interview: Trump on Iran crackdown, Fed Chair Powell and more

[0:00] Mr. President, thank you very much for doing this. We really appreciate it. [0:03] We're standing here on an active Ford assembly line, a little bit loud, [0:07] incredible symbol of American manufacturing power, and I've got a lot of questions about it. [0:12] But I actually want to start overseas with Iran. [0:15] Americans woke up this morning and they saw that you said help is on the way. [0:19] What do you mean by that? [0:20] Well, there's a lot of help on the way and in different forms, [0:23] including economic help from our standpoint and not going to help Iran very much. [0:29] And, you know, we put Iran out of business with their nuclear capacity, [0:33] and now, depending on what's actually happening, [0:36] nobody's been able to give us accurate numbers about how many people they've killed. [0:40] But it looks like it could be a pretty substantial number, [0:43] and that's going to be a lot of problems. [0:45] A lot of problems. [0:46] On that point, you did say the U.S. would get involved if Iran started killing protesters. [0:51] They have, by the many thousands, according to reports. [0:55] Well, we'll see what that is. [0:56] I've heard two numbers, but we'll see what that is. [0:58] Well, now we're hearing that they're going to start. [0:59] They're going to start hanging protesters tomorrow. [1:01] So it comes back to the question, have they crossed your red line or has the line moved? [1:05] I haven't heard about the hanging. [1:07] If they hang them, you're going to see some things that I don't know where you come from [1:12] and what your thought process is, but you'll perhaps be very happy. [1:18] What do you mean by that? [1:19] We will take very strong action if they do such a thing. [1:22] We will take very strong action. [1:24] And this strong action you're talking about, what's the end game? [1:27] The end game is to win. [1:28] I like winning. [1:30] How do you define that in Iran? [1:31] Well, let's define it in Venezuela. [1:34] Let's define it with al-Baghdadi. [1:35] He was wiped out. [1:37] Let's define it with Soleimani. [1:39] And let's define it in Iran, where he wiped out their Iran nuclear threat in a period of about 15 minutes once the B-2s got there. [1:48] And that was a complete obliteration, as it turns out, which is what I said initially. [1:53] Then some questioned it, and they said, you know, Trump was right. [1:55] So we've been right about everything. [1:57] We don't want to see what's happening in Iran happen. [2:01] And, you know, if they want to have protests, that's one thing. [2:03] When they start killing thousands of people, and now you're telling me about hanging, we'll see how that works out for them. [2:09] It's not going to work out good. [2:11] There's so much going on overseas. [2:13] Understandably, a lot of your focus has been on other countries. [2:15] But when I talk to Americans, when I talk to your own voters, they want your focus to be on them, and they feel like it may be drifting. [2:23] What do you have to say to them? [2:24] Well, Tony, we have the strongest economy maybe in the history of our country. [2:28] If you went around this plant like I have, [2:31] they just announced they're going to 24 hours. [2:33] This is a Ford plant, but GM's the same. [2:35] Stellantis is the same. [2:36] They're going 24 hours all around the clock. [2:39] They're enlarging every plant in this country. [2:41] We're building more plants in the country than we've ever built. [2:44] There's no inflation. [2:45] You saw the inflation numbers. [2:47] Inflation's very low. [2:48] It seemed bad on the history. [2:49] Our growth numbers are through the roof. [2:51] Our job numbers are tremendous. [2:53] We have the highest stock market we've ever had. [2:56] Today, we hit every day for the last, I think, 48 times out of 11 months. [3:01] 48 days out of 11 months, we've had the number one stock market in the history of our country. [3:06] So, my big focus is here. [3:08] But you can't be forgetting about bad threats. [3:13] You can't be forgetting about an Iran with a nuclear weapon. [3:16] You can't forget that there's tremendous wealth in the Middle East, [3:20] and a lot of that wealth is coming over here to build plants. [3:23] Saudi Arabia is giving us $2 trillion. [3:26] Qatar is giving us $2 trillion. [3:28] UAE is giving us $2 trillion. [3:30] $2 trillion. [3:30] $2 trillion. [3:30] $2 trillion. [3:30] $2 trillion. [3:30] $2 trillion. [3:31] All of that is for the good of this country. [3:33] So, my focus is very much on this country, [3:36] but you can't lose sight of the fact that we need peace all over the world. [3:40] I've ended eight wars. [3:42] If we had those eight wars raging, it would be very bad for this country. [3:46] Mr. President, you mentioned the market there. [3:48] I've got a question that might affect the markets. [3:50] It's the Jerome Powell situation. [3:52] He's the Fed chair. [3:53] I know you've said you had nothing to do with the investigation, [3:56] the criminal probe into him, [3:57] but you have been criticizing him for most of the last year. [4:01] And even some prominent conservatives say it looks like political retribution. [4:06] And some prominent conservatives also love it. [4:08] So, you know, you've got to mention them too. [4:09] What do you say to that accusation? [4:10] As you grow older in this position, you have to mention the other side. [4:13] More people like it than not. [4:15] He's been a lousy Fed chairman. [4:17] He was reappointed by Biden. [4:19] I was a little surprised at that because I didn't think he really earned a stretch. [4:23] He's been too high on interest rates, and I call him too late. [4:27] He's too late to reduce. [4:28] He should have reduced him by more. [4:30] Despite that, [4:31] we've fought through that. [4:32] In addition, he heads up a construction situation [4:37] on a rebuilding of a little building, two little buildings called the Fed. [4:42] You know where they are? [4:43] You've seen them a million times. [4:44] I think I could have done that job. [4:46] I could have fixed them up for $25 million. [4:48] He's into billions and billions of dollars, [4:51] and it looks like they won't open for a long time. [4:53] And he's either corrupt or incompetent. [4:56] So, on the question of corrupt or incompetent, you're right. [4:58] Some prominent conservatives are criticizing this. [5:00] I'll take your word. [5:01] I'll take your word that others are not. [5:03] You don't have to take my word. [5:04] What you should do is go out and interview some people, and you'll find out. [5:07] But on this direct question about political retribution, [5:10] what it looks like, sir, what's your response? [5:12] I can't help what it looks like. [5:13] Look, I've created the greatest economy maybe in history, [5:17] and you're seeing that now. [5:18] Plants are being built all over the country. [5:21] We've never had anything like it. [5:22] They're leaving Canada. [5:23] They're leaving Mexico. [5:25] They're leaving Japan and all over Europe, Germany, all over Europe. [5:28] They're coming in. [5:29] Bill Ford. [5:30] Ford Motor Company. [5:31] He just told me that he's never seen anything like what's happened. [5:35] I also freed up some of the environmental nonsense, [5:38] which made it virtually impossible to build a car [5:41] and certainly to build a car for the right cause. [5:44] And they're doing better than they've ever done. [5:46] AI, we're leading China by a lot. [5:49] We're leading China by a tremendous amount. [5:50] We're leading everybody at everything. [5:53] And then we had a big victory. [5:54] I would say that even you would say that. [5:55] We had a big victory with Venezuela. [5:59] We had a big victory with Iran. [6:00] We have a lot of victories. [6:01] We don't have any defeats, and I want to keep it that way. [6:04] I've got an important question about the situation in Minnesota, [6:07] the death of Renee Nicole Goode. [6:10] I've been speaking to her father, who is a big supporter of yours, [6:13] like many Americans are, but he's heartbroken right now. [6:16] I can understand that. [6:17] He's heartbroken because his daughter is dead. [6:19] That's obvious. [6:20] He's also heartbroken because your administration so quickly has come out [6:24] and said she's a domestic terrorist. [6:26] What do you want to say to her father right now? [6:28] Well, I want to say to the father that I love all of our people. [6:31] They can be on the other side. [6:32] As you say, he might be on my side. [6:33] He is on your side. [6:34] And I think that's great. [6:36] And I do. [6:37] I think it's great. [6:38] And I would bet you that she, under normal circumstances, [6:41] was a very solid, wonderful person. [6:44] But her actions were pretty tough. [6:47] I've seen it many ways in many different shapes and forms. [6:51] But the bottom line is, look, we have hundreds of thousands [6:54] of murderers in our countries, killers, [6:56] ISIS trying to get them out. [6:58] They were let in through an open border [7:01] policy of sleepy Joe Biden. [7:03] ISIS working very hard to get them out. [7:05] Their job is being made very, very difficult. [7:08] And when you look at that tape, it can be viewed two ways, I guess. [7:13] But when you look at the way that car was pulled away, [7:17] there are a couple of versions of that tape [7:18] that are very, very bad. [7:20] I want to talk about the economy while we have you here. [7:23] The inflation numbers came out overall not bad, but grocery prices. [7:26] No, no, overall very good, good for us, good for our country. [7:31] Joe Biden had the highest inflation numbers in history, correct? [7:34] I have them down to a level that they haven't seen in about nine years. [7:39] And Mr. President, help me understand, [7:41] when I travel the country and I go all over the place [7:43] and I talk to everyday Americans, [7:44] they tell me they don't feel it because grocery prices are up. [7:47] Well, they might not, but they're going to now. [7:48] I've only been here for 11 months, okay? [7:52] And, you know, the first few months were really rough, [7:55] if you look at them, because I inherited a mess. [7:57] I inherited a mess of crime. [8:00] I inherited a mess of inflation. [8:01] I inherited a mess of places closing up [8:04] and going to other countries. [8:06] And now we have the hottest country in the world. [8:08] Tony, we have now the hottest country in the world. [8:11] And a year and a half ago, our country was dead. [8:13] We had a dead country. [8:14] You wouldn't have a job right now. [8:16] If she got in, you probably wouldn't have a job right now. [8:19] Your boss, who's an amazing guy, might be bust, okay? [8:23] Might be what? [8:24] Might be bust. [8:25] I doubt it in his case, but you never know. [8:28] Let me just tell you, you wouldn't have this job. [8:31] Certainly, whatever the hell they're paying you. [8:34] Our country is rocketing right now. [8:36] We have the hottest country in the world. [8:39] If they got in, we would be Venezuela on steroids. [8:42] Mr. President, I'm just trying to be fair here. [8:45] I'm just trying to do my job, [8:46] and I want to talk about this assembly line here. [8:49] To me, it's vibrant. Listen to the sound. [8:51] It's incredible, right? [8:52] I love the sound of an assembly line. [8:54] It's incredible. [8:55] But they've got one not far from here. [8:57] They just idled the electric vehicle plant. [8:59] Well, yeah, but it's going to gasoline plants. [9:01] It's going to gasoline vehicles. [9:02] Yeah, it's going to go to gasoline. [9:03] Well, but why don't you say that, Tony? [9:05] You can't say... [9:06] You didn't give me a chance. [9:07] I'm coming there. I'm coming around. [9:08] I agree. [9:09] I said, I want electric, and I want gasoline, [9:11] and I want hybrids, I want everything. [9:13] But you were going to be forced under the mandate [9:15] to buy an electric car in a very short period of time. [9:18] I didn't want that, and I ended that. [9:21] Now people can have electric, they can have gasoline, [9:23] they can have hybrids. [9:24] But are they going to have people to build these cars? [9:26] The CEO of Ford said not long ago he's got 5,000 open mechanic jobs, [9:31] he can't find people willing and able to show them what's going on. [9:34] I know, but that's a good thing, Tony. [9:35] That means it's vibrant. [9:36] You could also have things where you have so many people [9:39] and they can't get jobs. [9:40] It's true. [9:41] We are doing so well, it's hard. [9:43] Now, what's going to happen is people are being trained rapidly, [9:46] and you're going to have a thing called robots, [9:48] and robots are going to be a big factor. [9:50] I predict that robots are going to be a big factor in the future, [9:53] and it's going to help out. [9:55] But you have a situation now where our economy is doing so well [10:00] that it's not that easy. [10:01] It's not that easy to get people. [10:03] We're training people, they're training people, [10:05] companies are training people, and they're doing well. [10:07] You know, that's a positive question you asked me. [10:09] I don't think you asked it in that way. [10:11] But we are doing so well right now that we're training people [10:17] to take those jobs. [10:18] One other thing, we terminated many federal jobs, [10:22] because that's a good thing, because they want to go private. [10:26] The way you make our country great is you can't have too many federal workers. [10:30] All right? [10:31] And that's because of being trained to go into the private sector [10:34] at a much higher salary. [10:36] Yeah. [10:37] Let's talk about robotics for a second, [10:38] because that's a concern of a lot of people working, [10:40] not only here, but all over the country. [10:42] What is the future for jobs like these? [10:44] One guy told me on the way in, [10:46] he thinks it's a critical threat to his industry. [10:49] Well, you know, in one light you're telling me that you can't get workers. [10:53] Well, that's what the CEO said. [10:55] Well, you said that, and then you said the opposite. [10:58] You can't have it both ways. [10:59] Look. [11:00] We're going to need help, [11:02] because we're expanding so rapidly that we need... [11:05] People are going to make a lot of money. [11:07] A skilled worker, a person with talent, [11:09] education in what they do. [11:11] Not education in nuclear physics. [11:13] Education in what they do. [11:15] They're going to make a lot of money. [11:17] Federal workers are leaving the federal government, [11:19] where you're 10 people for every job, [11:21] and they're going out and they're going into the private sector [11:24] at two and three times the salary. [11:26] And you see that all over. [11:27] So I only say this. [11:28] I think that robotics are going to be great, [11:30] because this country won't have enough people if we don't have it. [11:34] Our people are going to be trained, [11:36] and they're going to make more money than they've ever made before. [11:38] Last question. [11:39] I was very interested in a comment you made recently [11:42] about nothing being able to limit your action overseas, [11:46] except for your own morality and your own mind. [11:48] I'd like to take that same question and apply it here in the U.S. [11:51] Is there anything that limits your power, your movement, [11:54] your action here, other than your own morality? [11:56] Well, I talk about morality. [11:58] I'm a moral person. [12:00] I don't like seeing death. [12:01] I don't like seeing our people hurt. [12:03] I don't like seeing the other side hurt either. [12:05] You know, when we went into Venezuela, we lost nobody, [12:08] but a lot of people on the other side were killed. [12:10] I don't like that. [12:12] Somebody else would say, oh, that's wonderful. [12:14] I don't like that. [12:15] So, yeah, it's limited by my morality, [12:17] and I have a very high grade of morality, [12:20] so, therefore, it's limited. [12:22] Not the Constitution, not the courts? [12:24] That's what I thought you were going to say. [12:26] Well, the Constitution and courts, that goes without saying. [12:28] But you're asking me what really can stop? [12:30] We'll never get to the courts. [12:31] We'll never get to the Constitution, [12:33] because I want to see what's good for our country. [12:35] And you know what? [12:36] The courts want to see that, too. [12:38] Mr. President, thank you very much. [12:39] For the record, I do think I'd have this job, [12:41] even if the other guys want. [12:42] Yeah, but at a lesser salary. [12:43] Thank you very much. [12:44] Thank you very much.