he was the president, they gave him like 45 years in prison. And there are many people fighting for
27:18Honduras, very good people that I know. And they think he was treated horribly. And they asked me to
27:23do it. And I said, I'll do it.
27:24Do you think that could send the wrong message to drug dealers?
27:26Well, look, I think when you weaponize government, they've weaponized their government just like
27:32they did over here. I'm one of the people that survived. But they weaponized the government. We
27:36had the most weaponized government. Our election was rigged. They went after me. I was impeached twice.
27:42I was indicted. They indicted me. I came out good. Here we are in the White House. Things are looking
27:47nice. But they were vicious. And they are vicious. They're sick people.
27:53We've talked a lot about foreign policy. You've spent a ton of your first year focused on those
27:58conflicts around the world. And that has led to some concerns, even from your own supporters,
28:03that there hasn't been enough focus on some of the issues here at home. I know that this week,
28:07you're going back out on the trail, giving me flashbacks of covering your rallies here.
28:13You're hitting the road to talk about the economy. I wonder, sir, what grade would you give
28:18your economy right now? Before I answer that, let me just tell you something. I've watched stupid
28:24people like Marjorie Trader Greene, or some people call her Taylor Greene, some people call her Taylor
28:32Brown, because Greene sometimes turns to brown, which isn't nice. But I've watched her say that
28:39he spends too much time on foreign. Well, by doing that, first of all, it doesn't take a lot of time.
28:46Uh, I made one trip. I brought back trillions of dollars on that one trip. I stopped in Japan.
28:53I stopped in South Korea. I met with President Xi and ended what could have been a big problem.
28:56You went to the Middle East. I was on that trip with you.
28:58Went to the Middle East. I brought back, uh, three trillion dollars from the Middle East.
29:03I sold many Boeing airplanes on that trip, like 300. Uh, when I go on a trip, I only have one place in
29:12mind. It's the United States. So when, you know, people with low IQs like Marjorie Trader Greene,
29:17she's a low IQ person. When she says it's too, but she was a loyal person until I wasn't able to
29:24answer her phone calls because I'm just too busy to answer people's phone calls. You can't call me
29:27three times a day. And it's just, you know, not appropriate when I have, you know, over 200 congressmen,
29:3453 senators, 212 countries, you know, all of these people are calling and a family.
29:41Actually, the family suffers. It's sort of for me to call back the family. Um, but when you think
29:47of what I've done, remember, uh, rare earth and the problem with magnets and all of these things,
29:52it was going to shut down the whole world. I worked it out with President Xi. We have good
29:56relationship. I worked it out with President Xi. Very favorable to the United States.
29:59Well, so that does come back to the economy in the U.S., right?
30:01You made a statement, though, that I devote too much time to outside of the United States.
30:07I've made a fortune for the United States by focusing on things outside.
30:11To be clear, that's not my statement. That's just what some, some of your supporters and some
30:14others have said. Well, then, you know, I can't imagine they're supporters because
30:19I've made a fortune and spent very little time. All of my time is spent here. Most of my time is
30:24spent here. But when I do go outside, it's only going outside for here. For instance, settling and
30:30solving the problem with China, that has a huge effect in the United States. Making deals with
30:36Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, all of these countries, you're talking about trillions and
30:43trillions of dollars. So I could, I guess I could say, let's not deal with anybody. We wouldn't have
30:49much of a country. We wouldn't have much of an economy. We make a lot of money with these countries.
30:54Now, in the past, these countries all ripped us off. If you go back during Biden, if you go back
31:01during Obama, they were ripping us off like nobody's, no country's ever been ripped off.
31:06That's why we owe 38 trillion dollars. I mean, we owe it for a reason. But just remember,
31:14when I had, when we had a problem with China very recently, I was able to work that out. You don't work
31:19that out by not talking to people, by, you know, not answering, with the magnets, with the rare
31:23earth. It was a big problem. And you're looking to have an impact here back home.
31:26Well, no, no. Impact, we would have been shut down. China would have been shut down. The whole
31:31world would have been shut down. So wait a minute. So some people would say, don't focus on anything
31:37outside of our border. I like that too. But I've made trillions and trillions of dollars and
31:45solved problems and solved wars. Do you know, most of the wars that I solved were solved sitting
31:51behind the Oval Office desk on a telephone. I think that those are worthy phone calls.
31:57Even if they didn't impact us to save millions of lives from another country, and if I can do that
32:01easily because I have an ability, are pretty good. But I do want to talk about the economy,
32:06sir, here at home. And I wonder what grade you would give. A plus. A plus. A plus, plus, plus,
32:12plus. Well, it's interesting because I talked to a supporter of yours. Her name is Melanie from
32:17Westmoreland County, PA. And she loves you. She gave you overall an A plus, plus grade. But
32:27here's what she said about the economy. She said, quote, groceries, utility, insurance,
32:31and the basic cost of running small business keep rising faster than wages. She also says that not
32:38enough is being done. Mr. President, this is one of your supporters. Okay, good.
32:42And I love her because you said I got an A plus on everything, I guess. But she's still worried
32:48about the economy. No, no. But what you have to understand, the word affordability. I inherited
32:54a mess. I inherited a total mess. Prices were at an all-time high when I came in. Prices are coming
33:00down substantially. Look at energy. You and I discussed before the interview, energy has come
33:06down incredibly. When energy comes down, everything, because it's so much bigger than any other subject.
33:10But energy has come down incredibly. Prices are all coming down. It's been 10 months. It's amazing
33:18what we've done. If you think of gasoline a gallon, they had it at $4.50, almost $5. You go to some of
33:25the states, you had it at $6. We hit three states two days ago, $1.99 a gallon. When that happens,
33:35everything comes down. Now, everything is coming down with beef. I've just opened that up where
33:40beef is going to start coming down pretty substantially. Would you consider more carve-outs
33:43on other goods that Americans find too expensive? Well, some carve-outs, you mean from tariffs? From
33:48tariffs, yeah. Like coffee, like bananas. Yeah, sure. And I've done that already with coffee.
33:53They're very small carve-outs. It's not a big deal. But let me tell you about the real economy.
33:57We've got $18 trillion coming into our country. Biden had less than a trillion for four years,
34:04and he was heading south. Our country was falling apart. $18 trillion because of tariffs. $18
34:11trillion is coming into our country. I think because of tariffs and November 5th election,
34:15if you want to know the truth. So would you rule out reducing tariffs on any more goods?
34:19On some. I mean, somehow increase tariffs. Because you know what happens is, because of tariffs,
34:25all of the car companies are coming back. You know, we lost 58 percent of the automobile business.
34:30We had a monopoly on the world. We had everything. And because we had presidents, they either weren't
34:37smart or didn't have business sense, or their people didn't do a good job. They could have kept
34:41that. We could have kept the chip market. We had 100 percent of the chip market, Intel, all of these guys.
34:47You know, there's a thing. They came in to see me, Intel. They needed something to be done by the
34:52government. I said, I'm going to do it, but I think you have to give us 10 percent of your company.
34:56You know what happened? We made $40 billion on that deal. The price went through the roof.
35:01The United States, in about 10 minutes, I made $40 billion. Nobody talks about that.
35:07I want to ask about interest rates, because a lot of Americans agree with you that they're too high.
35:11You're going to pick a new Fed chair soon. Is it a litmus test that the new chair lower
35:15interest rates immediately? Yes. Well, this guy, too. I think he's a combination of
35:23not a smart person and doesn't like Trump. But the reason he doesn't like Trump is because I hit him
35:30hard because he's doing a bad job. So you talk to your potential candidates?
35:33We're fighting through interest rates. Look, he's a negative. But this country is doing so well. Again,
35:38we have $18 trillion being invested. Car companies are moving back that left us years ago. AI is
35:46coming in at levels never seen before. Factories are opening up all over the country. $18 trillion of
35:53investment in the United States. Again, with Biden, we would have lost $10 trillion, okay?
36:01$18 trillion. That's a record. You know who has the second record? China. China had $2 trillion. That's
36:06a lot, $2 trillion. We have $18 trillion. And that ultimately, you know what it reduces itself to?
36:13Jobs. You have jobs like you've never seen in the United States. And prices are coming down.
36:20Just to talk about affordability. The Democrats love to say affordability, but then they never talk
36:25about it. They're the ones that gave us the high prices. I'm the one that's bringing them down.
36:29Well, one of the biggest issues on affordability right now is health care. And Obamacare subsidies
36:34are set to expire in a couple of weeks, which will lead to higher prices for millions of Americans.
36:39I do wonder, Mr. President. You said the word, Obamacare. Obamacare was conceived by Barack Hussein
36:46Obama, who knew nothing about health care. But we're in the situation we're in now where
36:50those subsidies will expire. So I wonder, is letting those subsidies expire acceptable to you? And
36:55should Americans? What I want on health care is very simple. Obamacare was set up for insurance
37:01companies to become rich, okay? That was why they, in my opinion, I think the Democrats did it for that
37:06reason. Do you know that insurance company stocks have gone up 16, 17, 1800 percent over a short period
37:13of time? They've been paid trillions, not billions, trillions of dollars. And what I'm saying is very
37:20simple. I don't want to pay them anything. No money for the insurance companies. Sorry,
37:24fellas. I know them all. No money for the insurance companies. I want to pay the money
37:28directly to the people and let the people get their own health care. But you know who's fighting me in
37:33that? The Democrats. But in the meantime, I mean, two weeks, Mr. President, people will see those
37:39premiums go up. So will you tell Congress to extend those Obamacare subsidies while you
37:45work out another deal? I don't know. I'm going to have to see. I'd like to get better health care. I'd
37:48like to have people buy their own health care, get much better health care. And what I want to do,
37:54for example, I want to give the money to the people, not to the insurance companies.
37:57So right now people are buying their holiday presents. They're planning for...
38:01Look, don't be dramatic. No, no.
38:03Don't be dramatic. They're planning their budgets for next year, Mr. President.
38:06I know. And what I want to do is help them. So will the premiums go up?
38:09I'm giving them money. I want to give the money to the people to buy their own health care.
38:15That's a good thing, not a bad thing. The Democrats don't want to do that.
38:19They want the insurance companies to continue to make a fortune.
38:23The Democrats are owned by the insurance companies. They want the insurance companies to get this
38:29trillions of dollars. We spent... We spent trillions of dollars goes to the insurance companies.
38:34I want that money to go to the people and let the people go out and buy their own health care.
38:40It works like magic. But you know who doesn't want it? The Democrats, because they're corrupt
38:45people, because they're totally owned and bought by the insurance companies.
38:49So at this point, most likely, premiums will go up and you will find another plan?
38:54Well, your premiums could go down if you did what I want to do.
38:57That's going to take time, sir.
38:59Ready? I want to give... I want to give the people better health insurance for less money.
39:05The people will get the money and they're going to buy the health insurance that they want.
39:09I want to talk about one last really important issue.
39:11You know that works really well, right? And you know the Democrats don't want to do it
39:15because they want the insurance companies to make all the money.
39:17Immigration, sir, critical to your agenda. I want to ask about what the Pope has said,
39:25which is he has called your immigration actions inhumane. Do you take that seriously?
39:30I haven't seen that. I mean, I mean, maybe he has. I mean, he also didn't like the wall.
39:37You know, they didn't like the wall. You know, I built a wall that stopped people from flooding.
39:43And I didn't put up the wall. I built the wall wall. Nobody talks about that. You know, it's interesting.
39:50Two years ago, a year ago, under Biden, this country was out of control. Millions of people pouring,
39:55through totally unchecked, totally unvetted. And now we have nobody coming in. We have them coming
40:00in only legally. They have to go through a legal process. Nobody ever talks about that anymore.
40:04They should talk about that. But I haven't heard any statements from the Pope. I'm sure he's a lovely
40:08man. His brother's a lovely man. You know, his brother, you know, his brother is serious MAGA,
40:14lives in Florida. So will you meet with the other brother, with the Pope?
40:16I already met with the brother. But with the Pope, will you meet with him or speak with him?
40:20Why not? One more question on immigration. The Supreme Court is going to hear a case that could
40:25redefine who is here legally in the United States. I'm talking about the birthright citizenship case.
40:31If the court sides with you and ends birthright citizenship, are you going to try to take away
40:35citizenship from people who already have it? Honestly, I haven't thought of that. But I will
40:40tell you this. The case is very interesting because that case was meant for the babies of slaves. And if you
40:47look at the dates on the case, it was exactly having to do with the Civil War. That case was
40:52not meant for some rich person coming from another country dropping, putting a foot in our country,
40:58and all of a sudden their whole family becomes, you know, United States citizens. That case is all about
41:06slaves, the babies of slaves. And it was a good reason for doing it. And that's all it was about.
41:13And people now are understanding it. It's been explained to them. And I think the court understands
41:17it too. That would be a devastating decision if we lose that case. Because our country cannot afford
41:25to house tens of millions of people that came in through birthright citizenship.
41:32When that happened, that was meant for the babies of slaves. And if you look at the
41:39exact dates that it was passed, it all had to do with the Civil War and the ending of the Civil War.
41:46It's that little period of time. And people now are starting to understand it.
41:50Do you want to see one of the justices on the Supreme Court retire so you can put in one more
41:54before the end of your term? Well, the Democrats want to flood the court.
41:58You know, Thomas is 77. Samuel Alito is 75. Do you want one more on there?
42:03Well, I hope they stay because I think they're fantastic. Okay. Both of those men are fantastic.
42:07Before I let you go, I want to ask. I will say this. The Democrats want to pack the court. They
42:13want to have 21 justices. That would be a terrible thing for this country.
42:18The future of the Republican Party. Look, I watched you on all of your campaigns pull together,
42:24especially in this last one, an unprecedented coalition to win the presidency. You brought in
42:29so many new voters to the Republican Party. You chipped away at some of the core bases of the
42:33Democratic Party. Is there anyone else in the GOP that can energize the coalition the way you did?
42:39I hope so. I don't know. You never know until they're tested. You know, it's like you jump in
42:46the water. You can swim again. Some people can swim and some people can't. You never know. You have
42:51to see. I think we have a very good bench. I must tell we have a lot of good people. We have a great
42:55cabinet. I have a really great cabinet. Better than my first cabinet. I had some very good people
43:00in my first cabinet. But this cabinet, you know, I have much more experience. When I first came
43:04to Washington, it was interesting. I didn't know anything about any of the people. I was in a
43:09different, I was a very successful guy from New York City, real estate and other things. I mean,
43:15I had a great show and a lot of things, but basically real estate. And by the way,
43:20I'm fixing up the White House, making it beautiful. I'm doing a great ballroom that they've
43:24tried to do for 150 years and all of that stuff. But you never know. Your question is such an
43:30interesting question. You never really know until they get tested. I hope so, Mr. President,
43:36thank you so much for joining the conversation. Really appreciate your time. Thank you very much.
43:40Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you, sir.
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