President Donald Trump: The 2026 60 Minutes post-midterms interview — Transcript

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1. 0:01This past Tuesday, President Donald
2. 0:04Trump's Republican party suffered an
3. 0:06extraordinary midterm repudiation,
4. 0:08losing not just the House and Senate,
5. 0:10but statewide offices in red states from
6. 0:13Texas to Kansas to South Carolina that
7. 0:16Democrats hadn't won in decades.
8. 0:19In the past, this president has met
9. 0:21defeat with claims of fraud and the
10. 0:24effort to overturn the 2020 election.
11. 0:26But when we met with him in the White
12. 0:28House on Friday for his first sit-down
13. 0:30interview since the midterms, we found
14. 0:32him in a surprisingly reflective mood
15. 0:35and seemingly accepting of defeat. Our
16. 0:38wide-ranging conversation covered
17. 0:40immigration and corruption, Iran and
18. 0:43artificial intelligence, his potential
19. 0:45successors, and his own mortality. But
20. 0:48we began with the election results.
21. 0:51Two years ago, you won a big, some might
22. 0:55say historic victory.
23. 0:57Just now, the Republican party in the
24. 0:59midterm suffered a big, some might say
25. 1:01historic defeat. Give me your political
26. 1:04analysis of what just happened.
27. 1:06>> Well, number one, I was not on the
28. 1:08ballot, but I campaigned hard for some
29. 1:10people, and I think if I was on the
30. 1:13ballot, it would have been a much
31. 1:14different situation because you saw the
32. 1:17level of popularity and love. There was
33. 1:19love. We had massive rallies. You had to
34. 1:21transfer those voters, however, to
35. 1:24candidates that they didn't like. But
36. 1:27there's something beyond that. They
37. 1:29didn't like the war. They didn't like
38. 1:31the fact that gasoline went up because
39. 1:33they had it down at a low. And there's a
40. 1:35a great dislike, incredibly for Israel.
41. 1:39>> Let's go through those then one by one.
42. 1:40Start start with the candidates, right?
43. 1:42You said it was tough
44. 1:43>> to transfer your own appeal to
45. 1:45candidates, but in a lot of cases, you
46. 1:48picked the candidates. You endorsed Ken
47. 1:50Paxton in Texas. He had a tough time.
48. 1:53You endorsed Darlene Graham in South
49. 1:54Carolina.
50. 1:55>> Would have lost also. Darlene, I did
51. 1:57that in uh honor of a man named Lindsay
52. 2:01who was a friend of mine. And she fought
53. 2:03hard. She fought hard. She really did.
54. 2:06>> She lost a very Republican state to a
55. 2:09very liberal challenger.
56. 2:10>> I won South Carolina by the highest vote
57. 2:12in history by far. I won Texas by the
58. 2:15highest vote in history by far. I won
59. 2:17Florida, who by the way I did endorse,
60. 2:20and he's going to be a great governor
61. 2:22and a great senator. I endorsed both of
62. 2:24them. And had I not endorsed him, they
63. 2:26wouldn't have won.
64. 2:27>> Why can't it transfer? You you were out
65. 2:29on the trail and you said you said vote
66. 2:31like I'm on the ballot and people didn't
67. 2:33or or did they did they vote because
68. 2:36they were mad at you about
69. 2:37>> I think they didn't vote really. I think
70. 2:39in some cases they didn't like the
71. 2:41candidates and that's you know their
72. 2:43prerogative. Couple days ago, your vice
73. 2:45president JD Vance wrote a social media
74. 2:48post where he says, "The reason we lost
75. 2:49is the war, meaning Iran, and he said
76. 2:52things in that post about Israel." Yeah.
77. 2:54So, you agree with his analysis?
78. 2:55>> I don't disagree with it.
79. 2:56>> Did you know he was going to write that
80. 2:57post?
81. 2:57>> Uh, he asked me, "What do I think?" I
82. 2:59said, "Write what you feel."
83. 3:01>> By the way, what are you going to write?
84. 3:03The only thing I wish he would have said
85. 3:05there, if he felt it, and you'd have to
86. 3:08ask him about that, but if you had it to
87. 3:10do again, would you do it? you is part
88. 3:12of a decision-making process and my
89. 3:14answer is an emphatic yes because you
90. 3:16can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon. I
91. 3:18think historically this will be a very
92. 3:20good decision. Is it a good decision for
93. 3:23today and tomorrow? Maybe not. But you
94. 3:25know I have to go with what's right for
95. 3:27our country. If they had a nuclear
96. 3:29weapon during my term I would be
97. 3:31excoriated far worse than what's
98. 3:34happened. So let's stop but Russ from
99. 3:37having a nuclear weapon. That's a big
100. 3:39thing.
101. 3:40The president argued that even with the
102. 3:42Iran war, the US economy in his second
103. 3:44term has been very strong.
104. 3:47>> But in poll after poll, people say
105. 3:49they're unhappy with this economy in a
106. 3:51way they weren't in the first term. Cost
107. 3:53of living, inflation, and so on. Is that
108. 3:55all just the Iran war?
109. 3:57>> Well, it's not really the Iran war
110. 4:00because the numbers are phenomenal. I
111. 4:02think it was bad messaging maybe by me,
112. 4:04but I would talk about it all the time,
113. 4:05so I don't know how much you're going to
114. 4:06talk about it. Look, the press doesn't
115. 4:09cover
116. 4:10>> positive news for Republicans. They
117. 4:13don't cover certainly positive news for
118. 4:16me. So, I have to do it myself. I have
119. 4:17to get it out there. We have
120. 4:19historically good numbers. We have the
121. 4:21highest stock market in history.
122. 4:22>> But why don't Americans feel it then?
123. 4:24>> They don't.
124. 4:25>> Why why don't they because they're
125. 4:26obviously like you and the press, you
126. 4:28and the media, you and our business have
127. 4:30been in tension throughout your career.
128. 4:32>> Correct.
129. 4:33>> But you still won elections,
130. 4:35>> right? So why couldn't you win this?
131. 4:37>> I think it was bad messaging. Um
132. 4:38>> what was the bad message?
133. 4:40>> We couldn't get the word across.
134. 4:42>> 30th round.
135. 4:42>> Whether it was the message or the
136. 4:44record, the Republican collapse will
137. 4:46give Democrats in Congress new powers
138. 4:49over budgets, hearings, and subpoenas.
139. 4:52>> You came out after the midterms. You
140. 4:54congratulated the Democrats. You said
141. 4:56that you were open to working with them.
142. 4:58>> True.
143. 4:58>> What is one thing you would like to work
144. 5:00with a Democratic majority on?
145. 5:01>> I'd love to do something on immigration.
146. 5:04>> What? because well so
147. 5:07>> do you think immigration hurt you in the
148. 5:09midterms? Do you think the crackdown
149. 5:10hurt?
150. 5:11>> I think it both helped and hurt. I think
151. 5:12I got an A+ for closing up the border. I
152. 5:15get very high marks for getting the bad
153. 5:17ones out. But I get hurt because we also
154. 5:21took people that had good jobs that that
155. 5:24created one violation or breaking of the
156. 5:27law that was that they came into the
157. 5:28country illegally. Now, there is a large
158. 5:31part of the country that think that they
159. 5:33should be put out and there's a large
160. 5:35part of the country that think that they
161. 5:37should be allowed to stay if they're
162. 5:39good people working in a landscaping
163. 5:40company or working in a hotel or doing
164. 5:43something right. And in some cases
165. 5:46paying taxes
166. 5:48>> and there's a large group of people
167. 5:49think that they should be allowed to
168. 5:51stay.
169. 5:51>> So, you think your deportation policy
170. 5:53went too far? It was too tough.
171. 5:55>> I think it might be too tough. Yeah.
172. 5:57>> What would happen? What does the deal
173. 5:58look like with the Democrat?
174. 5:59>> Ultimately, that hurt me. Well, the deal
175. 6:01would be we would work something out and
176. 6:03I think it's something I think that's
177. 6:04something that's actually doable
178. 6:06>> doable to create some kind of some kind
179. 6:08of legal status for the landscapers and
180. 6:10the
181. 6:11>> Yeah. When you go into a hotel and you
182. 6:13have a woman that's worked there as a
183. 6:15you know, as a maid, as a cleaner, as a
184. 6:18this, as a that, as a waitress, a lot of
185. 6:20good things, great jobs, and all of a
186. 6:22sudden they're being taken out of the
187. 6:25country. It's tough. It's a tough thing.
188. 6:26But there's a group of people that I
189. 6:28would say on the
190. 6:30>> sort of pretty far right that would like
191. 6:32everybody taken out. There's a group of
192. 6:34people.
193. 6:35>> Do any of those people work in your
194. 6:37administration? Are they in the building
195. 6:38with us right now?
196. 6:39>> No. No. Well, there are a lot of those
197. 6:41people. Then there's also people that
198. 6:43are more modified on that. In other
199. 6:44words, get the killers out. Get all the
200. 6:46the rough ones out. Get the drug dealers
201. 6:49out. But let the people that are here
202. 6:52and in some cases here for 10 and 15
203. 6:54years work a deal for them.
204. 6:57>> You think the Democratic party right now
205. 7:00has people in it who would be interested
206. 7:02in this kind of deal?
207. 7:03>> I think so. Yeah. People have already
208. 7:05called me.
209. 7:06>> So I'll say I saw James Terico, the new
210. 7:08Democratic senator from Texas.
211. 7:10>> I saw him on Fox News and he said
212. 7:12immigration was one of the things he
213. 7:14wanted to work with.
214. 7:14>> Others do. South Carolina said numerous
215. 7:18people that
216. 7:18>> once did in the course of the campaign
217. 7:20you did occasionally call him Talifico.
218. 7:22>> Yeah, I did.
219. 7:24>> Do you think you could work with the
220. 7:25Democrats without insulting them
221. 7:27consistently?
222. 7:28>> I could I also call
223. 7:30>> I also call many of them Democrats.
224. 7:33>> You did that just the other day. If if
225. 7:34it took six months of not insulting the
226. 7:37Democrats to get a deal done, do you
227. 7:38think you could do it
228. 7:39>> very easily?
229. 7:40>> Okay, that'll be interesting to watch.
230. 7:42Do you think you could do it if they're
231. 7:44Do you think you could do it if they're
232. 7:45investigating you? If they're running
233. 7:46investigations into your administration,
234. 7:48can you work with them?
235. 7:49>> Well, I did it for
236. 7:52>> four years. You know, they what they did
237. 7:54with me was there's never been
238. 7:56weaponization. They impeached me twice.
239. 7:59And there are those that say that worked
240. 8:01out to my advantage. I mean, you know,
241. 8:02cuz
242. 8:03>> Do you think they'll impeach you again?
243. 8:05>> I can't imagine it. You know, they did.
244. 8:07Hey, look. What have I done? I've had
245. 8:09the best two years in the history of the
246. 8:11presidency.
247. 8:12>> All this winning, according to the
248. 8:14president, doesn't preclude some change
249. 8:17of White House personnel.
250. 8:18>> In a previous lifetime, you were rather
251. 8:20famous for saying, "You're fired quite
252. 8:22often." After a big midterm defeat like
253. 8:24this, do you expect to fire anyone from
254. 8:26your team?
255. 8:27>> Yeah,
256. 8:27>> you do.
257. 8:28>> Little bit.
258. 8:28>> Little bit.
259. 8:29>> I love my cabinet. I think they're good,
260. 8:32but I'll do be doing maybe a few
261. 8:34changes.
262. 8:35The first change came an hour after our
263. 8:37conversation with the president. Susie
264. 8:39Wilds, the president's chief of staff,
265. 8:41was replaced by Deputy Chief of Staff
266. 8:44Steven Miller, the architect of the
267. 8:46president's mass deportation policy.
268. 8:48It's a move that seems to conflict with
269. 8:50the president's professed desire to work
270. 8:53with Democrats on immigration. We asked
271. 8:55the president about another
272. 8:56administration official whose job
273. 8:58security is the subject of speculation.
274. 9:01We saw Secretary of Defense Pete Hgsth
275. 9:03in the hall. He was meeting with you
276. 9:05just before. Now his name has come up a
277. 9:07few times as someone people have called
278. 9:10for his resignation. Do you have
279. 9:11confidence in him?
280. 9:12>> I do. Look,
281. 9:14we've won two wars.
282. 9:18>> We've won Venezuela and taken out
283. 9:21billions and billions and billions of
284. 9:23dollars already. And we will be taken
285. 9:25out many billions of dollars and get
286. 9:27along very well. And you could call it a
287. 9:29territory, you could call it whatever
288. 9:31you want. We won that war in less than
289. 9:33one hour.
290. 9:34>> And you credit nobody was killed.
291. 9:36>> You credit Pete Hegth for that.
292. 9:37>> No, but he was a part of it.
293. 9:39>> We don't back down. And
294. 9:40>> this past week, Hegathth released a long
295. 9:43video message defending his own tenure
296. 9:45and the prosecution of the Iran war. A
297. 9:48war the president claims is essentially
298. 9:50finished.
299. 9:51>> So, you're not going to escalate the war
300. 9:53now that the midterms?
301. 9:54>> I'm not looking to. I don't think
302. 9:55there's any reason to. I don't think
303. 9:57there's any reason to look.
304. 9:58>> They still have nuclear material. They
305. 10:00have they have nothing. It's buried
306. 10:02under thousands of tons of rock.
307. 10:04>> So what's the deal
308. 10:06>> in the end with them that gets that gets
309. 10:08the straight open? Because it's
310. 10:09important. It's important to the
311. 10:11straight is open. We have ships going.
312. 10:13>> But the ships that are going through are
313. 10:15being babysat by a large US military
314. 10:17presence. So how do we make a deal that
315. 10:19gets that that gets that presence out of
316. 10:21there?
317. 10:21>> Not very expensive.
318. 10:22>> We can just leave them there. this whole
319. 10:24thing. Those countries that we've
320. 10:27protected are going to pay us back any
321. 10:29and all costs that we've had for the war
322. 10:31because without us, they wouldn't exist.
323. 10:33Without us, Israel wouldn't exist. Let
324. 10:35me tell you,
325. 10:36>> Israel, tell me. Tell me about
326. 10:38>> Israel would not exist except for Donald
327. 10:40Trump because we went in with those
328. 10:43beautiful B2 bombers more than a year
329. 10:45ago and we hit the three sites at at the
330. 10:48time. But on Israel, do you have regrets
331. 10:51about the decision to help the Israelis
332. 10:54do decapitation strikes on Iran? Because
333. 10:56that changed the Iranian regime and it
334. 10:59seems like it made them escalate. You
335. 11:01could have just kept hitting the new the
336. 11:02nuclear facilities, right?
337. 11:03>> Yeah, you could have done that, but we
338. 11:05had people that would would have gone
339. 11:08further. We decapitated their nuclear
340. 11:10arsenal. Look, I deal with these people.
341. 11:12I deal with a lot of people and that's
342. 11:13what I've done my whole life. if I make
343. 11:14deals and obviously I make good deals
344. 11:16because I bec I made a lot of money and
345. 11:18I became President Bill you know that's
346. 11:21a deal too.
347. 11:22>> One place where the president's
348. 11:24dealmaking has thus far fallen short is
349. 11:26the war between Russia and Ukraine.
350. 11:29>> Our interview came just days before
351. 11:31Ukrainian, Russian and American
352. 11:33delegations were scheduled to meet in
353. 11:34Abu Dhabi for the first time since
354. 11:37February.
355. 11:37>> You came into office promising to make
356. 11:39peace in Ukraine.
357. 11:40>> Yeah.
358. 11:41>> There's still a war going on. What's the
359. 11:42biggest obstacle to peace? Uh, it was
360. 11:45the hatred between Zalinsky and Putin.
361. 11:48If I had been president, that war would
362. 11:50have never started. Zero chance. But it
363. 11:53did start. So, I inherited that war. Uh,
364. 11:55I believe we're very close to making
365. 11:57>> Who do you trust more, President Putin
366. 11:59or President?
367. 12:00>> I'd rather not say, but I get along with
368. 12:02both. I believe that that war is going
369. 12:04to end and it's going to end soon. And
370. 12:06the only reason it's going to end is
371. 12:07because of me. There is tremendous
372. 12:09hatred between President Putin and
373. 12:11President Zilinski. And you know,
374. 12:14>> isn't it more understandable coming from
375. 12:16President Zilinski given that his
376. 12:17country was actually invaded?
377. 12:19>> Well, it is, but when they had their
378. 12:21first meeting, there was great
379. 12:22disrespect shown to Russia. So, I'm not
380. 12:24going to say anything.
381. 12:25>> I mean, but balancing out invading
382. 12:28disrespect this way. The war never
383. 12:30happened during my four years and it was
384. 12:32never going to happen, even though it
385. 12:33was the apple of President Putin's eye.
386. 12:35>> Do you think he is stringing you along?
387. 12:37Oh, I don't think so.
388. 12:38>> Because you've been saying over and over
389. 12:39you're going to make peace and it just
390. 12:42seems like he's the obstacle in the end.
391. 12:44>> There's been nobody that's been tougher
392. 12:46on Russia than me. Look at our trade.
393. 12:48Look what I've done to them on trade
394. 12:49with the sanctions and everything else.
395. 12:51>> You've gone back and forth. You at some
396. 12:52point you have done lots of things, big
397. 12:55things in support of Ukraine. But just
398. 12:57recently, you lifted diesel sanctions on
399. 13:00Russia. Like you've done various things
400. 13:01to take pressure off Russia.
401. 13:02>> Lift diesel sanctions. uh I made it
402. 13:04possible for Russia to give not us but
403. 13:06to the world uh thousands and thousands
404. 13:10of barrels of oil of diesel which it
405. 13:12needed uh didn't do any big favor
406. 13:16>> but you expect it to all work out with a
407. 13:18free and independent Ukraine
408. 13:19>> done and I think it's going to happen
409. 13:21and they're going to end up with a uh
410. 13:24little bit different shape Ukraine
411. 13:27>> when we come back we talk with President
412. 13:29Trump about his potential successors why
413. 13:32he's bullish on AI and intrigued by
414. 13:35UFOs. We also ask him about allegations
415. 13:38of corruption.
416. 13:48President Donald Trump has been the
417. 13:50dominant figure in American politics for
418. 13:52a decade, but now his time is running
419. 13:55out. In the next two years, Mr. Trump
420. 13:58will need to decide whether to endorse a
421. 14:00successor. He'll have to deal with
422. 14:03accusations of corruption, a major
423. 14:05concern for midterm voters, over wealth
424. 14:07he piled up during his time in office.
425. 14:10He will make consequential decisions
426. 14:12about artificial intelligence amid fears
427. 14:15that AI threatens the future of the
428. 14:18human race. And all of this in the
429. 14:20shadow of the 80-year-old president's
430. 14:22own mortality.
431. 14:25>> In two years, someone else is going to
432. 14:27be the Republican nominee for president.
433. 14:30I assume you're going to endorse someone
434. 14:32for that.
435. 14:33>> Probably. Not necessarily.
436. 14:34>> Not necessarily. What would make you
437. 14:36What are you thinking about when you
438. 14:38decide whether or not to
439. 14:39>> We have a tremendous bench. I mean, I
440. 14:41have so many people that I have great
441. 14:44relationships with and you know, not
442. 14:46necessarily
443. 14:47>> who who would be on the list besides the
444. 14:49vice president.
445. 14:50>> Well, I think Marco's great. I think
446. 14:53>> is he staying, by the way, as Secretary
447. 14:55of State?
448. 14:55>> I think so. I mean, he certainly loves
449. 14:57it and he's doing great. He's doing a
450. 14:58fantastic job. The ones they think
451. 15:00about, but there are many others and I'd
452. 15:03rather not mention their names. There's
453. 15:04some senators that are excellent. I know
454. 15:06them all. I like them a lot. So, I may
455. 15:09or may not get involved. I don't know.
456. 15:10Maybe I'm better off not getting
457. 15:12involved.
458. 15:12>> Do you think you can have MAGA without
459. 15:14you as the leader?
460. 15:17>> I think so. Because MAGA is basically
461. 15:19common sense. You know, MAGA's strong
462. 15:21borders, good military. We have created
463. 15:24wealth at [snorts] a level that our
464. 15:26country has never seen before, including
465. 15:28for yourself. There's a Forb story that
466. 15:31said that your net worth maybe it's
467. 15:33changed with the stock market recently,
468. 15:35but your net worth went up by $3 billion
469. 15:39since you returned to
470. 15:40>> Okay, you ready? So,
471. 15:41>> everyone's my net worth did not go up by
472. 15:43$3 billion.
473. 15:44>> You should have had stock.
474. 15:46>> I I should have You should stock.
475. 15:48>> I should have had stock.
476. 15:49>> Excuse me. So,
477. 15:50>> how did how did how did it go up by
478. 15:53>> Well, let me explain. I devote almost no
479. 15:55time to my net worth. I don't care. I
480. 15:57make I have a lot of money and far more
481. 15:59than I ever thought I'd have. And I
482. 16:02guess it's gone up. I don't even know. I
483. 16:05have a son who's a very straight good
484. 16:08guy. He watches over money. I don't even
485. 16:12talk to him about it. He watches. He
486. 16:14gives They gave my money. I have a lot
487. 16:16of cash. Have had a lot of cash long
488. 16:17before I came in here. I don't take a
489. 16:19salary, you know. Do you know I'm the
490. 16:21only supposedly I don't know if that's
491. 16:22right.
492. 16:23>> It's very generous of you to the
493. 16:24American taxpayer, but
494. 16:25>> I am the only president that didn't take
495. 16:28every other president took their salary.
496. 16:30>> All right. Here's here's what I want to
497. 16:31understand. So, your son manages or
498. 16:35helps manage a cryptocurrency company
499. 16:37called World Liberty Financial.
500. 16:39>> Which are we talking about?
501. 16:40>> You are a co-owner of that company.
502. 16:43That's correct. That's correct. Right.
503. 16:45This company is also partially owned by
504. 16:48investors connected to the government of
505. 16:50the United Arab Emirates. I think if I
506. 16:53told you that story and it was about the
507. 16:55Biden family, if I said Joe Biden is the
508. 16:57part owner of a company and it has all
509. 17:00of these investments from the Middle
510. 17:02East, you would say that sounds corrupt,
511. 17:04right?
512. 17:05>> Well, he did have a lot of different but
513. 17:08why is it why is it different?
514. 17:10>> Well, here's tell you why. Because I
515. 17:12know nothing about it. But why do you
516. 17:13need
517. 17:13>> I made a lot of money before?
518. 17:14>> But then why do you need the money? Why
519. 17:16not just divest walk away?
520. 17:18>> I do. Look,
521. 17:20>> most of my money most of my money is in
522. 17:23is given to the biggest firms on Wall
523. 17:25Street to invest in their index funds.
524. 17:27Yeah.
525. 17:28>> So it came out that I traded like 40,000
526. 17:32stocks. So among the stocks would be
527. 17:34like that have a tiny little amount.
528. 17:37It's billions of dollars. It's billions.
529. 17:39>> I understand that. But companies that
530. 17:41are invested in by people in foreign
531. 17:44countries, it seems like you could just
532. 17:46walk away from that and then, you know,
533. 17:48and then you would not be accused of
534. 17:50corruption, right?
535. 17:51>> I have. But you have sons where they go
536. 17:53around and they build buildings. That's
537. 17:55what they do. That's what I did long
538. 17:57before I became president. I did it
539. 17:58better than anybody. I was very good at
540. 18:01real estate. I made a lot of money. But
541. 18:02but I have a company. My sons run the
542. 18:05company. It's hard to say to them,
543. 18:07"Don't do anything anymore for four
544. 18:09years because I'm president."
545. 18:11>> But
546. 18:12>> but you could divest from the company
547. 18:14yourself and let them do whatever they
548. 18:16want. That's all.
549. 18:16>> But well, Harry, you
550. 18:17>> you're not like sitting in the Oval
551. 18:18Office thinking, "Thank God I have that
552. 18:2050 million in World Liberty
553. 18:21>> Financial Divest from cash." So, I took
554. 18:24a lot of heat because I think they
555. 18:26traded like 50,000 stocks because that's
556. 18:28what they do. It's all computerenerated.
557. 18:31I have no idea what the hell they're
558. 18:33buying. Do you think the people the
559. 18:36people who are investing in the company
560. 18:37that you co-own with your sons who are
561. 18:40coming from foreign countries who want
562. 18:41things from your government, don't you
563. 18:43think they think that they are buying
564. 18:45influence?
565. 18:45>> Uh, I don't know. But that's true. Look,
566. 18:48every president has a problem. Uh, you
567. 18:51have people and they work for you and
568. 18:53guys like you cover them and you do
569. 18:55profiles on them and they become like
570. 18:57everybody thinks that Trump loves them
571. 18:59and everything else, which in some cases
572. 19:01is true, and some cases are not. This is
573. 19:03true for every president going back to
574. 19:05George Washington.
575. 19:06>> Every president has not owned a
576. 19:08cryptocurrency company. However,
577. 19:10>> but they own something whatever crypto
578. 19:11was at the time. Okay? You know there's
579. 19:13crypto and before that there was oil and
580. 19:15okay and every president has had this
581. 19:18problem. So you have a guy a trusted aid
582. 19:21everything's good and then the trusted
583. 19:22aid says sir I love you so much and I'll
584. 19:25be leaving. I said well good luck. No
585. 19:27matter what they do, there's a conflict
586. 19:29because the president is
587. 19:31all-encompassing, right? And this is not
588. 19:34me. Every president that there's ever
589. 19:37been, they have people, many people, I
590. 19:39watch it all the time. Every time you
591. 19:41have a president, their top people,
592. 19:43sometimes they stay. I mean, I have some
593. 19:45that will stay right till the last day.
594. 19:46Other but after they leave, they go
595. 19:49crazy. They go crazy. It's true for
596. 19:51every president. Sometimes
597. 19:53>> I feel like there have been more people
598. 19:55doing things like that while
599. 19:57serving in the administration. But
600. 19:59listen,
601. 19:59>> I'm a bigger name than other presidents,
602. 20:01whether we like it or not. There's
603. 20:03another one of George Washington. That's
604. 20:05the place of honor.
605. 20:06>> Mr. Trump has adorned the Oval Office
606. 20:08with portraits of those other
607. 20:10presidents, aware that the full history
608. 20:12of his own unusual presidency has yet to
609. 20:15be written. And when it comes to the AI
610. 20:18revolution with its high stakes for
611. 20:20jobs, national security, and human life
612. 20:23itself, some of his most significant
613. 20:26choices may still lie ahead.
614. 20:28>> I talked to people in Silicon Valley who
615. 20:31say that the decisions you make around
616. 20:32AI are the most important things that
617. 20:35you'll be remembered for. That's what
618. 20:36they think.
619. 20:38>> And at the same But at the same time,
620. 20:39there is all of this anxiety and
621. 20:41concern. You are an AI bull.
622. 20:44>> I am. What does the average American get
623. 20:46out of that technology?
624. 20:48>> Excuse me before I answer that.
625. 20:50>> The reason I'm an AI bull.
626. 20:52>> Yes.
627. 20:52>> One of the reasons is because President
628. 20:54Xi left here two weeks ago. We had a
629. 20:58great meeting.
630. 20:59He's all in
631. 21:01>> to SI as I call because it really is
632. 21:03super intelligence. It's a it's a much
633. 21:05better name, I think, because it's not
634. 21:06artificial. It's it's actually
635. 21:08>> Well, that at least is what it's what
636. 21:10they think they're racing towards. Yes.
637. 21:11So, China. So, we're in a race with
638. 21:13China.
639. 21:14>> And if and I said whoever wins that race
640. 21:16wins. The level of power of winning that
641. 21:20race is very important.
642. 21:21>> You had all of the AI tycoons in here.
643. 21:23>> Yeah, I did.
644. 21:24>> The people in the AI industry, I almost
645. 21:27said the super intelligence industry.
646. 21:29You're working on me
647. 21:30>> are weird. They're strange. They do
648. 21:32things like stand outside their company
649. 21:34and say, "Hey, we're creating this
650. 21:37amazing company and there's a 10% chance
651. 21:39it kills humanity." like you standing
652. 21:40outside a hotel and saying, "Here's my
653. 21:42new hotel and it might collapse."
654. 21:44>> But that's you think that's fake. Why
655. 21:47are you not worried about the doom fears
656. 21:51that the people building it have?
657. 21:53>> Because we first of all because China's
658. 21:55going to have it.
659. 21:56>> Okay. So, we don't have it. China's
660. 21:57going to have it. That would put us at
661. 21:59an unbelievable disadvantage. It's all
662. 22:01between us and China. There's nobody
663. 22:02else.
664. 22:03>> But so, we're racing China and that
665. 22:05makes it worth the risk. Or you just
666. 22:07think the risk is not real? I think that
667. 22:09the risk is not nearly as real as it as
668. 22:13they talk and I think the risk can be
669. 22:16managed.
670. 22:16>> Would you work with the Democrats?
671. 22:18>> I would absolutely I don't mind on AI
672. 22:20safety.
673. 22:21>> I don't mind guardrails but I don't want
674. 22:22to put us in a deep second position.
675. 22:25We're leading number one and China has
676. 22:28no guardrails by the way. So if AI is
677. 22:30dangerous
678. 22:31>> well they have the guardrails of being a
679. 22:32totalitarian state. They have the
680. 22:34guardrails that whatever president says
681. 22:37goes. With me, it's pretty strong, but
682. 22:39it's not quite that strong.
683. 22:41>> We asked the president about one of his
684. 22:42more unusual flexes of presidential
685. 22:45power on a subject that's captured the
686. 22:47public imagination. Your administration
687. 22:51alone among modern administrations has
688. 22:54spent a lot of time releasing footage of
689. 22:58UFOs,
690. 22:59>> unidentified flying objects. Is there
691. 23:02anything that you have seen or heard
692. 23:04about or been told about that would lead
693. 23:06you to think that there's something more
694. 23:08there than just we're having a good time
695. 23:10looking at things in the sky?
696. 23:12>> It's so amazing that you asked this
697. 23:13question because it is one of the
698. 23:17questions in private I get asked about.
699. 23:19More people ask me about UFOs than I
700. 23:22mean
701. 23:22>> I believe it people that you wouldn't
702. 23:25think.
703. 23:26>> So what's so what's the answer?
704. 23:27>> So here's the story. I'm not too much of
705. 23:29a believer, but I sat in the Oval Office
706. 23:32first term and a little bit second term
707. 23:35meeting with Air Force pilots that are
708. 23:38really good, solid people. These are not
709. 23:40people that you would say are conspiracy
710. 23:43theorists, but they're great, great
711. 23:44pilots. They're the real deal. And
712. 23:47they've told me things that are very
713. 23:50strange. They said that uh in in certain
714. 23:53cases they said yes, there's something
715. 23:56going on out there because they're
716. 23:58flying an F-22 which is the best there
717. 24:00is the fastest the best plane that
718. 24:02anyone's ever seen and something goes by
719. 24:05them at three times their speed and it's
720. 24:08round. It's not aerodynamic. It's round.
721. 24:11>> So that's the mystery. But then along
722. 24:12with those pilots, there's a set of
723. 24:14people who have styled themselves as
724. 24:16whistleblowers who have come out and
725. 24:18said actually there's also a secret
726. 24:21program that even presidents don't know
727. 24:24about to study this stuff.
728. 24:26>> Have you seen any evidence that that is
729. 24:28the case?
730. 24:28>> And I haven't heard that, but if there
731. 24:30is, I'm going to find out about it right
732. 24:31after this interview.
733. 24:33>> Our last questions were about an even
734. 24:36deeper mystery.
735. 24:37>> Let's talk about death.
736. 24:38>> Okay. You have survived multiple
737. 24:40assassination attempts. One came very
738. 24:42very close to you.
739. 24:44>> I imagine that that had some kind of
740. 24:46effect on how you think about mortality.
741. 24:49>> What do you think happens when you die?
742. 24:52>> Well, I hope I missed.
743. 24:54>> I mean I mean to me I hope I missed I
744. 24:57understand. I mean to me
745. 24:58>> I think I've done a good job as
746. 24:59>> What do you think happens to Donald
747. 25:01Trump when you die?
748. 25:01>> Well, again,
749. 25:02>> not your memory yourself.
750. 25:04>> You mean where I go?
751. 25:06>> Exactly. Well, I'm a religious person,
752. 25:07so in theory, I go to heaven.
753. 25:09>> Do you think you're going to heaven?
754. 25:10>> Uh, I hope so. I don't want to go to
755. 25:12hell.
756. 25:13>> So, I watched you at Charlie Kirk's
757. 25:15memorial service, and Erica Kirk, his
758. 25:17widow, got up
759. 25:18>> and gave some very moving remarks about
760. 25:21Christian forgiveness, how you have to
761. 25:23forgive your enemies, right,
762. 25:24>> and your opponents.
763. 25:26>> And you followed her and you said, and I
764. 25:29know this was a little bit of a joke,
765. 25:31but I think facts come through jokes.
766. 25:34You said, quote, "I hate my opponents
767. 25:37and I don't want the best for them."
768. 25:40Let's say you pass away. You're entering
769. 25:43the next life and all you have to do to
770. 25:46enter paradise is feel love and
771. 25:50forgiveness for
772. 25:53James Comey, Nancy Pelosi, anyone who
773. 25:56you have expressed hate for over the
774. 25:58years. Do you think you can do it?
775. 26:00>> Well, then I wouldn't be real, would I?
776. 26:01I mean, if I said to you, sure, the easy
777. 26:03answer to that, oh yes, I could forgive.
778. 26:05>> No, I don't think it's an easy question.
779. 26:07>> I found them to be extremely dishonest
780. 26:09people, very bad people, very bad for
781. 26:10our country. I love our country far more
782. 26:12than I can love people and people like
783. 26:15that.
784. 26:15>> Is the answer no?
785. 26:16>> The answer is no. I want to be honest.
786. 26:18>> Before the judgment throne of God,
787. 26:19>> before the judgment, no. I think they
788. 26:21were very bad people. And uh I dislike I
789. 26:24can use the word hate. I do hate some of
790. 26:26my enemies. I think they're they've been
791. 26:27terrible. Look what they put me through.
792. 26:29The weaponization I got
793. 26:32Mr. Mr. President, Mr. President, you
794. 26:34have had the most charmed and remarkable
795. 26:37life of any American in my entire
796. 26:39lifetime. And you are telling me you
797. 26:42couldn't find it in your heart to
798. 26:43forgive some of your enemies?
799. 26:44>> Uh,
800. 26:46after all that's been given to you.
801. 26:48>> I mean, it's such an easy answer. All I
802. 26:49have to do is say, "Yes, I can."
803. 26:51>> I again, I don't think it's an easy
804. 26:53answer. That's why Can I be honest? I
805. 26:55probably cannot do that now because I do
806. 26:57hate some of my enemies and I always
807. 26:59will.
808. 27:03Watch the full interview with President
809. 27:05Trump on the 60 Minutes YouTube channel.