Trump AP Interview Transcripts: A Breathtaking & Incomprehensible Dramatic Reading

[0:04] Let's just do a little bit. There's no sound from this, the Trump interview, so we will have to actually act out a couple of the choice moments. [0:17] I think the first one we should probably do would be the, you want to do the Electoral College one, or which one do you want to start with? [0:28] Well, I guess, I don't know which. All right, let's do the, this is the, this is the, this is the, this is the president's Trump interview scene. Okay, this is the interview with the AP. I will play the role of the AP. Michael will play the role of the president. We will start with how, Donald Trump, you know, people don't realize the odds he overcame to win the Electoral College completely stacked against him. [1:11] AP, do you mean your White House team when you say that you have different teams? [1:17] Yeah, I mean, my White House team, I think, right, has been doing an excellent job. I think, you know, this is a very tough environment, not caused necessarily by me, although the election has, you know, look, look, the Democrats have a tremendous opportunity because the Electoral College, as I said, is so skewed to them. [1:37] You start off by losing in New York and California, no matter who it is. If Abe Lincoln came back to life, he would lose New York and he'd lose California. It's just a registration. There's nothing you could do. You're losing the biggest states where you start. [1:53] Okay, the Electoral College is so skewed in favor of the Democrats that it's very hard. I mean, look, Obama's number in the Electoral College, his number in the win were, but the Electoral College numbers are massive. [2:06] You lose New York, you lose Illinois. Illinois is impossible to win. And look at, so now you lose New York, Illinois, no matter what you do in California, right? [2:15] And you say, man, now I have to win in Florida, I have to win Ohio, and I have to win in North Carolina. You have to win all these states. And then I won Wisconsin and Michigan, all these other places. But you remember, there's no way there. There's no way to 270. [2:33] Right. I think he stole that from Nate Silver. [2:38] So I would go to the next page. [2:40] Let me just add something. The president just made this argument. He is the second Republican president in a row to have won via the Electoral College, but losing the public, the popular vote. [2:57] I do want to reiterate, there have been two Republican presidents elected in the past 20 years, 25 years. [3:10] Threaded that needle. And they both came to office by winning the Electoral College and losing the popular vote. [3:18] Yeah, but what I like is, is that this to me is a very, it actually explains the voter fraud obsession too a little bit. [3:24] Because you remember there was an old New Yorker cartoon where it showed like the brain of a New York resident, and it was like how they mapped the geography of the world. [3:32] Oh yeah, that map used to be all over the place. Everything west of the Hudson. [3:36] Everything that is in New York is essentially like that other place. And I think that that's basically like, it's so hurtful to him that he lost to New York in California. [3:45] I mean, that's really the bottom line. [3:46] Nobody could win. It's not possible to win. [3:48] We should go to the next page in terms of when he talks, one of his biggest challenges as president. [3:52] To me, that's not getting elected. It's being installed. That's how I think of it. [3:58] Oh, well, you're just saying that semantics. I mean, just because of the Supreme Court. [4:02] A lot of great people. A lot of great people have been installed. [4:05] What's wrong with being installed? There's a lot of great guys. [4:07] A lot of things in installed. [4:08] As a matter of fact, in Pakistan, they're going to install. [4:10] Dictators, military hunter-heads. [4:14] Do you like dishwashers? [4:15] Okay, so let's move on. [4:21] Sorry about, is one of your biggest challenges as a president. This is about building relationship. [4:24] Okay, right, okay. Okay. So, is one of your biggest, what am I talking about here? [4:33] This is the context of getting democratic support. [4:35] Oh, right, right, right, okay. [4:37] Okay, and he's talking about the three democratic votes that Gorsuch got. [4:43] Yes. [4:44] And do you think you can break through that? I mean, this is one of the biggest challenges for a president. [4:52] I think, I mean, there can be to an extent. There's a basic hard line core. [4:57] That you can't break through. Okay? You can't break through. [5:00] There's a hard line group you can't break through. You can't. It's sad. You can't. [5:06] Look, I meant Congressman Cummings. I really liked him a lot. [5:11] Elijah Cummings of Maryland. I really liked him a lot. [5:14] And during the conversation, because we have very strong mutual feelings on drug prices, [5:20] he came to see me at my invitation because I saw him talking about, [5:23] he came to see me to talk about, because drug prices are ridiculous. [5:28] And I'm going to get them way, way down. [5:32] He missed a way. [5:35] And he said, I'm going to get them way, way, way down. [5:39] And he liked it. [5:40] And he said, you'll be the greatest president. [5:42] And he said, you'll be in front, you will be in front of like five or six people. [5:46] You'll be one of the greatest presidents in the history of this country. [5:50] He disputed that slightly. [5:52] That's what he said. I mean, I can tell you. [5:55] Yeah. [5:56] There were six people sitting there. [5:59] And what he did, and what do you mean by slightly? [6:02] Well, he said that he felt like you could be a great president if, and then. [6:07] Well, he said, you'll be the greatest president in history. [6:09] But if you know what, I'll take that also. [6:13] But that you could be. [6:15] He said that. [6:16] We'll be the greatest president. [6:18] But I would also accept the other. [6:19] In other words, if you do the job. [6:21] But I accept that. [6:22] Then I watched him interview, and he was like, he never even was here. [6:26] It's incredible. [6:27] I watched him interview a week later, and it's like, he was never even in my office. [6:32] And you can even say that. [6:37] I feel like I'm going to get a stroke reading that. [6:41] One more section. [6:44] One more section. [6:44] You want to go to page four and the Coke? [6:47] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. [6:48] I believe it starts on page four. [6:50] Well, I'll do it at the bottom of the page before. [6:53] Okay. [6:53] Okay. [6:55] This is... [6:56] Somebody with the concept of the hundred-day plan? [6:58] Yep. [7:00] And this is, of course, the hundred days of the presidency. [7:06] You did put that out, though, as a candidate. [7:09] You put out a hundred-day plan. [7:11] Do you feel like you should be held accountable to that plan? [7:14] Yeah. [7:14] I mean, somebody put out the concept of that. [7:18] Sorry. [7:19] Yes. [7:19] You did put out, though, as a candidate, you put out a one-hundred-day plan. [7:31] Do you feel like you should be held accountable to that plan? [7:34] Somebody, yeah. [7:34] I mean, somebody put out the concept of the hundred-day plan. [7:37] But, yeah, mostly there in most terms. [7:40] Go over the terms, and I'll talk to you. [7:42] The items. [7:44] The items, and I'll talk to you. [7:45] But things change. [7:47] There has to be flexibility. [7:49] Let me give you an example. [7:50] President Xi, we have, like, a really great relationship. [7:56] For me to call him a currency manipulator. [7:59] And then, by the way, by the way, I'd like, I say, I'd like you to solve the North Korea problem. [8:07] Doesn't work. [8:09] So you have to have a certain flexibility. [8:12] Number one. [8:13] Number two. [8:15] From the time I took office, from now, it's a very exact thing. [8:20] It's not like generalities. [8:22] Do you want a Coke or anything? [8:27] I'm okay. [8:28] Thank you. [8:30] No. [8:34] But President Xi, from the time I took office, he's not been currency manipulators. [8:41] Because there's a certain respect. [8:44] I knew he would do something or whatever. [8:46] But more importantly than being a currency manipulator, the bigger picture, the bigger, [8:55] bigger than even currency manipulation, if he's helping North Korea with nuclear and [9:01] all the things that we've got to do with it. [9:03] Who would call what I'm going to do, say, by the way, could you help us with North Korea [9:12] and you're a currency manipulator? [9:14] It wouldn't work. [9:17] Right. [9:17] And that's the media. [9:19] Some of them get it, in all fairness. [9:21] But, you know, some of them either don't get it, in which case they're very stupid people. [9:27] Or they just don't want to say because a couple of them said, he didn't call them a currency [9:36] manipulator. [9:37] Well, for certain reasons. [9:39] Number one, he's not, since, you know, a very specific formula. [9:44] Since my time. [9:45] Oh, sorry. [9:46] Since my time, he's not, you know, very specific formula. [9:52] You would think it's like generalities. [9:54] It's not. [9:56] They have. [9:57] They're actually, their currency's gone up. [10:00] So it's a very, very specific formula. [10:03] And I said, how badly have they been? [10:11] And he said, and they said, since you got into office, they have not manipulated their [10:19] currency. [10:20] That's number one. [10:21] But, much more important, they're working with us on North Korea. [10:26] Now, maybe that'll work. [10:28] Or maybe it won't. [10:30] Can you imagine? [10:33] I feel like, just even attempting to read it, like you're, like, you're, like, faltering. [10:41] It's impossible to read it and to get into the rhythm of that. [10:45] They've done studies that when you read, you actually, part of what makes people sort of [10:51] able to digest information quickly is you start to kind of fill in logical spaces in [10:56] the text you're reading. [10:57] So what you're doing, it's like, okay, so naturally the transition would be, I'm negotiating [11:04] with them. [11:04] But then you have to double check to be like, and then we had a steak. [11:08] And wouldn't the bat be fantastic? [11:10] Would you like a Coke? [11:11] Let's go to the, the first, but I want to try and read to him once just to, to, to get [11:16] into that mindset. [11:17] So, as we, the, the, which is where you feel like you've changed the office. [11:21] Do you feel like you've changed the office? [11:23] No. [11:23] The, page, page two. [11:25] No, sorry. [11:26] Excuse me. [11:27] Middle. [11:28] Uh, do you feel like you've changed in the office of the presidency? [11:32] How can the presidency be used to affect change? [11:36] I think the hundred days is, you know, an artificial barrier. [11:40] It's not very meaningful. [11:41] I think I've established amazing relationships that will be used the four or eight years, [11:47] whatever period of time I'm here. [11:49] I think for that, I would be getting very high marks because I've established great relationships [11:54] with countries, as president LCC has shown and others have shown. [12:00] Well, if you look at the president of China, people said, they've never seen anything like [12:03] what's going on right now. [12:04] I really like him a lot. [12:07] That's true. [12:07] I think he liked me. [12:08] We have a great chemistry together. [12:11] I've developed great relationships with all these leaders. [12:15] Nobody's written that. [12:15] In fact, they said, oh, well, he's not treating them nicely because on NATO, I want them to [12:21] pay up. [12:21] But I still get along with them. [12:22] Great. [12:23] They will pay up. [12:24] In fact, with the Italian prime minister yesterday, you saw we were joking. [12:28] Come on. [12:28] You have to pay up. [12:29] You have to pay up. [12:30] He'll pay. [12:33] It's a, yeah, do the AP. [12:35] It's actually fun. [12:36] Do you say that in your, do you say that in your meetings, your private meetings? [12:40] He's going to end up paying. [12:41] But you know, nobody ever asked the question. [12:44] Nobody asked. [12:45] Nobody ever asked him to pay up. [12:47] So it's a different kind of presidency. [12:48] Do you feel like that's one thing that you've changed, that you maybe are actually asking [12:54] direct questions about some of these things? [12:56] Yeah. [12:57] Let me give you an example. [12:58] A little before I took office, there was a terrible article about a F-35 fighter jet. [13:03] It was hundreds of billions of dollars over budget. [13:05] It was seven years behind schedule. [13:07] It was a disaster. [13:08] So I called in Lockheed and I said, I'm sorry, we're going to have to bid this out to another [13:11] company, namely Boeing or wherever else. [13:14] But Boeing, and I called in Boeing and I started getting competitors offers back and forth. [13:18] I saved $725 million on the 90 planes. [13:22] Just 90. [13:23] Now there are 3,000 planes that are going to be ordered. [13:26] On 90 planes, I saved $725 million. [13:29] That's actually a little bit more than that, but it's $725 million. [13:32] But General Mattis, who had to sign the deal when it came to his office, said, I've never [13:37] seen anything like this in my life. [13:39] We went from a company that wanted more money for the planes to a company that cut. [13:44] And the reason they cut, same planes, same everything, was because of me. [13:47] I mean, because of what I do. [13:51] Isn't it exhausting? [13:52] It's exhausting. [13:54] All right. [13:54] That's the Apprentice-fired music, by the way. [13:57] Oh, yeah, yeah. [13:58] I also love the notion that I'm sure, of course, General Mattis, as we said, is a master manipulator. [14:04] He knows how to manage Trump. [14:06] But I still, I mean, maybe Mattis has gotten to his level of manipulation as a veteran military [14:11] guy that he does actually talk like this, where he comes in and just like, I'd just like [14:14] to say, Mr. President, tremendous, terrific. [14:17] Never seen anything in my life. [14:18] You're blowing me away. [14:20] You're blowing me away in every shape. [14:22] I mean, but not only blowing me away, I would say it was tremendous in a certain sense. [14:27] Mr. President, and I dip my head as a sign of respect, you're blowing me. [14:33] Whatever he does come in and every, just sort of. [14:35] I learned in Okinawa the art of the formal bow, Mr. President, which I'd like to extend [14:40] to you. [14:40] But I'd also like to say you're doing not only a tremendous job, really a historical job, [14:44] but also a great job. [14:45] But you also haven't changed in a certain sense. [14:47] And I'm finding it both fantastic and tremendous to witness, but also great. [14:52] It's both amazing to see how much you've learned on the job and how much you knew going into [14:56] the job. [14:57] It's sort of extraordinary how fast you learn and what you already know. [15:01] It actually makes my head spin. [15:03] Well, thank you. [15:04] I haven't done it. [15:04] Oh, yeah. [15:05] It's great. [15:05] Couldn't put it like that myself. [15:06] You have a very interesting cadence. [15:07] Can I hold your gun? [15:09] I like how Michael started out with the appropriate amount of being completely out of breath, but [15:15] then it was too exhausting to read and also hyperventilate at the same time. [15:19] Well, you did it very well, but you didn't do the panting that you know is taking place [15:24] in the Senate. [15:25] Hey, folks, the Majority Report YouTube page is in a bit of a crisis right now because [15:30] of changes in their algorithms. [15:33] Our YouTube revenue has been clobbered. [15:36] We need your help. [15:37] Just a couple of bucks a month would really help us out and keep this channel going. [15:42] Head over to our Patreon page to find out more information. [15:45] It's the URL. [15:47] URL is right here.