President Trump talks Iran, AI and presidential power on The Axios Show — Full Interview

[0:00] Mr. President, welcome to The Axios Show. [0:02] Thank you. [0:02] We wanted to make this more of a conversation than a typical interview where we're just going [0:05] to hop around from topics to topic. And we wanted to do, Axios likes to do one big thing. [0:11] Okay. [0:11] And so the one big thing we want to talk about is power and how you think about it and how you [0:17] wield it. And so a decade ago, you first became president and you've had loads of experience [0:24] since then. In that span of time, what is the one big thing you've learned about wielding power? [0:31] Well, I think you have to do it judiciously. I think that experience is good. I always [0:40] say that potential is far more important. In other words, having ability is far more important [0:47] than experience, but having both is very good. And I learned a lot during the first administration [0:53] and I was told just the other day, because, you know, we had a tremendous G7 and very dominant [1:01] G7. We got what I wanted. And somebody said the other day that this is a far more powerful [1:07] administration or term than the first one. And we had a good first term. You know, we had [1:14] the best economy. We had a lot of good things happening. We rebuilt the military. We did a [1:18] good job. But I feel it's a more powerful term than the first one. Now that comes with experience. [1:25] It also comes by having somebody precede you who was a disaster. The man was a disaster. [1:31] And so when you compare to somebody like that, you look maybe better than you are. That's [1:35] possible. But I feel that it's a very powerful administration right now. [1:43] But that's because you've applied lessons. You've done some things differently. What are some of [1:50] those things you did differently or better than you did before? [1:54] Well, it's a terrible answer, actually. But I don't think about it. I just do what I have to do. [1:58] You know, I want to get something done. I don't say, oh, I'm going to do it a little bit differently [2:03] this time. I probably say that down deep. But I don't think about like, gee, what can I do [2:10] differently? I just want to get the job done. And I've always gotten the job done. That's how I got [2:15] elected the first time. And that's how I got elected the second time. But the second Trump [2:22] administration is a more powerful and it feels more to me. I may not be wrong. You would know maybe [2:29] better than I would because I don't give it a lot of thought. But I think it's a more powerful [2:34] administration. And I think the first one was really good. You know, I rebuilt the military in the [2:39] first one. I did Space Force. I did so many things. We had the best economy. We had a great [2:44] economy. We had the best job numbers. We had everything. First administration was good. We [2:49] got hit by COVID. That's not my fault. But at the end, but we had a great administration. But this [2:57] one is, I think, better. You mentioned the G7. You saw a number of world leaders. You walked in and [3:04] you said, I'm the boss. How many of them believe that? All of them. But I was just being funny. [3:11] What happened is they're all sitting. And then I walked into the room. And it was just sort of [3:16] funny because it was a very long table, but there's only seven of them. The table was meant for like [3:20] 30 people. So the whole end of the day would look like almost a perfect podium type setup, right? And [3:28] I saw them all sitting. They're all well-known figures, right? The heads of countries. We had a couple [3:34] of others in there, too, as you know. Some, like, as an example, Modi of India, great guy. A lot of [3:40] people came. They're allowed to come if they want and sit. But I walked in there, these leaders, [3:46] and I just looked at them. I said, I'm the boss, and you remember. And you know that was done as a [3:52] joke. This thing got carried all over the world. I can't believe it. I was just being cute, funny. [3:58] I wasn't trying to be the boss. You have experience, obviously, with world leaders from your two [4:03] terms. What's your definition of a great leader? How do you define great? Well, you have so many [4:08] different types of leaders. Yesterday, as an example, I'll mention the name again because [4:13] pretty great. You know, all my life I've watched India. They just kept changing, changing, changing. [4:19] Somebody would be there for six months and then a year. And then all of a sudden, Prime Minister Modi [4:26] ends up there. He's been there for more than 12 years. Very solid. And he does it through, like, [4:34] there's a great calmness. And yet he's not a calm person. He's a very tough guy. I know [4:38] him very well. And you have such different leaders. I watched Brazil, the leader who I [4:47] know a little bit. He's a very volatile person. You're not a fan of Lula, if I'm not mistaken. [4:53] Not a fan or not a fan. I don't think about him, to be honest with you. I don't really think [4:56] about him. I couldn't care less. But he's a different kind of a person now. Very volatile. [5:02] I watched, as he made a speech, it was a very volatile. And it's fine. It's all different [5:08] times. So when you say about leaders, when you say about, you know, what do they all have [5:12] in common? Look, they're all smart. You can't get to that level without being smart. You know, [5:20] who's very smart is President Xi of China. He's a very smart man. You don't get to those [5:26] levels where you're running a country, even if it was a small country. You have something [5:31] special. Now, in some cases, it doesn't work out. But you need something special. It's [5:37] not an easy thing to do. [5:39] What is it about Xi that you find most admirable? [5:44] So we have a very good relationship. And you probably heard me say yesterday, I said, [5:49] you know, I want to thank him because he didn't get involved with the whole thing with Iran. [5:53] He could have gotten involved. He could have sent a nice oil ship surrounded by 12 destroyers [5:59] and see if he could blast his way through the blockade, which was an unbelievable military. [6:04] I think it's going to go down as one of the great military maneuvers. It was every bit as [6:10] important as all the bombing we did. It really, they were dying. They had no money, no nothing [6:16] for months. But President Xi, I asked him, I said, I'd really appreciate you not getting involved. [6:23] And he was great. He didn't get involved. And I think if somebody else would have said that, [6:28] I don't think somebody else would have even asked him that. But I did. I get along with [6:32] him well. He's a strong man. He's no games. He won't sit down and say, oh, what a beautiful [6:37] day. This is a wonderful day, Mark. Look how beautiful. Look at the sunshine. There's none [6:43] of that stuff. It's like all business, which I like. I think it's great. [6:47] Is there something about the Chinese system that you think advantages him in his country [6:51] that you wish you had here? [6:53] Well, it's actually supposed to be a disadvantage. You know, we have the entrepreneurship [6:57] and all the things you read about. But they're there just about as quick as we are. You know, [7:03] you go to a, something's hot. And we get there and the Chinese are standing there before us. [7:09] Or we beat them by a little bit. But we're, I'll tell you, we're beating them on AI. [7:14] We have the strongest military in the world. We have the most powerful military in the world. [7:18] He admitted to me, you have the most powerful. We had, I did a great job. I rebuilt our military [7:24] during the first term and did it well. Look, take a look at Venezuela. 48 minutes. The whole [7:30] thing was over. 48 minutes. And by the way, now we have a great relationship. And we're, [7:35] we've paid for that war with Venezuela many, many, many times. We're taking out millions [7:41] of barrels of oil. And we're making them more money than they've ever made before. All the [7:46] big oil companies are moving in. It's amazing. There's no place with that kind of oil. I guess [7:51] us, maybe we have the most, uh, then they're probably second or third. [7:57] Obviously, I, if I ask you who are the two greatest or leaders you like the most on the [8:03] world stage, I would assume one of them is G. [8:06] Yeah. I think in terms of leadership, I think that's true. [8:10] Who's the other? When you think, when you think of power and leverage and the ability [8:14] to execute on that? [8:16] Well, I think Modi is very good. Yeah. They've had some very good numbers announced. He stays [8:22] out of wars, which is smart. He's a 1.5 billion people. He's actually the biggest. India's actually [8:28] the biggest. Modi's a great leader. And we do a lot of business with them. But now we do fair [8:34] business. They used to really rip us off. I don't blame them for that. You know, we had stupid [8:37] politicians, but that allowed that to happen. But now we, we do a lot of business. They're not that [8:43] happy about it because they used to do a lot better. So, but Modi's great. Uh, president, [8:49] she is great classics. You know, I mean, if you were going to make a move movie about either one [8:55] of them, you, uh, you wouldn't be able to find the man in Hollywood. I'm telling you, [9:01] it's, uh, is like, as an example, the look of she's got a great look, you know, looks don't matter. [9:06] Right. You know, we don't like that. They say, don't talk about looks, but he's, uh, you know, [9:11] he's tall. He's six foot two. He's, he's, uh, got a great stature. He's got great confidence. [9:18] And he's smart. Uh, Modi in a very different way, just highly respected. I've seen, you know, [9:23] I know the, the real Modi is a very tough cookie. Um, I'll tell you, you have, I got to know some [9:30] that I didn't know very well in Pakistan. You have the field marshal, who's, uh, great, [9:37] he's great. And you have the, and the prime minister, and they just get along great. I figured, [9:42] well, maybe the military guy would be, he totally respects the prime minister. It's a beautiful thing to [9:47] see, but they really helped us with this deal. They were, you know, they knew the Iranians, [9:52] they knew the people and they were good. You have leaders in, uh, I mean, you have so many [9:57] different types for the most part. If you're a smart person, you can understand, you know, you, [10:03] you have to be in these positions. You have to be smart. You have to be tough, uh, maybe smart, [10:09] even more so, but the combination is probably better, but we have, there are a lot of great leaders [10:15] out there and there are a lot of really bad ones. Okay. Well, let's talk about that. Who are the, [10:19] who are the two, who are the two weakest? Well, I, I, I can't say that because you can, [10:24] you're the president. I can't say. I will tell you though, that, uh, this couple of days was [10:31] interesting. It was held in France and Emmanuel Macron of France, who won't be there that much [10:39] longer. He's the president. And he, uh, he was, I'll tell you what, he did a great job of hosting [10:48] the G7, really good, no games, no nothing. And he invited me about a week before. He said, [10:58] would you do me a favor? Would you come into Paris? We'd like to honor you. I view it as honoring the [11:04] nation, but he said, I'd like to honor you. And he had the biggest people in Europe there and beyond. [11:09] I mean, some people in Versailles and I was sort of not going to do it, but he knew my weakness [11:15] because I think Versailles is one of the great places. What's your weakness? Like places like [11:21] Versailles, but no, it's incredible. So, and it's not something they do. I understand that they don't [11:27] do that. They don't do dinners at Versailles. And we had a fantastic dinner. I think he did a fantastic [11:32] job, I'll tell you, with the G7. I've seen, uh, G7s. I've been to a lot of G7s and used to be G8s. [11:39] They should have kept the G8. You probably wouldn't have the war with Russia and Ukraine [11:44] if they did, but Obama didn't want Putin there. I guess one or two others also, but they wanted [11:51] Putin out. It used to be the G8. Would have been much better if they kept it that way. [11:56] Speaking of Putin, who do you admire more out of the two of them, Putin or Zelensky? [12:00] Well, I think it's, uh, amazing what's happened, actually. You have a war that should have been [12:06] over very quickly. You know, I don't know if you know the story, but when that started, [12:11] Putin had hundreds of tanks that were driving up a highway. There's a highway, concrete, [12:16] very good highway, solid as a rock, right into Kiev. And about halfway there, he would have been there [12:24] in three hours going at 51 miles an hour, which is about the max speed for a tank. And they had, [12:31] you know, remember the big line of tanks, right? And they had some general who probably is no longer [12:37] with us. He decided rather than going right into Kiev and ending the war on the first day, [12:43] I don't think anyone even knows this story, that he would go through the farmland and through the dirt [12:50] in the mud. And they had a record setting rainstorm a couple of days before. And those tanks got stuck [12:58] in that mud. And I gave them javelins and they took out the tanks. I gave it before this happened. [13:08] But, you know, there's an expression because they say, oh, you're so nice to Russia. I'm not nice to [13:12] Russia. I've been very tough in Russia. I've been very tough in China, tougher than anybody. That's why [13:16] they respect me. I have good relationships with these people, but I gave them javelins. A javelin is an [13:22] anti-tank weapon. And those tanks were obliterated. And everybody said, what's wrong? Because, [13:32] you know, they have the satellites, right? The satellite photos. And the tanks were lined up [13:37] and they weren't moving for days. And then they came to hit them with satellites. They were locked [13:44] in quicksand, practically. You know, it was mud, like quicksand. They couldn't move. Had the general [13:50] just tells you, that's why war is always risky. Had this general just gone right up the concrete [13:55] highway, they would have been in Kiev within four hours. And there wasn't a damn thing that Ukraine [14:02] was going to do about it. That war would have been over in one day. That was four and a half years [14:07] ago. So that was a terrible mistake. And here's a general decides, rather than going up the middle [14:15] of a highway right into the town, they couldn't have done anything. They were totally unprepared. [14:20] And not only that, when they wiped out all these tanks, it gave them confidence. You know, [14:26] confidence is very important. But have you ever heard that story, by the way? [14:31] I haven't heard that story. I know that you had armed Ukraine with javelins. [14:35] I gave them javelins. [14:35] And the fire administration wasn't... [14:37] You know the expression, Trump gave them javelins, Obama gave them sheets. Right? That's true. [14:43] Well, let's shift a little, because time is of the essence. Shift to Iran. There's now light at [14:51] the end of the tunnel for the conflict. What have you learned about not just the exercise of power, [14:56] but the limits on your power as a result of the conflict? [14:59] There are no limits. [15:01] No limits. [15:01] No. I haven't learned that lesson yet. I know there are, but you know, there are no limits. We [15:06] defeated them totally militarily. I was asked by Pakistan, because they're close, to please [15:12] not do any more. I said, I like them a lot. You know, I stopped Pakistan from fighting India, [15:22] two nuclear nations. And the prime minister of Pakistan said, President Trump saved 50 million [15:29] lives. They're going to use nuclear weapons. 11 planes were shot down. They were at it. [15:34] And I was hearing about it. Then I saw some really terrible pictures. They were going at it, [15:39] Pakistan and India. They have gone at it in the past, but this was... And they're both nuclear [15:44] armed heavily. And they were going to use those nuclear weapons. And the prime minister of [15:49] Pakistan said, Donald Trump saved 50 million lives. But it's not 50. I think it was much [15:53] more than that. 50 is nothing when you look at 1.5 billion people just in India alone. So [15:59] I think that there are no limits. We have the most powerful military in the world, by far. [16:07] Who else could have done a blockade like that? I did a naval blockade where not one ship was able [16:13] to get through. Some tried. They didn't, you know, it didn't last very long. [16:17] And it certainly brought Iran to the table more than before. However, beginning a conflict, [16:23] you had talked about you only wanted unconditional surrender. And the MOU doesn't look like [16:29] unconditional surrender. Well, it really probably is unconditional surrender. [16:33] It is? I think so. Look, they have no military. They're all at the bottom of the sea. 159 ships, [16:40] that's what they have. Sure. But they could still menace. They only had these small, what, [16:44] gosh-deep boats or go fast boats. Well, look, you call it what you want. You know, I hear the [16:48] JCPOA, the Obama nuclear catastrophe, which was so bad. When Obama left, he didn't hit their [16:57] military. Sure. He didn't damage their Navy or destroy their Air Force. I destroyed the Air Force. [17:04] I destroyed their anti-aircraft weapons. That's why we were flying over there totally unimpeded. [17:10] We turned off all the stealth. They couldn't do a damn thing. He didn't do any of that stuff. [17:15] He didn't kill their leadership. I did twice, two and a half times to be exact. He didn't do [17:21] anything to Soleimani. I killed Soleimani. And you killed the Ayatollah. [17:26] And a number of IRGC officials. And I sadly hurt the other Ayatollah, who I will tell you, [17:34] I did not meet him. I did not speak to him, but people were speaking to him. But he's got a [17:38] certain braveness because he was badly, he's badly injured. Oh, the second. Yes. The son. [17:46] The junior. Nevertheless, all of those things being true, that the... Well, you can't just say, [17:52] oh, forget about it. Excuse me. I wiped out their military. I don't dispute that. I destroyed their [17:57] general. Okay. Ready? Soleimani was the father of the roadside bomb. When you see, which is a [18:04] description of something that people understand. When you see soldiers walking around without legs [18:09] or without arms, with an obliterated face, 96.2% that came from Iran, came from Soleimani. It was his [18:17] favorite weapon. And I killed him. And he killed thousands of soldiers and thousands of other [18:23] people. Tens of thousands of other people. And I told the story the other day for the first time. [18:28] You know, I was supposed to do that with Israel. And Israel at the last moment backed out. When I [18:33] killed him, that was supposed to be done with Israel. It was a joint thing. We worked on it for [18:38] 30 days. He only travels in commercial airlines with lots of people because he knows we're not going [18:43] to shoot him down. You know, a military plane is different. And he got into the plane. Everything was on [18:48] schedule. But a day before, Israel told us they're not going to do the attack. And I understood that [18:53] because, you know, it was not so good for them. But I went to certain generals, not the stupid ones, [19:01] like Milley and some of these guys that were very stupid people that decided to leave equipment [19:06] behind. I don't leave equipment behind. But I went to some good guys. I said, what do you guys think? [19:11] They said, well, we can do it without them. We don't need them, sir. I said, would it be as good as [19:15] just as good or better? And it was a flawless attack. Now, that was one of the biggest moments [19:21] in the history of the Middle East because he was the most feared man in a hundred years. [19:27] Even Iran, even the Ayatollahs, even they all feared Soleimani. Now, ready? Did Obama do that? No. [19:37] That was a big thing. If I didn't take him out, and I also, in doing it, also took out the head of [19:43] Iraq's ISIS. But if I didn't do that, we may not be talking today about, you know, [19:50] this such a conclusive victory. Because he was a general. He was a very evil guy. He was a bad guy. [19:57] But he was smart. He was a very tough general. You know what he was going to do? He was going to [20:01] blow up five of our military bases. I got him one week ahead of that attack. [20:07] But that was in, what, 2019? [20:08] I don't care. It was part of the whole thing. I made that statement yesterday. I said, [20:12] you know, for those people that say, oh, maybe I wasn't tough enough. I've wiped out. I took out [20:20] their biggest bridge because they showed up later at the meeting. They said, that wasn't very nice. [20:25] You know, that bridge, I said, George Washington Bridge. I wiped it out in three minutes. I took [20:30] out Karg Island, everything except one thing. I said, leave the pipes alone because, you know, [20:36] I'm not looking to damage the world economy. So I think we were very tough. [20:41] The people, listen, the people that say, oh, he could have been tougher. The entire military is [20:49] gone. Ready? Air Force is gone. Do you agree? It's gone. [20:53] Wiped out. [20:54] There's no airplane. [20:55] Yes. [20:56] There's no airplanes. They had a lot of them. There were 200 of them. They're all gone. [21:00] Navy, 159 ships, right? All at the bottom of the sea. Leadership, their first stringers, [21:07] all gone, including Khomeini, the first one. They then put a new group in there. Very good, [21:14] but very nasty. I dealt with them. They're gone. They're all gone. And we're dealing with the third [21:19] group, who I actually think is the smartest group. And I actually think it's regime change, [21:23] if you want to know the truth. It's these are different people. [21:25] How is a regime change if you have... [21:26] Because they're different people. [21:27] But you have Khamenei Jr. You still have a lot of IRGC officials there. [21:31] They're different people. [21:33] All right. [21:33] Khamenei Jr. is different from the father. [21:35] You have a number of... [21:36] And we have people that are much less radicalized than the previous two groups, [21:42] of which I knew them both. But think of it. Oh, why aren't you tougher? Let me... The only [21:48] way I can get tougher is if I go in there for another two or three weeks and continue to bomb [21:53] the hell out of them, right? But what does that get us? The strait of Hormuz will not be open. [22:00] Let's say I did that. Let's say I decided to do that. That was a decision I had to make. [22:05] So right now, our stock market is through the roof. The oil prices are tumbling. The oil prices [22:11] are practically the same as they were before I saw that. The big difference is that Iran will [22:16] never have a nuclear weapon. They're never going to have a nuclear weapon, okay? It's very clear and [22:20] very simple. But if I were hitting them right now, when you stopped, if we're not going to put boots on [22:27] the ground, okay? I mean, you don't want boots on the ground, right? If we're not going to put boots on [22:32] the ground, probably the same people. You know, they go deep into the caves. They're called granite [22:37] caves. They're very powerful. They go deep. And then when we stop, they'll come up and they'll [22:41] probably be the same leader. So nothing... Okay, ready? When I knocked them out, we knocked them [22:47] out so powerfully. We would right now have... The Hormuz Strait would be totally closed. [22:52] It would have mines all over it. And it would have missiles flying over billion-dollar ships. [22:58] And those ships will never sail. We wouldn't have oil for months. As long as you're dropping bombs, [23:06] that thing is automatically closed because those ships cost 500 to a billion dollars a piece. [23:11] They're not going to be sailing with rockets. So just to finish, I just looked. Oil is tumbling. [23:19] The ships are roaring out of there. They want to go home. They want to drop. They're all full with oil. [23:24] This is a gusher. I mean, we have 700 or 800 ships are leaving. But if I attack them, [23:32] none of those ships are leaving. The stock market is way up, way, way up. You know, the stock market [23:39] is up over the last four or five days when it looks like we're going to make a deal. Stock market's up [23:45] thousands of points. Everybody's richer. Now, would you rather have that or be like some stupid [23:52] people? I'll be honest with you. I lost respect for some people because... [23:56] Who'd you lose respect for? I don't want to mention the names. [23:58] Oh, you can't. [23:59] But, you know, hardliners. Oh, you got to take them out yet. [24:05] Plus, I'm not looking to kill people. [24:06] But what are you going to do to the... In order for your plan to be fully [24:10] executed as the MOU indicates, eventually it's going to have to go through Congress. [24:14] There are Republicans in Congress who don't like it. [24:16] Well, so far, not too many, but I think it'll get approved. And if it's not approved... [24:19] What are you going to do... By the way, Obama never got his plan approved. You know that, [24:23] right? Now, Obama did something very different. He thought he could buy... [24:27] I think he got it approved in the Senate, but it wasn't a treaty, I think. [24:29] He never got the treaty, which you're talking about. [24:32] So... No, even the sanctions, for instance. Some of the sanctions... [24:36] No, but he didn't... Look, I negotiated from total strength. Their Navy was gone, [24:40] their Air Force was gone, their leaders were... everything. In fact, the hardest part is so many [24:43] leaders were gone, it took us a while to figure out who is their leader. You do understand that. [24:49] I do. Well, the Republicans who oppose this, when votes come up in Congress... [24:56] Who are they? Who are they? [24:58] There are a number of them... I mean, Lindsey Graham just came out [25:01] with a very positive statement. Is there going to be a price to pay [25:04] for any of them if they oppose you on this? No. Oh, if they do? No. [25:07] Yeah. Not from me. No. [25:08] No, one of the things you were talking about... Frankly, if they approve it or not, look, [25:12] it is what it is. We've got the greatest economy on earth. I've got the strongest military, [25:18] and I built it. I've got the strong... Obama, when I took over the military from Obama, [25:23] he gave all our money away to people. He gave hundreds of billions of dollars away to Iran. [25:29] And by the way, that's the other thing. I'm not giving money to Iran. I don't give money to Iran. [25:34] What's going to happen is this. Obama took over. He didn't kill Soleimani. I did. He should have, [25:42] by the way, because Soleimani was... He had some good plans. And, you know, I'm watching the way [25:46] I've known you, Mark. You're trying to act like, oh, you hate to hear... But you can't... You have [25:53] no argument for me because you can't win the argument. So here's what I was going to say. [25:57] Some guys that I used to respect, I don't respect anymore. They're hardliners, but I have the [26:01] argument with them. They're unable to win the argument with me. They can't win it. And so they go, [26:08] here's the end of the... All right, I don't care. I still don't like it. Okay? That's what... You're [26:13] so sure to go. If I went further, the stock market would be much lower. Now, think of this. I have [26:24] one primary wish as president in terms of people. I never want to be the late, great Herbert Hoover. [26:35] So this is the kind of thing that could cause a worldwide depression. Do you know that for the [26:43] last two months, I've been taking many ships out there and nobody knew it? You know why they didn't [26:47] know it? Because we knocked out their radar. We knocked out all of their defensive stuff, [26:53] and they were unable to see. Last week, we had one night, 25 ships, one night, 22, one night, 19, [27:00] one night, 21. So every night, all these ships... Sneaking ships out. Oh, that's how the... [27:07] People were saying, where is this oil coming from? Nobody knew. We'd leave at one o'clock in the [27:13] morning, all lights off, and we'd have our Navy destroyers going alongside, and they had no [27:22] equipment because we destroyed all of the equipment that would normally be, you know, used to detect [27:28] this. And I went for a month and a half, taking many ships out there every night at one o'clock in [27:33] the morning. And we would never detect it until about a week ago. And then I announced that we're doing it. [27:40] Well, I think the New York Times had reported that you guys were engaged in that operation of [27:44] 20 ships or whatever. I wanted to shift... They shouldn't have. If they did, they [27:47] shouldn't have. Well, they had good sources. I mean, they, you know, that's not very patriotic [27:51] if they did. Well, I did want to talk about Cuba and AI. We'll do it. And we have to do it fast [27:56] because they're waiting for me at a very important minute. So you'd said if Cuba is, or better said, [28:01] if Iran is finished, then it's time for Cuba. Right. Is there a clock, a countdown clock on Cuba? [28:08] It's a flexible line, but, you know, Marco is involved very much. Marco's doing a great job, [28:13] by the way. All my people are doing a very good job. But Marco's parents, it's such a great story. [28:18] His parents were from Cuba. So you do agree I defeated Venezuela? Incredible. 100%. [28:24] How do you make the operation in Cuba look more like the Venezuela operation? [28:29] Well, the difference is Venezuela has oil, Cuba doesn't. Cuba has nice property and they have [28:34] nice shoreline. Right. How do you make it look more like the Venezuela operation than the Iran [28:38] operation? The Iran operation took longer. Venezuela has done... No, I think the Iran operation, [28:43] in a certain way, it's much bigger, much more powerful from the standpoint of weaponry than [28:49] Venezuela. But Venezuela is a very military state. You know, they have a lot of soldiers. You know, [28:54] we went into that fort and they had thousands of soldiers in, and we went in with 201 people. [29:00] And that was a part... The pilot was very brave. He had his leg shot from underneath with the machine [29:05] gunner who escaped a bad life, a bad death. So, no, I think that Venezuela... Here's the thing. In [29:18] Venezuela, it was so incredible, right? Yeah. And we waited and waited. And at the right time, [29:23] I said, let's go do it now. We waited for the weather. We had to wait six days. We had some really [29:27] bad weather. You know, the pilots said, sir, we want to do it. We went in and less than ideal. They didn't [29:32] care. And it actually lasted 48 minutes. And this is an arm... You know, they have a lot of soldiers. [29:39] They have a lot of good soldiers. With... If you look at Iran, they've been doing this stuff for 47 [29:47] years. They've been taunting you and everybody else, all of the media, everything. They're very [29:52] good with the press. They have a great fake media. And I put out a truth a little while ago. I said, [29:59] if I had the white flag of surrender raised, and if they said, praise be to Allah, Trump is the [30:06] greatest president. We hereby surrender. The New York Times would write that they won the war. [30:12] They've lost so much credibility. So, it's a very different kind of a place than Venezuela. [30:18] But Venezuela, you know, we're running Venezuela with the people that we... [30:22] Do you see the Cuba operation running similarly to the way... [30:25] Possibly. It's possible. The... Well, there's another thing. These places are close by. [30:33] Whereas, if you look at Iran, that's a very long trip. You know, I flew to that area a few times, [30:41] and unrelated to this, but you're flying for 18 hours. You know, you're flying for a long time. [30:47] Venezuela is relatively close, and Cuba's hopscotch. [30:51] Well, I wanted to talk about... We're going to have Marco get involved with Cuba. [30:55] Cuba wants to talk very badly. We have a lot of people that voted for me, like 95%, [31:02] and we're going to... Some of your strongest support is in the Cuban-American [31:04] community. That's right. Oh, I love them. [31:06] So, I wanted to present this to you, just the map of the Western Hemisphere. When you look at... I mean, [31:12] not as a gift, right? But when you look at this, do you see this as a fundamentally American [31:18] hemisphere? Is this fundamentally... More and more so, yeah. More and more so. [31:22] We're much more respected. So, we had a man that couldn't walk up a flight of stairs. And I don't [31:28] want to talk about it because if I ever trip a little bit, they'll say, oh, this is terrible. [31:31] Okay. It can happen. But you can't trip every time you go on a stage. We had a man that wasn't [31:37] respected. He wasn't smart 40 years ago. He was the worst thing that ever happened to old people, [31:44] because I have old people, friends of mine, that are 93, 95 years old. They're 100%. Gary Player, [31:49] great golfer. I play golf. He shot 71. He's 90 years old, and he's mentally exactly the same as [31:56] he was for the last 30 years. There are a lot of people. Biden was the worst thing that ever happened [32:03] to old people because you guys were not honest with the public. The public saw it. He was a disaster. [32:11] And you know the worst thing he did? Inflation was really bad, but that wasn't the worst thing. [32:14] The worst thing, because I inherited all this stuff. Look at what's happening with prices. [32:19] Now they're coming down. And with the oil, they're really coming down. I had to make an excursion [32:24] to stop a very volatile group of people that are smart, very smart. You know, the Iranians, [32:31] very smart people. They're sort of primitive genius, but they're smart. Okay. I had to stop them [32:40] because if they had a nuclear weapon, they would use it. And you want to see bedlam, [32:45] let them blow up a couple of cities someplace like they would have blown up Israel. If it weren't for [32:50] me, Israel would not exist today because I terminated the Barack Hussein Obama deal, the JCPOA, [33:00] which was a road to a nuclear weapon. They would have had it five years ago. They would have used [33:04] it within the first week, in my opinion, and Israel would no longer be with us. Israel would have been [33:08] gone years ago had I not done that. Now, what surprised me most is they waited so long, [33:15] they waited till I came back. They didn't do it intentionally. They didn't think I'd be coming [33:20] back. A lot of people didn't think so because of weaponization. They weaponized government. [33:25] But I came back with a roar, better than before, I think, better than before. And think of it. Israel [33:34] would have been gone if we didn't hit them with the B-2 bombers. They were all that enriched material. [33:40] They were one month away. It was right there. They could have walked down. They can't do that [33:43] anyway. You know, the B-2 bombers did their job with those great pilots. That sitting, the mountain [33:50] collapsed on top of it. It collapsed on top of it. Had we not hit them, they would have had a nuclear [33:57] weapon. They would have used it on Israel. They would have used it also in Saudi Arabia. And you saw that [34:02] on Qatar, on UAE, on Kuwait, Bahrain. Because when that war started, I guess my biggest surprise, [34:09] almost immediately, missiles were flying at these five other countries. [34:14] I said, why is he doing it? And you know what that did? That brought those five countries [34:18] right into my lap. They were great. And last one, artificial intelligence. [34:26] Just, excuse me, just one second. If it weren't for Donald Trump and Bibi Netanyahu worked well with me, [34:33] but he will tell you, we're the ones with the guns. We're the ones with the whole deal. [34:37] We're the ones with the B-2 bombers, etc. If it weren't for Donald Trump, Israel would have been [34:45] eviscerated. Your relationship with Netanyahu is... [34:48] It's good, but we have to keep them a little bit sane. [34:53] Are you going to be able to control Israel from attacking Lebanon? [34:58] Yeah. I will be. I mean, I wonder. They have a lot of respect for me. And they do as I say. [35:07] Remember this. If I don't terminate the JCPOA road to... Remember, that was a road to a nuclear weapon. [35:18] Legally. It says right there. And Obama thought he could pay them off. He gave them billions and [35:24] billions of dollars, $1.7 billion in cash. You know, it was a well-known story, but it didn't [35:29] work. You can't bribe your way out of it. You can't pay off your way. But if I didn't do that, [35:34] and if I didn't attack their nuclear supply 10 months ago with the B-2 bombers, Israel would not [35:42] exist today. So artificial intelligence. Yeah. [35:45] Not a very artful transition by me. Do you see artificial intelligence as a weapon? [35:51] Well, improperly used it could be. If properly used... I will tell you one thing. It's so big. [35:58] Yeah. It is big like nobody's... I mean, bigger than the internet. It's bigger than any... I've seen [36:05] the different things come along. It's an age where people like you, if we're nice, smart people like we [36:11] are, we watch and we see what's happening. This AI is incredible. Now, it's unbelievable for good. You're [36:20] going to have medical cures coming up 25 years early because of it. You're going to have other [36:26] things happening, but you have to watch. You know, we have a situation with Anthropic and we didn't like [36:33] what they were doing. And so far, I think they've behaved very responsibly to our request. [36:40] Do you view Anthropic and to a degree its CEO, Dario Amadei, as a threat to national security? [36:49] Well, not now, but a week ago, maybe. I was with him yesterday. He made a speech. I made a little [36:57] speech. We were in the room on the G7 and seems like a nice guy, smart guy. But he responded to us very [37:07] quickly because, you know, it's tremendous liability. People get put in prison immediately [37:13] for that. You know, you can't play games with that. And he responded very responsibly, I thought. So [37:19] far, I think he will. Do you have the power and the inclination to shut them down or possibly take [37:26] them... Well, I don't want to do that because I'm somebody that, you know, we're beating China [37:30] by a lot on AI. I was with President Xi. We talked about it. We're beating China by a lot. [37:35] Everyone thought that we didn't have the electricity. I came up with an idea. I thought [37:40] of it myself. I let them build their own electric plants when they're building their factories. [37:45] That way they don't have to use an old grid. And they actually sell back into the grid at a cheap [37:50] price, excess electricity. They need massive amounts. It's amazing, Mark. They need double the [37:58] amount of electricity that this country produces for everything to run it. So I had the idea. I said, [38:04] I'm going to let them... I mean, we don't have that kind of electricity. Really, nobody does. [38:09] And they're building their plants, and they're building the most incredible electric producing [38:14] factories you've ever seen. So we're leading China by a lot. It's going to be for the good, [38:20] and we're watching for the bad. I think the good... Let me put it a different way. The good [38:24] far outweighs the bad. We are going to find the bad, and we're going to stop it. [38:29] You have the power to use the Defense Production Act, potentially? [38:32] I have the power to use a lot of things, yeah. Would you consider using the Defense [38:36] Production Act to possibly regulate or control AI or AI? I would, but I'm not sure I have to do that. [38:42] I think so far it's been very responsible. Actually, it was a competitor and a part owner [38:49] that turned Anthropic in. They didn't like what they were doing. They were very concerned. Think of [38:55] it. It's a part owner. And I think it worked out very well, I think. And France at the G7 had talked [39:02] about having an international group that comes together. They want the United States to share [39:08] more on AI. Well, the problem we have is that we are leading everybody by a lot. [39:15] Right. It's power share, power loss. Right. Yeah. But here's the problem. In Europe, [39:19] I heard maybe it's wrong, but we have many at the top, almost all. Between us and China, we have almost all. [39:26] Well, the first European company that's in AI is number 187. So that's not too good. Europe has to [39:36] be very careful. They're losing their way. They're losing their way entrepreneurially. And I mean, [39:43] the big thing is energy-wise. Look, the UK is sitting on the greatest oil find, one of them in the world, [39:50] the North Sea, the Great North Sea. They have one of the greatest, they're not using it because of the [39:58] environment. And if they did use it, their energy prices would be cut by 75%. They don't want to use [40:05] it. And yet, they buy their energy from Norway, which uses the North Sea. And Norway's got $3 [40:11] trillion sitting in the bank. So, you know, it's crazy. I have to go. I'm so late. I did this out of [40:18] respect for you, but I have to go. Do you want to just close it up? Oh, yeah. Let's close it up. [40:22] Um, where are you in, as you wind down your presidency? You've got two more years. [40:31] I don't call it a wind down. I think we got a lot of time. We have two and a half plus years. [40:36] Every presidency has a life cycle. And as a president comes to his, in the second term, [40:42] to his last midterm, his party usually loses control of the House. His poll numbers usually [40:47] start to decline. And he starts to weaken. And that's happening to you. No, it's not. [40:54] Uh, fake polls. I have great poll numbers. How do you maintain... [40:59] I would beat any candidate they have by 25 points. Well, how do you maintain your... [41:04] I have great poll numbers. How do you maintain your power going forward? [41:07] You have the Senate that's rebelling... I don't think about it. No, I don't think [41:10] about it. All I do is do my job. You know, I have more than two and a half years. I have a lot [41:15] of time. But all I do is think about doing my job. And we have other things. Very big things [41:22] that I want to do in the next two and a half years. Some very impactful things. Things are happening [41:27] that aren't good. And I'm going to straighten them out. And some things are happening that should be [41:32] better. And I'm going to make them better. Uh, this is a great presidency. [41:38] Are you going to miss being in this White House? [41:41] Well, it's so early. I don't like to talk about it because, you know, two and a half years is a pretty [41:44] long time, in all fairness. I love the building. I'm fixing the building. You know, I do that in [41:48] my little side hobby. I've... You see the granite, which was... They had stones that's broken. The [41:54] marble's broken. The tile they have is garbage from a low-class place that sells garbage. [42:01] This is the White House. You saw the white floor, I assume. You saw the beautiful granite. [42:06] I fix it. I pay for it myself. I don't want money. And the White House will soon be in better [42:13] shape than it was. And most importantly, when it was built... Most importantly, I'm building what [42:19] will be one of the greatest ballrooms and safety nets anywhere in the world. It's all bulletproof [42:25] glass. It's all drone-proof roofs. Uh, it's actually a drone port on the top of the roof with views of [42:32] everything. It's very high up. Uh... And you're going to be able to get there [42:36] through the Senate. I know the Senate has been... Well, I don't need it through the Senate. I'm paying for [42:39] myself. I don't know what... They're talking about giving a billion... I don't need money from the [42:44] Senate. I'm... I'm putting up my own money and the money of very great patriots. Apple, Microsoft, [42:51] you know, all... We don't need money. We have a judge that said he'd rather have it be put up by the [42:58] government. Why? We're... We're giving a gift of a tremendous military and also a very important ballroom [43:08] for safety. You see how many... With all the whack jobs, all these crazy people, [43:13] the bulletproof glass is just thick. Nothing gets through it. The drones won't hit it. They'll bounce [43:19] off the roof. Uh, we're actually putting a drone port up that's very important, but we have a judge [43:24] that probably doesn't like Donald Trump. Fortunately, we have appellate judges that, you know, have done okay [43:29] with the appellate judges, but I have not done so well with some of these judges that probably have [43:35] Trump derangement syndrome. But I will say just in finishing, uh, we've taken Washington DC from a [43:43] death trap to one of the safest cities in America. We took crime down 94% in a period of a year. This, [43:51] this place, when I got here, was a death trap. And now it's one of the safest cities in America. [43:59] I beautified it. New grass. Got rid of all of the graffiti. 48 fountains and monuments have been [44:09] not, I mean, so bad. Graffiti all over them. 50 years they weren't touched and now they're all [44:17] beautiful. And then there's gonna be an arch. I think maybe the greatest of all will be [44:23] what's called the triumphal arch. Yeah. Mr. President, I appreciate your time. I know [44:28] you've been rushed today. I don't think you had any sleep, did you? Did you? Not much. [44:31] So you, you flew across... I had two hours for you. Two hours. [44:36] You need more than two hours for him, right? Anyway, thanks. [44:40] Well, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much, sir. I appreciate it. Thank you very much.