JUST IN: Transcript of ABC News' GStephanopoulos' exclusive interview with Pres. Trump.
Over the course of two days, ABC News' chief anchor George Stephanopoulos spent 30 hours with President Donald Trump, flying on Air Force One to Iowa, traveling in his armored vehicle called “The Beast,” greeting him in his West Wing residence, embedding in the Oval Office for a day of meetings, and sitting down for a one-on-one interview in the White House Rose Garden. This aired in a special edition of"20/20,""President Trump - 30 Hours," on Sunday, June 16, 2019.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Because that was one of the big issues that the vice president-- former vice president took on today. He said on health care you've called-- gone to the courts and said,"We've got to overturn Obamacare." That's abandoning people with preexisting conditions. TRUMP: Well, I'm allowed to. And, y-- you know, in the old days, they used to speak to the head of the Federal Reserve often. And it was a part-- very much a part of the administration from the standpoint as they'd talk and they'd-- settle. You have no idea how important it is. But I'm not happy with what he's done. I'm not happy with the fact that they've done quantitative tightening. Now, he doesn't make that decision himself.
TRUMP: You know, I have it both ways. I have a very unfair press. It's a fake news. It's a corrupt news. I have people that are so dishonest. I mean, I had a case of it recently with the New York Times where they're writing things knowing it was wrong. Knowing. If I don't put it out-- I don't call it tweets. I call it social media. If I don't use social media, I do not get the word out.
TRUMP: But Rasmussen-- well, I don't know c-- Quinnipiac has never been accurate for me. Rasmussen was the m-- one of the most accurate polls. There were three of them to be exact. One of the three was Rasmussen for the election itself. They called it almost perfectly. Rasmussen today was at 50 percent. And they also say that new people that involved and stay involved in polls, those people are voting for .
STEPHANOPOULOS: Is that your biggest unfinished piece of business? I remember we spoke on that first day in June of 2015 you were talking about the border, you were talking about the wall, more people crossing the border than ever before right now. STEPHANOPOULOS: We’re about to walk into the Oval Office, where do you make your biggest decisions? Is it in there? Is it upstairs? Is it in your study?
TRUMP: I don’t think about it. I don’t really uh, you know, I don't focus on that, but I think probably it’s true. If somebody is sitting here and you’re in the Oval Office for the first time which most people aren’t, it amazes me, I go into a meeting and we’ll have twenty five really big executives.
TRUMP: Well it could, I mean people have said that. I don’t think of it that way. Because we’ve given the biggest tax cut in history, we have ANWR, we have, uh, the biggest regulation cut by far.TRUMP: They do and they do and regulation cuts come and go, but the reason the economy is so good and the reason that so many people are pouring up through Mexico and wanting to come into our country, including people from Mexico is because economy is so powerful. It’s so good.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You know, this just made me think of something. Several of even your Republican senators when you came in where kind of skeptical of you. And now it seems like they are 100 percent in line, what happened? STEPHANOPOULOS: He said he explicitly didn’t look at collusion-- I did. He said there was insufficient evidence that said there was a conspiracy. I read every page.
STEPHANOPOULOS: I'm not sure the media has ever been in the 90s, but to keep talking about the truth and we are trying to stay on the facts as well and you know you have been cited many times for not telling the full truth with Robert Mueller, he didn’t look at collusion, he found 126 contacts between your campaign and Russia, said it was not a conspiracy, that is true.
TRUMP: If you’re going to cough, please leave the room. You just can’t, you just can’t cough. Boy oh boy. Okay, do you want to do that a little differently than uhh--TRUMP: So at some point--so at some point, I look forward to, frankly, I’d like to have people see my financial statement because it’s phenomenal--TRUMP: No, it’s not up to me. It’s up to lawyers, it’s up to everything else.
TRUMP: They also said that there were bloggers in Moscow and they said specifically about the bloggers in Moscow, had nothing to do with Trump, had nothing to do with the--and there were like 32 or 36 bloggers. We have nothing to do with bloggers in Mo--in Moscow. I’ll tell you, you talk about collusion, take a look at the collusion with the Democrat party and Facebook and Google and Twitter. That’s called collusion, that’s called real collusion.
TRUMP: I think maybe you do both. I think you might want to listen, I don’t, there’s nothing wrong with listening. If somebody called from a country, Norway, “We have information on your opponent.” Oh, I think I’d want to hear it.TRUMP: It’s not an interference, they have information. I think I’d take it. If I thought there was something wrong, I’d go maybe to the FBI. If I thought there was something wrong.
TRUMP: And everybody gave him a lot. President Clinton gave him billions and billions of dollars and got nothing. I've given nothing. Now--STEPHANOPOULOS: --could be playing you, too? TRUMP: Somebody said,"Well, I guess he's a tougher negotiator maybe than we thought." The fact is that I don't know what happened with the five people. One person I think that we spotted. You know, the-- the lead. And he certainly seemed to be healthy. I have no idea whether or not anything happened to anybody else. You know, you hear all sorts of stories, but I don't know that--TRUMP: --they're true.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Lift a veil on your strategy here. You know, I listen to you every single day. All Americans do. Especially over these last couple days. You know, you--"The-- the-- the press are enemy of the people. Fake news. Joe Biden's a loser, low IQ." Yet all these warm words--STEPHANOPOULOS: --for Kim Jong-- no, but explain the strategy--TRUMP: Maybe you're in that category.TRUMP: I don't think so.
TRUMP: Because I didn't want to fire Mueller, but I thought Mueller frankly should not have been appointed--TRUMP: Let-- let me just tell you something. Robert Mueller had a conflict. I would say it to anybody that would listen. He was totally conflicted. He had numerous conflicts. One of them was the fact that he applied for the job to be the FBI-- the head of the FBI. And, by the way--TRUMP: Steve Bannon wouldn't know. Steve Bannon has no idea. Steve Bannon was not in the room.
TRUMP: That is the position of a lot of great lawyers. That's the position of some of the most talented lawyers. And you have to have a position like that because you're the president. But without even bringing up Article II, which absolutely gives you every right--TRUMP: A president can run the country. And that's what happened, George. I run the country, and I run it well.TRUMP: I'm just saying a president under Article II-- it's very strong. Read it.
TRUMP: Did nothing wrong, George. Did nothing wrong. There was no collusion. You don't even hear Russia mentioned anymore. Are you guys okay? ... There was no collusion. You don't even hear Russia mentioned anymore. Russ- Russia's not mentioned. Now, it's all about obstruct-- obstruction of what? They built up a phony crime. They hired a man that hated Trump. He hired 18 people that were Democrats that hated Trump. Some of them contributed to Clinton's campaign.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Donald Trump Calls George Stephanopoulos 'A Little Wise Guy' in ABC InterviewDuring the interview, Trump emphasized that there was 'no crime' and 'no collusion.'
Read more »
Trump: ‘I run the country’'A president can't obstruct justice?' Stephanopoulos asked. 'A president can run the country,' Trump responded. 'And that's what happened, George. I run the country.'
Read more »
Swimmer apparently drowns in Hudson River during 120-mile raceGet breaking national and world news, broadcast video coverage, and exclusive interviews. Find the top news online at ABC news.
Read more »
Man arrested for trespassing into Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's New York officeGet breaking national and world news, broadcast video coverage, and exclusive interviews. Find the top news online at ABC news.
Read more »
Man arrested for allegedly trying to jump White House fenceSecret Service arrested a man who allegedly assaulted a police officer and tried to jump over the fence outside the White House late Friday.
Read more »
Man arrested with gun, hollow-point bullets outside elementary schoolGet breaking national and world news, broadcast video coverage, and exclusive interviews. Find the top news online at ABC news.
Read more »