NEWS: Trump Does CNN Interview With Jake Tapper After Death Of Lindsey Graham

[0:00] Mr. President, thank you so much for joining us. Obviously, quite a shock. The senator was a close ally of yours. He referred to himself as your North Star, the Trump guy in the Senate. What are your thoughts about Lindsey Graham this morning? Well, it's devastating. I thought he was fine. He called me last night. He just got back from Ukraine and he had a great trip. He was telling me about the trip. He was pushing very, very hard. You probably know he wanted to do the Save America Act that he was talking about that. He was full of vim and vigor. He was tired. He said, I'm [0:30] tired because it's a long trip. But other than that, he was he was fine. And he called me, I guess, just moments before because he called me like at 630 or something. And the the medical people got there a little bit later, right after that. What a what a terrible loss it is. He's a great politician. He was a natural. There are very few of them. He was a natural politician. Got along with everybody. When he didn't, he was very tough. You know, he's a tough cookie, too. But [1:02] he got a got along with everybody. Yeah, he had some harsh words about you 10 years ago when you were running against each other. Well, he ran against me and he was, you know, formidable. He was tough cook. He was tough and smart. And that's who I got to know him on the campaign. I didn't know him before then. And I spoke to him maybe once in my life before then. But I got to know him. He was one of the 17 people that ran against me. And he was, you know, smart guy. And it was a nasty campaign. He was tough. [1:33] And nasty. But I was nasty, too. And it worked out fine. And I got to know him by little drips and drabs. And then we became friendly. And there was no better advocate. He was a fantastic advocate in the Senate. [1:48] And he could do things that other people he was. He was able to. If I had a really big problem with a certain Democrat, he could work it out. [1:54] You know, that's something most Republicans can do. As you just mentioned, he died right after returning to Washington, D.C. from a trip to Ukraine. It was his 10th trip there. He was a strong belief in interventionism, a staunch defender of Israel, staunch advocate for Zelensky. How influential [2:15] was he with you when it came to foreign policy? Well, we disagreed a little bit. But overall, you know, I'm a big Israel person. He was certainly [2:25] that. I was I wanted to see the war with Ukraine end very quickly. I think he was more into, you know, keeping it going. Frankly, he was he was very, [2:37] very, very militant having to do with that. But I was I was from the standpoint of twenty five thousand people dying every month. [2:46] I didn't like that. And he was very much he was a very strong military person. So am I. But I think we used it a little bit differently. [2:56] We probably had a little bit of a different attitude, but we got along on it. Essentially, we agreed. And essentially, we agreed on almost everything. [3:02] Where he was really becoming strong was to save America. That was he was really and I think he was going to be there very, very strongly under filibuster. [3:10] He was against terminating the filibuster. And I think he was doing that because he said we have a budget coming up and we have debt ceiling coming up. [3:18] And the Democrats will, you know, they they're deranged in many ways and they're not going to be able to do it. [3:24] So he was he was coming aboard, I think, for the filibuster, terminating the filibuster. [3:28] But we before we did that, he was going to he was a strong advocate for Save America. [3:33] And that's what he called me about last night. I mean, I think of it, I spoke to him just he had already landed. [3:38] He was probably at his place. I don't know where he was, but I spoke to him. [3:44] And then I got a call a few hours later saying late in the evening at two o'clock in the morning, actually. [3:49] But they found out about it, I think, about eight o'clock about his problem. [3:54] But so it had to be something very quick because he was fine. [3:58] Well, other than being tired, he was fine. He obviously was very supportive of the strikes against Iran. [4:05] The U.S. and Iran have been engaging back and forth in strikes over the last few days and overnight. [4:10] Are we back at war? And who controls the straighter horn? Well, I don't want to out of respect for Lindsay, I'm not talking about that. [4:16] We hit him very hard last night. So I don't want to talk about it. But I will say we hit him very hard last night. [4:23] We had a deal with them yesterday. They were giving up everything. And then all of a sudden, two hours after that, they hit a ship with a drone. [4:33] And I said, these people, there's something wrong with them. But I'm talking about a man who had nothing wrong with him. And that's Lindsey Graham. [4:42] Iran has declared the Strait of Hormuz closed. Is that true, Mr. President? [4:47] It's open as far as we're concerned. Don't talk about it. Talk about the reason that you asked me to speak. [4:54] Okay. We appreciate your time, sir. Before I let you go, is there any other final word that you want the American people to know about Lindsey Graham? [5:00] What was it about? No, I think his finest moment was his defense of Brett Kavanaugh, who's a terrific guy and was treated very, very unfairly by the Democrats. [5:09] Very unfair. I've never seen anything like it. Maybe the worst I've ever seen anyone treated. That includes me. Well, maybe not me. [5:15] But it includes just about everybody. He was treated so unfairly. And Lindsey, as you remember, had that moment. [5:23] And, you know, I'll tell you, Jake, I think it was the top ten, maybe a top five moment in the issue of the Senate. [5:29] It was an incredible display. And he did it from the heart. He felt strongly about Brett. And he did it from the heart. And it turned that whole thing around. He was really amazing. That was it. That was one they should replay. [5:44] But nevertheless, I'll see you guys later. [5:46] Thank you. [5:47] Thank you. [5:48] Thank you. [5:49] Thank you. [5:51] Thank you, everybody. [5:53] Thank you. [5:57] Thank you. [5:58] Thank you. [5:59] Thank you. [6:00] Thank you. [6:01] Thank you. [6:02] Thank you so much for joining us today. [6:04] Thank you for joining us today. [6:05] Thank you. [6:06] Thank you. [6:07] Thanks to all the United States that we have heard of you today. [6:09] Bye! [6:10] Bye! [6:12] Bye!