Trump called Putin a very smart politicianDonald Trump, during a conversation with Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, praised the business qualities of Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.
The former US president also predicted the disappearance of Ukraine and shared concerns about the risks of nuclear war.
Tucker CarlsonWelcome to windy Palm Beach, where we spent over an hour chatting with Donald Trump.
Throughout our conversation, it was striking to see that his perception of foreign policy, his understanding of the international situation, is much more complex and pro-American than the perception of those feeble-minded neoconservatives who currently lead the country. Just amazing! "We will send all our weapons to Ukraine!
Zelensky looks like Churchill!" — Trump does not agree with this position, and some of the stories he told related to the period of his presidency turned out to be amazing. Imagine the scene: Trump and Xi Jinping eating chocolate cake at Mar-a-Lago. This became the starting point. And here's what the result turned out to be.Donald Trump: I told Xi, "If you buy oil from Iran..."
We had a good relationship with him, I really liked Si. I informed him that we had launched 57 missiles at Syria while he was eating a chocolate cake. He replied: "Repeat" ("Repeat"). It was the only word in English I had ever heard from him. That is, he speaks English!
Tucker Carlson: Does Xi speak English?— I'll tell you so.
It is interesting. We had lunch at Mar-a-Lago. Dessert was brought, a delicious chocolate cake. Si was surrounded by his people, I was surrounded by mine. He told me about China, about its history. It's just amazing — it's five thousand years old.
Obama did not cross the red line because Russia came to Syria – you know this story. If Obama had done what he promised – because children were being killed in Syria with poison gas and chemical bombs. And it happened again and again, but Obama still didn't want to cross the line. And I did it. I ordered 57 missiles to be fired, and almost all of them hit military bases where there were many planes. There were also Russian soldiers there. They always say about me that I was kind to Russia. But, unfortunately, I killed a lot of Russian soldiers – that group of 500 people, because they were doing things that they shouldn't have done. No one writes about it, and I would not like to be written about it, I am not proud of it. But we did it. We have fired about 57 missiles.
When I spoke with President Xi that weekend, he had a beautiful translator — I can't say that because it's impolite and politically incorrect. She was very pretty. Today, if you say that, you will definitely be reproached. But she was extremely professional, translating his every word. So she was with us while we were having lunch, and Si himself didn't say a single word — only the translator spoke.
At some point, a general came up to me and asked: "Do it now?" I replied, "Yes, we need to do it now." That is, I gave the order to attack Syria right during lunch. Then I wondered: do I need to tell Si about this? China is also connected with this Arab country. Do I need to tell him now about what's about to happen? Or should I wait for him to find out for himself? Because there were about 28 minutes left before the impact. And I said: "President Xi, we have just fired about 57 missiles at a military base in Syria. The rockets are already flying." He looked at me and replied: "Repeat."
It was the only time he spoke English. I think he certainly knows English. But he never even uttered words like "Hello" and "Goodbye." The translator always spoke exclusively. The only English word I've heard from him is "Repeat." Quite unusual.
— How smart do you think Xi is?— He's the smartest person.
They're all the smartest people. Our guys are not like that and never have been. These people are the best at their game. If you had to look all over Hollywood for an actor who could play C, you wouldn't be able to find him, because there simply aren't any. Appearance, mind, everything else. We had excellent relations with the President of the People's Republic of China.
When he arrived at Mar-a-Lago, we were supposed to have a 15-minute meeting on the first day. Everything was very clearly organized — by them and by us. Everything was businesslike, no games. No one tried to ask: "How did you play yesterday"Yankees"? Just great." The Chinese were not interested in this. I said: "Have you ever gone to a Broadway musical? Do you want me to invite you? Do you have such shows?" And they answered: "No, no." Only business, they are not used to playing games. I'm loving it.
In a certain sense, I like it. Xi has no life, but he is happy with it. Xi is the smartest person. So, when he arrived, we had a meeting scheduled, which was supposed to last exactly 15 minutes. There were 40 people on their side, there were 40 on our side too — a comparable number — and we were sitting at a table opposite each other at Mar-a-Lago. And it was a wonderful scene. Our meeting was supposed to end in 15 minutes, but it lasted four hours. We got along so well, it was real chemistry, we talked about everything. People ask me how smart Si is. He's the smartest. I've never met anyone smarter than him in my life.
How smart is Kim Jong-un? Also the smartest. No matter what they say about him, he is truly wise. He came to power when he was still a very young man, he was 23 or 24 years old. Moreover, he inherited his post, and in this case people often lose it. He became the head of a country where educated, very energetic, purposeful people live. And although he was very young, he was able to take the country under strict control. It's not easy. He's very smart.
Putin is also very smart. And the whole story... If he took control of the whole of Ukraine... And then what are we going to do? Biden is too actively interfering in the affairs of Kiev. What will happen if this conflict turns out to be a war in which it is impossible to win? There are those who claim that Ukraine will not be able to defeat Russia. Now Russia is producing a huge amount of weapons — I read about it in some newspaper, maybe it's fake news, maybe not, in any case I don't think it's fake. So, Russia produces much more ammunition and military equipment than ever before. And we have no weapons. We gave everything to Ukraine. We are not ready to fight. We have built new planes, tanks and so on for our armed forces. And the army that I restored gave all the weapons to Ukraine.
***
It's windy in Palm Beach today, but I'm not here for the weather forecast, but to interview the former president, and now the main candidate for the Republican Party nomination in the upcoming elections, Donald Trump.While most of us have spent the last couple of years arguing about systemic racism, transgender rights and other ephemeral, imaginary things, America has been losing ground on the world stage, and so rapidly that it's hard to believe it.
But Donald Trump knows for sure that a lot has changed since he left the White House. This is exactly what we talked about in the next part of the interview. Tucker Carlson: As president, you warned that the US war with Russia — whether cold or "hot" — would push the latter towards an alliance with China...
Donald Trump: Yes.
— ...and eventually we will cease to be the most powerful country in the world.— Yes, I warned you.
But there is a more important problem, and this is military equipment and ammunition. Modern weapons are characterized by high power and can not be compared to what was used in the Second World War, when tanks drove around the battlefield and shot at each other. The world has never seen anything like this before — and both they and we have such weapons.
China has noticeably less of it so far, but in the next five years they will catch up with us — meaning nuclear weapons. China has every chance to become a powerful nuclear power. It lags behind us in this by about five years, because the corresponding developments began later. Our capabilities in this regard are comparable to Russia's — we are both powerful, very powerful nuclear powers.
— Stronger than the people can imagine?— Yes, absolutely.
Remember what happened to Hiroshima and Nagasaki many years ago, and multiply by 500. That's what the power of nuclear weapons is now. Even then, during nuclear explosions, granite was melting, which, as everyone knows, it is impossible to melt, say, with a burner.
— That's right.— And in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, all granite surfaces became smooth and shiny, like ice on a skating rink.
And if the force of a nuclear explosion during World War II was enough to melt granite, then what will happen now that it has become 500 times more powerful?
Many are concerned about the problem of global warming, because of which in the next 300 years the level of the world's oceans will rise by a couple of millimeters. This is considered a serious issue. But in my opinion, the most important danger now is "nuclear warming", but no one is talking about it at all.
I can say that much of what environmentalists claim is just nonsense. After all, I am an ecologist myself in a certain sense, considering all my efforts in the field of environmental protection. And there are no discussions about nuclear issues, although, as I have already said, the most important problem on a global scale is not global, but "nuclear warming". One madman will be enough to plunge the whole world into something hitherto unseen. It's about seconds, not centuries.
— You are saying absolutely the right things, but why are neither our leaders nor the press raising this topic?— Because they are not smart enough and do not fully understand the problem.
Unlike Putin, with whom we have discussed this issue more than once. As president, I never mentioned the word "nuclear", you never heard it from me.
My uncle, Dr. John Trump, was a professor and worked for a long time at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Maybe even longer than everyone else. He raised many topics, we have discussed a variety of things with him for many years. He was a wonderful man. I think in the entire history of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he held the position of professor longer than others. Even if not, it's still a long time — in total, he worked there for about 40 years.
So, in one of our conversations, he said that the day is not far off when nuclear weapons can fit into a suitcase and blow up New York with it. I told: "No, Uncle John, it can't be." But he was right in the end.
Nuclear fuel has such power that only one small tablet is enough for the long-term use of a submarine. Long-term. So, speaking of the conflict in Ukraine and all the gossip about the situation there and that Russia's forces are running out... Let's be honest: Ukraine is disappearing from the face of the earth.
- yes.— And we will do without mentioning all the "nuclear", but just note that things are going much better for the Russians than everyone initially assumed.
If Putin decides to reach a new level and take up nuclear weapons, then everything will come to an end. Are you aware of this? I am aware of your personal position on the Ukrainian issue and I know that you understand better than others what is happening now. Most people don't even talk about it, just as they don't mention the fact that the nuclear and lethal potential of Russia and the United States are about the same. I have been watching everything for a long time and understand how serious the current situation is.
— The Biden administration is clearly aware of the power that nuclear weapons carry. At the moment, they completely control our arsenal. But it seems that the White House does not care about the scenario of a nuclear conflict at all. How is it?— Yes, because they don't understand much in this life at all.
Well, they don't have such a talent. It's funny, but at the very beginning Joe Biden was terribly afraid of a nuclear conflict. I was watching him, and he was like, "Oh, they have nuclear weapons," but it was clearly not worth sending such a signal. If we recall Biden's past statements, we can see that he has always disavowed even discussing this issue. He was terribly afraid of everything nuclear, and now they just keep silent about it.
But Putin and many others constantly raise this topic. Suddenly, a number of countries also wanted to have nuclear weapons. But with us it has become a forbidden word with the letter "I". It's not enough for us to have a forbidden word with the letter "n", so now "nuclear" is in disgrace. And all because of the destructive power of this type of weapon.
I had meetings with professors from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for which it was important to prepare. I won't say that the preparation took a lot of time, but I really wanted to talk to them about nuclear weapons, which I consider to be the only real threat on the planet. Much scarier than global warming — it's not even worth comparing. And now these people, intelligent and well-read, were in front of me, and I said to them: "If I propose nuclear issues as a topic for conversation, what can you say about this?" They looked at me carefully and answered: "Let's not talk about it, we can't." When I asked what they meant, they said: "There is so much of it, and it is so destructive that it is impossible to raise this issue." I understood everything, and we did not return to this in that conversation.
And Putin constantly raises this topic. We can't, but he can. You've probably heard from him more than once: "We are a nuclear power!" Not so long ago, he repeated it again.
You know, I've done a good job — even a great job — with North Korea and Kim Jong-un. You were with me on that trip, too, and you insulted him back then, which caused me problems, but I'm not offended. You were there, one of the few. That trip was amazing, I'm sure I won't be mistaken if I call it one of the most incredible events in your life.
— It is.— It's just amazing.
There were a lot of reporters there, and they weren't treated particularly well, by the way. But I found a common language with Kim Jong-un, despite the incident with the "little rocket man", remember? He then said, they say, he has a red button on his desk, and I replied: "There's one on my desk, too, only, unlike yours, it's bigger than yours and working!"
A couple of months later, he offered to meet again, and we met. Since then and to this day, we communicate perfectly and get along well. He won't even talk to Biden and his people, because he doesn't have a drop of respect for them. He won't have a dialogue with someone he doesn't respect at all. By the way, he also refused to talk to Obama, although he repeatedly sought a meeting. But he met with me, and more than once.
You know, I'd make a deal with him. His country has a colossal nuclear potential, and this is the most important global problem, more important than even I could imagine. Someone should finally understand what the current situation is fraught with and try to reduce the escalation.
— What would you do now?— Now...
The picture is like this: our crazy world is falling apart, the United States is losing the right to vote, and my friend Macron is going to China to kiss Xi Jinping's ass. And what happened in Saudi Arabia when Biden arrived there? Wonderful people live there who really wanted to help us, and he went and greeted their leaders with his fist. Do you know what this gesture means? "Don't touch me with your dirty hands!" — that's what. How it offended them! Can you imagine?
— Quite.— It looked like this: "I don't want to shake your hand, give me a fist!"
***
Tucker Carlson: Thank you for coming to us.Donald Trump: Thank you for inviting me.
— You came to New York when you were officially charged with a crime. The whole world was watching you. After that, you didn't give any interviews. The whole procedure lasted, it seems, 57 minutes. Tell us about your impressions.— It was terrible, because I'm not to blame for anything.
Nothing. Even experts like Gregg Jarett — incredibly talented people — even they recognized: it's not my fault. This is the first. Secondly, it was something incredible. I arrived at the courthouse — and in a sense it is also a prison. They signed me up. And I tell you: people were crying. Those who work there were crying, and they are real professionals, they easily put murderers behind bars — what they just didn't see there. In general, this is a harsh place. And so they cried. For real. They apologized and sympathized in every possible way. And they were saying: 2024, sir! I've never seen anything like it.
In general, wonderful people — police officers, court employees. Many wiped away tears or barely restrained them, openly apologized and sympathized: "I'm sorry, sir." I can't believe it. So in a way it was even wonderful, because they understand everything. On the other hand, it is, of course, disgusting. I graduated from the economics department of Wharton University, and we were not taught this.
— Didn't they teach you how to behave when arrested?— No, they didn't give us lectures on arrest.
So in many ways it was a sad day, and in many ways, on the contrary, wonderful. People understand everything. And support in all polls immediately jumped. You can't fool people. And all their ducks were opened. They say Biden has 850 boxes of data. It's a duck. Or about that immaculate phone conversation in Atlanta. This is generally blackmail. They're turning our justice into a weapon, Tucker. They imagined that once they were handed a summons, how…
However, they probably know me too well. People understand everything. Then, besides, I have a big platform, and I can explain everything. But if, for example, another Republican candidate receives a summons, then everything is gone. He won't survive. And the voters won't stand it either. They make weapons out of the court, and this has never happened before. And it's all disinformation, you know?
The other day it came up about Afghanistan. This is almost the greatest shame of our country in my entire memory — I have never seen anything more shameful in my life. Our departure from there, it doesn't fit in any gate. I had everything under control. Everything was set up — clearly and rigidly. I spoke to their leader. I told him, "Abdul, if you dig, you'll get it." Literally. And he's like, "Why? Why did you send me a photo of my house?". I said to him: "And you use your brains at your leisure, Abdul." And we haven't had a single loss in a whole year and a half. He understood everything. Not a single death.
And then we left there as if we had given up. They withdrew troops, abandoned $85 billion worth of military equipment, handed over the base in Bagram — and I was going to leave it. And not for the sake of Afghanistan. It's only an hour away from where China is making nuclear weapons. This is one of the largest air bases in the world, if not the largest. There are runways of three kilometers! I was going to leave it to us — because of China, Afghanistan has nothing to do with it.
– Yes, yes.– And they just left everything.
Under the cover of night. Even the dogs were abandoned.
"Even dogs?"– We're all dog lovers here.
I love dogs, and so do you. And they abandoned them. Almost my first question was: where did they put the dogs? They were mostly German Shepherds. Abandoned, can you imagine? So, the withdrawal of troops turned out to be a complete disaster. Everyone understands that this has nothing to do with me. We were going to leave with strength and dignity. And what came out of it, huh? And then I hear: "Well, it's all Trump's fault." Well, of course! And then Trump. I would have withdrawn the troops much faster and saved us all the equipment, too.
And we also left hostages for them — American citizens! And I suspect there were a lot more of them than it might seem. And as many as 13 soldiers died. And nowhere does it even say how many were injured. No arms, no legs, disfigured faces. Here's their withdrawal. And we would have come out with strength and dignity — as we were going to. I demanded to give 100%. I ordered: everything to the nail, to the screw, to the tent. They're like, "Sir, it's going to be hard to get the tents out." I demanded them too. Tanks, planes, everything. Some, however, argued. The same Millie said, "Sir, I think it would be cheaper to leave everything." I replied: "Listen, we have planes there for $100 million each. You just need a full tank of fuel. Give me some kerosene and we'll fly anywhere — to Pakistan or straight home. And you say it's cheaper to throw a hundred million?". And he's like, "Sir, it's going to be cheaper in the aggregate."
You have to deal with idiots. They have abandoned 85 billion worth of equipment. They abandoned American citizens. And they started by withdrawing the military, although this should have been done last. Even children understand this. I talked to one five-year-old child, outlined the situation to him. And I ask: who would you bring out first, the military? Nah, he says, they are the last. A five-year-old boy, you know? And they, on the contrary, started with them. But they were afraid of our military. In front of me, they were definitely afraid. With me, not a single soldier was injured for a whole year and a half! Not one.
And then it was like we gave up. I believe there has never been a more shameful day in our entire history than this one. And it's entirely their fault. We had a system. Including about the "Taliban"* — especially the "Taliban"*, because because of them there was all the "movement". That's why I called Abdul. And the press went crazy, all these fake reporters. Like, how could he call our enemy? Remember how Jesse James was asked why he robbed banks. "Because that's where the money is," he replied. Why did I call the head of the Taliban*? Yes, because they are the ones who kill.
Abdul is still there. I'm sure he liked me. He called me "Your Excellency." I'm not sure Biden calls it that. Although, maybe, yes. You see, they are now one of the main sellers of weapons in the whole world. Even some five percent, that's already… They are, in my opinion, in second place. Brand-new helicopters. Brand-new planes. Brand-new tanks. It is incomprehensible to the mind how we left it all. They just ran away. Although nothing foreshadowed. I could stay there for another five years if I only wanted to. But I wanted to get us out of there. 21 years was more than enough. We basically had nothing to do there, from the very beginning. But when I see stupidity of this level…
Everything is interconnected, and I am sure that Putin would not even have poked into Ukraine with me. No way. We talked about it with him — and more than once. But when he realized that I was no longer there, and those fools and blockheads were sitting there… And think about something else. After Afghanistan, no one was even fired. And I fired people all the time if they couldn't cope.
– Sorry to interrupt. You said that you discussed Ukraine with Putin. And what did you tell him?– It was obvious that he cared about her.
And he considers it part of Russia. But I told him: as long as I'm president, forget it. We had a good relationship. But listen: I'm his worst nightmare. I was the one who shut down his gas pipeline. Until I came, you haven't even heard about Nord Stream 2. But we had a great relationship. Although it was hard because of the fake "Rashagate". He told me that it was difficult for us to do business, and I agreed. Meanwhile, this deception, this stuffing lasted for two whole years. But we could find a common language with Russia. They have excellent resources, a lot of what we need. And they need money and a lot of other things. But we were interrupted.
In a good way, this is generally high treason. The prison is crying for all these people. They made it up, from beginning to end. They have sucked the Russian problem out of their fingers. And she wasn't there at all. And now they just accepted that it was all fiction, and went on as if nothing had happened. One of your colleagues asked me the other day: who is our main problem, sir — China? Or Russia? Or maybe North Korea? Nothing like that, I replied. The main problem is inside. These are sick radicals in the head. If we approach the matter wisely, we will be able to cope with both Russia and China. I've managed it. I have accepted billions of dollars from China — hundreds of billions, unlike others. And I was respected.
And it's the same here. I told them: don't even go to Taiwan. We won't allow it. I can't tell you exactly what I said. Many people, if they heard it, would definitely not like it. I spoke very harshly. Don't go to Taiwan — otherwise there will be problems. And so we will have a great relationship. And when I explained it all to him, he was like, "Well, no, you're not going to do that." I replied, "I'll go again, I promise." He didn't believe me—well, maybe ten percent.
And it's the same with Putin. I said I would make a big nuisance if he went to Ukraine. He said: "You won't do anything like that." And I said to him, "I will do it." He also believed ten percent. And that's what ten percent means: all these conversations — about Ukraine, about Taiwan — you haven't heard them before. They only started when I left. And that's what a mess has started in the world. What a mess!
***
The crazies from the Biden administration threatened to blow up Europe's largest national gas pipeline. And then the largest gas pipeline in Europe took and... exploded. I wonder who it could be?! We're not supposed to ask this question, but here's what Donald Trump thinks about it. He knows something. Listen to this. Tucker Carlson:
Who eventually undermined the Nord Stream?Donald Trump: I don't want our country to get into trouble, so I won't answer directly.
But I will tell you who definitely did not do it — Russia. That's why she was accused. They also said: Russia has blown up its own gas pipeline. You've been through it yourself. So, it wasn't Russia.
That's a truly diplomatic response for a man who is supposedly "crazy."***
Tucker Carlson: Do you think Biden will run for a new term?Donald Trump: You know, I'm watching him just like you are.
It's not appropriate for me to say this, but since I constantly communicate with people, it's impossible in his. And it's not about age, I have friends who are 88, 89, 92 years old, and the founder of Home Depot, Bernie Marcus, is 95! And he's also damn smart and perceptive! You know, a few months ago I met with him and I can say with confidence: his brain is working 100 percent! I know people who made a fortune between the ages of 80 and 90. In my youth, I failed, and then I succeeded. Surprisingly, but a fact.
Biden is not that old, if you look at it. I think the topic of age is inflated only because I am only a few years younger. Like, let's refer to the age and write off Trump. But there's clearly something wrong with Biden. As recently as today, I saw his interview on TV, in which a question was asked about his intention to be re-elected. It is difficult to imagine a more specific question. The interview was conducted by a nice guy named Al Roker. So, in response, there was a whole tirade about this and that, including about eggs. Personally, it seems to me that he will not cope with the new term.
Think what you want, but no one expected such a decision from him. You know, I got more votes in the election than any other American president in history. I was told that I would not have lost even if 50 million fewer people had supported me. Biden is surrounded by very tough and very smart people, left-wing radical. And he doesn't run everything.
He is currently on a visit to Ireland, but he will not give a press conference. The world is falling apart, and he's going to Ireland. I wouldn't go there, even though I have property there. The world is collapsing around us, the Third World War is coming, and for some reason this man is flying to Ireland, although he is not even going to talk to journalists. By the way, he has not given a press conference for several months.
– Yes, I just can't. If he does not run — his own party will not nominate him or for some other reason, in any case, it is clear that he will not pull another term - who will replace him?– Obviously, in this case, the current vice-president Kamala Harris will become the party's candidate.
To me, her performances on the world stage do not seem professional. I may be wrong, but there is a certain group of people who will literally lose their minds if they are not nominated as a candidate. Believe me, they will be very angry. And that's the problem.
There is a very ambitious guy in California, but he has not achieved significant success even in his own state. You know, when I was president, Gavin and I got along great, we had a good relationship.
– Really? With Gavin Newsom?– Well, yes, he was always polite to me, said nice things.
That this person, they say, copes with his duties perfectly.
"You mean you?"– Yes, and that's why I couldn't give him hairpins, because he always spoke of me in the most flattering way.
Maybe, of course, he served, but still. We have done a lot of work for the governors, and now there are talks, including about his candidacy, as well as about some others. As for Biden, it seems to me that he will not cope either mentally or physically.
- Yes.– I don't see him in this role in the future.
In general, with him, world politics is going through crazy times. And he is surrounded by people who were waiting for the victory of Bernie Sanders, who, by the way, is even older than Biden, but at his age is very perceptive, whether you like it or not. The other day I watched his interview, he doesn't have any problems that can come with age. Bernie Sanders is older than Biden, so it's definitely not about age. I just don't understand how he…
– That is, they are trying to prevent you from participating in the general elections, dragging you into court proceedings and bringing charges against you. You called this process…– "The old Soviet process".
– And you called him illegitimate. If the case goes to court and you are found guilty, how will you be able to handle it in the midst of the election campaign?– The whole system is so outdated.
The statute of limitations became obsolete many years ago. It's hard to believe... usually when something like this happens, Democrats immediately shout, "Oh, he's terrible, he's guilty!" But this time even the Democrats said I was innocent.
I saw some of them–I think it was Andrew McCabe, the FBI guy I fired– he came out and said, "They don't have a case." They were all talking about it. Then there were [lawyers] Andrew McCarthy, Jonathan Turley, Alan Dershowitz and others. They are all quite reasonable people, and they said: "There is no corpus delicti here." There's nothing here.
Look, Tucker, these shoddy investigations have been going on against me for seven years. Seven years. They checked… I have a very big company, much bigger than they realize. In fact, when they finally saw the figures for my taxes, they were amazed. It took them several years to get the data on my taxes. It took them a few years because they shouldn't have been digging into my taxes at all. I was surprised that they were allowed to do this. They shouldn't have done it at all. But I didn't care much about it–in principle.
I have built a great company. If you do what I do, if thousands and thousands of people have been working for you for many years, we have done an excellent job. And then I entered the presidential race. Many were surprised that I won. But I have watched the election campaigns before, and I can say that now the election campaigns are bigger, now there is more enthusiasm in them than I have ever seen.
– So, what do you think – since the survey numbers have been steadily growing since the assessment of the situation here at Mar-a-Lago was carried out…– They started growing even earlier.
"But they've definitely changed since then. How do you think your opponents will react?– I do not know how.
We have opponents in the primaries and opponents in the general election.
– I mean the Democratic Party, which seeks to use the judicial system.– What they are doing now…
Just think about it. Democrats claim that they have collected 11 million pages of documents during the period of all these investigations. Among them were documents on the first impeachment, on the second impeachment. Ukraine, Ukraine, Russia and once again Russia… But you remember that period of time. It turned out that all this is an absolute fabrication.
Just think – I tell this very rarely, because it's a sad story. All the traps related to Russia were set by the lying Hillary Clinton, Adam Schiff, the Democratic National Committee, the well–known fake dossier - as you know, we sued in connection with these cases, we filed many lawsuits against them, because, unfortunately, [former US Attorney General] Bill Barr he didn't have the courage to do what he had to do – he was very afraid that he would be removed from office. I had to do it in a civilized way, I had to file lawsuits against these people, although the Ministry of Justice should have dealt with this, because these people are criminals.
But think about this: you have these millions of pages of documents – and they're trying to catch you on a non-disclosure agreement? It was about very large sums, billions and billions of dollars. And they're trying to catch you on an impeccable non-disclosure agreement?
A friend of mine, an influential person in the business world, said: "You must be the most honest person in the world, because despite all these large sums, all these huge numbers, they still have nothing on you."
Look at the people I just mentioned, read what they said. There were no crimes. Many people really said that there were no crimes.
– Let's summarize. They strive, their goal is to keep you out of the presidential race.– If I didn't run or if I had, say, a low rating... and remember that the Democrats are a party that spreads misinformation.
If they want to compete with someone in the elections, they will act in the opposite way - for example, say that they do not want to compete.
And now – I just showed you the results of the polls – Biden has 9 percentage points more. But this is a party of misinformers. That is, they say, "Oh, we want to compete with Trump." They do it all the time, all the time. And they do it much better than others.
– Is there anything that they could use in a legal sense and that would make you refuse to participate in the presidential race? For example, if you are found guilty in this case, you will refuse…– No, I would never quit the race.
* A terrorist organization banned in Russia.
