Transcript - Interview: David Brody of CBN Interviews Donald Trump - January 26, 2017 | Factba.se

David Brody

00:00:00 - 00:00:08 (8 sec)

Mr. President, thank you for inviting CBN News here into The White House -- the People's House. Thank you, sir.

Donald Trump

00:00:08 - 00:00:08 (0 sec)

Thank you, David.

David Brody

00:00:08 - 00:00:11 (3 sec)

Let me start, by the way, do you like Mr. President or Mr. Trump?

Donald Trump

00:00:11 - 00:00:13 (2 sec)

You can call me anything you want.

David Brody

00:00:13 - 00:00:13 (0 sec)

I will call you Mr. President.

Donald Trump

00:00:13 - 00:00:15 (2 sec)

You've known me a long time.

David Brody

00:00:15 - 00:00:32 (17 sec)

Wonderful. Let's start with the Supreme Court. I know you're narrowing down the list. I know you've talked about who you kind of have an idea of who is going to be this person, but let me ask you where does the final result lie? In other words, is it a gut instinct for you? Because they're all good on this list. So what's the bottom line factor when deciding?

Donald Trump

00:00:32 - 00:01:17 (45 sec)

Well, I think also it's who's going to get approved. And you know we have to go through a process after I pick the person that I am going to be picking. I think I know, but I'm not 100%. I can't guarantee it. We're doing some further checking. The vetting, they call it the vetting process and the vetting process is very, very strong. But we have all 20 are fantastic people. You know we put out 20 before the election. I said these are the people I'll pick. And I think the person that I pick will be big, big I think people are going to love it. I think evangelicals, Christians will love my pick. And will be represented very, very fairly.

David Brody

00:01:17 - 00:01:28 (11 sec)

Let me ask you about the embassy in Israel as it relates to moving this embassy to Jerusalem. Evangelicals, it's important for evangelicals. Are you committed to doing that?

Donald Trump

00:01:28 - 00:01:58 (30 sec)

Well, I'm looking at it, we are setting it, as you know, we discussed this before, we are studying it very, very long and hard. You know, it's a very big decision because every president for the last number of presidents, large number, they have commented they were going to do it and then all of a sudden, they decide they don't want to get involved. It's a big, big decision but we are setting the issue right now. I have always liked the concept of doing it, I will tell you that. I will have a decision in the not too distant future.

David Brody

00:01:58 - 00:02:00 (2 sec)

Are the chances good?

Donald Trump

00:02:00 - 00:02:09 (9 sec)

Well, there is certainly a chance of it. Absolutely. But we are going to be -- we are doing very detailed studies on that and it will come out very soon. I hate to do that because that is not usually me, studies.

David Brody

00:02:09 - 00:02:09 (0 sec)

Donald Trump

00:02:09 - 00:02:17 (8 sec)

It's usually, I do what is right. But this has two sides to it, it's not easy to do it, it's not easy, and I will make a decision over the not-too-distant future.

David Brody

00:02:17 - 00:02:31 (14 sec)

let me ask you about the Muslim Brotherhood real quick. You have had some critical words for them in the past when we have spoken, there is a decision to be made about the Muslim Brotherhood as it relates to whether or not they are a terrorist organization. Do you believe they are?

Donald Trump

00:02:31 - 00:02:49 (18 sec)

Well, there has certainly been a lot of things going on and that is another one. I don't want to keep putting you off. But I am having a meeting on that next week and some bad stuff going on. You know it and I know it. So we will see what happens but I have a meeting on that next week. I will let you know.

David Brody

00:02:49 - 00:02:57 (8 sec)

All right. Let me ask you a little bit about Latinos in this country. You have talked about, you are going to a great jobs president.

Donald Trump

00:02:57 - 00:02:57 (0 sec)

David Brody

00:02:57 - 00:03:01 (4 sec)

And you believe the Latino community has heard you on that to a degree.

Donald Trump

00:03:01 - 00:03:04 (3 sec)

And we did very well with the Latino community. People were shocked.

David Brody

00:03:04 - 00:03:05 (1 sec)

Better than Romney.

Donald Trump

00:03:05 - 00:03:30 (25 sec)

Better than Romney, better than just about for a long way. I mean better than a lot of people thought possible or I wouldn't have won. They are a great community, they are a phenomenal community, spirit, hard working, and you know, the Cuban Americans, I got 84% of that vote. And they voted in big numbers. So we did really well with that community, so go ahead.

David Brody

00:03:30 - 00:03:38 (8 sec)

I was going to ask you what can you say to some in that community that had some trepidation, that think they are under attack by this administration coming and what is message to them?

Donald Trump

00:03:38 - 00:05:00 (0 sec)

Well, I think I have really solved that because you know, the elections was not long ago and we had a great victory, we had a victory that nobody thought was possible, 306, remember they said there is no path to 270 for Trump, Trump can't win because there is no path, and I kept going up to Maine where Maine had won and we won it, but we didn't need it because we won't Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida, we won so many, North Carolina, so you know, I really focused very heavily on the Latino Community or the Hispanic Community. And it was something that I'm very proud of. I'm very proud of the numbers we got. They want protection and they want jobs. They don't want people pouring across the border, they have no idea who they are, and one of the reasons I did so well with the Hispanic community is the fact that they do want jobs and they do want protection and they know that I'm going to take care of that and I've already been producing the jobs because Ford and General Motors and many other companies, even Fiat, Chrysler, in terms of the car companies, but so many other types of companies, they are pouring back into our country now. They want to be here, lower taxes, we are lowering taxes bigly, including for the middle class. Including for people, not just business taxes but we are lowering business taxes and companies are pouring back in.

David Brody

00:05:00 - 00:05:09 (9 sec)

Speaking of taxes, this 20% border tax, or at least this tax on Mexico, or imports from Mexico into the United States. How serious are you about something like that?

Donald Trump

00:05:09 - 00:05:20 (11 sec)

Well it's something that I have the right to do. It's something I can impose if I want. We are getting along actually very well with the Mexican government; we'll see what happens.

David Brody

00:05:20 - 00:05:24 (4 sec)

Do you believe that is a strong move going forward? Do you see -- or do you need...

Donald Trump

00:05:24 - 00:05:39 (15 sec)

It's an option. It's certainly an option. I can do that, I can do it if I want. But we're dealing with the Mexican government. I just had a conversation with the Mexican government, actually with the President of Mexico. He's a very good man and we'll see where it all goes. We'll see what happens.

David Brody

00:05:39 - 00:05:41 (2 sec)

Can you give us a sense of what that conversation was like?

Donald Trump

00:05:41 - 00:05:49 (8 sec)

A very warm conversation. We're talking. We're speaking, and we're going to see what happens."" "

David Brody

00:05:49 - 00:05:57 (8 sec)

What about this, if there was some sort of tax on imports, what about the argument that you've heard about before that indeed, it will be passed along to consumers? What's the argument against that?

Donald Trump

00:05:57 - 00:06:10 (13 sec)

Well I think that some of it may get passed along but it also creates jobs. So I'm not against something like that but with respect to Mexico, something else could happen which would be much more positive for both Mexico and the United States.

David Brody

00:06:10 - 00:06:14 (4 sec)

The Media, I know we only have a limited amount of time, you can talk for an hour and a half about the media.

Donald Trump

00:06:14 - 00:06:15 (1 sec)

You mean fake news?

David Brody

00:06:15 - 00:06:17 (2 sec)

Well, if that is what you -- it's your call.

Donald Trump

00:06:17 - 00:06:43 (26 sec)

Much of it is fake news. I mean much of the media makes up stories. It's amazing, I speak to people, great people, people that voted for me. And they get it better than most people get it. But much of the media is distorted and fake. And you can see it, I won't mention specific networks as an example or newspapers, but I read stories that they write that are knowingly false. They are knowingly false.

Donald Trump

00:06:43 - 00:07:04 (21 sec)

They know it's a lie and they write them anyway and the headlines, and in the end, you know, the media has now a 17% approval rating which is shocking, I think I have done a lot of that, I think I have brought it down because at my rallies, I will speak and they will turn around and the people will start, I mean, going pretty wild against them.

Donald Trump

00:07:04 - 00:07:14 (10 sec)

We want truthful media, we don't have truthful media, we have people that are, in many cases, I actually think they are sick people. Because some of the stories are so bad.

Donald Trump

00:07:14 - 00:07:24 (10 sec)

For instance, in the oval office, we have a beautiful bust of Dr. Martin Luther King. And they took that bust and they said that I removed it. I never removed it.

Donald Trump

00:07:24 - 00:07:47 (23 sec)

In fact, I admired it when I first walked in, they said I walked in and I had it removed. And all of a sudden, there are major headlines all over the world that I removed the bust of Dr. Martin Luther King, which I would never do, because again, a man that I have great respect for and have admired over the years greatly.

Donald Trump

00:07:47 - 00:07:56 (9 sec)

And I call my people, why did you take that bust out? I wasn't here. Who took it out? I mean because me, I wasn't so nice. Who took it out?

Donald Trump

00:07:56 - 00:08:21 (25 sec)

And they said, Sir

Donald Trump

00:08:21 - 00:08:26 (5 sec)

Now the apology, you know what it was? I don't even know if anybody gave an apology.

David Brody

00:08:26 - 00:08:28 (2 sec)

I think it was something on Twitter possibly.

Donald Trump

00:08:28 - 00:08:43 (15 sec)

Maybe it was a Twitter, I had headlines all over the world, and I will tell you, it's a very serious thing because what they are doing is they are saying I'm a racist. See, they are not saying I removed the bust, they are saying I'm a racist. That is fake news. These people are bad people.

David Brody

00:08:43 - 00:08:50 (7 sec)

Steve Bannon, one of your Trump advisers, just the other day, to the New York Times, called the media the opposition party. Do you believe that?

Donald Trump

00:08:50 - 00:08:53 (3 sec)

I think to a large extent they're much more capable than the other side.

David Brody

00:08:53 - 00:08:55 (2 sec)

Other side, meaning?

Donald Trump

00:08:55 - 00:09:20 (25 sec)

Yeah, I think the media is the opposition party in many ways. And I think that, and I'm not talking about all media. I know people, like yourself, but I know people in the media that I have tremendous respect for. I respect them as much as anybody, so I'm not talking about everybody, but a big portion of the media, the dishonesty, the total deceit and deception makes them certainly partially the opposition party, absolutely.

Donald Trump

00:09:20 - 00:10:02 (42 sec)

I think they're much more capable than the opposition party. The opposition party is losing badly. Now the media is on the opposition party's side. And I actually said to myself, I say they treat me so unfairly it's hard to believe that I won. But the fortunate thing about me is I have a big voice. I have a voice that people understand. And you see it now. We're bringing back jobs. Ford is making a massive investment now in Michigan, General Motors is going to be making just magnificent investments, so many other companies are coming back in. But yes, the media is a disgrace, and they've called me wrong from the beginning. I mean the New York Times has called me wrong from the beginning.

David Brody

00:10:02 - 00:10:03 (1 sec)

They underestimated you?

Donald Trump

00:10:03 - 00:10:24 (21 sec)

They actually apologized to their readers. They lost a lot of subscriptions not because their readers even like me, they said how inaccurate could you be? Because if you read The New York Times, there was no chance that Trump was going to win. And yet we go out there, and I felt I was going to win based on the crowds. You saw the crowds better than anybody. So, it's a very interesting fact.

David Brody

00:10:24 - 00:10:40 (16 sec)

Let me switch gears, and you know, it wouldn't be an interview between us if I didn't ask a God question, if you will. How has that spiritual journey been for you? Especially being here and knowing the gravity of the office. Do you feel the need to pray more? Where are you on that?

Donald Trump

00:10:40 - 00:11:20 (40 sec)

Well, I will tell you what. I have always felt the need to pray so I would say that The Office is so powerful that you need God even more because your decisions are no longer, Gee

Donald Trump

00:11:20 - 00:11:37 (17 sec)

So yes, you realize, these decisions are also important, it's almost not a decision that you make when you are sitting in this position that isn't a really life-altering position. So God comes in to it even more so.

David Brody

00:11:37 - 00:11:42 (5 sec)

You know, there are a lot of people, I remember when we were in California, on your golf course, a beautiful golf course, I might add.

Donald Trump

00:11:42 - 00:11:44 (2 sec)

That I may never see again.

David Brody

00:11:44 - 00:11:45 (1 sec)

Donald Trump

00:11:45 - 00:11:46 (1 sec)

I may never see it again.

David Brody

00:11:46 - 00:11:47 (1 sec)

It's disheartening.

Donald Trump

00:11:47 - 00:11:50 (3 sec)

It's all right, we are doing something much more important.

David Brody

00:11:50 - 00:11:59 (9 sec)

We talked about your -- you tweeting at the time, and I'm wondering nowadays as president, what is the filter here? I mean are you calling this out? Are you doing it yourself? How does this work now?

Donald Trump

00:11:59 - 00:12:13 (14 sec)

Well, the media is very dishonest, and if they were honest, I wouldn't bother doing it because I wouldn't have to do it because I could call somebody up and I could give them the information or I could issue a press release or something or I could have some kind of a conversation.

Donald Trump

00:12:13 - 00:12:31 (18 sec)

Look, I have had conversations with the media, I think I understand the media, nobody really understands the media in all fairness but I have had conversations with people where rather than Twitter, I would call and given them information that on a message I want to get out, and the message will be totally distorted.

Donald Trump

00:12:31 - 00:12:47 (16 sec)

And I will call up and say, that had nothing to do with what I told you. Well, I sort of thought this -- I would tell you strongly, I'm up to -- I think I will soon be over 50 million people between Facebook and Twitter and Instagram, and you know, the different things.

David Brody

00:12:47 - 00:12:49 (2 sec)

Do you call it out to folks?

Donald Trump

00:12:49 - 00:12:57 (8 sec)

Well, for instance, I could also go right into The White House but mine is much better, I like @realDonaldTrump because, and we use POTUS.

David Brody

00:12:57 - 00:12:58 (1 sec)

Donald Trump

00:12:58 - 00:13:14 (16 sec)

But I like @realDonaldTrump. But the beautiful thing about it, it's really a modern day form of communication. I can do 140 or 280, and -- or you know, you can extend them. All I do is dot dot dot, right? And you will extend it. So it really gets to be where you do have enough room if you need.

David Brody

00:13:14 - 00:13:15 (1 sec)

You like the flexibility.

Donald Trump

00:13:15 - 00:13:42 (27 sec)

But generally just in the 140, but I can do messages around the media and get my word out the way I mean my word. I don't have to have the media distort my message because they go out of their way to distort my message. When the media takes my message, knows what my message is, and then writes it purposely so that it doesn't sound good, I would rather do Twitter. And that is what I do.

David Brody

00:13:42 - 00:13:53 (11 sec)

There are a lot of folks that are going to want to judge these first 100 days, they are going to say this is a success -- they are going to have their own version of what a success is. For you and for these first 100 days, what is success for you exactly?

Donald Trump

00:13:53 - 00:14:21 (28 sec)

Well, I think it started on one of the greatest days of my life. I think the speck turned out very good, I got very good reviews on the speech. The only negative reviews were some people said it was dark. But many people thought it was very optimistic because obviously it's dark when you have people being shot everyday in Chicago and you have things like this happening and when you look at the Middle East, and when you look at what is going on in North Korea and when you look at all of these things that are happening, you can't say life is a bowl of cherries, right?

Donald Trump

00:14:21 - 00:14:43 (22 sec)

But I got very good reviews of the speech, we had a tremendous crowd, the audience was -- the crowd was great but the audience, the overall audience was, I think, the biggest ever to watch an inauguration address which was a great thing. That was also distorted in the media. They fought that as much as they could but it turns out it was probably the largest audience ever to watch an inauguration address.

David Brody

00:14:43 - 00:14:49 (6 sec)

Why is it important for you to win on something like that? Because you haven't given that up. You want to make sure they understand.

David Brody

00:14:49 - 00:14:50 (1 sec)

Donald Trump

00:14:50 - 00:15:35 (45 sec)

Yes, because I'm representing a lot of people, the forgotten people in many cases. And in many cases, not the forgotten people, people generally but many people that are the forgotten people, and they have been forgotten by the media that tries to distort them out of life. And so when I had that massive crowd and they show a picture of an emptier area, we had a tremendous crowd, but the audience which was the word used by Sean during the press conference, and he used the word audience, right in this first thing, is and I think it's indisputable, but if it is not, it's certainly very close but I think it was the largest audience ever. I want the forgotten people to understand that we are not forgotten anymore.

Donald Trump

00:15:35 - 00:15:41 (6 sec)

And now the Democrats are after those people because frankly, they can't win an election without those people.

David Brody

00:15:41 - 00:15:51 (10 sec)

So we are wrapping here but a couple of last questions, on 100 days, is it important for you to have some sort of tax reform bill on your desk or do you want at least the structure in place?

Donald Trump

00:15:51 - 00:16:06 (15 sec)

Well, at least the structure because it takes a certain period of time statutorily, you file and then you have to wait and then you file again and you do something and you do an amendment and so there is a structural component and a statutory component.

Donald Trump

00:16:06 - 00:16:35 (29 sec)

So where you have to wait days -- one of those little problems in life but it's not actually a bad thing. And we also have health care that we are working on. And we are working on other things and one of the things I said that I'm going to try very hard to get done during my term and I will get it done is the Johnson Amendment for evangelicals, for Christians, for everybody of faith where we are going to try and end and terminate the Johnson Amendment which is a disaster for religion, in my opinion.

David Brody

00:16:35 - 00:16:36 (1 sec)

It's a priority for you?

Donald Trump

00:16:36 - 00:16:38 (2 sec)

It's a priority, absolutely.

David Brody

00:16:38 - 00:16:40 (2 sec)

Okay, last question because I know we have to run.

David Brody

00:16:40 - 00:16:52 (12 sec)

Persecuted Christians, we've talked about this, the refugees overseas. The refugee program, or the refugee changes you're looking to make. As it relates to persecuted Christians, do you see them as kind of a priority here?

Donald Trump

00:16:52 - 00:16:52 (0 sec)

David Brody

00:16:52 - 00:16:53 (1 sec)

Donald Trump

00:16:53 - 00:17:23 (30 sec)

They've been horribly treated. Do you know if you were a Christian in Syria it was impossible, at least very tough to get into the United States? If you were a Muslim you could come in, but if you were a Christian, it was almost impossible and the reason that was so unfair, is that the -- everybody was persecuted in all fairness, but they were chopping off the heads of everybody but more so the Christians. And I thought it was very, very unfair. So we are going to help them.

David Brody

00:17:23 - 00:17:24 (1 sec)

Mr. President, a pleasure. Thank you for the time.

Donald Trump

00:17:24 - 00:17:26 (2 sec)

Thank you, thank you very much.