Trump on Khashoggi and the Saudis: "As of this moment, they deny it. And deny it vehemently. Could it be them? Yes." Unlike with Russia, though, he doesn't suggest he believes them completely; he adds, "Could it be them? Yes," and he promises "severe punishment."
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Trump repeats his lie that Obama was "going to war" with North Korea. Stahl asks, "We were going to war?" Trump says, "I think it was going to end up in war." He then complains that the media didn't inform people of his fake information: "You don't hear that."
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Not that this was especially enlightening, but it's wild that this is the first time Trump has been pressed about his ludicrous beliefs about climate change.https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1051618215564996608 …
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Stahl reads Trump Kim Jong Un's awfulness resume. Trump says that he knows these things, since he is "not a baby." Asked why he said he "fell in love" with such a bad guy, Trump says that this was just a "figure of speech."pic.twitter.com/ygNuXoYfTW
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Trump repeats his usual lie about Chinese stock markets being down "32%" in recent months. He says that that "is 1929."
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Trump rails against the EU. Stahl: "Are you willing to disrupt the Western Alliance? It’s been going for 70 years. It’s kept the peace for 70 years. Trump: "You don’t know that. You don’t know that."
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Trump repeats his usual lies that the EU was formed to take advantage of America and that the US has a $500 billion trade deficit with China.
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Trump concedes that Putin is "probably" involved in assassinations and poisonings, but he says, "I rely on them, it's not in our country."pic.twitter.com/a2US7M9V0n
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Trump concedes that Russia meddled in the election, but he adds, "I think China meddled too." He provides no evidence.
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Asked if he'll pledge he won't shut down the Mueller investigation, Trump says, "I don't pledge anything. But I will tell you, I have no intention of doing that."
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When Stahl asked Trump if it's true Mattis said the reason for NATO and western alliances is to prevent WWIII and keep the peace, Trump said, "It's not true." Asked what's not true, he said, "I like General Mattis. I think I know more about it than he does."pic.twitter.com/B8Agje3Izu
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Asked if there's anything he wishes he hasn't said or done, or anything he otherwise regrets, Trump says, "I regret that the press treats me so badly."
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Pressed on what his mistakes are, Trump says, "I could have been earlier with terminating the NAFTA deal." (This is confusing because he is also boasting of how well he handled the NAFTA negotiation, which did not involve him terminating NAFTA.)
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Trump speaks favourably of the family separation policy: "When you allow the parents to stay together, okay, when you allow that, then what happens is people are going to pour into our country." He says he's looking at re-implementing it, among other possibilities.
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Trump lies that Obama had the same family separation policy. This goes uncorrected. (Stahl is challenging him much more than most other interviews on various things, but not on his false claims.)
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Asked what the biggest surprise has been, Trump says, "They're babies, the political people. This is the most deceptive, vicious world. It is vicious. It's full of lies, deceit and deception."
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Trump is accusing Stahl of bias over family separation: "When I say Obama did it, you don't want to talk about it." Obama did not have the same policy. In other words, he's accusing her of bias for not simply embracing his dishonesty.
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Asked about polarization, Trump says, "I think the economy's bringing people together. It was very polarized under President Obama, unbelievably polarized under President Obama. I can see the country uniting." He then criticizes Democrats for behaving "horribly" re Kavanaugh.
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Trump on why he bashes Democrats rather than trying to heal the country's wounds: "I don't think they want to be healed. I do want to heal."
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"I didn't really make fun of her," Trump says of his making fun of Christine Blasey Ford. He lies that she didn't know the year of the alleged incident.
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Told that it seems like he's calling Blasey Ford a liar, Trump says, "I'm not going to get into it because we won. It doesn't matter. We won."
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Told that there are reports of White House chaos, Trump says, "It's so false. It's fake news. I'm changing things around. And I'm entitled to. I have people now on standby that will be phenomenal."
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Asked if he's worried that people are wearing wires into meetings and such, Trump says not really a "wire," but that he's "guarded": "I'm not saying I trust everybody in the White House. I'm not a baby." That was a two-"baby," two-"babies" interview.
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Asked about Mattis maybe leaving, Trump says, "It could be that he is. I think he's sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth. But General Mattis is a good guy."
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New tidbits in that interview: updated musings on climate change; claim he knows more than four-star Mattis about the military value of allies; new dismissal of Putin assassinations ("not in our country"); claim it was just a "figure of speech" when he said he loves Kim Jong Un.
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Personal favourite part: Stahl asking Trump to identify the unnamed "they" to which he was attributing his beliefs, which he could not do. This is so easy in an interview - just pause and ask for specifics - but it's almost never done with Trump.pic.twitter.com/uvKG85GccM
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Also interesting - Stahl pushing back mildly on Trump's nonsense that Obama was close to war with North Korea, Trump amending to "*I think* it was going to end up in war." On the rare occasions he's challenged even a little on lies, he often retreats fast.https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1051619076512964609 …
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