WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump sat for an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office on Wednesday. Here are some key quotes:
FEDERAL RESERVE INDEPENDENCE
“A president should have something to say” about Fed policy, Trump said. “I made a lot of money with business, so I think I have a better understanding of it than Too Late Jerome Powell.”
Asked if he will remove Powell, Trump said, “I don’t have any plan to do that.”
On the pushback by some Republican senators against the Justice Department probe, Trump said, “I don’t care. There’s nothing to say. They should be loyal. That’s what I say.”
On his pick for the next Fed chair: “The two Kevins are very good … You have some other good people too, but I’ll be announcing something over the next couple of weeks.”
Trump was referring to White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett and former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh.
TRUMP UNSURE IF ZELENSKIY WANTS A PEACE DEAL”We have to get President Zelenskiy to go along with it,” Trump said about a deal with Russia to end its war in Ukraine.
Asked if he supported the idea of U.S. security guarantees to protect Ukraine through intelligence sharing, Trump said, “If we can get something done, we’d help. They’re losing 30,000 soldiers a month between them and Russia. Now, Europe is going to help us with that.”
On Putin: “I think he’s ready to make a deal. I think Ukraine is less ready to make a deal,” Trump said. Asked what the holdup is, Trump responded, “Zelenskiy.”
REZA PAHLAVI, SON OF IRAN’S DEPOSED SHAH
“He seems very nice, but I don’t know how he’d play within his own country. And we really aren’t up to that point yet, we’re looking and studying a lot of things. But it’s very early – too soon to say. I don’t know how he gets along with his country.”
“I don’t know whether or not his country would accept his leadership, and certainly if they would, that would be fine with me,” Trump said, noting he has not spoken with Pahlavi.
TRUMP WILL MEET MACHADO, PRAISES DELCY RODRIGUEZ
“I think we’re just going to talk. And I haven’t met her. She’s a very nice woman. I think we’re just going to talk basics,” Trump said about Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
Asked if he wanted Machado to give him her Nobel Peace Prize, Trump said, “No, I didn’t say that. She won the Nobel Peace Prize.”
What if she brings the prize? “Well, that’s what I’m hearing. I don’t know, but I shouldn’t be the one to say,” Trump said.
The president also said he had “a very good talk” on Wednesday with Delcy Rodriguez, the interim president of Venezuela. “She’s been very good to deal with.”
“I think she’s (Delcy) going to come, you know, eventually she’s going to… not quite yet, but eventually she’ll come and I’ll go to their country too.”MIDTERMS
Trump said Republicans should do well “but if you go by the past, only three presidents have won out of 65 years, or whatever the number is. What is that number? The crazy number almost doesn’t make sense, right? Even if they had a successful presidency, yeah, there’s almost like there’s a latch on it.”
CUBA
Asked if the Cuban regime is more likely to fall after the U.S. military actions in Venezuela, Trump said, “Probably, yeah, I think so.”
“Because they don’t get money anymore from Venezuela. They don’t get money, they don’t get oil, they don’t get gold from Venezuela. It’s cut off entirely. So you know it’s more likely it’s going to fall,” Trump added.
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Bo Erickson, Nandita Bose, Trevor Hunnicut, Jarrett Renshaw and Gram Slattery; Editing by Ross Colvin and Stephen Coates)
