Transcript - Interview: Clay Travis of Fox Sports Radio Interviews Donald Trump - August 11, 2020 | Factba.se

Clay Travis

00:00:00 - 00:00:07 (8 sec)

We are joined now by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, Mr. President, thanks for starting your morning with us. We're excited to have you.

Donald Trump

00:00:07 - 00:00:10 (3 sec)

Well, thank you very much, Clay. It's an honor. You have a great show.

Clay Travis

00:00:10 - 00:00:27 (17 sec)

Well, I appreciate that. Now. I know you're a long time sports fan, so there's a lot of things I want to get into with you, but I want to start, you've been a big supporter of Tom Brady for a very long time. What were your thoughts when he decided to move to Tampa Bay? What do you think he's going to be capable of down there?

Clay Travis

00:00:27 - 00:00:28 (1 sec)

Will you be rooting for him?

Donald Trump

00:00:28 - 00:00:49 (21 sec)

Well, I think he's going to do a great job. He's a winner. He knows how to win. That's a big thing. He's just been a great quarterback with a great coach, it's a great combination and a great owner in Bob Kraft, frankly. He probably wanted a change. He wanted a change. I think, he had plenty of teams to go to.

Donald Trump

00:00:49 - 00:01:05 (17 sec)

Then he picked one with, from what I understand, a good offensive line and very good receivers. He looked at that closely. I think he probably had other choices where they had players. I think his biggest thing, because he wants to win, and from what I know, and I know the ownership of the team, they'll do whatever they have to.

Donald Trump

00:01:05 - 00:01:22 (16 sec)

They're fantastic people, the owners of the team that's Tom's on now. I think he's going to do well in Tampa Bay. I think he'll do well. I think he'll, I don't know why it would be a surprise, but perhaps it will be, but I think he's going to surprise a lot of people. I think he's going to do great.

Clay Travis

00:01:22 - 00:01:43 (22 sec)

We're talking to the President of the United States, Donald Trump, Mr. President, what do you hear about the NFL? I know there's been a lot of talk. You mentioned that you talked to several different owners, Bob Kraft in particular. How confident are you that come September 10th with the schedule, the opener between the Texans and the Chiefs, that the NFL will be underway and everybody out there who's an NFL fan will be able to watch?

Donald Trump

00:01:43 - 00:02:02 (19 sec)

Well, they want to open. They want to open badly. They've been working with government. I would say this. If they don't stand for the National Anthem, I hope they don't open. Other than that, I'd love to see them open. We're doing everything possible for getting them open. They can protest in other ways.

Donald Trump

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

They shouldn't protest our flag or our country.

Clay Travis

00:02:03 - 00:02:09 (5 sec)

Have you talked with the owners about your hope that they're going to stand for the National Anthem, the players?

Donald Trump

00:02:09 - 00:02:33 (25 sec)

They know my feelings very well. They've been expressed. I think it's been horrible for basketball. Look at the basketball ratings. They're down to very low numbers, very, very low numbers. People are angry about it. They don't realize. They don't want, they have enough politics with guys like me. They don't need more as they're driving down, they're going up for the shot that are needed.

Donald Trump

00:02:33 - 00:02:54 (21 sec)

There was a nastiness about the NBA, the way it was done too. I think that NBA's in trouble. I think it's in big trouble, bigger trouble than they understand. Frankly, ice hockey, which is doing very well. They didn't do that. They respected, the Morays. They respected what they're supposed to be doing.

Donald Trump

00:02:54 - 00:03:14 (20 sec)

They're actually doing very well, as I understand it. I don't have much time to be watching this stuff just so you understand. It's just what I'm reading and what I'm seeing. Ice hockey was with respect. I did not like what baseball did even a little bit. Again, you have to stand for your flag. You have to respect your flag and your country.

Donald Trump

00:03:14 - 00:03:34 (19 sec)

You're making millions of dollars a year to be playing a sport. You'd be playing any way if you didn't make. They'd be playing it on the weekends. They have to respect their country. If they don't, frankly, if the NFL didn't open, I'd be very happy. If they don't stand for the flag and stand strongly, I would be very happy if they didn't open with.

Donald Trump

00:03:34 - 00:03:38 (5 sec)

Without that and with that being said, I'd love to see them open.

Clay Travis

00:03:38 - 00:03:59 (20 sec)

We're talking to the Donald Trump, the President of the United States. President Trump, when you look at the NBA and you just referenced the NBA and all of the political statements that they're making, it seems like every time you send a tweet, a executive, a coach, a player, somebody will come out and immediately fire back at you.

Clay Travis

00:03:59 - 00:04:19 (20 sec)

But yet, the NBA is taking billions of dollars from China. There are all sorts of human rights violations going on in China right now. None of the players and none of the coaches will say a word about that. Does it feel hypocritical that they will rip the United States? They won't stand for the Anthem. They'll rip you, as the President, but they won't say a negative word about China at all?

Donald Trump

00:04:19 - 00:04:43 (24 sec)

Well, I haven't noticed them sending things back at me, but I will say that I wouldn't be that surprised. Some are very nasty, very, very nasty and frankly, very dumb, but I haven't noticed that. I will say this the way they cater to China, the way they bow to China, it's a disgrace, frankly. They make a lot more money here than they do from China.

Donald Trump

00:04:43 - 00:05:15 (32 sec)

We have a system that allows you to disrespect your system and that's too bad for them and too bad for them. They don't appreciate what they have here. No, what they did with China and what China did to us with the China virus and the rest of the world, by the way. I mean, the whole rest of the world. They stopped it from going in and spreading in China, but they didn't stop it from spreading in the US and in other parts of the world, including Europe, but other parts in the world, 188 countries.

Donald Trump

00:05:15 - 00:05:20 (5 sec)

I watched that whole thing with the general manager of the team. Was it Houston?

Clay Travis

00:05:20 - 00:05:42 (22 sec)

Yeah, Daryl Morey, the general manager who said that he wanted to free Hong Kong. Speaking of Hong Kong, right now, you've got, I see the front page of the Wall Street Journal, that China went in and arrested a ton of pro-democracy media members, including Jimmy Lai, I believe, who was one of the most active participants in all of the Hong Kong democracy movement.

Clay Travis

00:05:42 - 00:05:50 (8 sec)

For people out there who aren't paying attention, why should Americans care about what China's doing in Hong Kong and maybe the threats to Taiwan as well?

Donald Trump

00:05:50 - 00:06:08 (18 sec)

Well look, for years, Hong Kong was making a lot of money that we could have been making in the New York Stock Exchange and our great exchanges. We have the biggest exchanges. We have the great dollar. The dollar, which I've made stronger, much stronger than it used to be. I hope people recognize that in the world of sports.

Donald Trump

00:06:08 - 00:06:29 (21 sec)

Our country is in good shape and we're coming back so strong. It's incredible, when you look at the numbers that we're producing and putting up. We're coming back very strong. We've saved millions and millions of lives by closing down and restarting. I will say that with Hong Kong, we gave tremendous incentives and costs us a fortune to keep Hong Kong viable and going.

Donald Trump

00:06:29 - 00:06:50 (21 sec)

Now what we've done, I've ended everything. I've ended all of that. There is no incentive whatsoever. We're not sending money through incentives back to Hong Kong. We're going to make a lot more money, because they're not going to be competitive. It will be a competitive market. Can't be with the government running it.

Donald Trump

00:06:50 - 00:07:10 (20 sec)

They're going to have a different kind of a deal. We're not participating from the standpoint of, we're not spending billions of dollars on making life comfortable with them for freedom. That was okay. We'd do that if they were free, but they're not free. It's a part when you look, I mean, take a look at a map.

Donald Trump

00:07:10 - 00:07:20 (10 sec)

It's attached to China, so it's a little bit tough from certain standpoints. We will do very well by not having a good competitor. I guess it'll be a competitor, but on a much smaller scale,

Clay Travis

00:07:20 - 00:07:42 (22 sec)

I know you have a good relationship with Chairman Xi over in China, but you mentioned the China virus, the virus that is obviously swept around the nation. You mentioned Hong Kong and the challenge to democracy there. Do you feel a bit disappointed in your friend, Chairman Xi and how he has responded with China, with the virus and also with Hong Kong?

Donald Trump

00:07:42 - 00:08:01 (19 sec)

Well, I used to have a very good relationship with him. We made a trade deal. It was a great deal for us. Look, China has ripped off our country for 30 years, like nobody ever. Nobody's ever done anything like what they've done. We had a bunch of people sitting in the office that I'm in now that allowed it to happen.

Donald Trump

00:08:01 - 00:08:26 (25 sec)

We were losing 500 billion, 600 billion, billion, not million billion dollars a year in trade with China. The deficit was massive, probably averaged $200 or $300 billion over many years. We helped rebuild China. Look, if it wasn't for us, they wouldn't have China as you know it today. We gave so much money, so stupidly how these people allowed it to happen.

Donald Trump

00:08:26 - 00:08:51 (25 sec)

I came in, and I charged them 25% tariffs and even more than that. I had a great relationship with President Xi. I like him, but I don't feel the same way now. Every once in a while you will say, and you've had it. You've had it very well and play. I understand. I know you. Indirectly, I know you. You have your likes and dislikes very strongly, so do I. I didn't like what took place.

Donald Trump

00:08:51 - 00:09:11 (20 sec)

This is not trade. This is a thousand times the trade deal, what happened with all of the deaths and all of the world. I mean, the world had to shut down. It's a disgrace what happened. You look at some of these countries in Europe, which is devastated. Look at what's going on in Africa with this horrible disease.

Donald Trump

00:09:11 - 00:09:35 (23 sec)

I certainly feel differently. I had a very, very good relationship. I haven't spoken to him in a long time. It's a different, it's a much different, we have a much different relationship with China now than we did for years where they ripped us off. Then I stopped that. They were having the worst year they had in 67 years, because I charged them tariffs.

Donald Trump

00:09:35 - 00:09:55 (20 sec)

We're making a lot of money. I was giving a lot of money to farmers. They were targeted. They were targeting farmers. I gave $28 billion. That was the amount. It came all out of China. The farmers are doing great because of it. Otherwise, they would have been all out of business. I treated them as you would do it, but I still had a good relationship.

Donald Trump

00:09:55 - 00:10:06 (12 sec)

Once the plague came in from China. I call it the plague, but once the plague came in from China, the relationship changed. No question about it. It would be hard to believe that it wouldn't change.

Clay Travis

00:10:06 - 00:10:26 (20 sec)

We're talking to the President of the United States, Donald Trump. Mr. President, much less serious in terms of the plague, although the virus is impacting many different parts of sports in America, including potentially college football. I know you're a big college football fan. You went to the LSU Alabama game this past year.

Clay Travis

00:10:26 - 00:10:40 (14 sec)

Joe Burrow against Tua Tagovailoa, a great game. You went to the national title game where Clemson played against LSU. Why is it important for college football to be played? What do you think you can do to help that happen?

Donald Trump

00:10:40 - 00:10:51 (11 sec)

Well, first of all, the people in that sport is like incredible people, like some of the coaches, like Nick Saban and Coach O, how about Coach O?

Clay Travis

00:10:51 - 00:10:52 (1 sec)

Donald Trump

00:10:52 - 00:10:53 (1 sec)

He's central casting, right?

Clay Travis

00:10:53 - 00:10:54 (0 sec)

Donald Trump

00:10:54 - 00:10:57 (4 sec)

You're doing a football movie, you've got to pick him as your coach, right?

Clay Travis

00:10:57 - 00:10:58 (1 sec)

Donald Trump

00:10:58 - 00:11:17 (19 sec)

And put him in the movie. Lou Holtz is just a fantastic guy, a friend of mine. He's been a supporter from the beginning. Just so many others, they're just great people. They want to play football. They know better than anyone else. The other thing is, and somebody who was explaining it. I had actually one of the great doctors.

Donald Trump

00:11:17 - 00:11:36 (19 sec)

They said, these people are so powerful and so strong and not lots of body fat, although you could take a couple of offensive lineman perhaps and dispute that, but not a lot of body fat, maybe none in some cases. They're very healthy people. People don't realize it's a tiny percentage of people that get sick.

Donald Trump

00:11:36 - 00:11:46 (10 sec)

They're old. It just attacks old people, especially old people with bad heart, diabetes or some kind of a physical problem, a weight problem. Isn't that wonderful that I'm a perfect physical specimen. It's so great.

Clay Travis

00:11:46 - 00:11:50 (4 sec)

Yeah, you're 3% body fat, right?

Donald Trump

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

That's right. I was a, yeah. 0%, didn't I have 0%? Somebody said I had 0% body fat. Wouldn't that be nice?

Clay Travis

00:11:59 - 00:11:59 (0 sec)

Donald Trump

00:11:59 - 00:12:19 (20 sec)

No, but this attacks older people very viciously, by the way. It can be if it's the wrong person. These football players are very young, strong people and physically, I mean, they're physically in extraordinary shape. They're not going to have a problem. You're not going to see people ... Could there be, could it happen?

Donald Trump

00:12:19 - 00:12:45 (26 sec)

But I doubt it. You're not going to see people dying. Many people get it and they have, like kids, they get it. They have the sniffles. Young kids, almost none have a serious problem with it. I mean, literally you look, I think, it said the state of California, almost nobody that's young had a, like zero had a problem with, meaning a serious problem with this disease.

Donald Trump

00:12:45 - 00:13:09 (24 sec)

I mean, they get better very quickly if they get it at all. I think football, I was making a tragic mistake. It's interesting when it opens, when I went to that game, it was incredible. I went to a couple of them. I never really did the big time college football. I went to an Ivy League school. It wasn't quite the same.

Donald Trump

00:13:09 - 00:13:34 (26 sec)

When I went to Alabama and I went to LSU and these stadiums are massive. Yeah. I have no idea about that. It's much bigger crowds than the NFL. The NFL you'll have 60. Here we had, I think 115,000 people. You go to see these games. It's brilliant football. It's great football. It's the atmosphere. There's nothing like it.

Donald Trump

00:13:34 - 00:13:53 (18 sec)

You can't have empty seats. If I had five empty seats, for instance, they said, when I do a rally, sir, the reason I won't do them, because you can't have one seat and then seven around that seats, sir, have to empty. Oh, that'll look great. You have one person and everything's empty around him. You can't do that.

Donald Trump

00:13:53 - 00:14:13 (20 sec)

I don't think, I'm not sure that college football can do it, but we'll have to see. Some sports. I see. I think golf has not been hurt visually by it. In fact, I think golf looks more beautiful if you want to know the truth, instead of a lot of people. Cheering's good. Certainly, I guess the income is good and all, but golf works.

Donald Trump

00:14:13 - 00:14:35 (22 sec)

You know what works? UFC works very well. UFC, I watched that the other night. They light up the stage. They light up the cage. It's really bright. They darken the arena, maybe put a little silk around it, who knows, but that works. Other sports don't work. Basketball is not working. I think basketball is not working because of the way they treated our flag and our Anthem, if you want to know the truth.

Donald Trump

00:14:35 - 00:15:00 (25 sec)

It doesn't seem to have anything. I looked at it. I couldn't watch it. Baseball, I haven't made a ruling on that yet in terms of my own, I haven't had much of a chance to watch it. Some sports are working okay. Some sports are. I thought golf looked really good for the PGA. I didn't miss the fans. I think that probably UFC was a very good one.

Donald Trump

00:15:00 - 00:15:19 (19 sec)

I am not impressed. Somebody told me hockey works okay. Those sports are meant more for fans. I really believe that. I think they're meant more for spins. I think basketball is going to need its fans back from what I'm seeing. It looks very dull.

Clay Travis

00:15:19 - 00:15:36 (17 sec)

I know you're ready for the economy to be back rolling and sports are a big part of that and schools opening are also a big part of that. I'm going to ask you about both, but I also wonder, do you ever think to yourself, I should play a trick on the media and say the exact opposite of what I actually believe, so they'll support it.

Donald Trump

00:15:36 - 00:15:38 (1 sec)

Ah, that's so funny.

Clay Travis

00:15:38 - 00:15:50 (13 sec)

It seems like every time you come out, like you say, school should open, and the media immediately says, Oh, schools can't open. But if you had said, Hey, we can't open schools, I felt like the media would have said, "Oh, we've got to open schools. The President's crazy." You ever think about using that and playing a mind trick?

Donald Trump

00:15:50 - 00:16:06 (16 sec)

Oh, that's so funny that you mentioned that, because I talk about it all the time. Nobody else does. I say, "Look, I could have had the wall built very easy." You know we're building a wall, but it was getting it like was pulling teeth. The Democrats opposed, et cetera, et cetera. You watch that. Now it's being built.

Donald Trump

00:16:06 - 00:16:22 (17 sec)

We're up to 277 miles. It'll be done by the end of the year, a little bit after the end of the year. It's incredible the impact it's had. Anyway, if I would have said, "I don't want a wall," they would have given it to immediately. This hydroxy chloroquine, a lot of doctors swear by it, by my saying, it's good.

Donald Trump

00:16:22 - 00:16:42 (20 sec)

I took it for two weeks. There was a little outbreak around Washington. I said, "Let me have something." I took it for two weeks. It was fine. It was great. I didn't have it. I didn't get it. I had no problem whatsoever with it. It's been around for a long time. It's a malaria pill actually and lupus. It causes no problem.

Donald Trump

00:16:42 - 00:17:04 (22 sec)

As soon as I came out with it, they said, "Oh, it doesn't work." They went crazy. They still are on Twitter. It's number one all the time, which is phony. It's number one all the time and trending hydroxy, negative hydroxy stuff. If I would have said, "I don't believe in hydroxy chloroquine. It's terrible with zinc and with the Z-Pak, azithromycin." If I would have said, "I don't believe in it.

Donald Trump

00:17:04 - 00:17:24 (21 sec)

It doesn't work," it would be the hottest thing going right now. No, no. I say it. I say it all the time. We could say it about a lot of different things, even religion. I went, I held a Bible in front of a church that the agitators and anarchists, they call them protesters. They tried to burn down a church.

Donald Trump

00:17:24 - 00:17:52 (28 sec)

I held a Bible up in front of the church. They said it was a terrible thing I did. I said, "I even affect religion negatively, okay?" I hold a Bible in front of a church that they tried to burn down the day before, and they say, "Isn't he a terrible human being?" I said, "I've affected religion, hydroxy, and just about anything else, maybe even your show after today, that'll be the end." You've got these great ratings going, I see, Clay.

Donald Trump

00:17:52 - 00:18:10 (18 sec)

You have a hell of a show. Maybe I will have destroyed your show. The end result, our country now is so strong. Our military has been rebuilt. Our taxes have been cut way back and regulations and what I've done for the vets, nobody's ever done, nobody's ever even come close to doing and so many other things.

Donald Trump

00:18:10 - 00:18:14 (4 sec)

We've done more than anybody, including even space force, right?

Clay Travis

00:18:14 - 00:18:16 (2 sec)

Donald Trump

00:18:16 - 00:18:20 (4 sec)

Space force, so we've done a lot. We have to fight hard, probably have to fight harder than a lot of other people.

Clay Travis

00:18:20 - 00:18:35 (15 sec)

Last question for you, because I know you've got a ton of things to go. There's talk that Joe Biden's going to announce his vice-President either today or tomorrow. It seems like it's dragged on for some time. Who do you think he's going to pick? Who should he pick? I know you like playing the political game.

Clay Travis

00:18:35 - 00:18:44 (9 sec)

You weren't a politician for a long time. If you were sitting back on your couch, watching television and following this election, what do you think he's going to do? What do you think he should do?

Donald Trump

00:18:44 - 00:18:56 (12 sec)

Well, I think that I would be inclined to go a different route than what he's done, doing it the way he, first of all, he roped himself into a certain group of people, which is fine.

Clay Travis

00:18:56 - 00:18:58 (2 sec)

He said he had to pick a woman.

Donald Trump

00:18:58 - 00:19:22 (24 sec)

He said that. Some people would say that men are insulted by that. Some people would say it's fine. I don't know. I will say this. People don't vote for the ... This is history. This isn't necessarily me. This is history, because we have a great Vice President. Mike Pence has been incredible, actually. He's been a great Vice President and done a really, really good job in everything I've given him.

Donald Trump

00:19:22 - 00:19:40 (18 sec)

People don't vote for the Vice President. They really don't. They don't vote for the Vice President. You can pick a George Washington to be your Vice President. Let's pick up Abraham Lincoln coming back from the dead. They just don't seem to vote for the Vice President. Now in this case, because Joe's got some things going on.

Donald Trump

00:19:40 - 00:20:00 (20 sec)

Let's not kid ourselves. Unless you, I don't know where your politics are, but Joe's got some pretty big things going on. This is going to be a very, very important pick. It'll be interesting to see who he chooses. I'm interested to see also. In the end, I don't think it's going to matter. Joe's going to have to stand on his own two feet.

Donald Trump

00:20:00 - 00:20:24 (23 sec)

We're doing very well. Our poll numbers have really come up. We got hit by, we were unbeatable, and then we got hit by the China plague, by the China virus, and obviously we got hit hard. That affects a politician. Look all over the world. When you get hit, it affects a politician. We fought. We've done a really good job with that and every other thing.

Donald Trump

00:20:24 - 00:20:41 (18 sec)

Now the economy's come back so strong and my poll numbers are good. They're getting very good. I think they're going to go even much higher. People appreciate what we're doing. I don't know who he's going to pick. In theory, it doesn't matter much, but maybe with him, it probably matters much more than it normally does for the obvious reason.

Clay Travis

00:20:41 - 00:20:44 (3 sec)

I know I said, last question, but I'm going to hit you with a sports question on your way out.

Donald Trump

00:20:44 - 00:20:45 (0 sec)

Clay Travis

00:20:45 - 00:20:56 (11 sec)

The number one debate among sports fans for the last 10 years probably has been who is better as a basketball player, Michael Jordan or LeBron James. Which do you think?

Donald Trump

00:20:56 - 00:20:58 (2 sec)

Michael Jordan.

Clay Travis

00:20:58 - 00:21:00 (2 sec)

No doubt in your mind?

Donald Trump

00:21:00 - 00:21:05 (5 sec)

Well, I've seen them both. Michael Jordan is. Plus, he wasn't political, so people like him better.

Clay Travis

00:21:05 - 00:21:16 (12 sec)

That is a perfect answer. Donald Trump, President Trump, I appreciate you coming on. You're happy to have, welcome to come on anytime to talk sports with us. Thank you for the time this morning, sir and good luck the rest of your term and maybe the next one too.

Donald Trump

00:21:16 - 00:21:19 (2 sec)

Thank you very much. Great, thank you.

Clay Travis

00:21:19 - 00:21:22 (3 sec)

That is President Donald Trump.