Interview: Dasha Burns of Politico Interviews Donald Trump Live on the Telephone - November 3, 2026

Hi. May I ask who's calling?

Hi, this is Dasha Burns with Politico. Hello?

One moment, please.

Hey, Dasha. How are you?

Hey, Mr. President. I'm doing well. You're on with, uh, with me and my colleagues here at Politico. I'm just wondering, what's your message? What do you think happened with your party tonight?

I wasn't on the ballot, and, uh, we didn't get the people out, but I wasn't on the ballot. If I was on the ballot, we would have won, we would have won it all very easily.

But, you know, Mr. President, you told voters that you were on the ballot, to go vote as though you were on the ballot.

Yeah, I said, say you're on the ballot, think about me being on the ballot, but they didn't agree and they didn't like the candidates, in most cases. Just one of those things. We have plenty of people elected, by the way, too, but, you know, not enough.

Are there candidates that you think didn't do enough in this election?

No, I don't want to blame anybody. I just want to say, you know, it was -- it was a very interesting period of time. I watched with great interest, learned from it. But I wasn't on the ballot, so --

What did you learn, sir? Curious what you learned.

Well, we're going to work with the Democrats to make sure things go well for our country, very important. They've already called and they want to work with me. I have the right to veto everything, but I don't want to be just sitting there for two years vetoing everything. They want to see things happen too, so I've already spoken to certain leaders of the Democrat Party, and we'll probably -- you know, I have a lot of friends with the Democrats also, so it's sort of an interesting [Inaudible] but we'll work --

Has -- has, uh, Jeffries -- has Hakeem Jeffries called?

Well, I don't want to say who, Dasha, but we'll work with the Democrats and we'll make things work out well for the [Inaudible]

Would you consider doing an immigration deal with Democrats?

Consider doing whatever I think is appropriate and good for the country.

Have you spoken to Chuck Schumer?

I don't want to tell you, but I've spoken to -- a lot of Democrats called me --

So you're willing -- you're willing to -- to do some bipartisan work?

-- over the last 20 minutes, actually.

Over the last 20 minutes.

I'm always -- I'm always willing to do that. Yeah, I'm always willing to -- I'd be willing to do that any time, including two years ago, I would have done that.

How much do you think, Mr. President, this changes the trajectory of the -- the final two years of your administration?

I'll let you know in a year from now. We have a powerful veto power, the ultimate, it's the ultimate power. And if I think it's not good, we're just going to veto. They're going to come back and say, how do we get it done and we'll see if we can get something -- something done.

Does this change your thinking about 2028 at all, Marco Rubio, JD Vance, some of the other people that have been thinking --

I don't know. We'll have to see. It's still a long way off. That's a long way off.

What is your message to the Republican Party now in this moment?

All they have to do is come together. We have to just keep good policy. A lot of people say the oil price because of Iran but I'm very, uh, I am totally convinced that my decision on Iran for the long term good of our country and even the world was absolutely correct one, and it continues to be.

Well, Mr. President, what can Americans expect in Iran? Are you going to -- to escalate now?

Well, we're going to take a look and if we see any opportunity to do one thing or another, we'll do it. We're going to do what's best for this country.

There's been speculation that you might be willing to -- to use nuclear power over Iran. Is that -- is that a possibility?

No. No, I don't need it. We've knocked them out already, 90 percent, so I don't need that.

What do you think -- we spoke to Byron Donalds earlier tonight, who of course is -- is someone you have endorsed and you have supported. He was a real bright spot for the Republican Party. What do you think he did to -- to be successful where others weren't?

Well, he's just a good guy and a good candidate, and he ran a good race. And I endorsed him, which was very important. He called me an hour ago and he just thanked me. And we had the Senator, Ashley, also elected and with my endorsement. You know, my endorsement elected a lot of people.

Do you think, sir, that Mike Johnson should stay on as -- as minority leader in -- in the House?

Well, I think he did -- I think he's done a very good job. I think he's done a very good job.

So you should -- you think he should keep a leadership position?

Well I think he's done a good job. I mean, they're going to have to make that decision. He's going to have to make that decision, but he's a good person and a good man and he's done a good job.

And --

I'll see you. We'll do an interview. I got to get out of here. We'll do an interview. OK. Thanks.

All right. Thanks. Thank you, Mr. President. Appreciate it. Bye-bye.