Transcript - Interview: Sean Hannity Interviews Donald Trump Live Via Telephone - March 26, 2020 | Factba.se

Donald Trump

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

I am, I'm right here. Hi, Sean.

Sean Hannity

00:00:02 - 00:00:13 (12 sec)

Mr. President, thank you. Apparently, I heard you in the press conference. You had a 9:00 p.m. call with President Xi of China. Let me start there. How did that go?

Donald Trump

00:00:13 - 00:00:22 (9 sec)

Well, because of you, I made it to 10:30. So, that shows the power of -- [Laughter]

Sean Hannity

00:00:22 - 00:00:23 (1 sec)

OK. [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:00:23 - 00:00:34 (11 sec)

That shows you have the number one rated show on television, I better change things around. No, I mean -- I'm talking to him at 10:30. Right after this call, I'll be talking to him.

Sean Hannity

00:00:34 - 00:00:47 (13 sec)

You know, one thing -- I will say, I watched the task force, been watching you, and it takes a lot of energy, stamina, and you never stop being president. Let me ask you, I remember when I interviewed you at Mar-a-Lago for the Super Bowl.

Donald Trump

00:00:47 - 00:00:48 (1 sec)

Sean Hannity

00:00:48 - 00:00:58 (10 sec)

I don't know if you remember me asking the question. I asked you to tell me, how did you -- the first known case of corona was January 21st.

Donald Trump

00:00:58 - 00:00:58 (0 sec)

Sean Hannity

00:00:58 - 00:01:11 (13 sec)

Ten days later, you instituted a travel ban. Joe Biden called you xenophobic, hysterial, and a fearmonger. Walk us through that decision because you said to me, nobody supported it?

Donald Trump

00:01:11 - 00:01:31 (20 sec)

Well, you know, we had 20 people in the office, 21 to be exact. And we had a lot of experts. And they never really thought to do that. And, you know, I passed a travel ban having to do with our country. And we have certain unsafe countries, countries that we think are unsafe -- if you remember, I passed it, we won in the Supreme Court.

Donald Trump

00:01:31 - 00:01:50 (18 sec)

We lost in the lower courts and we won in the Supreme Court. So, we have a travel ban throughout the world if we want if we have unsafe countries, terrorism, et cetera, et cetera. So, I said, well, wait a minute, these people, if they're badly infected and they are very badly -- because I was starting to see stories and you were and everybody was.

Donald Trump

00:01:50 - 00:02:11 (21 sec)

I said, how many come in? Well, we had massive amounts coming into the country. If you look at it, thousands and thousands a day. And I said, look, we shouldn't be doing this. I made a decision, we can't have it. And people thought it was very tough, some of my own people. And I'll be honest with you, China didn't think it was too good either.

Donald Trump

00:02:11 - 00:02:26 (16 sec)

And I think we're just absolutely fine with them. A lot of the people decided to go to Italy instead. They went to Spain instead. And you see the problems they're having. Even the smaller countries by comparison, you see the problems they're having. But I made that decision, which I'm very proud of in retrospect.

Donald Trump

00:02:26 - 00:02:46 (20 sec)

And you're right, I had Biden calling me xenophobic. And yet he can't define the word. If you ask him, what does it mean? I'm sure he couldn't tell you what it means. And I had him -- he called me a racist because of the fact that he felt it was a racist thing to stop people from China coming in. But that was from the section of China, too that was in such trouble.

Donald Trump

00:02:46 - 00:02:54 (8 sec)

So, we made a good decision. And if we didn't, we'd have thousands and thousands of more people in very serious trouble right now.

Sean Hannity

00:02:54 - 00:03:11 (17 sec)

Mr. President, I've been making the case, this is -- everything that's going on now, we are rewriting the book how to deal with pandemics. You started with a travel ban and the quarantine. Then it -- the public- private partnership, which we should talk about all the great companies we have in this country.

Sean Hannity

00:03:11 - 00:03:23 (12 sec)

Drive-thru testing. Now, we'll have a 15 minute test soon at the doctor's office. We'll have home-testing, we're told, according to your task force, soon. Telemedicine, I would argue, is probably one of the easier solutions --

Donald Trump

00:03:23 - 00:03:23 (0 sec)

Sean Hannity

00:03:23 - 00:03:39 (16 sec)

-- for health care. Off-label use, getting rid of draconian FDA rules, right to try. Vaccine -- we're in stage one trials. It used to take years to break down the sequence. Tell us about what's changing and why it has to all change.

Donald Trump

00:03:39 - 00:03:59 (20 sec)

Well, I think the FDA has been incredible. We have a man, Stephen Hahn, who's a doctor, a great doctor, highly respected, from Texas, in charge of one of the great hospitals of our world. And he came in as the FDA director. And we had a good man there before also as you know, Scott -- you know Scott very well.

Donald Trump

00:03:59 - 00:04:22 (23 sec)

And we've done things that are pretty amazing. If we're using certain medications that are used in other aspects of life or, you know, for other reasons, normally, it would take a long time to get it approved for this, for -- you know, for the virus as we call it. So, it would take a long time. And I was able to get such fast turnaround, it was incredible.

Donald Trump

00:04:22 - 00:04:43 (21 sec)

Like literally fast, because it was proven safe and it was -- it's strong stuff. Malaria was the disease in one particular, it was -- it's been out for a long time. Very, very effective on malaria. It may be effective -- you know, what we're talking about because you've covered it. It may very well be effective with what we're doing and we're going to find out soon.

Donald Trump

00:04:43 - 00:05:04 (20 sec)

But the head of the FDA and others, they gave me really rapid approvals like, how about 24-hour approvals? And we just started having it. People in New York and others are taking it now. And I think we're going to know fairly soon whether or not it works. And I think it's got a shot. It's got a good shot.

Sean Hannity

00:05:04 - 00:05:10 (7 sec)

You know, I've got to give -- say something nice. I know when you did the FOX town hall, I know that Dr. Oz was on the program.

Donald Trump

00:05:10 - 00:05:11 (0 sec)

Sean Hannity

00:05:11 - 00:05:23 (12 sec)

I've gotten to know him. Dr. Oz is like me. He never goes to sleep. He has talked to more people, more doctors, more patients that have -- tried hydrochloroquine and Zithromax.

Donald Trump

00:05:23 - 00:05:24 (1 sec)

Sean Hannity

00:05:24 - 00:05:33 (9 sec)

And I don't think you've actually really explained, there is a real trial going on in the state of New York right now. Am I wrong on that?

Donald Trump

00:05:33 - 00:05:53 (20 sec)

Well, we had 10,000 units supplied and approved. And, you know, it's a lot. And people have been taking it now for a day and a half. And we haven't heard bad news. We haven't heard too much news, period. But it's a little early. But we're going to probably know. And again, you know, maybe it won't work. But we're going to give it a good shot.

Donald Trump

00:05:53 - 00:06:09 (16 sec)

And why would we wait? Normally, this process would take two years to get it approved, even though it's out there in terms of malaria. You know, it's out for a different reason. But we have reason to believe, you know, you've seen the same tests. I've seen tests in, you know, in France and other places, Italy.

Donald Trump

00:06:09 - 00:06:28 (19 sec)

So, we have to see whether or not it works. If you were a betting man, I guess you'd have to bet against it. But a lot of people are saying this could be a big answer. In addition to that, Gilead and others are making some incredible things that we are going to find -- it's going to be a question of how fast, when.

Donald Trump

00:06:28 - 00:06:47 (19 sec)

But we've -- there are some incredible things that are going on right now. Now, the vaccine is going really well. But for the vaccine, you need about a year, at least a year of testing because, you know, you can't put things into somebody's body by the thousands and then if it's dangerous. So, for that one, we're going to need testing, a longer period of testing.

Donald Trump

00:06:47 - 00:06:50 (3 sec)

But they're making tremendous progress, incredible progress.

Sean Hannity

00:06:50 - 00:06:59 (9 sec)

Yes. And, Dr. Oz has been putting on doctors that have been prescribing off use hydrochloroquine and Zithromax.

Donald Trump

00:06:59 - 00:07:00 (0 sec)

Sean Hannity

00:07:00 - 00:07:24 (25 sec)

And patients that used it, miraculous turnarounds, incredible. I'll say, anecdotal -- and I understand Dr. Fauci would love a two-year study, so would I, so would everybody. But if we could save lives now and the right to try for me is a freedom we should have and I know you've made that law. What have you -- what are your doctor, your experts, the surgeon general, Dr. Fauci and everybody else telling you about convalescent plasma?

Sean Hannity

00:07:24 - 00:07:32 (7 sec)

People have the disease. They get over the disease. They have antibodies to the disease. They extract the plasma --

Donald Trump

00:07:32 - 00:07:33 (1 sec)

Sean Hannity

00:07:33 - 00:07:37 (5 sec)

-- and then they infuse it into a very sick patient. What are -- what are you hearing about it?

Donald Trump

00:07:37 - 00:07:55 (18 sec)

Well, there's really positive things. I think you're seeing what I'm seeing -- some incredibly positive things. And it's, you know, affecting the immune system and lots of other elements are at work. And, you know, these are all game changers, by the way, Sean. This is -- you know, this -- this really solves a problem.

Donald Trump

00:07:55 - 00:08:17 (21 sec)

I mean, getting the vaccine is important. But if we could do something -- like as an example, if we had something therapeutically where one of these numerous items that we're testing right now, I mean, literally testing it right now, if any of this work, this is a game changer. And, you know, there's no risk when it's already out there in a different form for a different purpose.

Donald Trump

00:08:17 - 00:08:40 (23 sec)

So, we're going to see how it all comes out and we're very -- it just started. So, you will probably know before me, OK, because you know all of these things and you -- you really were up on it. But you've also seen some of the other things. Aside from that, you've seen some -- some incredible potential from other medicines and we hope -- we hope we're going to be able to find it quickly.

Sean Hannity

00:08:40 - 00:09:05 (25 sec)

You know, you were very gracious to your predecessors today in a press conference because we now know after the 2009-2010 H1N1 virus, in that particular case -- well, the HHS secretary did declare it an emergency 11 days in. It was a pandemic. It's -- we didn't do about it in April. Pandemic in June. It wasn't until late October -- we had 1,000 dead Americans.

Sean Hannity

00:09:05 - 00:09:27 (22 sec)

We had tens of thousands Americans contracted in. Ultimately, 60.8 million Americans contracted it, hundreds of thousands hospitalized. I never saw not only a government response like this but the media, they praised President Obama's declaration six months after they identified it. And there was never a travel ban.

Donald Trump

00:09:27 - 00:09:35 (8 sec)

Well, the H1N1 which -- Joe Biden, as you know, he calls it the N1H1, but, you know, I don't know if that's a big deal. [Laughter]

Donald Trump

00:09:35 - 00:09:57 (22 sec)

But it's H1N1, the swine flu -- it's really known as swine flu. As you probably heard, 17,000 people died. And most people don't even remember anything happening. You know, you see what's going on now, you're not going to be forgetting about this. We closed things up, we had no choice. It's pretty vicious out there.

Donald Trump

00:09:57 - 00:10:05 (8 sec)

But the H1N1, the Swine Flu, people don't even remember it but it killed 17,000 people. That's a lot of people. A lot.

Sean Hannity

00:10:05 - 00:10:09 (4 sec)

Well, worldwide it was -- worldwide, it was almost 600,000 -- [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:10:09 - 00:10:13 (4 sec)

-- in this country. Yes, in this country, it was 17,000.

Sean Hannity

00:10:13 - 00:10:14 (1 sec)

Yes, you're right.

Donald Trump

00:10:14 - 00:10:42 (28 sec)

Yes, 17,000 people. So that's, you know, they -- they acted very, very late. They were incredibly late and the news, the media, I won't be a wise guy on your show and call it what a lot of people know it is. It's so unfair. It's so unfair. If we could only have a fair media in this country, our country would be an even place to be. But the -- the media did nothing to criticize anybody.

Donald Trump

00:10:42 - 00:10:58 (16 sec)

But I'll tell you a lot of people are giving us great marks. You look at the Gallup polls and all the different polls that are coming out, we're really being given good marks for what's happening. This is a -- a very unique time in life to see -- to see what's going on Sean. Very, very terrible thing.

Sean Hannity

00:10:58 - 00:11:13 (15 sec)

I -- I -- I heard a question and I -- I think I know you well enough. I've known you for 25 years or so. You asked a question, what number of deaths is acceptable to you? And you said, none, zero. None.

Donald Trump

00:11:13 - 00:11:13 (0 sec)

Sean Hannity

00:11:13 - 00:11:17 (4 sec)

And I want to -- I'm going to scroll. You know I'm big on my lists. I'm a list person.

Donald Trump

00:11:17 - 00:11:17 (0 sec)

Sean Hannity

00:11:17 - 00:11:43 (26 sec)

And all the things that you have done starting with the national emergency and -- and we mentioned obviously what you did with the travel ban. As you -- and -- it's -- it's on delay for you. But is there anything else that you can think of that you could have done that maybe -- or maybe could have done better and -- and how do you feel about where we are now if the pattern doesn't hold?

Sean Hannity

00:11:43 - 00:12:07 (24 sec)

Because in China and in South Korea, we see the rapid rise in -- in people contracting it and it -- and it gets scarier and scarier, scarier then it plateaus, levels off and then it drops -- a precipitous drop. Do your scientists believe that that will happen? Is there anything we can do to make that happen faster so we can save lives and people don't get this virus?

Donald Trump

00:12:07 - 00:12:23 (17 sec)

Well, we did the ban from China. But you remember we did also a ban very, very early from Italy. That was another one. We were hearing bad reports. And a lot of people were dying in Italy. And I did a ban to Italy and especially certain areas in Italy. And then I did the ban to Europe where I took a lot of hell.

Donald Trump

00:12:23 - 00:12:44 (21 sec)

And then we did ultimately the U.K. and Ireland and, you know, we did the rest of it. That was separate from the European Union as you know. And we had to do that because they started building up. In fact, they're, you know, they're building up quite a bit now unfortunately. So we had to do it with the U.K. And -- and we did that.

Donald Trump

00:12:44 - 00:13:01 (17 sec)

And it was, you know, something that by that time and that was very early. By that time, I felt -- I felt very confident we were doing the right thing. And we did the right thing. Otherwise, you would have a lot of people from Italy coming in and then you see what's going on in Italy. And it's -- it's an incredible thing.

Donald Trump

00:13:01 - 00:13:21 (20 sec)

You know, when we did the ban over here a lot of the people went to Italy. They went to Italy and Spain, a lot of the people from China. But you see exactly what's -- what's gone on. Now, I think that we inherited a broken system from the previous administrations, not just one. And it was very broken. It was a system of -- of tests.

Donald Trump

00:13:21 - 00:13:47 (26 sec)

But Sean it wasn't -- it wasn't for millions of people like we're talking about. It was a bad system for millions of people. It was OK. The CDC, it was OK for small numbers. But we're talking about something that hasn't been seen for many, many years. This hasn't been seen for decades. I don't know maybe, you know, the big one was 1917. And that was the worst by far.

Donald Trump

00:13:47 - 00:14:00 (13 sec)

That was a vicious -- that was the Spanish Flu they call it. And that was - - that was -- there was really nothing like that. What that did to Europe, that wiped out vast sections of Europe and a big -- a big chunk of the United States, too. That was the worst.

Sean Hannity

00:14:00 - 00:14:14 (14 sec)

I want to -- you know, you've been asked a lot of questions in recent days about the Defense Production Act. I -- I -- why I'm saying this, you know, I -- I do think that, you know, bad times often brings out the worst in a few, the price gougers, the hoarders.

Donald Trump

00:14:14 - 00:14:14 (0 sec)

Sean Hannity

00:14:14 - 00:14:36 (23 sec)

With all due respect, the Democrats playing games and holding up this bill for a week really ticked me off. You -- you were more gracious than me. But I'll put that aside for a minute, but all these businesses -- I'm going to scroll on the screen -- stepped up and offered to help and you said that you have not had to you -- enforce the Defense Production Act except for two minor cases.

Sean Hannity

00:14:36 - 00:14:43 (6 sec)

You didn't want to talk about it earlier today. Explain and we'll -- these companies that are helping the American people -- explain --

Donald Trump

00:14:43 - 00:14:43 (0 sec)

Sean Hannity

00:14:43 - 00:14:50 (6 sec)

-- this new paradigm of public and private partnerships and drive- up testing and everything that they're doing.

Donald Trump

00:14:50 - 00:15:09 (19 sec)

Well, there's a tremendous esprit de corps, I would say. It's -- it's like incredible what's going on. The spirit, the love of our country and we have something called the Defense Production Act. And it's a very powerful act. It's -- it's incredibly powerful -- I mean, you can do almost anything as president.

Donald Trump

00:15:09 - 00:15:29 (20 sec)

You can demand that they give you whatever you want, I mean all of these things. It's a powerful tool. So I haven't had to use it because like we had Ford step up, General Motors step up, 3M step up. So many companies stepped up. And they're making vast amounts of things. But, you know, when you talk about ventilators, that's sort of like buying a car.

Donald Trump

00:15:29 - 00:15:47 (18 sec)

It's a highly -- it's very expensive. It's a very intricate piece of equipment. You know what it is, heavily computerized. And you know, the good ones are very, very expensive. And you know, they'd say, like Governor Cuomo and others that say we want, you know, 30,000 of them, 30,000. All right. Think of this.

Donald Trump

00:15:47 - 00:16:05 (18 sec)

You know, you go to hospitals, they'll have one in a hospital. And now, all of a sudden everybody's asking for these vast numbers. So -- but we have now companies stepping up and they're building them. They're doing the masks. We've already delivered millions and millions of masks. But remember, we're really a second line of attack.

Donald Trump

00:16:05 - 00:16:24 (19 sec)

The first line of attack is supposed to be the hospitals and the local government and the states, the states themselves. I mean, we people like Governor Inslee. He should be doing more. He shouldn't be relying on the federal government. Governor Inslee, that's the state of Washington. He was a failed presidential candidate.

Donald Trump

00:16:24 - 00:16:42 (18 sec)

And you know, he's always complaining. And your governor of Michigan, I mean, she's not stepping up. I don't know if she knows what's going on. But all she does is sit there and blame the Federal government. She doesn't get it done. And we send her a lot. Now she wants a declaration of emergency. And you know, we'll have to make a decision on that.

Donald Trump

00:16:42 - 00:17:00 (18 sec)

But Michigan is a very important state. I love the people of Michigan what they do. I'm the one -- I'm bringing back many, many car factories into Michigan. And she is a new governor. And it's not been pleasant. And you know, you look around and you see what's going on. And by the way, most governors have been fantastic.

Donald Trump

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

I have to tell you. Most of them have been -- whether it's Democrat or Republican but we've had a trouble -- we've really had some trouble with the state of Washington. The governor, he's a -- and he ran for president, didn't exactly do well. He got zero. And we've had a big problem with the young, a woman governor from, you know who I'm talking about, from Michigan.

Donald Trump

00:17:20 - 00:17:40 (20 sec)

So we can't, you know, we don't like to see the complaints. And I am getting along with Governor Cuomo. I think that a lot of things are being said that are more. I don't think that certain things will materialize. And you know a lot -- a lot of equipment's being asked for that I don't think they'll need but I'm building.

Donald Trump

00:17:40 - 00:18:00 (20 sec)

You know, we're building four hospitals, four medical centers and many other things we've developed and sent thousands of -- thousands of ventilators. And hopefully, they're going to do well but you know you have decide - - this has to be managed by local government and by the governors. It can't be managed by the federal government.

Donald Trump

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

With that being said, we inherited a largely empty, you know, you'd call it a chain or to just think of it as a big monster warehouses all over the country. But it was largely -- again it was a broken -- it was a broken chain. And we're filling it up and we fill it up very strongly. And we deliver the equipment.

Donald Trump

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

And a lot of the times, we have them go directly to the states. So we're really helping the governors. We had a call today where almost every governor, just about -- I would say all 50, just about, and it was like a love fest. They were so happy with the job we're doing. But they are that front attack because they're there.

Donald Trump

00:18:37 - 00:18:58 (21 sec)

Now, in the case of New York, in the case of Louisiana, where you have a very good Governor, John Bel Edwards but he's a Democrat and he's very thankful for what we're doing. We're doing a hospital for him. We're building -- these are sort of portable hospitals. But they're incredible, I mean, when you see them go up. And it's FEMA and it's the Army Corps of Engineers and they are incredible people.

Donald Trump

00:18:58 - 00:19:01 (3 sec)

They can't get enough credit for the job they do.

Sean Hannity

00:19:01 - 00:19:26 (25 sec)

Yes, well, and I was kind of angry at Andrew Cuomo. I had a great -- I had him on radio for 40 minutes, great conversation. I grew up in -- I was born and raised in New York. And then it's I need 30,000 ventilators. And I'm like OK, it really -- it was annoying me. Before I get to the things I don't like in last night's bill and most -- a lot of it got taken out thankfully but, I want to -- and rather than reading everything that's in it, I'm going to scroll.

Sean Hannity

00:19:26 - 00:19:27 (1 sec)

I love lists. You know that.

Donald Trump

00:19:27 - 00:19:27 (0 sec)

Sean Hannity

00:19:27 - 00:19:44 (17 sec)

The good things in the bill -- good in the sense that we're going to help hospital workers. We're going to help workers. We're going to help small business. We're going to help the cruise line industry, the airline industry. Tell us what -- what you like about this. It's unprecedented. We've never spent this kind of money before.

Donald Trump

00:19:44 - 00:20:05 (22 sec)

Well, as an example, the workers are going to get $3,000 for a family of four. They're going to get all sorts of things that they, frankly, in many cases, they wouldn't have even gotten if they had the job, if they didn't have to go through this hell. And it's -- it's a wonderful thing. The problem is -- and you see it all right there, right, in front.

Donald Trump

00:20:05 - 00:20:28 (22 sec)

The problem we have is that it's very, very painful dealing with the Democrats because they ask for things that they've been trying to get for 10 years that we don't want to give but if we don't get them -- give it, we don't get the $2 trillion that gets sent out to people, the workers, and we don't get the $2 trillion that's going to really save companies.

Donald Trump

00:20:28 - 00:20:44 (16 sec)

We have -- a lot of this money is going to save Boeing. It's going to save the airline industry. And, you know, that means not only does it mean what it says, it also means tremendous jobs. We can't let Boeing go. You know, Boeing had a problem, big one to start off with, and on top of it, this happened.

Donald Trump

00:20:44 - 00:21:07 (23 sec)

And we'll save Boeing and we'll save the airlines and we'll save other companies. We have companies that were virtually AAA. And, all of a sudden, you're loaning them money. You can call it a bridge loan, a short loan, to get over it. In all cases, we intend getting the money back, getting interest, and in many cases, some cases, issuing what they call warrants.

Donald Trump

00:21:07 - 00:21:32 (25 sec)

We'll get pieces of the company, large pieces of the company. And that will come back and inure it to the benefit of U.S. taxpayers. I mean, it's going to be great. It's a great thing. So, we had to give up things that, you know, you just -- instead of just saying let's do what's right, which is taking care of the workers and making sure these companies don't go out of business, you could never start them again if the airlines -- you're never going to be able to start.

Donald Trump

00:21:32 - 00:21:44 (12 sec)

It's like a -- it's a very difficult thing with the Democrats. So, we end up giving them something for Kennedy Center. We end up giving them something for far worse than that. Look, say what you want about Kennedy Center.

Sean Hannity

00:21:44 - 00:21:46 (2 sec)

Well, I'll scroll that. I'll scroll that. I'm going to put -- [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:21:46 - 00:21:53 (7 sec)

Because, you know, the Kennedy Center got hit hard. I mean, there are too many people watching, I said today, Romeo and Juliet, OK? You know --

Sean Hannity

00:21:53 - 00:21:53 (0 sec)

Donald Trump

00:21:53 - 00:22:22 (29 sec)

-- you can't pretty much go in because of the -- what's going on with the virus. But beyond -- far beyond Kennedy Center, we give things that we don't want to give. You know what I'm talking about, you have them up on your screen. But you have to in order to get. We cut out and you just said it better than anybody, over the last two days, we cut out much of it. If you would have seen some of the things we were giving up and it's a shame that we can't just sit down and easily -- it's always like such a big deal.

Donald Trump

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

I mean, it went on and on and on, late into the night, every night, and this could've been done quickly in one day. The bottom line is, we got a 96-0 vote. And I think all of the senators that weren't there were -- they were in quarantine. In the case of Rand Paul, a good guy, by the way, he actually has this problem.

Donald Trump

00:22:42 - 00:22:45 (3 sec)

And I'm sure he'll be all right. I spoke to him today.

Sean Hannity

00:22:45 - 00:22:56 (12 sec)

That's good news for the senator. And, by the way, and people are saying you were joking about Mitt Romney. You want everybody to get well, I'm assuming. I know you did. [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:22:56 - 00:22:58 (2 sec)

Well, I'm not a fan of Mitt Romney.

Sean Hannity

00:22:58 - 00:22:59 (1 sec)

I'm not either. [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:22:59 - 00:23:03 (4 sec)

I don't understand Mitt Romney. I'm not a fan but, of course, I want him to get well, absolutely.

Sean Hannity

00:23:03 - 00:23:11 (8 sec)

Yes, we do. All right. Let me ask you this. And I scrolled the bad stuff -- I'm more angry than you are, but that's -- it's more important we focus on the solutions.

Donald Trump

00:23:11 - 00:23:12 (0 sec)

Sean Hannity

00:23:12 - 00:23:35 (23 sec)

So, we look at the unemployment claims today. It's -- the number is scary. I mean, 3.3 million -- it's not surprising, but it's scary. We've watched, as I mentioned earlier -- China, South Korea, you get quickly all -- scary, scary numbers, people contracting the disease, scary, scary numbers, with all sorts of things.

Sean Hannity

00:23:35 - 00:23:48 (14 sec)

And, all of a sudden, if the pattern holds, then it levels and it drops down completely, and then there's no more new cases. Are your doctors telling you every day they expect that to happen here?

Donald Trump

00:23:48 - 00:24:06 (18 sec)

Well, I think we do. I mean, whether you have doctors or not. You know, I'm looking forward to that day when it levels out and then goes down. And I think we're going to have a tremendous bounce. Look at the stock market today. I think we set a three-day record. We set a one-day record yesterday. Today, we almost set it again.

Donald Trump

00:24:06 - 00:24:24 (17 sec)

I mean, you know, the stock market has gone up tremendously over the last few days. And I think it's for two reasons, because they know that I am one that wants to get everybody back working. You know, that was important. People were saying, yes, it will take three or four or five months. And everybody said, three or four months?

Donald Trump

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

You know, our country is not designed for that. And our people aren't designed -- we're not engineered for that, Sean. We're -- everybody wants to go back to work. So, you know, people -- they own a restaurant. They can't keep their restaurant closed for months. By the way, the sooner we go back, the better the lift that we're going to get.

Donald Trump

00:24:39 - 00:24:53 (14 sec)

I think we are going to have a bounce like maybe you've never seen. I just think there's so much pent-up demand. But we have to get rid of this. Now, there's a possibility I'll do it in quadrants, in pieces, in -- you know, you'll take --

Sean Hannity

00:24:53 - 00:24:54 (2 sec)

Can you explain that?

Donald Trump

00:24:54 - 00:25:15 (20 sec)

You'll -- well, yes, you'll take the Farm Belt. You'll take certain states that aren't badly impacted, you know, where they have almost none or they have just a little bit. You take a look at -- you know, some of these great states in like Iowa, you take a look at Idaho and you take a look at Nebraska, where they have a great medical facility, by the way, even for this.

Donald Trump

00:25:15 - 00:25:36 (21 sec)

And you take a look at some states, a big portion -- I mean, they all have a little bit, but many of them have just a little bit. And they have it under control, their incredible governors, their incredible senators. And they're watching it and they are very well-run. And they have it under control. They immediately put the people in quarantine.

Donald Trump

00:25:36 - 00:25:57 (22 sec)

So -- you know, so you do that. New York is a bigger deal. But it's going to go also. But I have a feeling that a lot of the numbers that are being said in some areas are just bigger than they're going to be. I don't believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators. You know, you're going to major hospitals sometimes, they'll have two ventilators.

Donald Trump

00:25:57 - 00:26:18 (20 sec)

And now, all of a sudden, they're saying, can we order 30,000 ventilators? So, look, it's a very bad situation. We haven't seen anything like it. But the end result is we've got to get back to work. And I think we can start by opening up certain parts of the country, you know, the Farm Belt, certain parts of the Midwest, other -- other places.

Donald Trump

00:26:18 - 00:26:43 (26 sec)

But I think that -- as an example, you go to Texas, there are places in Texas, great Governor, Greg Abbott, there are places where, you know, it's a tremendously big state, that aren't impacted by this. So I think we can open up sections, quadrants and then just keep them going until the whole country is opened up. But we have to open up. The people want to get back to work.

Donald Trump

00:26:43 - 00:26:48 (5 sec)

They want to get back. That's the way we're engineered.

Sean Hannity

00:26:48 - 00:27:06 (18 sec)

I'll still -- let me go back to Governor Cuomo, when you -- you know, I really did have, for the first time, he's ever done on my show. We had a good 40 minutes on air. And I think he's been -- in many ways, he's done a good job in New York. But then he always reverts back to whatever. I'll put up on the screen all the things you did for New York.

Sean Hannity

00:27:06 - 00:27:31 (25 sec)

And there's one thing that I noticed. And I don't know, maybe this is uniquely you, but I don't think people really truly understand. Where do you think we would have been if the travel ban wasn't in effect? Where would we have been if 10 days after the first case -- I think that one decision was probably the best from the beginning.

Sean Hannity

00:27:31 - 00:27:55 (24 sec)

But I don't hear anybody on the other side of the aisle say, you know, I don't like Donald Trump. But that was a smart idea, probably not only bought us time, probably saved tens of thousands of Americans from contracting the disease. That was a good call. I mean, are we that divided as a country, you can't acknowledge -- or you kill Soleimani, you can't acknowledge killing Soleimani, state -- leading state sponsor of terror, Iran.

Sean Hannity

00:27:55 - 00:28:01 (6 sec)

He leads the state sponsor of terror. He killed Americans in Iraq. The divide is pretty intense.

Donald Trump

00:28:01 - 00:28:19 (17 sec)

Well, you don't hear it too much. You'll hear it from Republicans. You'll hear it from some Democrats. But, no, we would have had tremendous deaths, tremendous, tremendous deaths had we not acted early. And our country is getting great credit for that, you know? Forget me, our country is getting great, but it was a good decision.

Donald Trump

00:28:19 - 00:28:33 (14 sec)

Hey, when I made it, I was -- I was saying this is a big -- that's a big decision. You cut off China and the people coming in. And you're talking about tens of thousands of people. No, we would have had deaths all over the place, Sean. You know that.

Sean Hannity

00:28:33 - 00:28:48 (15 sec)

Let me go -- early on, I remember somebody asked a question about how your younger son -- I know you -- I know your family, I know your older kids. I've met your younger son. He's a very -- he's a wonderful kid, very polite, nice, funny --

Donald Trump

00:28:48 - 00:28:49 (1 sec)

Sean Hannity

00:28:49 - 00:29:10 (21 sec)

-- and smart. And you said, he -- you asked, what are you telling him about it, and you said it's bad. Where is he now? How does he feel about it? And what do you to those Americans that they see the headlines, they read the worst of the worst. You've got death counts on TV, you almost -- 24/7 or contracting the disease.

Sean Hannity

00:29:10 - 00:29:16 (6 sec)

What do you say to Americans that are very, very concerned, worried, even fearful --

Donald Trump

00:29:16 - 00:29:16 (1 sec)

Sean Hannity

00:29:16 - 00:29:18 (2 sec)

Donald Trump

00:29:18 - 00:29:44 (26 sec)

Well, as anybody that's a parent knows, he's -- he's a wonderful young boy. And I have wonderful kids. But the others are old enough, they can see and they can see for themselves. But it's very hard talking about a thing like this because it's -- you know, it's so negative, it's so -- it's -- you know, it's death, and you don't -- you don't like discussing it, and, you know, you hope they can always handle it in some way.

Donald Trump

00:29:44 - 00:30:09 (25 sec)

But, you know, people are -- they grow up and nobody -- nobody -- there's not been anything like this in this country. Now, swine flu was pretty bad, but it wasn't -- it wasn't to the extent of this. I -- I think you probably have to go back a long ways to go to this one. You know, who would think when I -- I read about the -- I've read about the Spanish Flu, that was 1917 which killed anywhere from they say 75 to 100 million people.

Donald Trump

00:30:09 - 00:30:31 (22 sec)

And it was devastating. And it was also if you had it, you had a very good percentage of not making it. You know, it was -- it was really something. Now one thing that I can say that is really good, the mortality rate is much, much better in our way than I was -- than people were thinking in the beginning because you were hearing three, four, five percent.

Donald Trump

00:30:31 - 00:31:02 (31 sec)

And now, with all of the testing and all of the things -- and we've now established great testing. That's one thing I can also tell you. That's a big -- that's really a big achievement. We're -- we're testing -- we've tested now more than anybody. But with all of the -- all of the testing with all of the cases, we're now -- and you have to remember, if somebody's sick they're going to the doctor therefore it gets reported bad things can happen to that person, tut there are thousands and thousands of people, hundreds of thousands of people, millions where they have it and they don't go to a doctor because it's not that bad.

Donald Trump

00:31:02 - 00:31:21 (19 sec)

They have a cold. They have the sniffles. In some cases, they have nothing. They have it. But they literally don't have anything. So when you look at that and then you see the people who die, you take a look at the people. You know, I think you're talking about very significantly under one percent. And I thin that's a tremendous -- that's a tremendous thing.

Donald Trump

00:31:21 - 00:31:40 (18 sec)

Now, the flu we lose, you know, thousands of people a year to the flu. But that number is very, very much under one percent. It's, you know, it's one- tenth of one percent. So this number would be higher. But I think that's a big positive because when this started people were talking about three, four and five percent.

Donald Trump

00:31:40 - 00:31:58 (18 sec)

Now, they're seeing that and it's through the testing but they're seeing that it looks like it's substantially below. I think it's substantially below one percent, because the people don't report. The only people that report are the people that are really feeling sick. And those are the ones that unfortunately sometimes don't make it.

Sean Hannity

00:31:58 - 00:32:21 (23 sec)

Let me ask you in 222 days Mr. President, there will be an election in this country. It looks like it will be Joe Biden on the other side. I'm not sure if you've had an opportunity to watch his, well let's say his technically struggling, candidate struggling whatever he's doing. Today, he said, we hold these truths, et cetera.

Sean Hannity

00:32:21 - 00:32:41 (21 sec)

That's after, of course, he -- we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men and women are created by -- by the thing -- the thing. Are you watching it? And what is your analysis of the things he's saying and seems to be rather forgetful and doesn't seem to have a lot of stamina and doesn't seem to be -- I say it on this show.

Sean Hannity

00:32:41 - 00:32:46 (5 sec)

I say he doesn't seem to have a fastball if he ever had one and his slow pitch seems to be slower than ever.

Donald Trump

00:32:46 - 00:33:07 (21 sec)

Well, you know, I -- I -- I understand what you're saying. But to be honest I watch his debate. I'll shock you by saying this, right. I watched him debating Bernie. And it was pretty much of an even debate. He was not bad at all. And, you know, Bernie's not a bad debater. He's in there. He's got a lot of ranting and raving and, you know, let's give everything away.

Donald Trump

00:33:07 - 00:33:08 (1 sec)

But Bernie is not a bad debater.

Sean Hannity

00:33:08 - 00:33:10 (2 sec)

Everything's free.

Donald Trump

00:33:10 - 00:33:27 (17 sec)

He's been a pretty good debater over the years, Bernie. And I thought that that was, you know, one of his best nights. So I don't want to really say negative -- look I'd rather just run against him. I think I want to run on my record. I want to go against somebody else. And we'll see what happens. He's still got -- it's a long time before you get there.

Donald Trump

00:33:27 - 00:33:44 (17 sec)

That will be quite a bit of time. We're going to have our convention. You know, we have our convention in North Carolina in Charlotte. And we are, you know, definitely planning it. It's toward the end of August. And somebody was asking today, will you cancel the convention. I said, no way I'm going to cancel the convention.

Donald Trump

00:33:44 - 00:34:01 (17 sec)

We're not going to cancel it. It's going to be incredible. And I don't know what the Democrats are going to do. The advantage is, the winner gets to choose the time of the convention. So I could go first or I could go last. Going last is much better because when you go first, and then they do it. So going last is much better.

Donald Trump

00:34:01 - 00:34:19 (18 sec)

And we chose the second date. So we're quite a bit later than them which I think is good. So we're at the end of August. And I think we're going to be in great shape long before there. And I don't know what they're going to do. They come up sooner. They're in Milwaukee, a great place. So if they don't do it, maybe I'll do a speech there or something.

Donald Trump

00:34:19 - 00:34:27 (8 sec)

We'll do a rally in Milwaukee where they were going to be. But they announced today, I think it's -- it's maybe unlikely that they're going to do a convention but that's up to them.

Sean Hannity

00:34:27 - 00:34:37 (9 sec)

You said that you will be speaking tonight a half hour after this program, 10:30 Eastern, 7:30 Pacific with President Xi of China.

Donald Trump

00:34:37 - 00:34:37 (0 sec)

Sean Hannity

00:34:37 - 00:34:56 (19 sec)

We know this now as a fact. It's indisputable. They hid it. They lied about it. Mike Pompeo said China is still not being forthcoming, even went further. He also said Russia's not being forthcoming and Iran. We know the conspiracy theory that they've been pushing in -- in China against the United States.

Sean Hannity

00:34:56 - 00:35:13 (17 sec)

I know you -- you've said it different times you get along with President Xi. You have this new -- first part of this trade deal, $220 billion in two years. What do you -- what are you going to say about him and withholding information and -- and moving forward, why did they lie to us?

Donald Trump

00:35:13 - 00:35:31 (17 sec)

Well, let's go back. First of all, you mentioned Russia, Russia's looking like they're having quite a bit of a problem and people weren't bringing that up with the whole thing with the virus. Iran, we know about that. That's been really, really bad. And we've offered -- offered them assistance. We have the greatest in the world.

Donald Trump

00:35:31 - 00:35:47 (16 sec)

We have the greatest people at this kind of thing in the world. And with China, they said that some of our soldiers caused the problems. We're saying what soldiers? What are you talking about? It wasn't by him, I don't believe. But nevertheless, it got out there and I started calling it the Chinese virus.

Donald Trump

00:35:47 - 00:36:03 (16 sec)

And everybody picked it up. And, you know, I'm not looking to do that. Look, it's better to have a good relationship. We have a great trade deal now, finally after many, many years. Should have been done by Obama, and by the way, previous administrations because nobody, nobody has ripped this country like China.

Donald Trump

00:36:03 - 00:36:26 (23 sec)

You know, we were losing 4, 5 more than that $550 billion a year, every year to China. And this went back many, many years. So we now have a great piece of the trade deal. Now we'll start phase two. And that will be great, too. And we're taking in billions and billions of dollars a year in tariffs. And they're paying for it because they devalued their currency and other things.

Donald Trump

00:36:26 - 00:36:40 (13 sec)

So I, you know, let's get along with China. Let's get along with Russia. If we can, we'll see if we can do something with Iran. We'll see. I mean, I think they want to make a deal. I think they -- if they don't they -- they've got a problem. But we'll see what happens. And --

Sean Hannity

00:36:40 - 00:36:41 (1 sec)

And you would --

Donald Trump

00:36:41 - 00:36:45 (4 sec)

-- when President Obama made that deal, it was one of the worst deals I've ever seen.

Sean Hannity

00:36:45 - 00:36:52 (7 sec)

You would help Iran if they would allow help with the virus. Secretary of State Pompeo said that.

Donald Trump

00:36:52 - 00:37:13 (20 sec)

Yes, we've offered -- we've offered many countries including North Korea, including Iran, if they -- I think it's the appropriate thing to do. And we'll see what happens. Look, we're going to see what happens with Iran. And I think they want to meet. I think they want to make a deal. I think John Kerry shouldn't have been speaking -- that's called the violation of the Logan Act.

Donald Trump

00:37:13 - 00:37:30 (18 sec)

But John Kerry has been speaking to them probably saying wait until after the election. Maybe you'll be dealing with Sleepy Joe. And you can make any deal you want. Same thing with China. Maybe China's saying look. Let's wait until the election's over and maybe we'll be dealing with a guy whose son walked out with $1.5 million to manage.

Sean Hannity

00:37:30 - 00:37:46 (16 sec)

Can I ask you -- there's been a lot of speculation. I watch you're entire medical team during the task force meetings. Dr. Fauci, I think, has served six presidents. You -- you have some of the best. There is no -- is there a conflict I'll ask you with either Dr. Fauci or anybody else -- [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:37:46 - 00:38:07 (21 sec)

No, I get along with him great. I get along with Deborah fantastically. I -- I get along with -- look we're all in this together. This is not a question of that. And I get along with most of the governors. I don't like it, though, when some governors, I mean, I mentioned two of them but some of these governors, you know, they -- they take, take, take and then they complain.

Donald Trump

00:38:07 - 00:38:25 (17 sec)

They take and you do a great job. You build them a hospital. You do other -- and then they're always complaining. So I don't like that. But generally speaking, I get along -- I'm getting along actually very well with Governor Cuomo. You know, we have a boat -- we have a ship going there. And it was supposed to be in four weeks.

Donald Trump

00:38:25 - 00:38:44 (20 sec)

It's leaving now on Saturday. We were able to move it up. It's stocked up with supplies. It's a great ship. And, you know, it's a hospital ship. And it's leaving Virginia on Saturday. And it's going to get to New York on Monday. It's going to be docked in New York Harbor and you know this is a tremendous -- they're warships.

Donald Trump

00:38:44 - 00:38:52 (8 sec)

These are ships that take care of the soldiers in battles. And they are big and powerful. And it will be up there, instead of in three weeks, it will be up there on Monday.

Sean Hannity

00:38:52 - 00:39:09 (17 sec)

How do people that are around you and I -- I -- you see people kind of spread out to stage and we have a little less than a minute here and then the First Lady in particular. I think she could say almost on a regular basis that her approval ratings are higher than yours. Is that a problem in the family?

Donald Trump

00:39:09 - 00:39:20 (11 sec)

I think they are. She's doing a great job. People love her. Every time I make a speech or have a rally, they have signs, we love our First Lady. No, she's doing a fantastic job, Sean. You know that.

Sean Hannity

00:39:20 - 00:39:31 (12 sec)

Yes. Well I know, Mr. President -- I know you've been busy. I know it's up late. And I know you've been working hard. Our goal -- my goal is that every American -- we want to save lives in the interim. We want to get a permanent solution.

Donald Trump

00:39:31 - 00:39:32 (0 sec)

Sean Hannity

00:39:32 - 00:39:38 (6 sec)

Thank you for taking the time to spend with our audience and -- and hopefully we can get this passed as quickly as possible. Thank you, sir.

Donald Trump

00:39:38 - 00:39:41 (3 sec)

Yes, It's an honor. Thank you very much, Sean. Thank you.

Sean Hannity

00:39:41 - 00:39:43 (2 sec)

All right. Thank you, Mr. President.