On Thursday, after playing a round of golf at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Donald Trump sat down with New York Times reporter Michael S. Schmidt for a spontaneous, off-the-cuff interview from a table at the club’s Grill Room, within earshot of other diners. During the 30-minute-long chat, Trump spoke on a number of topics, but was especially focused on the ongoing Russia investigation being conducted by special counsel Robert Mueller, which he confidently feels will turn up nothing.
The president apparently insisted 16 separate times that there had been “no collusion” found in the inquiry, and incorrectly asserted that he has “absolute right” to do whatever he wants with the Justice Department. Speaking about the investigation, Trump claimed, “It makes the country look very bad, and it puts the country in a very bad position. So the sooner it’s worked out, the better it is for the country.”
At one point, the president turned his attention towards his favorite topic, the media — with one particularly disturbing thought about the 2020 presidential election.
“Another reason that I’m going to win another four years is because newspapers, television, all forms of media will tank if I’m not there because without me, their ratings are going down the tubes,” Mr. Trump said, then invoked one of his preferred insults. “Without me, The New York Times will indeed be not the failing New York Times, but the failed New York Times.”
He added: “So they basically have to let me win. And eventually, probably six months before the election, they’ll be loving me because they’re saying, ‘Please, please, don’t lose Donald Trump.’ O.K.”
The Times also published full excerpts of the interview for that full Trump effect, and the ensuing madness went over on Twitter about as well as you’d think.
This is my favorite line of the NYT interview with Trump: "No aides were present for the interview, and the president sat alone with a New York Times reporter at a large round table as club members chatted and ate lunch nearby." https://t.co/aIQwhcZsJk
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 29, 2017
Possibly the most revealing/telling part of the whole interview https://t.co/MlY6oBcN9K pic.twitter.com/2qXjFBEOK5
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) December 29, 2017
https://twitter.com/AaronBlake/status/946562667698900993
Wherein the President reveals he got his China-NK intelligence from Fox News, and the CEO of Newsmax tries and fails to throw him an assist. pic.twitter.com/wbQrYu01rU
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) December 29, 2017
Trump randomly noting that Manafort worked for Reagan — whose term ended nearly 3 decades ago and has been dead for more than a decade — is so absurd. pic.twitter.com/0vhcOLhZzj
— Chris “Law Dork” Geidner (@chrisgeidner) December 29, 2017
There is a whole lot of nutty in this interview that should be cause for concern. But on the main point, he’s just wrong. In our country, no one—even the @POTUS—is above the law, and that makes America look very, very GOOD. https://t.co/wHdtqfprSx
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) December 29, 2017
Trump said that the Russia investigation makes the United States "look very bad."
Trump is wrong.
A foreign government interfered with our election. Finding out what happened & how it happened to make sure it never happens again makes the United States look very good.
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) December 29, 2017
Donald Trump repeated 16 times in his NYT interview that there was no collusion.
The president doth protest too much, methinks.— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) December 29, 2017
Now that I’ve read the entire transcript of @nytmike’s Trump interview, a few observations:
1. Trump speaks a lot like a child does. Lots of focus on who likes him, who loves him, who is his friend… his biographers all emphasize his deep desire to be loved & it comes through.— Mkay (@JoyAnnReid) December 29, 2017
Trump keeps getting to claim that he knows things better than anyone ever without then being asked to demonstrate a scintilla of knowledge about anything. https://t.co/qjjGKEjMvh pic.twitter.com/beORwGigjl
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) December 29, 2017
Some of you wondered why I’ve spent time taking on the off-the-wall views of Alan Dershowitz. This excerpt of Trump’s interview explains why—Trump parrots his views and uses them as justification. pic.twitter.com/l94ScAsjAK
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) December 29, 2017
There’s a lot in this impromptu interview Trump just gave the @nytimes, but this bit at the end is worth reading several times (and then several more). https://t.co/uYXbV5cXWV pic.twitter.com/XV1KapdJcs
— shauna (@goldengateblond) December 29, 2017
Just another day in the Twilight Zone.
(Via the New York Times)