Interview: Hugh Hewitt Interviews Donald Trump on His Syndicated Radio Show - November 12, 2026

Please welcome back to the Hugh Hewitt Show, President Donald Trump. Mr. President, always good to have you. Thank you for joining me today.

Well, thank you.

Uh, it's, uh, usually takes serious historians 30, 40, 50 years to get their arms around a big presidency like yours. You have 26 months left, so this is a premature question. But when they get to your presidency, what do you think the serious historians are gonna say about it?

Well, I think it's been a great presidency, and I think we're gonna do fine in the next two years. We have a very powerful power, and that's the power of veto. And I in, you know, I intend to, uh, use it a lot. And then I think ultimately deals can be cut, whether it's on drug pricing, medical, health care, you know, d- -- different deals can be cut.

But the power of veto is very important. You know, they have two places. I don't know how that happened, but, uh, somehow, uh, you know, it's, when you look at the kind of margins that I won by, I did 30 rallies in about 27 days. I certainly worked at it trying to get the people. There was tremendous spirit at the rallies.

I mean, there was love in those rooms, so, and rooms beyond rooms. I mean, we had 20, 25, 30,000 people at these things. And it was like, it was like a lovefest, but I guess it just didn't go to the candidate. I don't know what happened. I think, I think they had a lot of problems with the fact that SAVE America wasn't passed and that other things weren't passed.

And I can understand that. I agree with them on that. But, uh, I was a little bit surprised that, uh, Republicans didn't do better. And I guess certain candidates, they certainly didn't like.

Well, do you think you've altered fundamentally American politics? Because, uh, historians don't care about midterms in the end. Thirty years from now, they're not writing about 2026 or 20, uh, 18. They're writing about Donald Trump and the era of Trump. What's the headline there?

Well, this midterm was, you know, lousy, but it wasn't as bad as o- -- as others, as you know. There were a few others that were actually in a couple of cases much worse. But, uh, I was, I was very surprised. I'm not used to that. I'm used to, well, every time I ran, we won. When I didn't run, you know, it seems to be, it seems to be difficult.

It's sort of interesting. But, you know, I got a million and a half votes and like in Texas, I got a million and a half more votes than the candidate in Texas when you look at that, than the Senate candidate in Texas. It's a lot of votes. Um, and somehow if we were on the ballot, I think that would have been, I think I'm just, I think my level of popularity maybe is higher now than it was.

I'm not sure. But maybe it feels to me that it would be higher other than what happened at the midterms.

All right. So, uh, Mr. President, this will be the age of Trump. It'll also be the age of AI or, as you've rechristened it, SI. As we've seen, Chinese espionage is going after AI to try and steal our stuff or, um --

Right.

-- beat us. What happens if we lose our edge in AI? How bad is it for the country?

We'd be in bad shape. The level of importance to SI, the superintelligence, is, uh, is really beyond, actually beyond belief. Uh, I've seen it. I study it. I, I'm genetically blessed. I have an uncle that was probably considered the No. 1 professor in the history of MIT. For 51 years he was there. And he got the science award, the same award that I gave to, uh, um, Elon and, you know, I gave them out last week.

We gave it to Google. We gave it to a lot of great people. Well, it's, we gave it to Jensen, frankly. That was a little before, but what a horrible thing that is. It's so sad to see that happen. But my uncle got the same award from, uh, Ronald Reagan. They presented it to me when, uh, when I was there last week.

And it was sort of something. So I do have a, I think an inclination. I'm a believer in that, you know, and if you have, uh, two great parents that were baseball players or great athletes, you're gonna do better than somebody that wasn't there. And, and I will say that, um, it's very important. It, I, I've said, "Whoever wins SI wins," and, and I mean that.

Now, we have an artificial barrier. All of a sudden it was created. Some people say it was created by China, but I don't sort of think that. I think it was just created maybe out of people wanting to get some money out of this. And I think that's sort of okay, but we have a barrier and that's the data centers.

And, you know, where they're built, they're making a fortune. And people's --

Yeah.

-- taxes have gone down and, and they create their own electricity. That was because of me. They, we wouldn't have, we, we don't have enough electricity to fund any of them. They make their own electricity. They're making electric plants that are unbelievable. Selling the excess electricity back into the, and in some cases, giving back into the old-fashioned grid.

You know, we have an old grid. I couldn't have ever done this, but that was one of the great ideas that I had. This was my idea that they've got to build their own, uh, their own p- -- they've got to manufacture their own electricity. And that's what they're all doing. So that's a great thing. And the water's been taken care of. Everything's been taken care of. The one thing that we can do is, and one thing that's happening now is these very rich companies are giving money to people in the community.

And all of a sudden, you see people saying, "Thank you very much." I mean, they had a case in l- -- they had a case, Hugh, in, uh, Louisiana where it was very unpopular and they ended up giving the teachers $50,000 each. All of a sudden it became tremendously popular. So, you know, I mean, that, that can help solve the problem, maybe totally solve the problem.

You have to negotiate your own deal, but maybe totally solve the problem.

So if the Chinese get this from us, um, uh, do we lose the ability to defend the country and our financial systems and our electrical power? Do people understand the risk of the espionage that they're conducting?

Well, it could be. And, uh, you know, we also go after them. You know, it's not just a one-sided, uh, deal. Somebody said, "Oh, they're tapping our phones." I said, "That's right. We're tapping their phones too." And we are, and they are too. And it's been that way for a long time, and we do it very well also.

So, you know, I, I just don't want them to think we're a bunch of babies that don't know what's going on. We have to have, you know, we have to, we have to be smart. When the balloon went over this country, that balloon should have been shot down a hell of a lot sooner than it was shot down. But under this administration, we're very vigilant, very vigilant --

All right, so --

And --

Well, you're meeting --

They, and they --

-- with them next week.

They do things, but we do things too, Hugh.

You're, you're meeting with the general secretary next week, uh, General Chairman Xi. Uh, any chance you can use their espionage and the expose of it to somehow get Jimmy Lai out of jail? Any way to leverage that?

Okay. Yeah. As you know, I've gotten others out and, uh, recently I've gotten others out. Jimmy Lai is a little bit of a different, uh, story. I, his son is fantastic. He's working very hard, but, and I spoke at length with, uh, with President Xi about Jimmy Lai. I don't know Jimmy Lai, but I know the whole story.

And there's a great level of hatred there. I'm using a nice word. There's a great level of hatred there. President Xi explained what happened with Hong Kong and, you know, the, the whole thing and that Jimmy Lai was the leader and it caused them tremendous distress. And, you know, we went through it in great detail and, uh, he agreed to other people.

He's agreed to other people. He has not agreed to Jimmy Lai. There's a lot of, uh, major and, you know, it's, it's great animosity there. Tremendous, actually.

Well, maybe you've got some leverage now. Uh, we, we've got him with their pants down on going, well, actually, we got the, the chairman of NVIDIA with his pants down, but maybe we can go after Xi because we fu- -- caught him red-handed trying to steal our stuff. And I don't know. I leave that to you. You're the negotiator.

Let me give you a, a, a warm-up question on negotiation, Mr. President. You've done so --

Go ahead.

-- many deals. You have, you got India and Pakistan at the brink of nuclear war to stop that. Here's an easy one. Americans love baseball. You tried to buy the Cleveland Indians once. You love baseball. We're gonna have a strike that could go on forever. Could you get the commissioner --

Yeah.

-- of baseball and the union into the Roosevelt Room and get them not to go on strike?

So the baseball union has done better than any other union maybe that I've ever seen.

Amen.

And --

Yes.

-- it started, it started many, are you a big baseball fan? Is that what you are?

Yes, I am. I'm a Guardians fan now. Yep.

Oh, really? Wouldn't you like to see the name change to, uh, you're talking about the Indians, right?

Yeah.

Okay.

All I want them to do is win a World Series in my lifetime, Mr. President.

Has it lost, uh, okay, let me ask you just if I could, and I'm not supposed to do the interview, but I think the changing of the name the Guardians, because Mr. Dolan from the team is a pretty impressive guy, good-looking guy. Jim from Madison Square Garden, who's a friend of mine who's a very good guy. Had a great year last year with the Knicks.

But I guess it's the same family. But Mr. Dolan ran for the Senate. He ran for a lot of things. And I was always able to take him out by one little phrase. And ca- -- and he did actually well. He's a pretty good politician. He did well, spent a lot of money. I said, "Anybody that changes the name of the Cleveland Indians to the Guardians does not deserve to be a governor or a senator."

He ran for governor, he ran for senator. And I beat him every time, but, you know, with other candidates. In other words, I had another candidate. I thought it was a devastating attack. Would you as a fan like to see the name be back to the original name from 1906, Cleveland Indians?

I, I --

And there's nothing wrong --

-- literally.

-- with the word Indian.

I get asked this all the time by Senator Cotton, who ki- -- who kids me about all the time. And my answer is always the same. I don't care if they get to the World Series. They haven't been there since 19 -- if they win a World Series, they haven't won since 1948. I was born long --

Well, you --

-- after that.

They stated recently when they almost got there, right?

Yeah, that's 2016. The Cubs beat them, but, and we almost got there this year.

Well, no, but --

So I really --

-- they --

-- don't care.

-- almost, they almost got there this year. So do you think they have a great team?

Uh, they do, and they have a great organization. And Paul Dolan, who is the, the Dolan who runs the club, although there are a lot of Dolans, he does a great job, but I ho- -- I wanna see him play next year. That's why I want you to bring the commissioner and the union together and get them to settle this.

It's not that big of a deal.

Well, I think they should change their name back to the Cleveland Indians and they have an absolute right to do it. And I think that would be good, number one. Number two, uh, the baseball strike. Uh, it's supposed to be w- -- a fait accompli. It's supposed to be, you know, it's gonna happen.

Right.

Uh, the union is a very, very tough union. It started with Marvin Warner. Uh --

Yeah.

-- that was his name, I think, a long time ago.

Yeah.

And, you know, uh, okay, so I tell you a crazy story. So I was very friendly with players in the, in baseball when I was quite a bit younger and they'd play golf. They were okay golfers and I was a good golfer, and I'd play golf with them a lot. And they were ready to fold. They were ready, the big one at the, that was the big one.

They were ready to fold. The season was half shot or almost shot and they were gonna fold. And then the owners folded the night before the players would've folded. And had the owners held out a little bit, that was the Marvin Warner thing. Had the owners held out a little bit longer, they would've had a reasonable settlement.

But they would've had a good settlement actually, but they folded and gave everything away. And it's been that way ever since. Uh, I, I don't know. I mean, I know the owners and they're, they're really, in many cases, they're losing a lot. So I, I don't know. There's a, there's a lot of, there's a lot of anger between that particular union.

Will I, would you like to, me to help? I would certainly do it if I thought I could be of help. Randy Levine's a good negotiator. He's working on the NIL. He's been doing a great job in that trying to save that one. That was another great court case that was a disaster. They never appealed that court case.

It was amazing. They lost it and they never appealed it. But I would absolutely, uh, love to help if I could help. I know a lot of people are concerned about it because they like baseball. I like baseball.

Yeah. You bring them to the --

Uh.

-- Teddy Roosevelt Room, you can hammer that out with them. It's not that complicated. They need a --

Well, let's see --

-- they need something.

-- what happens.

All right.

Let's see what happens. There mi- -- there's a chance that they'll settle. It doesn't look like they're gonna settle based on what I'm hearing. And let's see. If that happens, I'll do that and I'll get, I'll have you in there with me, okay?

All right. Deal. Now let's go to the serious stuff. Military force. In your first term, even before you ordered the military to take out Soleimani, you had them destroy the Wagner Group, uh, when the Russian forces were advancing our troops in Syria. So you don't hesitate to give the "ready, aim, fire". This term, Midnight --

Right.

-- Hammer, Rough Rider, Absolute Resolve, Epic Fury, now the blockade. Would you hesitate to use military force to do whatever has to be done to stop Iran from terrorizing our allies and our ships?

No. No hesitation. Uh, we're doing very well with it right now. You know, we have the, we have the, we're taking out more oil now than we did before the, if you call it a war, before the war started. We're taking out more oil. And, you know, think about the war. We've been fighting, you know, pretty, at a pretty rapid clip for three weeks, not seven months, but three weeks.

Nobody's been killed in the last five months. You know, in Russia, they're losing 25,000 people a month between Russia and Ukraine, mostly soldiers. We haven't lost a soldier in five months and we control the Gulf. We won Venezuela and we control the Gulf in terms of the Hormuz Strait. We control it, totally control it. Uh, but the answer is, if I saw things going the other way, I would, I would do that.

And it's, it's possible I would do it right now.

Okay. And, and are you willing to stick with the blockade? Even if it takes 26 months --

Oh, yeah.

-- to collapse that regime?

No. No, no. Well, the, the regime is collapsing and their, uh, press is much different than the fact. You know, they'll always make these harsh statements about, "We are doing well. We will fight back. We will d-"

Oh, yeah.

Uh, they are not doing well. They have 301% inflation. Their economy is gone. They're not paying their soldiers. Their, uh, military is wiped out. Their navy's gone. Their air force is gone. Their anti-aircraft is gone. Uh, and they've lost the Hormuz Strait. They're not doing well. But they always t- -- talk with great bravado, like how well they're doing.

And the fake news tries to pick it up as much as possible. But even the fake news isn't saying that. No, if, if it doesn't, if, uh, something doesn't work out, I would not hesitate. No.

All right. If, if freeing Cuba requires military force, before you leave office, will you order that military force?

I, I wanna get Cuba done before I leave you. And we have a very good, talented guy for Cuba named Marco. [Laughs]

Yep.

'Cause Marco's parents are from, Marco Rubio. His parents are from Cuba, as you probably know, and he would love to do that. So we're watching it very closely. It's doing very poorly. It's essentially a failed, you know, place, nation, whatever you wanna call it. It's failed. And, uh, we're watching it. I would like to be able to do it. Um, I won the Cuban vote by 94% in Florida, and, uh, I think I'm more popular now than I was then.

And, uh, frankly, I'd love to be able to do it for the people, for the Cubans that came and were treated really badly and they came to America.

So if it took a little bit of military force, a week campaign, you'd be okay with that?

I'd be, I would certainly consider that, yes.

All right. Now, let me talk about Israel with you, Mr. President. You, they've been a modern state since 1948. You are the most pro-Israel president, uh, we have ever had. Some worry that Vice President Vance's post means that your view, your view, Donald Trump's view of our ally has changed. Has it? Are you still the most pro-Israel president ever?

Well, I am. And, uh, I don't understand a couple of things. Like, I wasn't on the ballot, but still, uh, if you look at, uh, El-Sayed in Michigan, he got more votes than the Republican candidate got by quite a bit from, from Jewish people. I, I can't, it's not even understandable. It's a tough group to get.

Now, I will say this. In Israel, I'm at 99%. Literally, I'm at 99. I'm the most popular person. You know, when this is over, I could go to Israel and be prime minister. [Laughs]

Yes.

But, uh, no, I'm, I'm, I'm very much Israel inclined.

All right. So I am, uh, greatly alarmed because antisemitism, as you just mentioned with El-Sayed, antisemitism on the ballot all across the country, and it won. I'm not Jewish, you're not Jewish, but antisemitism is a cancer that kills civilizations in countries. It's a disease. It kills Jews. It actually kills Jews, but it kills countries.

It's everywhere and it's spreading. It will actually face your grandchildren because they're Jewish. How alarmed are you about the rise of antisemitism in the United States? What can we do about it?

I'm amazed to see it. I never thought this, this is like Germany in 1938 or whatever. It's like crazy what's going on. Uh, when you look at the attacks on people, the racial attacks, uh, and the attacks, they're, I guess, 57% on Jewish people and you wouldn't believe it. So I am very surprised at something like, and it started, I would say during Barack Hussein Obama's, uh, run, that's when it started and it's continuing.

And it's pretty shocking to me. I'm very surprised.

All right. So, uh, is there federal --

We're doing everything we can to do that.

Okay.

Including making the, you know, the schools and the colleges and, uh, you know, what, they're paying tremendous awards, colleges, for what they've done because they're antisemitic. Harvard's antisemitic and, uh, they're paying big prices for --

You are right. That's my alma mater, and you are right. Does the FBI have a task force directed at antisemitism?

It does, and it's, uh, utilized, but, you know, when you go around, you don't see it so much. It's very much hidden. It's amazing. Maybe that's the worst kind, but it's very much hidden. But FBI does, yes.

All right. Here's my toughest question in the interview. I got like 30 more questions, but this is the toughest one. Two phones ring at the same time in the Oval. One is the ruler of Saudi Arabia, MBS, and the other is the ruler of the United Arab Emirates, MBZ. Which one do you take first?

Well, it's, it's, I don't want to answer that because it'd get me in trouble with one, one of them. But, uh, but, you know, they're both friends of mine. They're both great people. But if I answer that, do I have an answer? But if I answered that, I'd be in big trouble. You would get me in big, big trouble with one of them, and there's no reason for that.

I withdraw the question. I withdraw the question.

Okay.

I, uh, I wrote a column about, uh, asking Todd Blanche to ask, uh, the assistant attorney general at legal counsel to raise the question of the constitutionality of court packing or making D.C. of, of a state or of the voter compact. I think that's all unconstitutional. Will you ask him to get those opinions in writing from OLC?

I will, and I hope you're right, because they're gonna terminate the filibuster. And at some point, they're gonna be able, you know, they need the presidency too. And, and maybe at some point, uh, we, we have, we should have done, and, uh, not me, because I did a lot, but unfortunately things were not gotten through the Senate that I wished well they could have had, like the SAVE America Act, which I think would've had a big impact on the election.

You know, when I went out for the speeches, a lot of people would say, "Sir, sir," they'd be shouted out of 25,000 people. But people, not a lot, but people would be shouting, "Sir, the SAVE America Act, pass the SAVE America Act." And it got sent to the Senate five times, and unfortunately they were not able to get it done, you would've thought.

And the other one is the filibuster. You, I think you feel a little bit differently, but --

I like the filibuster.

I just --

Yeah. I like it.

I know. Well, it's, uh, you're, you're gonna regret it someday because it's a disaster. The, the Democrats are gonna terminate the filibuster, and when they do, it's off to the races. Now, if you are right about the fact that you can't make Washington and Puerto Rico a state and a couple of other things that you said in that piece, which was very good, uh, then I would care less about the filibuster.

But I think it's gonna go down as one of the great miscarriages, uh, in political history. I think it's horrible.

I don't think they can pack the court --

And they're going to do it.

I think it violates due process. But ask your OLC. Let me move on. I don't expect a vacancy on the Supreme Court.

Well, I'm using what you say because I hope --

Okay.

-- you're right. You know, I hope you're right.

I think I am right. I, I don't expect a vacancy on the Supreme Court, but if one happens and, and you have to nominate someone, do you think someone, a great judge with an amazing life story like Amul Thapar or David Stras, do you think they could get through a Democratic Senate if you nominate in the first year a really great judge --

Well --

-- with a --

-- both, yeah, they're both great. I know both of them and they're both great. Um, I doubt it. I think the Democrats are crazy. There's something wrong with them. And I doubt it. They would want theirs. We have the case where we have numerous U.S. attorneys, u- numerous that are phenomenal people. One's Harvard, Oxford, brilliant, and you can't get them through the blue slip process.

The blue slip is a disaster. It's a disaster. And you know, the Republicans have, uh, the, the Democrats have violated blue slip on numerous occasions and the Republicans tend to be, they don't violate things. I mean, it's just sort of --

They don't.

-- crazy. So I have U.S., I have U.S. attorneys that are great, and we give them a different position and we do all sorts of things. And you'll never get these Demo- -- all you need is one Democrat senator, but when you have two, but even if you have one, you know, it's an old custom and unfortunately some of the Republicans don't wanna end that custom and it's too bad.

But I have people that it is not possible to get them confirmed as a U.S. attorney. And they're, they're phenomenal.

All right. So you're, it's probably not gonna happen if we get a vacancy, but, uh, I hope, I hope you could persuade. I think Thapar or Stras could get confirmed, but maybe not. Um, we have two emani- -- enemies, Mr. President. We got communists and we've got the Muslim Brotherhood. Which is more dangerous in your view?

Well, I think right now, I think they're both very dangerous. I think right now the, uh, the Muslim Brotherhood might be more dangerous. It seems to be more in vogue and, uh, surprisingly, because I would've said a different answer five years ago, but I think right now Muslim Brotherhood is probably more dangerous.

Yeah, I agree with you, because I don't think Xi wants to blow up the world, and I think the brothers de- -- wouldn't hesitate to blow up the world if they thought it would advance, um, the return of Islam to dominate.

Well, that's why, yeah, that's why we fight so hard where we're fighting, because it's not stopping at Israel in the Middle East, which is bad, but it's not stopping there. It's gonna stop at, you know, it's gonna stop at, uh, San Diego. It's gonna stop at Los Angeles. It's going to Europe first, closer.

You know, they have a missile that can reach Europe, you know that, used --

Yes.

-- they show that. And, uh, they have a missile. They, if we go further, they won't have that missile, by the way, that'll be gone.

That's why I want you to go further, man. I, I want, you know, return to full combat operations to destroy what's left of their industrial base and Pickaxe Mountain --

Mm-hmm.

-- and everything else because they're dangerous.

I understand.

They're, they're crazies.

I understand. It could happen. It could happen.

All right. Uh, little politics before we talk --

We're very strong. I'll tell you, you, this should have been done by other presidents.

Yes.

Should have been done by other countries.

Yes.

It should have been done, uh, they left it for me. They leave a lot of things for me, but it has to be done. Uh, they have to be, uh, at, just to use a nice word, they have to be neutralized because they're out there and they're crazy.

I agree with you. Now, a couple political questions, then we'll talk about negotiating with Democrats. When should the GOP presidential debates about who succeeds you in 2028, when they should, when should they begin, and how many of them should there be?

Yeah, I would say in a year. I think a year is a lot of time. You know, in many countries, they leave weeks. I mean, you go to some countries, they have like a period of, uh, two weeks, which is probably too short. But I think a year process, um, and you start a little bit early. And I think you have some good debates.

I don't know about on the other side. We have some very good people on the bench. We really do. We have some very good candidates.

We have 20 people. Yeah. Yeah, we have 20 people. Um --

Is that what you figure?

Uh, yeah. I, I think we've got, I've got a list of 20 people. I'll run over it with you later if I have time.

Well, we have 20, 20 capable. We have 20, wha- -- we do have, I mean, it's interesting that you say, "We have a lot of capable people," very good people.

And here --

How many do the Democrats have, do you think?

Uh, about eight, I think. Here's my list. Uh, the Vice President, Secretary Rubio, Bessent, Hegseth, Burgum, Pompeo, Kennedy, Senators Cotton, Cruz, Hawley, McCormick, Senator Sheehy, Governor DeSantis, Governor Ducey, Governor Huckabee, Governor Kemp, Governor Youngkin, Ambassador Haley. They're all very presentable on a stage, right?

They're not gonna be able to dominate a stage the way you did in 2015, '16, but they could be pretty good in debate.

Well, and the way I did in '24 and the way I did in '20, I think I dominated, I think I was even better.

Oh, I'm talking primaries. When they got like 20 people on the stage, you --

Primaries. Yeah, I see. That was an interesting, '16 was amazing. '16 was amazing. I think there'll never be another period like that. That was so, did you ever see the ratings? The ratings were --

Oh, I g- -- I was in it.

Super Bowl.

I, I, I --

-- beyond Super Bowl.

Twenty-four million people saw you, you know, yell at me and, uh, they're still laughing about that.

You asked me about the triad. To this day --

Yes.

-- that was the only question I probably didn't answer perfectly.

[Laughs] Yeah, it was good enough.

Semi-perfectly.

You won.

No.

You won. Mr. President, on to the Congress. You are gonna face, your, your counsel --

You remember that, right?

Oh, very well.

You remember that?

Very well.

The triad. Yeah, I remember you.

I call that, that's my first Trump tattoo --

No, now, now I --

-- I tell people.

I can define triad better than any person that's ever lived right now. Okay, go ahead.

Uh, impeachment circuses are ahead. They're gonna impeach you over TikTok, crypto, military strike. Will Scharf is a brilliant lawyer. He sent a great letter this week telling the Democrats that they're gonna cross a line and, and it at it looked to me like you're just gonna tell 'em to go pound sand. Did I read that right?

I'm not gonna answer your, your subpoenas. I'm, I'm gonna invoke inve- -- executive privilege on everyone. Go to hell. Is that what you, what Will Scharf --

Well, w- -- w- --

-- was saying?

W- -- we've gone through this before, and now it's even, I think, worse from the standpoint they have less than nothing. They had nothing. Now they have really less than, 'cause, you know, look, we have thousands of factories being built. We have numbers that when people look at the real numbers, and you're gonna see them.

Uh, we've never, did you see the, uh, construction numbers of construction --

Yeah.

-- workers last week?

One hundred sixty thousand jobs last week.

Ever seen like what?

Yeah.

We have, uh, Audi just is moving in with a $4 billion plant. Toyota's moving in with a $5 billion plant. We have never had anything less, like what's going on. And our military has never been stronger. And by the way, we're building ammunition all over the place. We're building 20 plants of ammunition. You know, before I got here, they were spending their money on, I mean, literally, they were spending their money on stock buybacks, $51 billion in s- -- stock buys.

So they go, you go to jail if you do a stock buy, buyback if you're a defense company. They're building, we're building 21 plants. Uh, uh, well, there's never been anything like what's happening in our country right now. So the only thing they could impeach me on is making America great.

Yeah.

I know. I mean, we have done, we have done such a good job.

Now, you just posted on, on Truth, uh, a half hour ago, "We've got to get the $350 billion for the military." I agree. That's the most important thing.

Yeah.

Uh, do you think we can get it done?

Well, they should do it. I mean, whoever heard of it where they, and that's like a minimal number, uh, where they should do it. Uh, we're in the midst of winning a war. Uh, uh, you know, we can win that almost at any time when I wanna win it. And we're, but the timing of what I've done is important because some people have asked me, "Do it this way," and I'm willing to do it any way.

But we, we have reduced them to nothing and then, oh, all of a sudden we're not gonna have money to finish off what we started so brilliantly. Don't forget, we did Venezuela in 48 minutes and that's, we have taken in billions and billions of dollars on hundreds of millions of barrels of oil. Nobody's ever seen anything like it. And then we do Iran and Iran is a ver- -- much different kind of a country, but w- -- what we've done there is unbelievable.

And again, this should have been done by other presidents, would've been very much easier to do, but we're finding it easy also.

Now, I wanna get to the heart of the interview, which is the Democrats controlling Congress in two months. You are a land use --

Okay.

-- developer. I tell everyone you negotiated deals in 18 countries all across the United States. I'm always amazed you got a deal with the California Coastal Commission on Trump National Golf Course in L.A., which no one gets a deal with the California Coastal Commission.

Nobody does. Nobody gets that. You're right. That is the worst.

So you can negotiate. But if they're impeaching you, can you negotiate with the Democrats if they're trying to, to destroy you at the same time?

Maybe not. Maybe I wouldn't want to, because it's in such bad, you know, when I negotiate, I negotiate in good faith. If they're doing that, it's in bad faith. And, you know, we've done a great job and we're honest. Do you remember first term the big deal on my taxes, right? My taxes.

Yeah.

They fought and fought and fought and it was vicious. They wanted my tax returns and, and I didn't want to do it, not because I had anything bad. It was just the opposite. It was such a bad precedent. And amazingly, the Supreme Court ruled that in Trump's case, you can have it, but practically in, they almost said, "In no other case, but only Trump, this could only happen to me." So they got the taxes.

They then hired the best lawyer before that, but they then hired the best lawyers in the world and the best tax accountants in the world. And they went over and my tax returns, I make a lot of money. I made a lot of money. Before I did this stuff, I made a lot, a lot. Much more than people understand. And what happens is there, if you stacked them on, it would be up to w- -- I don't know how high your ceiling is, but it would be higher than the ceiling in the room you are right now by a lot.

So --

Pretty sure.

-- they went over, and you remember they got my full tax returns. And they went over them with the best accountants and the best lawyers in the country. And at the end, they found nothing.

Nothing. Yeah.

It was all about nothing. And the only reason I fought them was that it was a terrible precedent because you shouldn't be able to get them, but the Supreme Court let them have mine. They, they sort of said in there, "We won't do other people, but we'll do Trump's." It's the most incredible thing I've ever seen.

So --

Sure.

-- they got him and after almost a year of going through my tax returns, they found nothing. And now they're starting the same thing again. It's a terrible thing. And you know, I don't take salary. You know, so I gave up salary. It's like two and a half million dollars. It's, it's a lot of money. You know, it's a lot of money.

Over, over eight years. Yeah. Yep.

Over, no, over eight years it's four and a half million dollars. So --

Okay.

So I didn't take it in my first term, got zero credit for it. I don't take them now get, nobody wants to write it. Nobody talks about it. Uh, they'll say I, I did something for $10, but by the way, he gave up. So it's, uh, I guess over the two years it's four and a half million dollars. I don't take it. I give it back to the country and get no credit for it. Sometimes they say, "Why do I even do it?" The press doesn't write.

By the way, if I ever had a month where I took the money, I would get decimated. That would be --

Yeah, you, that would be front page. Let me talk about --

Nobody --

-- what you want.

Nobody ever talks about it.

If the --

[Inaudible]

If Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer come up and they want the Dreamers or they want regularization for people who aren't violent in the country, what are you gonna want? Are you gonna want Golden Dome, the Golden Fleet? What's your priority? I hope it's Golden Dome and the Golden Fleet.

Well, we're gonna have the Golden Dome. We're gonna have the Golden Fleet. And I think they, in their own way, maybe they want that too, but they don't wanna talk about it. But one of the things I did, the MFN, the, uh, drug pricing, that's gonna bring down the cost of health care tremendously because, you know, drugs, you know, I brought drugs down 70 and 80% and nobody talks about that either.

I did it through, you know, the, uh, I guess you'd say, "good negotiating," to be honest with other countries and with the drug companies. But we, I've got drug pricing reduced. And you take a look at, you know, our Trump, our little Trump site, which turns into be one of the biggest sites anyone's ever seen.

People are buying drugs for 50% and 60% discounts and they've never seen that before. So the drug pricing, which was a favored nation, it's, uh, most-favored-nation. Uh, we are, we went from the highest drugs in the history of our country to the lowest drug prices in the history of our country, all in a period of the last six months, because I got other nations to agree to it by using tariffs against them.

I said, "I'm gonna tariff the hell out of you if you don't agree." Nobody thought it was possible. Nobody was able to do it. I got it done. Drug pricing, most-favored-nation. And that's gonna help health care and health care reform and price transparency and permitting reform, which is a very big thing. And lowering, uh, credit card fees, uh, all the things that we should be doing, doing.

But think of it, the biggest story is the fact that we went from the highest drug prices in the history of, in the world. We paid the highest in the world. And now we're paying the lowest in the world.

That's a big deal, but --

It's a --

I, I, I got five more questions in my time --

Gonna have a hu- --

-- Mr. President.

That's gonna have a huge impact, by the way --

It.

-- on health care.

It will. Um --

So great things --

The Olympics --

-- can be done between the Democrats and the Republicans on health care. And if I can do that with them, because Obamacare is a disaster, if I, it's always been a disaster, it's horrible. And if I can do that with the Democrats, I'd love to do that.

Just make sure you get the Golden Dome and the Golden Fleet on the table.

[Inaudible]

Uh, the Olympic, the Olympics are coming to L.A. in 2028. The city is a mess.

Right.

I go there every year.

Yeah.

There are 50,000 people homeless. They got a new mayor. Can you help the new mayor out with the homeless? There are 50,000 people in L.A. on the streets. Fifty thousand.

Well, we just had FIFA and we had like 56 games or something like that. And we didn't even have a protest at any game. We did a fantastic job. And we used law enforcement where necessary, but we didn't need it. I mean, it was incredible. But the fact that we had it, they knew we were coming. And think of it, the FIFA, it was like having, you know, many Super Bowls.

And we had not one, literally, we had not one crime. It was, uh, uh, frankly, it was a miracle. We did a great job. So with the Olympics, it's, uh, hard to believe, but it would not be as big. It would not be as complex because, you know, you're talking about a much more restricted area. But we will do our best.

Uh, L.A. is a mess. And, uh, I still don't know what happened because I watched that woman that ended up winning, crying because she was beaten out by a young man who was in there fighting hard. And she, and he made the, he made it and she didn't make it and she was crying, devastated. And all of a sudden now she's mayor because five weeks later they found more votes for her.

Our election process is a disaster.

In California --

And, uh --

-- it does not get worse than California. Uh, back to politics.

Well, Pratt --

Uh --

-- Pratt did a great job. He ran great. He was, uh, I don't know about first place, but he certainly qualified to run. And the woman that is now mayor was literally crying --

Crying.

-- because she --

Yeah.

-- she lost and all of a sudden they found the votes and she won.

Uh, it's, that's California. Uh, back to --

And the only thing is that Spencer Pratt made one mistake. He didn't protest. I have not seen him protest at all, and he should have protested. I told him, "That was a rigged election. There's no question about it." Right.

Uh, speaking of elections, uh, the GOP nomination process will get underway next year. Uh, will you endorse a nominee among the candidates before or during the primaries?

I, I don't know. You know, it depends on how, what the feeling is. It's a, you know, it's a feel, it's a touch. It's too early to say. I l- -- I like a lot of people. You know, I get along very well in the Republican Party. I don't know if you saw that poll from CNN, that Abraham Lincoln --

99%, yeah.

Is 8th --

99%.

Yeah, that Ronald Reagan was at 14 and that Trump is at 56%. Um, it's popularity. I was of Lincoln and Ronald Reagan by a lot. It was a CNN poll, so I wouldn't imagine they did it to maybe, maybe it should have been better, but I get along very well with Republicans and they like me and I like them. So we'll see, we'll see what happens.

You could, you could tip that pretty decisively. And if you do, and then we lose, that's a black mark. If you don't and we win, that's not a black mark. If you do and we win, that's a plus mark. Uh, so it's a --

S- --

-- what do you think?

So I read an article a week ago and they were saying, "Who's gonna be the Republican nominee?" And the answer was whoever Trump chooses. And I feel that's true because look at, you know, my nominations. I'm batting about almost, almost a thousand. I mean, I'm batting almost perfect. It's almo- -- almost everybody that I endorse wins.

So I'm not saying that, but, but, you know, that's the way it is. Uh, I think maybe whoever I, uh, ev- -- people that you're talking about, people that are running, people that are running for this, they had my endorsement. Many, in many cases, they were losing. In some cases, they were losing really badly.

And they ended up, you could take a look at, uh, various governors right now and various senators right now where they had no chance of getting into the, you know, into the, into the final and into the finals, meaning against a Democrat. And they came out and they won. And they won decisively. And by the way, I do very well in the final also.

I mean, I do very well --

And you got --

-- in the general --

-- the vice --

-- elec- --

-- president into the Senate and then you got Bernie Moreno into the Senate. And so you have, I know Ohio best and you have a good record in Ohio.

And I --

They.

-- got their nomina- -- and I got both of them their nomination too.

That's what I mean.

And I won Ohio by six, I won Ohio by 17 points or 18 points. And I'm, you know, I'm surprised. I'll tell you what, uh, uh, Vivek had a rough time, but, uh, Jon Husted did very well. He was down 14, 15 points. And then I did the football stories, which truly was a great foot, nobody knew. He was a great, like a --

Nobody.

-- really good football player. And it really helped him l- -- and he ended up losing by less than a point. He did great. You know, it's one of those things.

So I wanna go --

[Inaudible]

-- back to what I began with history. I have made a list of what I consider to be thus far your greatest accomplishments. And they are in order.

Okay.

You destroyed Iran's nuclear program, your three supporting --

Okay.

-- Supreme Court appointees, the Abraham Accords, Warp Speed on the COVID vaccine, the two big tax bill and the cuts are now permanent, getting NATO to rearm, Venezuela and the Indian-Pakistan ceasefire. Do you disagree with my order?

No, but I think I'd add the border. Uh, you know --

Oh, gosh, yes.

The border was --

That should, uh, go --

-- a horrible, horrible --

That's me.

-- situation. When millions and millions of people were pouring in. I say 25 million, many from mental institutions and prisons and, you know, drug dealers and everything. You've heard me say it a thousand times, but they were coming in and, uh, in, in a period of one month it was good and two months it was very good.

And in three months, it, nobody came in. And by the way, because of the election, there is right now a massive cartel heading to our country and I'm not gonna let it happen.

I saw your post. That Mexico will shut that down. So penultimate --

Yeah.

-- question. If the Iran crazies are still in power when you leave office, will that have been a defeat for you, or is it just something that can't be done in three years?

You're talking about the Iran crazies in Iran --

Yeah.

-- not in the --

Iran crazies.

We have Iran crazies here.

The Iran crazies.

Um --

-- if they're still there.

Yes, that would be a defeat. Yep. I would say that would be a defeat. Absolutely.

Very last question. I, I thought the Ross Douthat that interview was great. I thought Ross is a natural, and I'm glad you sat down with CBS. I have one suggestion for who you ought to sit down with next. The, uh, the Ruthless podcast fellas, have you ever, the vice president sat down with them. Have you ever sat down with those guys?

No. No.

Uh --

-- I, I've seen them.

Invite them to the White House. Sit down with them for two hour.

I.

They're the most popular podcast among --

Oh.

-- professional Republican activists. They are the guys. So they're four of them.

Well, I --

They're great.

-- I would have no trouble with that. That's good. I've always said you're one of the most difficult interviews there w- -- I mean, look at it. You, you know how many questions you must have asked me? You're supposed to ask me four. Okay, you asked me about 30, 35 and it's okay. But you're a total problem.

I have one more, then.

I would, I would --

Um, have you hired an agent for your memoir yet? 'Cause you'll get the biggest advance in the history of --

No.

-- of books. Have you hired an agent yet?

No. No, but Obama got $100 million on something that didn't sell and then they, they don't talk about that. They say, "Oh, corrupt this, corrupt that." I could get a lot. No, I didn't. Uh, I have a lot of agents --

Okay.

-- calling me, that I can tell you --

All right.

-- but I have not, uh, I have nothing. But do you know --

Last, very last question.

Does anybody ever say, does anybody ever say that the Obamas got like hundreds of millions of dollars for producing a couple of, uh, just a couple of documentaries?

Forgettable shows. Forgettable shows.

Okay.

Uh, very last --

They didn't too well.

-- question. If the Iranian, uh, Secretary Bessent had to move on to military base. I think Attorney General B-, uh, Be, uh, uh, Blanche moving on to military base. If the Iranians kill a senior American official, what will happen to them?

Uh, they will not exist very long, any longer.

Uh, that is a great note on which to end, Mr. President. I wanna thank you for your time. Always keep coming back. I might ask a lot of questions, but you gave a lot of great answers. I appreciate it.

Well, thank you. And it's, it's really an honor. And just take care of yourself. You do a great job.

I will, and you too, sir. Thank you.

Thanks. Thanks, Hugh. Bye.