Good to have you with us. It's been quite a couple of days here in the United Kingdom. Last night, you called the dinner one of the highest honors of your life. You were clearly moved and impressed by the dinner, and you were sitting next to King Charles.
Yes.
And one of the things that he talked about is standing together for Ukraine. It was on a list of things that he was thinking the United States for. I'm curious what you spoke with him about? And did he did he speak to you about his feelings about the war in Ukraine at all?
He did. He spoke about many things. We were together for a long time, really, two days. I just left him. And he's a great person. I knew him as Prince Charles originally. And now he's King Charles. And the people love him in this country, and he went through, you know, pretty tough stuff and medically. And he's doing great.
But he's just a great person. I've known him for a long time, always said the same thing. He was a tremendous man who really stepped into a very tough position. You know, having to follow Queen Elizabeth is very -- I guess she's got the all-time record, probably always will have, but she was in there for like 70 years or something.
And to follow that is pretty tough. And she was really beloved.
Was there anything in particular that he wanted to communicate to you about his feelings about things?
I think that he was more interested in trade. You know, he loves the environment too. He likes to talk about the environment, but he was more interested in trade than anything else. And we're working a trade deal with the U.K., which is going to be a good deal for both. And we're working it with the prime minister and his various representatives, and I think it's going to be, you know, a great deal for both.
We're doing tremendous trade deals for our country. We have unbelievable investment coming into the United States. And I guess because of the election, but also because of the tariffs. Without the tariffs, it would be a whole different story. We have more than $17 trillion coming in. As an example, Biden in his last year had 250 billion, so just a tiny fraction of that.
And I don't think there's ever been anything like this, $17 trillion and more by the time we finish.
I want to talk to you more about that. But you spoke last night in your toast about the relationship between the United States and the U.K., the fight against tyranny and fascism. We now have this situation where you've had 23 Russian drones go pretty deep into Polish territory.
Yes.
Latvia, Romania also saying that they've had incursions. Swedish Air Force went up today into the Baltic Sea to chase away Russian fighter planes. What is Putin doing?
You know, I'm disappointed in Putin. I'll tell you, I'm very disappointed in him. I settled seven wars at least, but I settled seven wars, all of which they said were not settleable. And I got them done. And, you know, the ones I want to -- I'm not going to bore you going over a long list but they were wars that were very tough to settle.
Even the Congo in Africa, Rwanda going on for many, many years, almost 10 million people killed, settled, got them all done. And the one I thought was going to be easiest was going to be Russia-Ukraine because of my relationship with President Putin. So, I'm disappointed. If you listen to some people, the, you know, the ones like in Poland were shot down and they fell into Polish territory, but they shouldn't have been that close anyway.
They were drones. And --
Do you think it was a mistake? The Polish prime minister said it was not a mistake that they were intentionally, into Poland, Polish territory.
You know, I just -- I can't comment on whether it was a mistake or not. They shouldn't have been there, let's face it. But supposedly they were disabled. You know, they're disabled drones today. That's the great attack on the drone is disabling it, and they fall all over the place. So, let's hope it was that.
I mean, I'd like to think the better. But I'm very disappointed in that. I thought that would be the easiest of all of them to get done and that it turns out to be the most difficult. The relationship between President Putin and President Zelenskyy is a horrible one. I mean, you know, it's a lot to do with relationships.
They truly dislike each other. I want to use that word rather than a stronger word, but they really do. They hate each other. And we'll see what happens. I think we're going to get a solution. I was unhappy with the European Union, or let's say NATO, when I saw that they were buying oil from Russia. I mean, I'm supposed to be coming in with the United States.
And, you know, I took a tough stand on, as you know, India because they were buying oil. And, ultimately, if oil prices go down or if Russia's not selling oil, they have no choice but to settle. And when the European Union nations or the NATO nations, because they're similar, very similar, when they're buying oil from Russia, that's not the greatest thing.
That's not the deal. And I let it be known. And people were surprised to hear that, but they were doing it quietly and slyly, and you can't do that. You know, if you're going to win, you're going to have to not buy oil from Russia. But we're going to see how it turns out. I hope it turns out well. You know, it doesn't affect us because like we have a big ocean in between, but you're losing millions of people and they're mostly soldiers, Russian soldiers, Ukrainian soldiers.
Last week, almost 8,000 soldiers were killed in this ridiculous war, 8,000 people. And, again, I want to see if I can get it done. It's tougher than I thought, but I've done a lot of tough things. It's so interesting. I settled wars that were absolutely, there was no chance of getting -- we're going on for 31 -- one was 31 years, one was 34 years, one was 36 years going on for years and years, I got it done.
This is one that should be settled. It should be settled.
Prime Minister Starmer has agreed to fly RAF jets over Poland to protect them. And back in August, you said we might help by air. You would consider helping in the air. What does that mean? Does that mean F- 16s? Does it mean Patriot missile defense systems? How would you help?
Well, we are helping intelligence-wise. But when I said help by air, I'm talking about security after the war is settled. So, after the war is settled, we would help secure the peace. And I think, ultimately, that'll happen. But, you know, there's a question of whether or not President Putin wanted a piece of it or all of it. You know that.
And I was -- it was never going to happen when I was president, never. And there was never even a thought of it. And it didn't happen. For four years, it didn't happen. There was never a threat. I think the bad performance put on by these people in Afghanistan had a lot to do with it because it showed such gross incompetence.
But we're going to get it done one way or the other. We're going to get it done. Again, very disappointed when they say sanctions. I don't mind sanctions, but when I do sanctions and people are buying oil from a person they shouldn't be buying oil from, it's makes it much different.
You said you go first on China. You said we're doing sanctions 50 percent against India because they're the biggest or second biggest buyer of Russian oil.
And we did that, and that's a big step.
Right. So, when you talked to Starmer, did you say, let's get everyone on board, if you guys do sanctions on India and on and China, then we'll do that too?
Well, if they did sanctions as an example, or tariffs or whatever you want to call it, if they did that on China, I think the war would maybe end, because China's by far the biggest purchaser of oil from Russia. And I think they have other powers over Russia too. I'm speaking with President Xi, as you know, on Friday, having to do with TikTok and also trade, and we're very close to deals on all of it. And my relationship with China is very good.
You know, we have a trade deal with them. We had a very good meeting the other day, and it sounds like they've approved TikTok. And TikTok is a tremendous amount of money for the United States. So, that was nice. But we'll see how that all works. But if Europe did something with respect to China, I think China would probably maybe force an end to the war.
Is there any openness to that? Did Starmer say they would consider that?
Well, I would've done something too. But, again, you can't have Europe buying oil from Russia and then have me getting upset with China because they're buying oil from Russia. I was a little surprised and I wasn't supposed to find that.
Hungary gets 75 percent, Slovakia also, and their NATO countries.
Well, that's true. Hungary does.
They get a lot of oil from Russia. It's an interesting --
But it's not only those two countries. And those two countries sort of understand because they actually do have a pretty close relationship, if you look, but it's other countries too. And you just can't do that. You know, the United States has been a sucker long enough in the world in terms of trade. Now, we're doing unbelievably well, and we're making more money than we've ever made.
And it's going to continue as long as we have the beautiful tariffs. I always said my favorite word, I made it my fourth favorite word as you know, because love, religion, wife, family, et cetera.
And then tariffs.
And then I got hit -- no, I got hit by the press, so I said it's my favorite. Well, what about religion? What about family? And so anyway, so I make it my fourth favorite word.
You said in the news conference that you're just close to a deal with the U.K. That was the first deal that was made, at least the framework, but it's still not finalized. A lot of people wondering when you're going to see those finalized.
We made a deal with the U.K. and they'd like to make adjustments to it.
On steel?
Yes. We made a deal with U.K. It's a done deal, complete. In fact, I signed it, as you remember, it was signed in the Oval Office.
I remember. Yes.
But they would like to see if they could make a little bit better deal.
Were you open to that?
I like them. We're making a lot of money.
So, they're at 25 percent right now. Are you going to go lower than that for them?
Yes. Well, they're actually at 50 percent for steel and aluminum. And I want to see them. They're having a lot of difficulties.
Yes.
You know that, right?
Yes, I want to ask you about that.
And I know you're of Scottish heritage, at least partially. So, congratulations. It's a good heritage.
Highlanders. Thank you very much.
It's a good heritage.
Starmer is under a lot of pressure, which you just mentioned, in immigration, very similar issues to what we're seeing at home, immigration.
Well, we've stopped it.
Crime, all of it. Yes, absolutely. So, do you think his government will survive having spent a few days here and gotten a close look at what's going on?
I just think he's a really fine person, him and his wife, and, you know, you get to know people. I think he's a very fine guy. He's more liberal than me. I think he should take a very strong stand on the immigration. It's really hurting him badly. I think he has to open up the North Sea. They have some of the best oil in the world and they have a lot of it. They have a lot of it, and they made it impossible for people to drill, and I think that's what causes their energy price.
You know, they have a big energy problem here with the pricing, whereas our pricing is way down. We're going to be close to $2 a gallon. And, you know, for the cars very soon, we were up at four and $5. And when you bring energy down, you bring inflation. Look, I inherited the worst inflation ever. As I just said at the news conference, they say it's 48 years and I'll accept that, but I think it's ever.
And we now have very low inflation. We have great production. And when these factories that are being built all over the country start opening up, we're going to have numbers like nobody's ever seen before, including jobs.
Why do you think that people are going to feel that? Because we do see polling that doesn't poll well in the economy. The recent Fox polling said 52 percent say the economy is worse under this administration. We've got unemployment at the highest rate in four years. Groceries made a big jump in the last term.
So, how is that -- you're looking forward with these plans that you just talked about. When will people feel that, Mr. Trump?
Well, when the factory start opening, I mean, right now we're building them. And, you know, Fox polling, I have to tell you, I've told you before, it's the worst polling I've ever had. It's always, I mean, during the election they had me winning by a little bit, not by a massive amount. And Fox polling, I've told Rupert Murdoch, go get yourself a new pollster because he stinks.
And this is for years now. But I will say that we have all of these things are being built. Car companies are moving back. You know, we lost 50 percent, 54 percent of our -- we were the automobile capital of the world. And all of a sudden we got robbed by China, Japan, Germany, all these countries. Those companies, they're all coming back now to the United States.
They're building car companies and factories all over. They're coming back from Mexico and Canada. We lost a lot to Mexico. We lost a lot to Canada. They're all coming back because of the tariffs. Without the tariffs, a different story, but they're coming back because of the tariffs. And you're going to see that kick in probably in a year or so.
So --
But we're doing well anyway. Look, we have, right now, when you look at our numbers, the investment that's being made in our country is again, Biden's at $250 billion.
Right.
And we're at $17 trillion.
Yes, that's a big number.
Well, nobody's ever heard of a number like that. There's never been a number like that.
So, with regard to people's feeling about the economy and the tariffs and, you know, some polls show that people are concerned about the tariffs as well --
Yes. That's only because they don't understand the word tariff. I mean, look, again, we have all this money, trillions of dollars pouring into our country only because of the tariffs. I mean, I'd like to say because of November 5th, the election. But it's really because of the tariffs. And how do people avoid the tariffs?
They build in this country. No different than what China did to us for years, no different than what Europe did to us for years. Europe was as bad as China. No different than what other people did to us. But we have the advantage. We actually have a big advantage on tariffs. You know, the advantage is they want to be here.
They have to be here. They don't have to be in other countries. And that's why we're doing -- I mean, these are numbers that nobody's ever seen before. So, it's a very, very important thing. And the only people that are against tariffs are people that are in favor of other countries. For instance, we have a lawsuit.
Well, it's financed and sponsored by people from other countries because we're doing well against countries that were ripping us off. Martha, we were ripped off for years by other countries, including China. And, you know, last term, I had a tremendously successful term last term, but this is much better.
We're doing much better. If you look at regulations, I cut regulations more than anybody else. We got the biggest tax cuts we've ever gotten. I've taken those tax cuts and expanded them, extended them, and expanded them. And the numbers that we're seeing are the best, I think, that we've ever seen.
So, you talk about the hundreds of billions of dollars that have come in because of the tariffs. Would you consider -- where's that money going to go? Would you consider giving it back to taxpayers while they wait for some of the things that you just talked about to kick in? Is that an option?
Well, politically that's a nice thing to do, but you can do that and you can also pay down debt. because we're talking about very big numbers.
So, which do you like better?
Both maybe. I mean, I could see both. I could be giving something back. Because, look, these people have been forced to suffer for years by being ripped off by other countries, including China, and, frankly, including the European Union. The European Union was as bad as China. Now, they're treating us very nicely.
You know, I signed a deal with the European Union. They have to pass $950 billion, have to buy $750 billion in our energy. They have to pay $200 billion for something else. I mean, nobody's ever seen -- Japan, they're going to pay us $550 billion in order to reduce the tariffs, just to reduce them down to 15 percent.
Well, to get them down from 30 to 15, but the 30 was just set by me. We get it down to 15. They used to be nothing. They'd send millions of cars into the United States and they'd pay nothing. You know what we paid? You know why we paid nothing? Because it wouldn't take our cars. We didn't have one car sold in Japan for five years.
They didn't take any of our cars, and yet we took millions of their cars. And they're a friend of mine. Look, they're a country we get along with. I got -- especially Abe, who's killed, unfortunately, who was assassinated, Prime Minister Abe. He was like a great friend of mine. And he actually said to me, I said, look, we're going to have to talk fast.
We have to -- Shinzo, we have to talk. He said, I know, I know.
It seems like that's the response from a lot leaders. They know that the gig is up when it comes to the relationship that they have.
You know where they really know though, is on favored nation drugs.
Yes.
Because for years we've been paying sometimes for a pill $100 and they're paying $10. And I say, what's this all about? And now the drug companies agree that I'm right. And the countries, if they don't agree, I'll use tariffs to get them to agree. You understand.
Yes.
And we're going to be reducing drug costs over the next year, year-and-a-half by not 50 or 60 percent by 1,000 percent. Because if you think a $10 pill going -- so it'll be raised up from 10 to 20 because it's the world versus us, so the world is a bigger place. So, it'll go from 10 to 20. It won't go from 10 to 50 or 60 for them, which is bearable, and it'll go from 10 to 20 for us. So, you're talking about a monumental change in healthcare.
That's going to affect Medicare, Medicaid, even Social Security. It's going to affect everything. That will be one of the biggest things you'll ever see done, because we've been paying for the healthcare of every nation in the world so stupidly.
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You just mentioned the TikTok deal with China. And among the many conversations that have happened in the aftermath of the assassination of your good friend, Charlie Kirk, has been the terrible effects that social media has had on young people. And among the platforms that have been spewing this hatred, and these cheering people about Charlie Kirk's assassination is TikTok. So the question is, it worth it for the damage that it has done in many ways to our kids?
So I didn't know too much about TikTok, and Charlie actually recommended to me, he said, you should go on TikTok, but other people too. And I went on TikTok and I really hit big. I mean, I think I had more views than anybody else in the world, actually. And as you know, I did phenomenally with youth, young people, very young people, you know, young voters that typically a republic.
I think Romney got like 6 percent or something like that. It wasn't so long ago. And I got tremendous, you know, millions and millions of young kids.
Absolutely.
Nobody's ever seen anything like it. And I give TikTok and Charlie, and probably some other reasons but, you know, we did well. But I got to understand TikTok. And you're right, they said negative but they also said mostly positive about Charlie. I mean, the statements on TikTok and other places. Now, you know, look, I saw in FOX and I saw in others some of the quotes that people made that were so horrible.
And you say, where do these people live? Where do they come from? They said horrible things about the death of Charlie. And I guess we just have sick people out there. I mean, even if you didn't like them, you can't say the kind of things that they say. But that was long beyond TikTok. That was things that were so --
There's a lot of things out there. And you have this executive order now that we just heard about on political violence and hate speech --
Right.
-- and you want to make Antifa a terrorist organization.
They are.
You know, do you believe that there is a vast terrorist movement in the United States that people need to be aware of? And is it responsible for Charlie Kirk's killing, for the attempts on your life, for these CEOs that we saw in New York City, is there something people need to understand?
You never know and we'll find out, maybe. But in the meantime, we're going to do a big thing with respect to Antifa. It's a sick group. I mean, very, very sick group. We have a lot of things. They love burning the American flag. I think it's terrible that they burned the American flag. We're going in and we're saying it incites riots and therefore you go to jail for one year if you burn the American flag.
That's different than Antifa but Antifa burns a lot of American flags because, as you know, the flag, free speech got us on the American flag. The courts have ruled free speech. So we're going to go on an incitement of rights. I saw it the other day --
Some people worry that this --
I saw it the other day in your show. They have an American flag and a guy starts burning it, and the people went crazy about it and they ended up rioting all over the place. So we think that's a reason also. And we're going into the courts with that, which is incitement. Antifa causes tremendous incitement.
And the things they say and the things they do are horrible. So we're going to find out.
You said millions and millions of dollars going towards some of these groups for agitation the other day.
Agitators.
Who are they? Where's the money coming from? Is it foreign entities?
Yes. You're going to find out. And we're going to find out in great detail. And it surprised me that Biden wouldn't have died because it really became hot over the last three, four years. It surprised me that Biden wouldn't do it. But then as I got to know him, first of all, he didn't call the shots. He wasn't on the shots.
But as we got to see what was happening in Biden's group, Antifa plays perfectly for them, you know, absolutely perfectly. But it's a terrorist organization, in my opinion, and we're going to find out all those questions are going to be answered.
Charlie said you know, that there was no such thing as hate speech. He obviously, you know, no one anticipated what would happen to Charlie. But you have always been in favor of free speech. So do you have concerns about, you know, some people look at this and your critics will say, well, this crackdown is a crackdown on free speech?
It's interesting, I watch your show and I watch others and I see people saying things. They're crazy. These people are crazed lunatics. Even the way they'll answer, you know, it's like you'll see them. And the things they say are really bad, but they look crazy. They're almost crazed. Maybe they're drugged out, maybe there's some other problem.
But the kind of things you hear, if -- actually you probably don't put most of them on, the kind of things you hear are so unbelievable. You wouldn't think, you know, you're a very regular person, I am too. I'm a regular person who would make the statements that they make. Did you see the guy the other day run through all the flowers that put down in loving memory of Charlie?
This maniac runs through the flowers, kicking them all down and stepping, and stomping on them. Unfortunately, somebody grabbed him and gave him a rap. But the guy looks like a normal guy and he's -- who would do that? I mean, who would do it running through these plants --
But that's ruining property. So once you cross the line just from just --
No, it's not the ruining of property --
-- from just speaking.
It's not the ruining of property, it's the concept of doing it. Who would do this?
Yes, It's horrible.
People that are placing -0-
Yes, the freedom in this country to burn a flag to but not to ruin, you know, someone's -- that asks the question, you know, where do you draw the line, I guess.
Well, you can say the ruin nation of property because you probably do better with that because free speech seems to be able -- you're like able to do anything. So you can say, but when I saw this thing, it was -- I couldn't believe it. I had to rewind it and say I love the rewinding. It's -- without it -- we couldn't live without it because you have to -- because sometimes you can't believe it. But I watch this young guy running through and kicking everything around and --
And he had a t-shirt on that was the same t-shirt.
Just a terrible. That's the other thing. They have signs and they're all professionally made. Real protesters make them in their basement and they're all the same.
Who's behind it? Do you have a gut feeling?
You know, you hear Soros, I don't know. We're going to find out if he's behind it. But it's incitement to riot, that's a criminal act, and people are dying because of it. So it's really, you know, it's death. So we're going to find out, and it should have been done a long time ago.
Let me ask you as a parent and a grandparent, when you look at these stories, right, this guy, Tyler Robinson, Thomas Crooks who almost took your life, Luigi Mangione has all these people supporting him. What's your advice to parents --
Think about Mangione. He shot someone in the back. As clear as you're looking at me or I'm looking at you, he shot. He looked like a pure assassin. I was surprised, actually. You know, you would have thought this guy would have been at a central casting in the movie and maybe he was. But he think of what he did.
He openly -- it's not like -- see, there's a question. If there's a question, you can understand it, maybe, but there's not a question. He walked up to a man, didn't give him warning, didn't say turn around, didn't do like the old west where you have a gunfight, you know, you each have a gun. He shot him right in the middle of the back, instantly dead.
And now he's like, I'm watching, the girls are going crazy for him. This is a sickness. This is, you know, this really has to be studied and investigated. It's not possible.
And these people are allegedly, at this point, they're all in the process in the Department of Justice. But what would you say to parents who are worried about kids getting deep into these holes on the internet, spending too much time gaming?
They should be worried. You know, when you look at the picture of Charlie, I didn't see it, I didn't want to see it. You know, I specifically, they told me what happened. I would have never made a good doctor, OK? I'm not -- I don't like the blood and all of the things. And some people view that as like -- I've seen -- I was watching something and it was -- well, did a lot worse on the internet of things.
They watch your stuff. So, you know, there is a point at which it really does get to be pretty sick. I specifically said, you know, they had it all teed up. They said, you -- and I don't want to sit. I don't want to remember Charlie that way. This was such a good guy. You knew probably very well. I assume you knew him very well.
He was a great guy.
Not as well as you, but yes.
No, but he was a great person. He really was a great person. I actually said, Charlie, someday I think you have a good chance of being president. I think you will be president, maybe. And I think he would have had a great chance. He was very compelling. I've never seen anybody capture a group of people like he captured youth.
He captured youth. It was incredible. You know, when I say he was a young guy, but I'm talking about the 20 year olds and the 18 year olds. It was like he had a following that was incredible.
He did. Do you feel -- last question for you, sir, because I know you've had a long couple of days. I appreciate your time. Do you thing --
Just didn't have the courage to tell you I'm not doing it because I studied every monument and every painting in the entire UK. And I said, oh, finally. I thought they said, no, you're doing an interview with Martha. Oh, that's great.
Well, let me ask you this after the last week --
But it's an honor to do.
Thank you. It's great to have you. Great to have you, sir. Do you think it's the responsibility -- is it a role as president to bring people together? Is that part of the job?
Ideally. So I get this question so much. And when you see the kind of hatred out there, it's like unbelievable. And it's probably always been there. We just don't realize it. But I saw it starting with President Obama. I saw tremendous hatred. I saw levels that we've never seen before. And with Biden, it got far worse.
Just far worse when you look at what happened. This last four years has been terrible. But, you know, during my term we had tremendous economic success. And just before COVID, I was getting calls from people that you wouldn't believe, people that you know very well. But people, I would call them the radical left or certainly the left.
And more so than what we would think of as a traditional Democrat. And they wanted to get together. Remember that just before COVID we had to handle the COVID I think we did a great job with that. But it was COVID. It was -- the whole world was thrown asunder, right? The whole world look bad --
Still recovering in a lot of ways.
In many ways. In many ways, young people are recovering --
Yes.
-- because they were -- they missed --
They're in the basement --
-- a piece of their life. Yes, No, a piece of their life was taken away.
Yes, that's true.
I wonder what it would be like if we didn't have that horrible thing that took place from. And it came from a certain place, and it was a terrible thing. It was a terrible thing. But if you think about it, when this happened, all of these things happened and they all happened at once. And you do wonder what would it be like?
We would have had a different -- I think we would have had a different world. But it's very sad. It's very sad. What I would say is this, success brought people together. And I think the only thing that's going to bring them is tremendous success, and that includes economic success. I was getting calls from people, Martha, that you would not -- if I told you some of the people, and I'll tell you if you want later.
But I don't want to give them any publicity because they went bad as soon as things started going a little bit differently. But people wanting to get together, wanting to have lunch, wanting to talk, it was amazing, actually. And I say it, and I say it loud and clear. I think the only thing that's going to bring us together is tremendous success.
Mr. President, thank you very much for your time. Good to be with you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, sir.
Appreciate it.