Transcript - Interview: Ashley Strohmier of KMIZ ABC 17 Columbia Interviews Donald Trump - November 1, 2018 | Factba.se

Ashley Strohmier

00:00:00 - 00:00:05 (5 sec)

What importance does your administration place on the U.S. Senate race between Hawley and McCaskill?

Donald Trump

00:00:05 - 00:00:28 (23 sec)

Well, I'm just a big fan of Josh Hawley. I've known him. I've seen him. He loves the people of the state. He wants everything to come back to the state, and he's done a fantastic job and he's run a great campaign. And I can also tell you on the other side, Claire McCaskill has been a disaster for her. She never votes for her. She didn't vote for Justice Kavanaugh, Justice Gorsuch, these are two great people, great intellects for the Supreme Court.

Donald Trump

00:00:28 - 00:00:48 (21 sec)

She's just going against us. It's very interesting, she's always against me on the border, except today, she said he's right. First time I've heard this she's always been fighting us on the border. She's been fighting the tax cuts very vociferously. She wants to raise taxes, and Josh Hawley is just going to be outstanding. So, we hope people go out and vote for him. He'll -- he'll do a fantastic job.

Ashley Strohmier

00:00:48 - 00:00:55 (7 sec)

And Mr. President, what is the most critical issue facing the country right now, and will be for the duration of your term in office?

Donald Trump

00:00:55 - 00:01:12 (17 sec)

Well, I think we have a lot of issues, but immigration, you see, that seems to have come up to the forefront. You see what's going on at the border, with the caravan as they call it, with thousands of people think they're going to march into the country, and it's not going to happen. We don't know who they are, where they come from. We don't know anything about them, and we're not going to let it happen.

Donald Trump

00:01:12 - 00:01:33 (21 sec)

So immigration certainly. And the other one is health care, to me, is very important. And we've done a great job. We got rid of the individual mandate, which was a killer, and people -- that was really the worst part of anything, in terms of health care. Nobody's ever seen anything like it, where you pay for the privilege of not having to pay for bad healthcare. So, we've we've done a real job on healthcare.

Donald Trump

00:01:33 - 00:01:41 (8 sec)

But I think right now if you look, immigration is so important, because we need borders. We have to have a country. Without borders, you don't have a country.

Ashley Strohmier

00:01:41 - 00:01:55 (15 sec)

And Mr. President, this is the final question, and you actually kind of touched on it already. As President, you've recently sent troops to the border to counter the migrant caravan headed from Central America. How much is this going to cost, and why is this money well spent?

Donald Trump

00:01:55 - 00:02:05 (10 sec)

Well, the good news is that we already pay them, whether they are on the border or someplace else. You know, the fact is, they're being paid, and it's our great military, and we have -- we can't take any chances.

Donald Trump

00:02:05 - 00:02:27 (21 sec)

You saw what happened in Mexico, where they came through the troops, and they hurt the troops. Tough people. They hurt the troops. They were throwing rocks at 'em. They were doing a lot of things, and they burst through the police and the troops in Mexico. That's not happening here. So, we need it. We have to have it. We need our borders, and they're going to do a fantastic job. I have no doubt about it.

Ashley Strohmier

00:02:27 - 00:02:27 (1 sec)

Thank you so much.

Donald Trump

00:02:27 - 00:02:28 (0 sec)

Ashey Strohmier

00:02:28 - 00:02:28 (0 sec)