By James Oliphant
WASHINGTON, Jan 15 (Reuters) – Reuters sat down with U.S. President Donald Trump for an interview in the Oval Office on Wednesday. Here are some takeaways from the 30-minute exchange:
TRUMP’S DOING IT HIS WAY
Trump repeatedly dismissed concerns by the public, business leaders and even his fellow Republicans on issues ranging from the future of Greenland and the criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, to the state of the economy.
When told that a Reuters/Ipsos poll found tepid support among Americans for taking control of Greenland, Trump called the poll “fake.”
“I don’t care,” he responded when asked about the pushback by some Senate Republicans against the investigation into Powell. “I don’t care,” he said again, when reminded of JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s concerns that White House interference in the Fed could harm the economy.
When asked about Americans’ worries about high prices, Trump reiterated that the economy was the strongest “in history” and said he had to do a better job of promoting his achievements. (He referred to a specially prepared thick binder that listed his accomplishments in office.)
The president suggested that he follows his own compass. “A lot of times, you can’t convince a voter,” he said. “You have to just do what’s right. And then a lot of the things I did were not really politically popular. They turned out to be when it worked out so well.”
A HOLDING PATTERN ON IRAN
Earlier in the day, Trump told reporters he believed the crackdown on protesters in Iran was easing, although he declined to cite his source for the information. It remained unclear whether he was still considering ordering a U.S. military strike on the country.
Despite his stream of threats toward the Iranian regime, Trump was noncommittal in the interview about what he wants to see happen in Iran, refusing to call for the ouster of the country’s rulers. He also declined to offer support to the exiled crown prince of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, as a potential future leader.
“I don’t know how he’d play within his own country, and we really aren’t up to that point yet,” Trump said. “We have to play it day by day.”
PEACE IS HARD
Trump discussed two of his signature peace initiatives: the ceasefire in Gaza and his attempts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. Both efforts have hit rough patches.
Despite his claim that he had brought peace to the Middle East, Trump conceded that Hamas had still not disarmed – a condition of the ceasefire agreement – and it was unclear whether they would. “They were born with a gun in the hand,” he said. “So, we’re gonna have to find out whether or not we’re gonna be able to get it done.”
With regard to Ukraine, Trump again suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin was ready to strike a deal. Asked directly what the hold-up was, Trump answered: “Zelenskiy,” referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has maintained his country won’t seek peace at any cost.
BACKING ICE
Trump appeared to express some sympathy for the death of Renee Nicole Good, after an ICE agent shot and killed her last week in Minneapolis, calling it “a very unfortunate incident.” Trump’s homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, labeled Good a domestic terrorist.
But even so, he made clear he was standing behind his choice to send militarized officers into American cities.
“I know that it was a tough situation to be in. There was very little respect shown to the police, in this case, the ICE officers,” Trump said.
He said he would continue sending armed agents into cities, claiming that his efforts had taken “thousands of murderers out of our country.” There is no evidence to support that assertion.
MANAGING MIDTERM EXPECTATIONS
The president expressed frustration that his Republican Party could lose control of the U.S. House of Representatives or the Senate in this year’s midterm elections, citing historical trends that have seen the party in power lose seats in the second year of a presidency.
“It’s some deep psychological thing, but when you win the presidency, you don’t win the midterms,” Trump said. He boasted that he had accomplished so much that “when you think of it, we shouldn’t even have an election.”
(Reporting by James Oliphant; Editing by Ross Colvin, Colleen Jenkins and Lisa Shumaker)
