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President Donald Trump The 2025 60 Minutes Interview · Gil I Am

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: It's been five years since President Trump appeared for an
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: interview on Sixty Minutes. A lot has happened since then,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: not least of which was his political comeback and triumphant
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: return to the White House. On Friday, hours after he
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: touched down from his whirlwind trip to Asia, mister Trump
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: agreed to sit down with us for a wide ranging conversation.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: It was exactly one year to the day since he
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: sued Paramount, the parent company of CBS, alleging that Sixty
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Minutes had deceptively edited an interview with his opponent, Kamala Harris.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Paramount settled that lawsuit. The settlement did not include an
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: apology or admission of wrongdoing. In our nearly ninety minute conversation,
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: this past week, we spoke with mister Trump about the
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: country and the world. The story will continue in a moment.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: We met with the President at mar A Lago, his
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: private club in Florida. Of the thirty first day of
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: the government shutdown. We are now approaching the longest shutdown
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: in American history. Democrats fault under your presidency. We're talking
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: about more than a million federal workers who are not
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: getting a paycheck, including our air traffic controllers. You see
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: there's traffic snarls out at the airports now. This weekend,
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: food aid for more than forty two million Americans is
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: set to expire. What are you doing as president to
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: end the shutdown.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: All we're doing is we keep voting. I mean, the
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: Republicans are voting almost unanimously to end it, and the
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: Democrats keep voting against ending it. You know, they've never
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: had this. This has happened like eighteen times before that.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: Democrats always voted for an extension, always saying, give us
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: an extension, we'll work it out. They've lost it way,
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: they become crazed lunatics. And all they have to do,
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: Nora is say let's vote.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: So Senate Democrats say they will vote to reopen the government.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: Republicans agree to extend subsidies for over twenty million Americans
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: who use Obamacare for their health insurance.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: Obamacare is terrible. It's bad health care at far too
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: high a price. We should fix that. We should fix it,
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: and we can fix it with the Democrats. All they
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: have to do is let the country open and we'll
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: fix it. They have to know that the country and
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: I'll sit down with the Democrats and we'll fix it,
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: but they have to let the country and you know
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: what they want to do. All they have to do
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: is raise five hands. We don't need all of them.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: But so you're saying your plan is to tell the
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: Democrats to vote to end the shutdown.
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: Correct, very simple, and that you.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: Will put forward a health care plan.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: No, we will work on fixing the bad health care
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: that we have right now. We have terrible health care
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: at too expensive for the people, not for the government,
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: for the people.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: But with all respect, you've been talking about fixing the healthcare.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: Twenty because of the Democrats, but.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Since twenty fifteen you've said you.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: Talking about it for a long time. We almost did it.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: We were one vote short. We would have had great
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: health care.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: That was in twenty seventeen when Senate Republicans failed by
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: one vote or to partially repeal Obamacare.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: We can make it much less expensive for people and
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: give them much better healthcare. Where is the willing to
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: work with the Democrats on it? The problem is they
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: want to give money to prisoners, to drug dealers, to
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: all these millions of people that were allowed to come
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: in with an open border from Biden, and nobody can
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: do that can I just one Republican would ever do that.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: My understanding is if those healthcare subsidies are not extended,
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: premiums will double for many of the people that are
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: on it. I was looking into it. Three quarters of
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: these people will see their healthcare premiums double. Live in
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: states where you won in the last election. I mean,
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: even here in Florida has the highest number of residents
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: on Obamacare in the country.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: And I'm saying we can fix it. Nora.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: You have helped end these government shutdowns in the past,
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: but it came and you did it by bringing.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: You're good at it. I'm not going to do it,
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: but I'm not going to do it by excution. I'm
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: not going to do it by being extorted by the
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: Democrats who have lost their way. There's something wrong with
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: these people.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: So then what happens.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: Schumer is a basket case and he has nothing to lose.
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: He's become I just left Japan. He's become a Koma
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: Kazi pilot.
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: Sounds like it's not going to get solved.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: The shutdown, it's going to get Sofia, Oh, it's going
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: to get so we'll get it up. Eventually, they're going
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: to have to vote.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: You're saying the Democrats will capitulate.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: I think they have to, and if they don't vote,
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: that's their problem. Now I happen to agree with something else.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: I think we should do the nuclear option. This is
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: a totally different nuclear by the way, it's called ending
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: the filibuster.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: But to do that, he'd need send a majority leader,
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: John Thune to change Senate rules. Did you see John
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: Thune said today?
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: No, John doesn't. Well, John and a few other but
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: you know what, the Republicans have to get tougher if
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: we end the Philip so we can do exactly what
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: we want. We're not going to lose power. The theory is, oh,
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: then we'll do it, but then when they get into power,
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: someday they'll do it. That's true. But you know what,
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: So you think, Joe, you're here right now. No. I
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: like John Thone. I think it's terrific, but I disagree
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: with him on this point.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: He said today he wasn't going to do it.
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: Well, that's too bad.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: So far, the shutdown hasn't spooked the stock market, which
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: hit record highs this past week.
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: Perfect timing for your show, just hit an all time high.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: We're doing really well, can I ask you.
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: President on that point? Though, when the stock market is
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: doing well, that doesn't affect everybody, not everybody's invested in
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: the stock works.
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: It does.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: But there have been grocery price four.
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: Oh one case. People are four oh one case, the
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: four to oh one case are double what they were
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: a year ago.
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: But for people that don't have four to oh one
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: k's or invested in the stock market, but they've seen
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: their grocery prices go up inflation.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: Oh, you're wrong. They went up under Biden right now
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: they're going down. Other than beef, which we're working on,
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: which we can solve very quickly.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: On the economy, the signature part of your economic plan
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: is tariffs. The Supreme Court is going to hear arguments
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: this week on whether you have the authority to impose
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: these sweeping tariffs without congressional approval. The lower courts have
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: ruled against you.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: That's why it's in the Supreme Court right now, very
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: close rulings.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah, what happens to your economic plan at the Supreme
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: Court invalidates your tariffs.
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: I think our country will be immeasurably hurt. I think
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: our economy will go to hell. Look, because of tariffs.
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: We have the highest stock market we've ever had because
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: of tariffs four oh one case at the highest level,
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: and this is millions and millions of people that we've
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: ever had four oh one case. I think it's the
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: most important subject discussed by the Supreme Court in one
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: hundred years.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: I know your time is limited, so I do want
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: to make sure I get through more of these topics. Immigration.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: You campaigned on immigration. You largely won the election on
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: a promise to closed order, and you've succeeded on that.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: Legal crossings at the southern border are at a fifty
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: five year low. More recently, Americans have been watching videos
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: of ice tackling a young mother, tear gas being used
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: in a Chicago residential neighborhood, and the smashing of car windows.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: Have some of these raids gone too far?
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: No, I think they haven't gone far enough because we've
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: been held back by the judges, by the liberal judges
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: that were put in by Biden and by Obama.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: You're okay with those tactics.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because you have to get the people out. You know,
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: you have to look at the people. Many of them
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: are murderers, many of them are people that were thrown
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: out of their countries because they were, you know, criminals.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: Well, you promised in your campaign that you were going
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: to deport the worst of the worst rapists. Well that's
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: what A lot of the people that your administration has
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: arrested and deported aren't violent criminals. Landscapers, nannies, construction.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: Workers, landscapers. Now look, look the family of US landscapers
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: and ninetyed farmers more than anybody.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: Okay, is it your intent to deport people who do
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: not have a criminal record.
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: We have to start off with a policy, and the
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: policy has to be you came into the country illegally,
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: you're going to go out. However, you've also seen you're
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: going to go out. We're going to work with you,
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: and you're going to come back into our country legally.
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: When will you declare mission accomplished on immigration?
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: Well, it takes a long time because you know, probably
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: I say twenty five million people were let into our country.
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: A lot of people say it was ten million people.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: But whether it was ten or I believe I'm much
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: closer to the right number. Of the twenty five many
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: of them should not be here. But with cleaning up
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: our cities, you know, I campaigned on crime. But I've
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: done a much better job on crime than I thought.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: You know, the crime numbers are way down, even though
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: we have a lot more people in our country that
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: really shouldn't be here, and many of them are stone
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: cold hard criminals.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: The President has ordered the National Guard to five cities
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: Los Angeles, Washington, d C. Portland, Chicago, and Memphis. This
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: past Tuesday, while speaking to American troops in Japan, you
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: talked about US cities they're having trouble with crime, and
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: you said, if we need more than the National Guard,
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: we'll send more than the National Guard. What does that mean,
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: send more than the National Guard?
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: Well, if you had to send in the army, or
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: if you had to send in the Marines, I do
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: that at a heartbeat. You know, you have a thing
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: called the Insurrection Act. You know that, right? Do you
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: know that? I could use that immediately and no judge
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: can even challenge you on that. But I haven't chosen
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: to do it because I haven't felt we need it.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: So you're going to send the military into American cities.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: Well, if I wanted you, I could. If I want
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: to use the Insurrection Act. The Insurrection Act has been
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: used routinely by presidents, and if I needed it, that
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: would mean I could bring in the Army, the Marines,
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: I could bring in whoever I want. But I haven't
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: chosen to use it. I hope you give me credit
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: for that.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: I want to ask you about another matter. James Comey,
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: John Bolton, Letitia James were all recently indicted. A pattern
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: to these names. They're all public figures who have publicly
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: denounced you. Is it political retribute?
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: No? What you know? Who got indicted? The man you're
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: looking at. I got indicted, and I was innocent. And
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: here I am because I was able to beat all
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: of the nonsense that was thrown at me. And yet
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: when you go after a dirty cup like Comy or
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: a guy like Bolton, who I hear has I don't
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: know anything about it? I hear he took records all
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: over the place. Who knows. Letitia James is a terrible,
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: dishonest person.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: In my opinion, did you instruct the Department of Justice to.
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: Go and not in any way, shape or form. Now,
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: you don't have to instruct him because they were so dirty,
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: they were so crooked, they were so corrupt that the
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: honest people we have Pam Bondi's doing a very good job.
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: Cash Bettel's doing a very good job. The honest people
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: that we have go after him automatically.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: But in a true social post from September addressed to
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: Attorney General Pam Bondi, President Trump endorsed the idea that
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: former FBI director James Comy and New York Attorney General
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: Letitia James were quote guilty as hell, and wrote quote
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: justice must be served now. Five days later, James Comy
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: was indicted. He pled not guilty, and so did Letitia
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: James and President Trump's former national security advisor, John Bolton.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: Is this retribution?
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: I know what's the opposite. I think I've been very
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: mild mannered. You're looking at a man who was indicted
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: many times, and I had to beat the rap. Otherwise
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: I couldn't have run for president. They tried to get
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: me not to run for president by going after me
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: and by indicting me.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: So far this year, the President has pardoned or shortened
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: the sentences of more than sixteen hundred people. The latest
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: pardon was for a cryptocurrency tycoon who is known as CZ.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: The company CZ founded Binance, helped boost the profile of
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: the Trump family's crypto firm, World Liberty Financial. He pled
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: guilty in twenty twenty three to violating anti money laundering laws.
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: The government at the time said that CZ had caused
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: significant harm to US national security, essentially by allowing terrorist
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: groups like Hamas to move millions of dollars around. Why
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: did you pardon him?
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: Okay, are you ready? I don't know who he is.
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: I know he got a four month sentence or something
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: like that, and I heard it was a Biden witch hunt.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: In twenty twenty five, his crypto exchange Binance helped facilitate
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: a two billion dollar purchase of World Liberty Financial's stable coin,
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: and then you pardoned CZ. How do you address the
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: appearance of pay for play?
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: Well, here's the thing. I know nothing about it because
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: I'm too busy doing the other.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: But he can tell you that.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: I can only tell you this. My sons are into it.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: I'm glad they are because it's probably a great industry crypto.
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: I think it's good. You know, they're running a business.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: They're not in government because you.
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: World Liberty Financial has denied any involvement in the pardon.
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: With in local elections coming up tuesday, we asked the
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: President about the highly anticipated mayoral race that includes former
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Zoran Mandani Zorhan Mandanmi, thirty
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: four year old Democratic socialist.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: He's the fe communist, not socialist communist. He's far worse
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: than as session.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: Some people have compared him to a left wing version
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: of you, charismatic breaking the old rules. What do you
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: think about that?
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: Well, I think I'm a much better looking person than him.
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: Right, what if Mandami becomes mayor?
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: It's going to be hard for me as the president
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: to give a lot of money to New York because
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: if you have a communist running New York, all you're
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: doing is wasting the money you're sending there. So I
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: don't know that he's one, and I'm not a fan
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: of Cuomo one way or the other. But if it's
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: going to be between a bad Democrat and a communist,
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: I'm going to pick that bad Democrat all the time.
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: To be honest with.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: You, when we return the surprise announcement President Trump made
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: about testing nuclear weapons. When we sat down with President
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: Trump on Friday at Mara a Lago, he had just
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: returned from a high stakes meeting with China's President Shijin Ping,
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: which culminated with a temporary truce in the trade war
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: between the two countries. But before the meeting even began,
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: mister Trump made news, as he often does, with a
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: social media post. The story will continue in a moment.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: Less than an hour before your meeting with President Shei,
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: you posted on social media that you instructed the quote
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: Department of War to start testing our nuclear weapons immediately.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: What did you mean, Well, we have more nuclear weapons
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: than any of the country. I think we should do
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: something about denuclearization, and I did actually discuss that with
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: both President Putin and President she We have enough nuclear
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: weapons to blow up the world one hundred and fifty times.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: Russia has a lot of nuclear weapons, and China will
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: have a lot. They have some, they have quite a bit.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: But I don't need to test our nuclear waves.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: Well, because you have to see how they work. You know,
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: you do have to. And the reason I'm saying testing
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: is because Russia announced that they were going to be
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: doing a test. If you notice North Korea's testing constantly,
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: Other countries are testing. We're the only country that doesn't test.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: And I want to be I don't want to be
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: the only country that doesn't test.
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: Are you saying that, after more than thirty years, the
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: United States is going to start detonating nuclear weapons.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: I'm saying that we're going to test nuclear weapons like
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: other countries, do you.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: But the only country that's testing nuclear weapons is North Korea, China.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: Russia's testing nuclear weapon my understanding, and.
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: China's testing them too, You just don't know about it.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: That would be certainly very newsworthy. Minderstanding is what Russia
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: did recently was test essentially the delivery systems for nuclear weapons,
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: essentially missiles, which we can do that, but not with nuclear.
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: Russia's testing in China's testing, but they don't talk about it.
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: You know, we're a open society, we're different. We talk
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: about it. We have to talk about it because otherwise
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: you people are going to report. They don't have reporters
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: that are going to be writing about it. We do.
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: However, this week, the President's own nominee to lead Stratcom,
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: the admiral who would be in charge of nuclear weapons,
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: was asked about this very issue on Capitol Hill. He said,
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: neither China nor Russia we're conducting nuclear explosive tests. One
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: potential flash point with China. Probably the potential flash point
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: with China in the coming years is over the issue
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: of Taiwan. The Chinese military is encroaching on Taiwan's sea lanes,
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: its airspace, its cyberspace. I know you have said that
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: Xi Jinping wouldn't dare move militarily on Taiwan while you're
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: in office, But what if he does, would you order
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: US forces to defend Taiwan.
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: You'll find out if it happens. And he understands. The
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: answer to that, say, she never even came up yesterday
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: as a subject. He never brought it up. People were
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: a little surprised at that he never brought it up
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: because he understands it, and he understands it very well.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: Do you mind if I ask? When you say he understands,
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: why not communicate that publicly to the rest of us?
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: What does he understand?
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: Want to give away? I can't give away my secrets.
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: I don't want to be one of these guys that
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: tells you exactly what's going to happen. If something happened
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: on the other side knows, but I'm not somebody that
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: tells you everything because you're asking me a question. But
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: they understand what's going to happen. And he has openly said,
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: and as people have openly said it meetings, we would
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: never do anything while President Trump is president because they
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: know the consequences.
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: At the top of the agenda for President Trump and
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: President She was a one year trade deal that for
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: now averts the escalating tension between the two economic superpowers.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: We've already agreed to a lot of things.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: Mister Trump told us that in exchange for lower tariffs,
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: China agreed to sell the US it's valuable rare earth
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: minerals and to resume buying American agricultural products. This trade war, though,
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: was hurting Americans. I mean, are soybean farmers. China had
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: stopped buying the soybeans. China was withholding these rare earth
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: materials that you need for everything from smartphones to build submarines.
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: What was the crucial thing? I mean, how tough of
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: a negotiation crestiation.
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: It was a temporary hurt. It was a hurt because
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: I was taken in a lot of money from China.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: We were doing very well against China, and all of
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: a sudden they said, you know, we have to fight back,
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: and so they use their powers. The power they have
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: is rare earth because of the fact that they've been
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: accumulating it and really taking care of it for a
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: period of twenty five thirty years. Other countries haven't. They
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: used that against us, and we used other things against them.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: For instance, aeroplane parts. That's a big deal. They have
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: one hundred of Boeing airplanes. We wouldn't give them parts.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: We were both acting maybe a little bit irrationally, but
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: the big thing we had was tariff's. Ultimately, I said, look,
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: if you don't open up, then what we're going to
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: do is we're going to oppose one hundred percent tariff
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: over and above what you're already paying.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: Mister President, you just negotiate this one year trade deal
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: with China. But as you know, the Chinese, they think
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: in one hundred years. They played the long game, including
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: on our own soil.
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: We play the long game too.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: Our own intelligence agencies say. The Chinese have infiltrated parts
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: of the American power grid and their water systems. They
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: steal American intellectual property and American's personal information. They bought
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: American farmland. How big of a threat is China.
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: It's like everybody else. We're a threat to them too
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: many of the things that you say we do to them. Look,
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: this is a very competitive world, especially when it comes
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: to China and the US, and we're always watching them
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: and they're always watching us. In the meantime, I think
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: we get along very well, and I think it's I
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: think we can be bigger, better and stronger by working
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: with them as opposed to just knocking them out.
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: Who's tougher to deal with? Vladimir Putin or SESI in pain?
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: Both tough, both smart, both. Look, they're both very strong leaders.
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: These are people not to be toyed with. These are
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: people you have to take very serious. They're not They're
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: not walking in saying, oh is in it a beautiful day?
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: Look how beautiful the sun is shining? It's so nice.
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: These are serious people. These are people that are tough,
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: smart leaders.
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: And on that note, you talk about Ukraine in August,
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: I mean you rolled out the red carpet for Vladimir
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: Putin in Alaska, but there's been well.
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: I roll out the red carpet for everybody, but.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: There's been no big fire. Yes, because he.
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: Thinks because I inherited a country where he thinks he's winning,
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: that was a war that would have never happened if
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: I was president. So this war, but Norah, that was
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: Joe Biden's war, not my war. I inherited that stupid.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: Wood as the bloodiest land war in Europe since World
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: War II continues.
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: But I brought, I mean, just a little list of
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: look at this wars.
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: President Trump wanted to make sure we saw the list
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: of eight international conflicts he says he's been able to
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: end since returning to office, and you have branded yourself
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: the peace president.
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: Well, I think I did pretty good. I solved. Those
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: are eight of the nine wars I solved. You know
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: how I solved him? I said, in many cases, in
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: sixty percent, I said, if you don't stop fighting, I'm
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: putting tariffs on both of your countries and you're not
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: going to be able to do business.
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: Why isn't that working with Putin?
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: It is working with Putin. I think I did different
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: with him because we don't do very much business with Russia.
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: For one thing. You know, he's not like somebody that
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: buys a lot from us because of foolishness. And I
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: think he'd like to be I think he wants to
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: come in and he wants to trade with US, and
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: he wants to make a lot of money for Russia,
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: and I think that's.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: The commander in chief has directed the US military to
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: destroy at least nine vessels in the waters off Venezuela,
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: killing more than three dozen alleged drug smugglers. US lawmakers,
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: including at least four Republicans, have questioned the strike's legality.
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: In the meantime, f thirty five fighter jets, roughly ten
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: thousand US service members, and multiple warships are in the
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: Caribbean and now the USS Gerald Ford that is the
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: world's largest aircraft carrier on the way to the Caribbean.
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: Are we going to war against Venezuela.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: I doubt it. I don't think so. But they've been
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: treating us very badly, not only in drugs. They've dumped
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: hundreds of thousands of people into our country that we
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: didn't want. People from prisons. They emptied their prisons into
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: our country. They also, if you take a look, they
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: emptied their mental institutions and they're insane asilism into the
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: United States of America. Because Joe Biden was the worst
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: president and the history of our.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: But I just want to talk about the scale of
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: the military operation around Venezuela, because it has been described
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: to sixty minutes as using a blow torch to cook
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: an egg. Is this about stopping think?
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: So?
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: Look, is it about let me ask you though, is
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: it about stopping narcotics? Or is this about getting rid
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: of President Maduro?
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: Now? This is about many things. This is a country
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: that allowed their prisons to be emptied into our country.
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: To me, that would be almost number one because we
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: have other countries. Mexico has been very bad to us
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: in terms of drugs, Okay, very bad. We have a
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: closed border right now. You probably noticed that for five
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: months in a row, they have zero, think of this,
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: zero people coming into our country through our southern border on.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: Venezuela in particular. Are Maduro's days as president numbers?
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: Oh so yeah, I think so ya.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: And this issue of potential land strikes in Venezuela, is
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: that true?
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: I don't tell you that. I mean, I'm not saying
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: it's true or untrue, but I and why would we
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: inclined to say that I would do that? But because
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: I don't talk to a reporter about whether or not
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: I'm going to strike.
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about Israel. You got the remaining Israeli hostages
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: out of Gaza. You arranged a ceasefire. However fragile that
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: may be. Those are are fragile.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: It's very sold you know. I mean, you hear about Hamas,
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: but Hamas could be taken out immediately if they don't behave.
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: They know that if they don't behave, they're going to
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: be taken out immediately.
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: How do you get Hamas to disarm?
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: If I want them to disarm, I'll get them to
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: disarmed very quickly. They'll be They'll be eliminated. They know that.
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: Don't forget you said I got the remaining hostages. I
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: got all the hostages out, but I always said the
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: last ten or twenty are going to be tough.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: You pushed the Israeli Prime minister to make this deal,
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: to get a ceasefire, to apologize to Cutter. Can you
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: push Bbe Netanyahu to recognize a Palestinian state?
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he's fine, he's fine. Look, he's a wartime prime minister.
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: I worked very well with him. Yeah, I mean I
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: had to push him a little bit one way or
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: the other. I think I did a great job in
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: pushing He's a very talented guy. He's a guy that
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: has never been pushed before. Actually, that's the kind of
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: person you needed in Israel at the time, it was
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: very important. I don't think they treat him very well.
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: He's under trial for some things, and I don't think
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: they treat him very well. I think it said, you know,
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: we'll be involved in that to help him out a
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: little bit, because I think it's very unfair. I did.
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: I pushed him. I didn't like certain things that he did,
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: and you saw what I did about that. I also stopped.
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: You know, we knocked the hell out of Iran, and
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: then it was time to stop, and we stopped.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: President Trump told us he expects to expand the Abraham Accords,
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: the historic agreement struck during mister Trump's first term normalized
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: relations between Israel and some Arab states. I wanted to
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: ask you about the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia is
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: coming to the White House this month. He has said
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: they won't join the Abraham Accords without a two state solution.
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: Do you believe that.
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: No, I think he's going to join. I think we
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: will have a solution. I don't know if it's going
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: to be two state that's going to be up to
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: Israel and other people and me. But look, the main
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: thing is you could have never had any kind of
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: a deal if you had a nuclear Iran and you
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: essentially had a nuclear Iran and I blasted the hell
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: out of them, and no President.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: They have no nuclear capability right now?
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: Do you want to know? Do you want to know
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: they have no nuclear capability? Now? Do you want to
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: know that the pilots I invited them to the White
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: House because they were very brave. I mean I wouldn't
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: have wanted to do it. You know, get in that
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: plane and they know you're coming, and you're going right
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: into Iran airspace, and you know they're very experts, and
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: you're flying in with machines. Personally, I can think of
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: other things I'd rather do. These are very brave people.
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: I mean, they're real American heroes. And they told me
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: something I didn't know. They said, Sir, for twenty two years,
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: we've been practicing this route three times a year, every
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: year for twenty two years, and you were the only
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: president that led us do our job.
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: As our time with the President was winding down, we
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: asked him whether he'll try to stay in his job
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: beyond twenty twenty eight. There's been a lot of talk
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: about twenty twenty eight and who will be at the
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: top of the Republican ticket. Can you set the record
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: straight you're not going to try and run for a
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: third term.
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: Well, I don't even think about it. I will tell
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: you a lot of people want me to run. But
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: the difference between US and the Democrats is we really
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: do have a strong bench. I don't want to use
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: names because it's inappropriate, but it's too early.
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: People don't like when you start talking about whether you
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: like JD. Vance or second like JD.
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: Vans Arubio. I like us, I like so many people.
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: We have an unbelievable bench.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: Mister President, can I also ask you, we're now at
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: the end of your first year of this second term.
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: What do you hope to accomplish in the next three years.
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: Well, I hope I can have the same year that
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: we have. Look, we have been acknowledged to have the
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: greatest nine months. You know, it's nine months, the greatest
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: nine months in the history of the presidency. So if
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: I can keep that going, I'll be very happy.
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: It's nice to see more from our interview with President
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: Trumps and watch the extended interview and read the full
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: transcript at sixty minutes. Overtime dot com