[Katie Pavlich conducted a sit-down interview with Donald Trump in the Roosevelt Room during the day on January 20, 2026. Part 1 of the interview aired on NewsNation at 10:00 pm the same day, while Part 2 aired on January 21, 2026 at 10:00 pm Eastern. Video courtesy and copyright NewsNation.]
Thank you, Mr. President, for having us here at the White House to mark the one-year anniversary to your second term in the White House. Um, Minnesota continues to be ground zero for the left's war against your deportation efforts.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, just today you saw the Department of Justice issue a number of subpoenas against Democratic officials there, Governor Tim Walz, the mayor of, of Minneapolis and the Attorney General Keith Ellison. What is the status of Minneapolis and what is your administration doing to ensure that your deportation efforts can continue in that city and around the country?
I think you have two problems, number one, you have 19 billion dollars worth of stolen money, at least, I think the number's gonna be much higher. And you have that in California, you have it in other states also, I believe, when you, when you go through it. So that's a big problem. And then you have the agitators, anarchists, you know, I watch sort of everything, I see it all.
And I see people, uh, screaming, "Shame, shame," you know. This is not people that are like living in Minnesota, these are professional paid people, they're like actors. I mean, I watched the guy last night in the church, he was, and not just Don Lemon, Don Lemon's a loser, but I watched a guy last night in the church.
This guy's a professional guy and he, he actually admits to it, he gets paid a lot of money to go and cause trouble. And you see that. What they don't see is that ICE gets rid of murderers, drug dealers, uh, Tren de Aragua, I mean, the worst gang in the world, anywhere in the world, MS-13, Tren de -- but these are the worst gangs, and they get rid of them, they take them out.
And I say something's wrong when, uh, a place like Minnesota, which is a good place, it's got a horrible governor, it's got horrible people, this, uh, Ilhan Omar is horrible, I mean, she comes from a country that doesn't even have a government, they have nothing. And she comes here and she lectures us on the Constitution, "She's got constitutional rights." She's just horrible.
Somebody said she's worth 30 million dollars. Well, therefore, she's obviously a very dishonest person and, uh, she should be looked at for that. So you have a couple of things, you have the money thing and then you have the, uh, all of the fake nonsense going on and screaming. The people, they're so professional.
They hold their cameras up high and, it's a terrible thing going on in Minnesota.
Well, you've threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act if the governor did not get things under control. They clearly don't have things under control and don't seem to want to get them under control yet. These activists storming churches now, and also they're still impeding these investigations of child sex offenders, murderers.
Right.
At a press conference today at the White House you held up a number of photos of the people that ICE has been deporting. The Insurrection Act would allow you, uh, uh, requires essentially that if federal law cannot be enforced, you can invoke it and it would allow it to be enforced.
Correct.
So where are you with that threat and do you still think it's necessary?
I don't think it is yet, it might be at some point. It is actually very common, you know, with me, they'll make it like a big deal, but, uh, it's been used by over 40% of the presidents during their term. Uh, it's something I would have no problem doing if I think we needed it. We have great people in ICE, uh, they're strong people, they're smart people.
And I don't think it's necessary yet, but I, you know, I see they're building up like, "Oh, if he ever did that." Uh, over 40% of the presidents used it. Some presidents used it actually many times. And it does make life a lot easier. Uh, you don't go through the court system, you don't, you know, it's just a much easier thing to do. But I don't think we need it, uh, at this point, and hopefully we won't need it. But I would, I would not have any problem with invoking it if we needed it.
Well, as you pointed out, this is not just a problem in Minnesota, it's been a problem in Los Angeles and elsewhere. There's a new governor across the river in Virginia, Democrat Abigail Spanberger. The first thing she did when she came into office was repeal cooperation between ICE agents and local law enforcement.
So what is your message, uh, or response to governors like her now deciding they're not gonna work with ICE?
Well, I hope there are no problems because if there are, she's not gonna get it corrected very easily. And, uh, that's a bad signal. You know, that's not where the country is. The country doesn't wanna see murderers and drug dealers and, uh, gang members and all coming from other countries and, and just stay in their area.
Take a look at Washington DC, as you know better than anybody, it was very, very unsafe a year and a half ago. Because now it's a year, so I have to go a little more than a year ago, [Laughs] but it was a very, very unsafe place. And now it's totally safe. It's a, it's a beautiful, I mean, people are walking with their kids to restaurants, they meet their husband at a restaurant.
The restaurants were all closing, now the restaurants are all opening. The whole, the place is beautiful. And you have good-looking, solid military people walking around. It's actually, I think it, it's almost like an enhancement. Everybody feels safe. Washington DC is a different place. Uh, if you go to, uh, well, it's happening in Louisiana where you have, you know, we put some of the security in Louisiana.
Uh, go to Memphis, go to different places. I mean, where, wherever we put it, it's good. Now, even in Chicago, we got the crime down a little bit. We, uh, we did just a little minor version of it, but we get no cooperation.
Yeah.
If I were a Democrat governor, I would say, "Boy, would I love to have Trump come in here and so I could show some good numbers." But anywhere we go, everywhere we go, it's good. Uh, and by the way, the numbers are way down in Minnesota. You know, if you go to Minnesota, the numbers are down because of us. But it's like pulling teeth.
Well, the, one of the first things that you did when you came into the, to the White House for the second time is you signed the Laken Riley Act after Laken Riley was murdered by a criminal, il- -- illegal alien here from Venezuela. Why do you think that Democrats are defending these, these types of, of people?
What, what's the reasoning behind that?
Well, it's not only defending, it's like a Laken Riley is, you mentioned the name and they don't even want to talk about it. You see it as State of the Union addresses, you introduce people there, you know, their young child was killed by a horrible human being and the Democrats sit there and they won't clap, they won't acknowledge, you know.
The mother and father stand up, they're devastated, and the Democrats are just sitting there. Uh, they won't smile, they won't clap. There's something wrong with them. Maybe it's Trump Derangement Syndrome. But no, no, there's something wrong with them. You introduce a family whose child was just lost to some and, and they're sitting there and just stone faced is a meanness.
They're, they're, they're a mean group of people.
You're on your way to Davos this week.
Right.
And there's a lot of talk about Greenland, of course. Uh, European leaders are not so happy about your increased pressure to acquire Greenland. For the average American who maybe doesn't understand why the United States is pursuing this piece of property --
Right.
-- what, what do you say to them? Why do we need Greenland?
It's located in such a place that is literally so important for national security. When you come to Russia, when you come to China, a lot of Chinese boats, a lot of, uh, Russian, you know, ships, military ships, uh, it's, uh, in a location that is very important for our national security and also for the international security of the world, literally.
It's a very big piece of land. It's really cold, got a lot of ice on it, so it's not like we're gonna put, build a nice real estate development or anything.
No golf course on Greenland?
Well, I don't see a golf course. You'd have to be very, you'd have to wear a lot of very heavy clothes. Like we're not gonna set any records with golf.
[Laughs].
But I will tell you that it's very important, uh, to the United States. And, uh, as an example, we're building the Golden Dome, which we're gonna have a dome over the country. If somebody wants to shoot missiles, it'll not come out of the air like match decks. It'll, it'll go very nicely. It's amazing. You know, Ronald Reagan wanted this many, many years ago.
He was ahead of his time, but the problem is you didn't have equipment that worked. Today, the equipment is unbelievable. You've seen it. I mean, we can knock a missile coming at thousands of miles an hour. It's like, and you get literally 100% of them.
Mm-hmm.
The technology is so good. So we're building a Golden Dome and having Greenland makes it a much more effective Golden Dome.
So you're saying Greenland is essential for the security of the United States in the free Western world --
Correct.
-- for the sake of missile defense?
That is correct.
And that's why we need Greenland.
That is correct. And even beyond missile defense, but it is so important for the Golden Dome. It's so important for just national and actually international security.
So the European Union has said that in, in response to your pursuit of Greenland, they will launch a "trade bazooka" at the United States. What do you think that means and what is your response to Europe threatening some kind of trade war?
I don't think they know what it means actually, but they already do trade bazookas. They, uh, fine our companies billions of dollars like Apple and Google and lots of them, you know, 15, 16, 17 billion dollars, and you shouldn't be doing that. We just signed a deal with them and it's a good deal, it's a big deal.
And had we not had tariffs, we wouldn't have been able to sign anything like it, but they need that deal. So I don't think they really know what a bazooka means. And, you know, if, uh, see, anything they do with us, I'll just meet it. If all I have to do is meet it and it's gonna go ricocheting backward, but we're not looking to that.
We'll probably be able to work something out, possibly even during the next few days in Davos.
So, looking back here at home domestically, last year you worked with Congress very closely, Republicans in charge of both the House and the Senate, and of course you're in the White House and you worked with them on the Big Beautiful Bill. For 2026, especially in a midterm election year, what is your goal for Congress in terms of getting your agenda through?
What, what is on the agenda? What expectations do you have for, for Congress?
Well, one of the things I'd like to do, you know, we pass so many executive orders. I have great executive orders that are really common sense and good and have, I mean, like water coming out of a sink, uh, the water wouldn't come out. They had all sorts of ridiculous restrictions. I took all of that off.
Uh, coming out of the shower head, you'd stand under a shower, there's no water coming out. So, I pass so many things like that. Uh, straws, uh, they don't have to be paper anymore. They don't have the melt in your mouth.
[Laughs]
So, I pass so many different things like that and much more important things, but like that. They are, they are important, they're quality of life. And I'd like to have all of that confirmed by Congress if we can. And we've done a lot of it. We've done probably 35, 40%. I'd like to get them all, uh, confirmed, every one of them.
So, you want your executive orders codified in law, so to speak?
Uh, ideally we get them codified and we get them codified soon, yes.
So, the mortgage rates are down in terms of the economy, inflation has slowed, gas prices are down, the budget deficit has been cut, uh, significantly --
Right.
-- by tariffs.
These are very good things, Katie. [Laughs]
What do you think the, the economy's gonna look like now that the, the legislation from last year will be kicking in and the Biden agenda will be no longer in place?
So, we have thousands of businesses being built right now. Because of tariffs, we've taken in so much money. And what's happened is in order not to pay the tariff, they don't have to pay it, all they have to do is build their business here. So, all over the world, they're coming in. They're building car plants, AI plants, massive buildings and small buildings, but literally thousands of them.
We've never had anything like it. And you've seen that. $18 trillion is coming in. No country's ever been even close to that. And I think it's just gonna be an explosion of success. I, I would be very surprised if it wasn't. There's, there's never been anything like $18 trillion. You go back, if you see two, two trillion or three trillion, that's a lot.
We're at 18. And by the way, that's through 11 months. I assume I'm gonna add something for the last month, which was, now we just finished our 12th month. So, we're gonna be over $18 trillion. There's never been anything like that in the history of our country.
So, when you're talking to these companies who are investing in the United States, saying they're going to build new plants, how do you ensure that they continue that investment after you leave office? Some, similar to your executive orders getting codified by Congress, how do you ensure that those deals actually come through and they're not just --
Well, once, once they build the plant, they're sort of here. You know, they're spending billions of dollars to build a plant, they're gonna be here. That means, you know, they're not going anywhere. They can't put it on their back and bring it over to another country. So, I think the big thing is to get it built now during my administration.
And once they build, you know, they're building a building that costs $2 billion, $10 billion in some cases, and in some cases, 50 and 60 billion, you know, the AI. And with AI, I'm letting them build their own electric plants so they can build the electric because, you know, creating that kind of electricity for us, for China, okay, but we're beating China badly on AI. We're doing incredibly well.
Mm.
Uh, the approval process is going so quickly. You know, if you look at, uh, the approvals, it's such a big deal getting there. We have Lee Zeldin who's done a fantastic job. But all of those houses in California that burned down, they had their approvals within two weeks, federal approvals. Federal approvals are tougher than the local approvals.
Typically.
We had everybody done in two weeks. The whole place is finished, ready to go. That was a year ago, more than a year ago. They don't have their state or their local approvals. The mayor has been unab- -- I, I guess the governor, I don't know if the governor's involved with it, but I think he is. And they have not been able to build their houses.
It's, it's a terrible thing.
As the US moves into this AI race --
Yeah.
-- and you pursue, make more AI at home, you mentioned these electric plants, are you interested in more nuclear as well, given that it seems AI is going to surpass the electricity production that the United States can produce on the timeline that, that AI is, is working on?
Well, AI is now gonna make their own electricity, which is the beauty. I, I'm giving them a permit where they can make their own. They're gonna make their own, they're gonna become essentially a utility. They're gonna make their own electricity, which is pretty amazing. And they're coming in with plants, you wouldn't believe it. You know, they're building these massive buildings and the grid system, you know, can't handle that.
We need double the electricity with all that's being built now, we need more than double the electricity that we have in the country now for everything. Think of that. Now you can't do that unless they wanna build their own plants. So we're giving approvals to build their own electric plants and they're coming in with unbelievable electric plants.
They're gonna make their own electricity while they're building their plant, they're building an electric plant. That solves the problem.
You've had a goal for a long time to use tariff revenue to replace the income tax --
Yeah.
-- for Americans. Where are you in fulfilling that goal?
Well, I think if we can win this case, I think at some point in the not too distant future, it's an option. Or you can just make a lot of money and keep the money and spend it wisely and, you know, spend it on building the country, rebuilding and building the country. But no, I think the revenue will be such that we could, if we wanted, replace the income tax sometime in the not, not very distant future.
You know, uh, the income tax started in 1913. Until then, we had tariffs. Our country was the richest. If you go back to 1887, that was probably the single richest point that our country was ever in. And, uh, it was all tariff income. We didn't have an income tax. In 1913, they started with the income tax, and then you had a problem in 1929, a little thing called the Depression, which knocked the hell out of everyone.
Then they tried bringing back tariffs a year later, two years later to save it, but that, that was, uh, it was gone. You'd say, "This sucker was gone." And, you know, had I not been elected, you would've had, in my opinion, this would've been Venezuela on steroids. And by the way, Venezuela's an amazing thing that we just, that just took place a couple of weeks ago.
Speaking of Venezuela, there was a, a weapon used, a sonic weapon that took out many of the Cuban bodyguards that were used to, to --
Yeah.
-- defend Maduro. Uh, lots of people saw the details about that weapon and were concerned. Is that something that Americans should be afraid of, something the United States is combating?
Well, yeah. It's something I don't wanna, nobody else has it. We have weapons that nobody knows about. And I say it's probably good not to talk about it, but we have some amazing weapons. That was an amazing attack. Don't forget, that house was in the middle of a fort, an army base, a big one. A lot of soldiers, and they came in and they did their job.
We had, we lost nobody.
Uh, do you feel like, uh, Maduro's gonna make some kind of deal when it comes to the charges he's up against to give you intelligence about what the Russians and Iranians are doing in his country?
Well, I'm leaving, uh, that up to the Department of Justice. We'll see how it all goes. But, uh, look, he killed a lot of people. I mean, you look at what happened with the drugs. And he also was responsible more than any other country for emptying his jails, his mental institutions. Just emptied them out and brought him into the United States.
And that's what we're talking when we talk about Minnesota, when we talk about all this crime stuff. We're getting rid of, biden left us a mess. We're getting rid of the mess. He had open borders. He had an open border policy. So Maduro came in and let all of his criminals into the United States because of Biden's open boarder.
They didn't even question. They'd look at some people, they'd say, "They're criminals. I don't want to get into it. " They'd say, "They're criminals." And it's, "Come on in."
Yeah.
And what we're doing is getting them out. And, and believe me, it takes a big part of my time. This was a self-imposed error. This was just a terrible, what they did to this country can never be forgotten. He was the worst president. And what Biden did, and, you know, it's the people that, that use the autopen, you can call it a lot of different things, but he was surrounded by people, the beautiful resolute desk in the Oval Office, which I'll show you right after this.
Oh, fantastic.
But, uh, it's beautiful, but it was surrounded by radical left lunatics. And what they did to this country can never be forgotten. They let in millions of, of criminal, you know, you have probably 25 million people that were let into this country, and no checking, no vetting, no anything. They come, many of them came from prisons.
Many of them came from mental institutions --
Yeah.
-- gang members, drug dealers. They just let 'em into our country --
Yeah.
-- and I've got to get 'em out.
[Commercial break]
Iran. Uh, you mentioned in the press conference today that you did in the briefing room with reporters that they canceled or at least put on hold hundreds of hangings that were scheduled.
Yeah.
However, there are reports that they are still burning thousands of protestors alive. They also issued an assassination threat against you over the weekend. I know that you can't talk about what's on the table, but what is your response to Iran's, uh, leadership in the regime continuing to taunt you, threaten you, especially given over the weekend you said it's time for new leadership in Iran.
Well, they shouldn't be doing it, but I've left notification, anything ever happens, we're gonna blow the hell, the whole country's gonna get blown up. So w- -- we've, you know, originally, uh, Biden should've said something, you know, when they made a statement. We always said, "Why isn't Biden saying anything?" Because he didn't. But a president has to defend a president, like if I were here and they were making that threat to somebody, even, not even a president, but somebody, like they did with me, uh, I would absolutely hit them so hard.
But I have very firm instructions, anything happens, they're gonna wipe 'em off the face of this earth.
This is day three s- -- 365 of your first term back in office, but it's also been nine years since the first time you came into --
You, you --
-- The White House as the president.
-- knew me right at the beginning, too.
I, I did indeed. Uh, it seems like your team is having some fun. Uh, you're not only the commander in chief, but there's also a little some trolling in chief going on with the internet wars. Are, are you enjoying your time back on the internet and talking to f- -- to your, your detractors, maybe some people you're opposed to through some humor while also having rigorous debates?
Well, it's really, uh, a way of communicating today and that you didn't have in the past. It's good. I, I guess I've been pretty good at it. But it's a way of defending yourself against the fake news. You have such bad, I don't know why they're that way. I don't know why, why would they want to have criminals in our country?
Why would they want to have men playing in women's sports, or transgender for everybody, as they say? It's like, you know, why would they do it? But that's the media. O- -- the media is very, uh, biased, very unfair. We have a very unfair media in this country. So with the internet, we can, I think, I guess, look, I won.
We can more than make up for what they do.
So you, one of your legacy items has been freeing hostages all over the world.
Yeah.
Israeli hostages, American hostages. American Dennis Coyle has been taken at e- -- hostage by the Taliban for almost a year now. W- -- his, uh, family has been speaking out. Molly Long went on NewsNation last week to ask for some more public attention to this case. What is your administration doing to get him home and --
Well, if you give me the name --
Dennis Coyle.
Okay. If you, well, you give me some information, I'll take care of that.
I know that your administration is working on it.
I know they are, but, but I, I could do some things on the internet that are pretty impactful.
Do you have, uh, any response or message to the Taliban for, who continues to hold him for no crime for simply --
Well, I'm not happy --
-- being in Afghanistan?
-- about them holding anybody, and especially if he's not guilty of anything, and it sounds, I mean, from what I've heard, and again, I'm not that familiar with it, like you are, but, uh, I will certainly take a very strong, uh, position on it.
So you pointed out a ton of your accomplishments throughout the last --
Right.
-- 365 days. You brought a much thicker book today to the briefing than this one. What do you want your legacy to be that now that you have three le- -- years left in your term? If you can pick one.
I would love my legacy to be that I was a great president, and a great president covers a lot of territory. Uh, we were safe, we were prosperous, we were doing well, we were happy as a country. Uh, I'd like to be known as a great president. A great president takes it all in.
You have a different cabinet structure at this time around. The first term you had a lot of turnover in the cabinet. It caused a lot of political capital to be spent. It was a distraction from the work that you were trying to do with your agenda. This time around, you have, uh, lots of different people in your cabinet from different kinds of backgrounds, many of them from the private sector.
How do you manage keeping everybody on the same team? It seems like everyone this time around is rowing in the same direction. Very different attitude than last time around.
We had a really successful first term. I rebuilt the military. We got the biggest tax cuts in history, biggest regulation cuts in history. You know that. I mean, we had one of the most, really, the most successful economy in, in the history of our country, and the first term was great. But it was, uh, corrupted by, uh, fake, you know, by the fake news, the first, the fake politicians, everything, Russia, Russia, Russia, the hoax, the hoax of the century, all of the different things.
And in a way, I was the hunted. And now I'm more of the hunter, I must tell you. And these are bad people. These are sick people. They, I don't know, something wrong with them. But, uh, this is more pleasurable, there's no question about it. But my first term was one of the most successful presidencies, but literally I was, uh, hunted by these horrible people.
[Commercial break]
America has a very big birthday this year, 250 years.
Right.
Have you ever sat to, you know, thought about reflecting on the fact that you're the president now, George Washington was the president many, many years ago, and what that means for you as an American and what it means for the country?
Well, it's so interesting because, so I was the president and one, we had a great election against Hillary Clinton, then the next election was rigged, like nobody's ever seen, and all the numbers are out, but they're, more are coming out. It was 100%, 100% rigged. And the good part is, this is such an important presidency, and I'm not sure I could've had the same impact if it were more normalized, 'cause, you know, the impact is big.
This has been a very important presidency. Uh, it's, it's a much stronger presidency than the first term, and yet the first term we had, um, you know, I rebuilt the military. I did things that were incredible in the first term, but this, I think, is blowing it away. It's gonna blow it away. You know, there is somebody that you are very familiar with that wrote something.
I won't mention names. I don't wanna get anybody in trouble. But they said that, but not somebody that necessarily would write well about me said, "This is probably the best first year that a president has ever had." And if you look at that list that you have there, and that's a small version of it, but nobody's done more than we've done.
You know, and the biggest tax cuts in history, the biggest regulation cuts in history, uh, all of the military victories that we've had, I mean, we've, we've really, and we're respected all over the world again. I mean, we were laughed at. And think of it, a year and a half ago, we were a joke. We were considered a joke as a nation.
A year and a half ago, as the King of Saudi Arabia said, "Year and a half ago, you were a dead nation, now you're the hottest." We are the hottest nation anywhere in the world. And I love saying it. We are now the hottest nation anywhere in the world, and it's not even close.
Is there something that you wanted to happen last year that didn't? Is there something that you think your administration could have done better?
Well, last year, you mean last term?
Last year, during your first, your first year in your second term, or during our first term.
So during my first, yeah. So I would say this, uh, I think we're clicking on all cylinds. I don't wanna get greedy and say, "Oh, gee, I wish I could've done this." Uh, crime is at an all-time low despite the fact that we inherited many criminals from the Biden open border policy. So crime is at an all-time low.
Our military is doing unbelieve- -- we have the most powerful military in the world. We showed that with, uh, Iran. If you look at the Iran nuclear attack, we knocked out their nuclear capability, which was a big thing, which led to peace in the Middle East. We actually have peace in the Middle East. Nobody thought that was possible.
Uh, the recent ren- -- Venezuela attack was incredible. No, from a military standpoint, strategically, people have never seen anything like it. It's been amazing. So I don't think I can ask for, the economy. We have the number one eco- -- we have the best economy we've ever had. And by the way, prices are coming way down.
On the economy, you've made it clear that you want to transfer the US economy from one that's based on federal government subsidies and employment to more of a private sector economy.
Sure.
Where are you in that transition process?
Good. I mean, we've, look, I hate to fire people, but we fired hundreds of thousands of federal employees because we had 10 people to do one job, and those people probably didn't like it very much, and now they're in the private sector and they're getting two or three times more money, and they're doing well.
And the only way a country can make it, you can't have too many government jobs, because that's not a job that's gonna, as we say, make America great again. So those people have now transitioned into the private sector. Uh, I could give you the greatest numbers ever. I'll just hire a million or two million federal workers tomorrow and you'll see that we're gonna be at 2.5% as opposed to 3% or 3.5%. I, you could do anything.
That's what the Democrats do. They hire people to work in the federal government, then they say they have good unemployment numbers, okay? I don't do that. And it's easy to do and it looks good, but ultimately you can't build a country that way. Our country is doing unbelievably well. We have great unemployment numbers and we really, I mean, many of these people have transitioned already from the federal government into private jobs.
You expressed some frustration earlier that your message of your accomplishments is not getting out. Why do you think that is? I mean, you're talking about all these lower prices, inflation has gone down, mortgage rates are below 6% for the first time in many years. What do you attribute to you feeling like you can't get your accomplishments highlighted?
Well look at the job we've done. Inflation is down to a very low number. You want it to be at the number it is at now. Last, last month it was down to 1%. And Biden had it, it was the highest inflation in history. And when I inherited this economy that he gave me, the prices were through the roof. I got 'em down.
I mean, most prices are down now. Look at gasoline at $1.99 a gallon versus, I mean, we have many states where it's less than a $1.99. It was $4.50, $5.00, $3.75, I guess, of sometimes. But basically they were many times what it is right now. No, we've done a great job. I think the economy is phenomenal.
We're rebuilding the military, continue to rebuild it. And again, right now, we're recognized as having the strongest military in the world. And I rebuilt the military in my first term.
How are you feeling about the midterm elections, the Republican Party? Do you have contingency plans in place if Democrats were to take either the House --
Yeah.
Or the Senate, given that last time when Democrats were in charge of, of the House, they impeached you?
Oh, and they'll do it again. They'll find some, something, you know, they'll impeach me for having a good economy or something. Uh --
Can you work with some of them of them? Like Elizabeth Warren?
They impeached me twice. They got nowhere. Uh, wasted a lot of time, a lot of energy, a lot of money. Uh, it was a terrible thing. They're just very dishonest people. But they impeached me twice, once over a phone call that was absolutely perfect. The other went over perfect. And I will say the Republicans stuck with me 100%, but probably they will try and, it's not, they won't even have to try and fight.
They'll take anything I do. They'll say, "Let's m --" They'll impeach me because I did an interview with you. They'll impeach me because I look to that side of the room. These are bad people and these are bad people. You know, when Hillary Clinton did all of the bad stuff, I didn't want to destroy her. I said, "Uh, I can't do it." And not so much Secretary of State, uh, it was that she's the wife of a president, and I didn't want to do it, and yet they tried to do it to me, which is pretty, pretty sad.
[End of Part 1. Part 2 of this interview, recorded as part of a single interview on January 20, 2026, aired at 10 pm on January 21, 2026.]
You're a builder, and that hasn't stopped since you came --
Right.
-- into the White House, especially --
Right.
-- in your first year. What is the status of the Arc de Trump that you want to put on --
Yeah.
-- I believe, the Memorial Bridge? Yeah,
That's gonna be so great.
And also, what is the status of the construction of the ballroom?
Okay, so the ballroom's under budgets, ahead of schedule. We're making it incredible. We're gonna have inaugurations there, high ceilings, and big space can hold probably 5,000, 6,000 people. Indoor, bulletproof class, everything.
And for those who have been complaining about the ballroom, what is the purpose of the ballroom? Why do we need a ballroom at the White House?
Because the White House was never built with a big room. It's got -- [Laughs] -- no, they have, when they have, when we have a big guest here, uh, they build a tent out on the lawn, and if it rains, you're in deep trouble, and they have a tent. And it's, uh, the only place you can build. It's sort of at a low spot.
If it rains, the water pours into the tent. The whole thing is a disaster. And I said, you know, after the fir- -- I would have done in the first term, but I was under such siege with all these crazy people that I really wanted to focus on that. I thought it was, and when I came back, I said, "You know, we're gonna get this White House a ballroom like they have never seen before." And it is a beauty, It's gonna be one, It's gonna be the most beautiful ballroom in the world.
But they need it. They can't use tents. Even from a safety standpoint, you can't use a tent. This is all bulletproof glass, drone-proof ceilings. And I think they're gonna end up having all of there, because it's so cold on January 20th, and I think they'll end up having the inaugurations, uh, right in that ballroom.
Think of it. You walk from the White House. [Laughs] It's just a short little walk through a very secure area. But I think because it's, number one, it's too cold. Number two, it gets unsafe out there.
It gets unsafe out there. Uh, you have experienced some threats. You've been attempted to be killed twice in assassination. We saw our dear friend, Charlie Kirk killed --
Yeah.
-- last year.
Dangerous stuff.
Do you, are you afraid for your safety?
No.
Do you worry about that? What about your family? I know it was tough on that.
I don't worry about it. And, and we have great people. And, uh, I feel, I feel that we're in good shape.
You're in good shape?
I think the Secret Service has done a great job. The military has done a great job. And, uh, one thing I know, if something happens, the person that did it is gonna be gone, because we are surrounded. You know, even as we speak, we are surrounded. But no, I feel very good. It's, it's a job that has its dangers, if you think, right?
You look at the percentages, it's probably the most dangerous job in the world. You, I was telling people, I guess it's 5.5%. That's a bad number. 5.5%, that's all I, You know what that means, right?
Uh, why don't you tell me what that means?
If you're a race car driver, 1/10 of 1% die. If you're a bull rider, 1/10 of 1% die. If you're a president, it's 5.2%, that's a lot of, that's a big difference. Why didn't you tell me, Katie, that this would happen? I could have done something else. Maybe I could have done something else. But --
Well, you decided to do it again.
I'm having, look, I love doing it because we're doing a great job. Nobody's ever seen anything like it. Our country has turned around. We have the greatest country in the world. And again, we came from such a low standard. Uh, I believe that if Kamala won the election, this country would have been, even by now, one year, it would have been finished.
We wouldn't be a country.
Do you believe that there's a Republican presidential candidate in the future who can continue to carry on your legacy and the work that you'll be doing over the next three years?
I hope so. And, and we certainly have a good bench. We have some very talented people.
Do you have any favorites, or do you have any --
Well, I do, but it's so early. You know, I mean, I do actually, but, but it's so early that it's, you know, I don't --
That could change if you wanna tell me what they are now.
I know. Yeah. [Laughs] But we have, look, we have great people. You see what's happening. I mean, the, the people that we have in so many, I'm not just talking about one or two. We have so many great people.
Who is so many?
Well, JD's been great. Marco has been great. Uh, Scott's been great. Everybody's been great. Look at the Tom Homan and Kristi, the job they've done with security. Don't forget, we had people pouring by, in the millions that were just walking right into our country, destroying our country. We stopped it. We have, uh, just, uh, trem- -- I could name 20 people that are phenomenal.
In terms of the White House and how you've changed things around here, when you look at the Oval Office from your first term, it's very different than the --
Yeah.
-- Oval Office office now. Yeah. How do you decide which portraits you're putting in the Oval, you know, what kind of decor you have in there? I know that you get a lot of gifts from foreign leaders --
Yeah.
-- when they come. How do you make decisions about what you want to be surrounded by when you're making these big decisions?
Well, it's just taste, but, you know, the White House and the, uh, Oval Office had very few paintings in it. Biden had one. Obama had, you know, the American flag and, you know, sort of a painting of the American flag, but they had very few paintings. And I spent a lot of time downstairs under, they have a vault where they have a thousand paintings, beautiful paintings.
Some of them hadn't been shown in 150 years, think of it, and they were incredible, of presidents, mostly of presidents, landscapes, other things, but mostly of presidents. And I spent a little time doing it. I, I love doing it. And I took out paintings of, I mean, there's a couple right here that are so unbelievable, look all over the room.
These are unbelievable art. And I, I researched it and I spent time doing it. And I took paintings that have been sealed for over a hundred years, more than that, much more than that in some cases, and found great paintings, and we put them up for people to see. And cost nothing. You know, we have them. We didn't have to go out and buy them.
They're there.
Yeah.
But they weren't used, and it's honoring some of the great presidents.
Mr. President, thank you so much for taking the time today. It was an honor to see you --
Thank you very much.
-- here at the White House. Congratulations on one year.
And congratulations.
And of course, we'll be following, of course, everything that you're doing and save travels to Davos.
And you're gonna do a great job. I have no doubt.
Thank you.
Thank you.