U.S. President Donald Trump touched on a number of hot headlines in an interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday in which he stood up for his remarks about Christine Blasey Ford, said he has “good energy” with Kim Jung Un and admitted Russian President Vladimir Putin “probably” was involved in the U.K. poisonings.
The interview, the third 60 Minutes host Lesley Stahl has done with Trump, pressed Trump on his previous remarks and contentious issues.
When asked about missing Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who went missing on October 2 after entering the Saudi Arabia consulate in Turkey, Trump said the case is being looked at “very, very strongly” and that “in the not-too-distant future, I think we’ll know an answer.”
When asked about his comments that Kim Jung Un and himself are “in love” and told about Kim Jong Un’s questionable background, such as the possibility he ordered the death of his half-brother, Trump said “Sure, I know these things. I mean, I am not a baby.
“Look, let it be whatever it is. I get along with him really well. I have good energy with him. I have a good chemistry with him. Look at the horrible threats that were made. No more threats. No more threats,” Trump said.
When Stahl asked Trump about his remarks on Christine Blasey Ford at one of his rallies, in which he questioned her memory, Trump said he thinks he treated Ford with “great respect.”
“Had I not made that speech, we would not have won,” Trump said. When Stahl pressed Trump further, he said, “I’m not going to get into it, because we won. It doesn’t matter. We won.”
Stahl questioned Trump about Putin and his cordial attitude towards him and whether he thinks he is behind assassinations and poisonings.
“Probably he is, yeah. Probably,” Trump said.
Although Trump asserted that there was no collusion in his 2016 presidential campaign with Russia, Trump did refuse to pledge that he would not stop the Mueller investigation into his campaign and Russian interference.
“I don’t pledge anything,” Trump said. “There is no collusion. I don’t wanna pledge. Why should I pledge to you? If I pledge, I’ll pledge. I don’t have to pledge to you.”
After the interview, Stahl noted how Trump felt more comfortable compared to the second time she interviewed him, a few days after his election victory, when he seemed in “shock,” according to her.
Trump confirmed his comfort in being president during the interview. “Now I very much feel like POTUS,” Trump said, using the acronym for president of the United States.
However, Trump did note that Washington is not an easy place to work.
“So I always used to say the toughest people are Manhattan real estate guys and blah, blah. Now I say they’re babies,” Trump said.
“This is the most deceptive, vicious world. It is vicious, it’s full of lies, deceit and deception. You make a deal with somebody and it’s like making a deal with– that table.”
Trump did note that there could be more departures in the White House, notably Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis.
“I think he’s sort of a Democrat, if you wanna know the truth,” Trump said.
“He may leave. I mean, at some point, everybody leaves. Everybody. People leave. That’s Washington.”
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