Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / BOMBSHELLS from Trump's TIME interview From construction projects to the insurrection act

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BOMBSHELLS from Trump's TIME interview From construction projects to the insurrection act · DEEP INSIGHT

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Joining us now, senior political correspondent for Time, Eric Cordelessa.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: His new interview of President Trump just posted online moments ago.
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  Speaker 2: Eric, good morning.
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  Speaker 1: What's your headline out of the conversation?
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  Speaker 3: Well, you know, it was a fascinating conversation with President
• 0:14
  Speaker 3: Trump where It really struck me on a larger thematic
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  Speaker 3: note that he spoke so much about particularly the construction projects,
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  Speaker 3: the ballroom, the new helipad, the cosmetic changes he's making
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  Speaker 3: to the White House. And it seems like he's spending
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  Speaker 3: a lot of his time and energy focusing on things
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  Speaker 3: like that he can control, you know, marble, granite, ballrooms,
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  Speaker 3: you know, the kind of doorknobs that he installs on
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  Speaker 3: the White House, as all of these major factors around
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  Speaker 3: his presidency, these forces of the war in Iran, the economy,
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  Speaker 3: the midterms that are looming, are increasingly spinning beyond his control.
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  Speaker 3: And he's in, you know, perhaps the most precarious position
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  Speaker 3: of his presidency to date.
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  Speaker 2: Eric, what was his mood when you asked him about
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  Speaker 2: the midterms specifically? Because it's kind of hard to get
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  Speaker 2: a read sometimes. Does he not care? Does he care,
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  Speaker 2: but he doesn't want to spend his own money enough
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  Speaker 2: or travel around the country? What did you think he's
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  Speaker 2: really thinking about the midterms and the implications of the
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  Speaker 2: Democrats taking either or both houses?
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  Speaker 3: He didn't seem too worried about the midterms. I can
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  Speaker 3: tell you he is planning a last minute sort of
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  Speaker 3: sprint around the country over the next four to five weeks.
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  Speaker 3: He's going to be visiting 32 of what, you know,
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  Speaker 3: his political team regards as competitive house districts where he
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  Speaker 3: hosts MAGA style rallies to try and lure turnout among
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  Speaker 3: his most fervent supporters. He's planning to spend tens of
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  Speaker 3: millions out of his political operation, MAGA Inc. He has
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  Speaker 3: a $ 400 million war chest that he's been reluctant to
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  Speaker 3: spend a lot of money out of to date. He
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  Speaker 3: recently committed to and gave some money to Ken Paxton
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  Speaker 3: and others who are in trouble. But, you know, my
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  Speaker 3: understanding of people close to him is that he does
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  Speaker 3: want to preserve some of those funds to keep his
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  Speaker 3: sort of financial arsenal in place for when he's no
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  Speaker 3: longer president as a way to continue to exert control
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  Speaker 3: over the GOP in the years to come.
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  Speaker 4: So, Eric, perhaps some of the president's lack of apparent
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  Speaker 4: concern over the midterms is because he has an October
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  Speaker 4: surprise up his sleeve. Tell us what he told you, please,
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  Speaker 4: about not ruling out declaring a national emergency or potentially
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  Speaker 4: trying to invoke the Insurrection Act around the midterms.
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  Speaker 3: Well, you know, I asked, you know, whether he was
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  Speaker 3: going to do that. There, of course, been speculation around that.
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  Speaker 3: Some of his allies had been encouraging him to do that.
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  Speaker 3: And he said he might and that he wasn't going
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  Speaker 3: to rule it out. He did say, interestingly enough, that
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  Speaker 3: he did not have plans to deploy ICE agents to
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  Speaker 3: polling places, which is another idea that some MAGA hardliners
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  Speaker 3: have been pushing, which, you know, many people, of course,
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  Speaker 3: worry would intimidate voters otherwise. Going into the election. But,
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  Speaker 3: you know, over and over again, President Trump wouldn't rule
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  Speaker 3: out various exercises of executive power, whether it's around the
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  Speaker 3: election on declaring a national emergency, invoking the insurrection act.
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  Speaker 3: He also would not rule out the possibility of bringing
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  Speaker 3: in wrecking balls to Washington to demolish the Kennedy Center
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  Speaker 3: if he's not able to get his way and approvals
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  Speaker 3: to remake it to his liking. And he believes that
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  Speaker 3: if he's going to pour money and time and resources
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  Speaker 3: into it, he should be able to get the recognition
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  Speaker 3: that he wants, which is to have his name on
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  Speaker 3: it and to have the sort of physical evidence of
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  Speaker 3: his presidency outlast policies that may not. Eric, did he
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  Speaker 3: speak at all.
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  Speaker 5: About the issue of this ongoing war with Iran and
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  Speaker 5: the negotiators, Witkoff and Kushner, and the fact that nothing
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  Speaker 5: seems to ever get done here? He did.
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  Speaker 3: He said that the only reason it is still going
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  Speaker 3: on past his initial timeline, which was six to eight weeks,
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  Speaker 3: is because he wanted to go further. Speaking to both
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  Speaker 3: President Trump and others close around him, they're putting a
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  Speaker 3: lot of weight on what they're calling economic strangulation issues.
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  Speaker 3: of the Iranians that they believe will be the kind
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  Speaker 3: of the last step to bring them to the table
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  Speaker 3: to make some kind of deal. But he also said
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  Speaker 3: that he was not in any rush. He also acknowledged
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  Speaker 3: the possibility that he might ramp up bombing after the
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  Speaker 3: midterms in the interview. You know, I know talking to
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  Speaker 3: people who work with him behind the scenes that there's
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  Speaker 3: a sense of urgency. They recognize and they say that
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  Speaker 3: he recognizes that. in ending the war, particularly because of
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  Speaker 3: the domestic political ramifications that it has caused him and
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  Speaker 3: the fact that it was sort of a huge galvanizing
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  Speaker 3: impetus for the coalition fraying in various ways. You're seeing
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  Speaker 3: candidates distance themselves from the war and Iran Republican candidates. So,
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  Speaker 3: you know, they're they're eager to come to a deal
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  Speaker 3: and get it to come to an end. But as
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  Speaker 3: of now, there's nothing in hand.
• 5:00
  Speaker 6: The exclusive new interview is available to read online now
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  Speaker 6: and in the new issue hitting shelves on October 16th.
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  Speaker 6: Senior political correspondent for Time, Eric Cordelessa, thank you very much.
• 5:15
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• 5:17
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  Speaker 5: Thanks.