Transcript - Interview: Pete Hegseth Interviews Donald Trump on Fox and Friends - June 25, 2017 | Factba.se

Pete Hegseth

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

Thank you very much for joining us on Fox News. Appreciate it.

Donald Trump

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

Thank you Pete, thank you.

Pete Hegseth

00:00:02 - 00:00:16 (14 sec)

You facedresistance on this bill, but of course you've faced resistance on the entirety of your agenda. Who's been your biggest opponent? Has it been Democrats resisting? Has it been fake news media? Has it been deep state leaks? What's... when you think about it, what holds it up?

Donald Trump

00:00:16 - 00:01:30 (74 sec)

Well you kno,w when I ran, I talked about the rigged system because I saw I was winning states and I wasn't getting the delegates that I should be getting, and you know I would look at this, I said what kind of a system? Well the whole system is very... there's a lot of bad things going on, a lot of very bad things going on. One of the things that that should be solved, but it probably won't be is that the Republicans of Democrats don't get together, and I'm open arms, but I don't see that happening. They fight each other, they... the level of hostility... and by the way this isn't just Trump. This has been like this for years -- you've been doing this for a long time -- it's been like that for a long time. But the level of hostility, as an example the health care bill, that you are reporting on, and everybody's reporting on it, would be so great if the Democrats and Republicans could get together, wrap their arms around it and come up with something that everybody's happy with. It's so easy, but we won't get one Democrat vote -- not one -- and if were the greatest bill ever proposed in mankind, we wouldn't get a vote, and that's a terrible thing. So there is what -- look, there their theme is resist. I've never heard of anything like this, resist?

Pete Hegseth

00:01:30 - 00:01:35 (5 sec)

How frustrating it is to have former President Obama there, out there leading the resistance?

Donald Trump

00:01:35 - 00:02:13 (38 sec)

Well, I think I don't think he's leading it -- he actually just put out a small statement, I don't see that leading it -- but other people are leading. Don't forget I saw Schumer criticizing the bill a couple of weeks ago, and he had no idea what was in the bill. He was saying this bill is this, and it's that, he had no idea. In fact, the Republican senators didn't know because it wasn't released -- very few people knew, so he was criticizing a bill that he had no idea what was in the bill. But that's called the resistance. I mean that's a terrible word, think of it. Their theme is resist. Their theme should be let's together, envelope, get together.

Pete Hegseth

00:02:13 - 00:02:14 (1 sec)

Donald Trump

00:02:14 - 00:02:35 (21 sec)

But the theme is resist. It's obstruction, and the problem is they become obstructionist and the voters -- I happen to like it from the standpoint of running for office -- but I think it's a terrible theme in terms of getting elected, and more importantly, I think it's a terrible thing for the people of this country, resist. Obstruction. That's not what they want.

Pete Hegseth

00:02:35 - 00:02:42 (7 sec)

How do you overcome that, when someone like Senator Warren, Senator Elizabeth Warren literally says people are going to die because of President Trump's health care bill

Donald Trump

00:02:42 - 00:02:52 (10 sec)

Well I actually think she's a hopeless case. I call her Pocahontas and that's an insult to Pocahontas. I actually think that she is just somebody that's got a lot of hatred, a lot of anger.

Pete Hegseth

00:02:52 - 00:02:54 (2 sec)

But she's got a lot of a loud microphone and although..

Donald Trump

00:02:54 - 00:03:19 (25 sec)

Nah, she does. But you know, I don't think she has the kind of support that some people do. I think she hurt Hillary. I watched her campaigning for Hillary, and she was so angry, Hillary would be sitting back listening to her, trying to smile. But there were a lot of people in that audience that were going, wow is this what we want? There's a lot of anger there and hostility. So no I think, I... I think she's a highly overrated voice

Pete Hegseth

00:03:19 - 00:03:37 (18 sec)

Some people might say it's the level of anger is unprecedented, but it's also unprecedented former president to come out the way President Obama has. He came out on Facebook recently, you may have seen it ,he said your bill, Mr. President, not a health care bill. It's a massive transfer of wealth. It's going to harm Americans. It's mean. What do you say to the former President

Donald Trump

00:03:37 - 00:04:22 (45 sec)

Well he actually used my term, mean. That was my term, because I want to see... I want to see -- and I speak from the heart that's what I want to see -- I want to see a bill with heart. Health care is a very complicated subject from the standpoint that you move it this way, and this group doesn't like it. You move it a little bit over here... you have a very narrow path and honestly nobody can be totally happy even without the vote... forget about votes -- this has nothing to do with votes. This has to do with picking a plan that everybody is going to like. I'd like to say love, but like. We have a very good plan, we have a few people that are, I think you could say modestly, they're not standing on the rooftops and screaming. They want to get some points. I think they'll get some points.

Pete Hegseth

00:04:22 - 00:04:26 (4 sec)

Are Republican Senators doing to have your back to get that healthcare bill through?

Donald Trump

00:04:26 - 00:05:15 (49 sec)

I think so. You know, I have great relationships with most of the people in the Senate, with, as you know, most of the people in the House. I think I really I worked very hard. I made a lot of great friendships with the people in the House, a lot of them ,same thing in the Senate. Therefore, very good people. They're friends of mine, and I don't think they're that far off. I don't think they're that far off, you know, famous last words, right? But I think we're going to get there. For years I've been watching the battle for healthcare, and I watched during the Clinton administration Hillary, rightfully, devoted her life to trying to get healthcare. She was unable to get it. You watched what happened with Obamacare, which by the time they finished with it, it was, you know, something that doesn't work. But look what happened with Nebraska, where they gave the great Nebraska giveaway in order to give a vote.

Pete Hegseth

00:05:15 - 00:05:15 (0 sec)

Cornhusker kickback.

Donald Trump

00:05:15 - 00:05:52 (37 sec)

And it was a very closed session, you know. They talked about closed, and behind closed doors. There ws nothing more closed than Obamacare. But the bottom line is, they worked so long and so hard, they got a plan that didn't work. They got a healthcare plan that didn't work, and I've only been there for five months, you know they work for a long time during the Clinton administration. They worked essentially during the entire administration. Health care is a very, very tough thing to get, but I think we're going to get it. We don't have too much of a choice, because the alternative is the dead carcass of Obamacare. That's what it is.

Pete Hegseth

00:05:52 - 00:06:08 (16 sec)

I opened up the failing New York Times and the Washington Post this morning. No mention at all of this bill that you're signing today. For veterans who are so passionate about this, it's such a historic bill. Are they going to cover this, and if they don't, why don't they cover it the way they cover every breathless scandal in the media today?

Donald Trump

00:06:08 - 00:06:40 (32 sec)

Well I just heard today for the first time that Obama knew about Russia a long time before the election, and he did nothing about it. But nobody wants to talk about that. That... the CIA gave him information on Russia a long time before they even, you know, before the election. And I hardly see. It... it's an amazing thing to me. You know, in other words the question is, if he had the information, why didn't he do something about it? He should have done something about it. But you don't read that. It's quite sad.

Pete Hegseth

00:06:40 - 00:06:41 (1 sec)

That never leaked out.

Donald Trump

00:06:41 - 00:07:01 (20 sec)

With that... that doesn't leak out. No they... they're very selective leaks, with sources... I always love the sources... many of which don't exist. But no, there's a there is a thing going on in the country, and hopefully it's... somewhat of a sickness in that sense. But you know what? I am so proud of what we've done in such a short period of time.

Pete Hegseth

00:07:01 - 00:07:06 (5 sec)

Just in the East Room for a historic bill signing. Tell us about the bill that you just signed.

Donald Trump

00:07:06 - 00:07:47 (41 sec)

Well, it's really an accountability bill. You had people that would be in the VA and they wouldn't work, or they do much worse than that, and you couldn't fire them. You couldn't get rid of them. They were hanging around, they were receiving money, they weren't taking care of our veterans, and I've made the promise that I was going to be taking care of our veterans if I win/ And you know, they voted for me overwhelmingly. I just had a, you know, in my own heart, I had a very strong obligation to take care. So, we had it passed. Tom Cotton and so many other people were so involved, that Mr. Rowe, you who you know very well. They worked so hard and so long on that, and that was a tough one to get through. So now they do have accountability.

Pete Hegseth

00:07:47 - 00:07:54 (7 sec)

Why would a bill that makes so much common sense to so many Americans, why would it be so hard to get done? Because this was a difficult fight through the finish line.

Donald Trump

00:07:54 - 00:08:31 (37 sec)

It was a very difficult fight. But look, you have many forces -- and I'm not saying bad forces -- you have unions, the unions don't want to see a thing like that where you can fire someone right away, and you know if they're not doing the job, it's called accountability. But you had a lot of forces, as you can imagine and, you know the force probably better than anyone. You were one of the reasons that I really felt... I used to watch you on Fox talking about the veterans with such... with such heart, and you know, you were one of the factors I will tell you, then we started speaking about it. But we've done a lot for the veterans, but you did have a lot of forces against this bill. This was not an easy one.

Pete Hegseth

00:08:31 - 00:08:44 (13 sec)

Absolutely. When you rode down that escalator in Trump Tower, it was the first time a presidential candidate had made veterans issues a top... you mentioned multiple times in that speech. Obviously you've been involved in veterans issues for years. Where did that passion first come from?

Donald Trump

00:08:44 - 00:09:57 (73 sec)

I've always felt the veterans weren't given a fair shake. They fight wars, they lose limbs, they lose, you know lives. They've gone through so much, and I've always felt they were never appreciated the way they should be appreciated. But, you know who appreciates? The voters and I'm not just talking about them as a block, which is a big block. But I'm talking about the voters outside of the veterans. They appreciate what the veterans have done. But I've always felt they were not given a fair shake, and then you agreed the disaster stories of course where people are waiting on line for 7, 8, 9days to see a doctor and worse, where they have a disease or a problem or a form of cancer that's easily and quickly curable and they have to wait 6, 7, 8 months and by the time they get in it's... it's terminal. It's ,you know the things that go on, it's just incredible, and have gone on. And we have doctor David Chilton who's done a phenomenal job. He's got tremendous compassion, but he's also a tough cookie, and we're getting it done, and we're doing whatever is necessary. We're getting... this was one bill, but we have many and many coming, and the veterans. I think when you look at that in the not-too-distant future, it's going to be a much different place.

Pete Hegseth

00:09:57 - 00:10:04 (7 sec)

Mr. President, thank you for your time, and on behalf of America's veterans, thank you for your commitment and following through on it. We appreciate it. It's truly historic day.

Donald Trump

00:10:04 - 00:10:06 (2 sec)

Thank you very much, Peter.

Pete Hegseth

00:10:06 - 00:10:07 (1 sec)