Transcript - Interview: Laura Ingraham Interviews Donald Trump on Fox's The Ingraham Angle - January 10, 2020 | Factba.se

Note

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

[This interview was transcribed by Fox News and confirmed by Factba.se. Interview is courtesy of Fox News Channel's The Ingraham Angle.]

Laura Ingraham

00:00:00 - 00:00:03 (4 sec)

Mr. President, thanks so much for being with us tonight.

Donald Trump

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

Thank you, Laura.

Laura Ingraham

00:00:05 - 00:00:31 (27 sec)

Today, Mike Pompeo gave a very forceful press conference on the fallout from the Iranian jetliner going down. His concern is that people aren't understanding the imminent nature of the threat of Soleimani, and he was pressed on that today. He said there were large-scale attacks planned on U.S. facilities, but he didn't go more specific.

Laura Ingraham

00:00:31 - 00:00:37 (6 sec)

Don't the American people have the right to know what specifically was targeted without revealing methods and sources?

Donald Trump

00:00:37 - 00:00:57 (19 sec)

Well, I don't think so, but we will tell you that probably it was going to be the embassy in Baghdad. You saw that happening. You saw with all of the men, very few women, circling it and circling it very strongly and very viciously, knocking out windows and trying to get and they were close to getting in, and I called out the military.

Donald Trump

00:00:57 - 00:01:13 (16 sec)

They said we'll have it there tomorrow. I said, nope, you'll have it there today. We're not going to have another Benghazi on our hands. And we did a really amazing job. I get no credit for it, but we never get credit for anything, and that's OK. In the meantime, we have the greatest economy we've ever had, a lot of other things.

Donald Trump

00:01:13 - 00:01:29 (17 sec)

But I think you would have had another Benghazi had we not acted quickly. That could have been stopped, and this was stopped. And we had our Apaches going there, the great helicopters, and they were dropping flares all over the place, and a lot of things were happening. They had acted real fast and everybody disappeared.

Donald Trump

00:01:29 - 00:01:29 (0 sec)

But -- [Crosstalk]

Laura Ingraham

00:01:29 - 00:01:39 (10 sec)

Did they have large scale attacks planned for other embassies? And if those were planned, why can't we reveal that to the American people. Wouldn't that help your case?

Donald Trump

00:01:39 - 00:01:58 (19 sec)

I can reveal that I believe it would have been four embassies. And I think that probably Baghdad already started. They were really amazed that we came in with that kind of a force. We came in with very powerful force and drove them out. That ended almost immediately. But Baghdad certainly would've been the lead.

Donald Trump

00:01:58 - 00:02:06 (8 sec)

But I think it would've been four embassies that had been military bases -- could've been a lot of other things too, but it was imminent. And then all of a sudden he was gone.

Laura Ingraham

00:02:06 - 00:02:23 (17 sec)

Why is Nancy Pelosi describing her briefing as dismissive and disdainful? Mike Lee said it was insulting, the Intel briefing. What wasn't said to mollify the concerns of some of your strongest supporters like Mike Lee?

Donald Trump

00:02:23 - 00:02:38 (15 sec)

Yes, he is a great supporter. He's a friend of mine. He called me just a little while ago and he said I just wanted to get some more information. And he was -- look, I have also had calls from some of the senators; some of the congressmen said it was the single best briefing. One person said they have been there for 10 years.

Donald Trump

00:02:38 - 00:02:56 (18 sec)

It's the single best briefing they've ever had. One said 20 years, the single best military briefing they've ever had. I understand what Mike had, Mike wanted certain things said and we just couldn't say and we could probably say maybe individually to him. And he's certainly a trustworthy person.

Laura Ingraham

00:02:56 - 00:03:05 (9 sec)

Are you worried that the Democrats can't be trusted with classified information? Because that's kind of what it sounded like when Pence gave that interview and talked about sources and methods the other day.

Donald Trump

00:03:05 - 00:03:26 (21 sec)

I am worried about it, certainly. I am worried about it. Can you imagine? Here we are, split-second timing, executed -- like nobody's seen in many, many years -- on Soleimani? Can you imagine they want us to call out and speak to crooked corrupt politician Adam Schiff? Oh, Adam, we have somebody that we've been trying to get for a long time.

Donald Trump

00:03:26 - 00:03:46 (20 sec)

We have a shot at him right now. Could we meet so that we can get your approval, Adam Schiff? And he'd say, well, let's do it in a couple of days. Oh, OK, let's wait a couple -- it doesn't work that way, number one. Number two, they leak. Anything we give will be leaked immediately. You'll see breaking news, we're about to attack in 25 minutes or do something.

Donald Trump

00:03:46 - 00:04:06 (20 sec)

And by the way, I'm not somebody that wants to attack. I probably could've attacked 5 times, 10 times having to do with Iran. I've been very guarded because I don't want to do that. But we may have to do something. We have to be in a position where we can do it even from the negotiating standpoint. But hopefully it won't be necessary.

Donald Trump

00:04:06 - 00:04:13 (7 sec)

We have tremendous sanctions. They're doing very poorly. They have riots all over their country. And they can straighten it out easy but it's up to them.

Laura Ingraham

00:04:13 - 00:04:15 (1 sec)

Speaking of sanctions --

Donald Trump

00:04:15 - 00:04:17 (2 sec)

Whatever they want to do.

Laura Ingraham

00:04:17 - 00:04:26 (10 sec)

-- Ilhan Omar I think said today that this is akin to economic warfare against Iran, even though she supports sanctions against Israel.

Donald Trump

00:04:26 - 00:04:47 (21 sec)

Yes. She hates Israel. She hates Jewish people. And you just have to take a look at her rhetoric. It's incredible what's happened to the Democrats in Congress. They used to be supportive of Israel. Today they are supportive of her and Tlaib. That's another real winner, Tlaib, and AOC who knows nothing. AOC knows nothing.

Donald Trump

00:04:47 - 00:05:05 (18 sec)

Poor student, poor everything and then she comes and she talks about the Green New Deal and all these poor fools. Say, oh, isn't it wonderful? Isn't it wonderful? But as I said last night in Ohio, I don't like talking about the Green New Deal. It's too early. I want to save it for about two weeks before because they may change their mind.

Laura Ingraham

00:05:05 - 00:05:13 (8 sec)

Bernie Sanders was out, you're not surprised to hear this, last night discussing Iran, what happened and he basically said this.

Bernie Sanders

00:05:13 - 00:05:33 (20 sec)

[Begin Video Clip] Just as we were led into Vietnam and Iraq by lies, the Trump administration is misleading us on Iran. They have justified the assassination of Qasem Soleimani by claiming that he was planning imminent attacks, and yet they produce no evidence that would justify this claim, not even in a classified setting. [End Video Clip]

Donald Trump

00:05:33 - 00:05:59 (26 sec)

I don't see it happening. We are there for a very, very strong reason. They cannot have nuclear weapons. The Iran nuclear deal signed by President Obama gave them $150 billion, and that's when the real terror started. They took that money and they used it all over the place. You look at Yemen, you look at all of the things that were happening, including Syria, they were using -- I want to say they gave $1.8 billion in cash -- $1.7 billion, $1.8 billion in cash.

Donald Trump

00:05:59 - 00:06:18 (20 sec)

Green cash, beautiful, green cash. You almost say where do they -- how do they have the power to do this? Plane loads of cash -- and instead of Iran saying thank you very much. That's really nice. Let's go and get along. Let's do well. Let's do deals together. Let's build buildings in Iran -- they said death to America and they said it when they were signing.

Donald Trump

00:06:18 - 00:06:21 (3 sec)

When Kerry signed -- and by the way, Kerry violated the Logan Act.

Laura Ingraham

00:06:21 - 00:06:24 (3 sec)

He's out there -- he's out there just slamming you -- [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:06:24 - 00:06:39 (15 sec)

Well, no. He totally violated. This man totally violated the Logan Act with his conversations, OK? But when Kerry was out there and making the deal, and they have people screaming, "Death to America. Death to America," I say, who signs a deal while they're screaming death to America? This was -- [Crosstalk]

Laura Ingraham

00:06:39 - 00:06:55 (17 sec)

Well, they're saying you destabilized the Middle East after campaigning as a man of restraint, non-interventionism. Elizabeth Warren is saying this. Kerry's saying this. All the old Obama folks are out there, Susan Rice. They're all kind of waiting in the wings. They're like, see, he's the guy that we told you he was.

Donald Trump

00:06:55 - 00:07:18 (23 sec)

If you look at the Middle East right now, it's much tamer than it was when I got in. When I got in, it was just all over the place. Number one, we got rid of the caliphate -- the ISIS caliphate. We have tens of thousands of ISIS prisoners. We've killed most of their fighters. We've gotten rid of ISIS. Now, they come back and we take care of it. Other people should take care of it. Other countries should take care of it. Europe did take them back [Inaudible] -- [Crosstalk]

Laura Ingraham

00:07:18 - 00:07:22 (4 sec)

Is NATO going to actually step up? I know they've committed to doing more in the Middle East -- [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:07:22 - 00:07:23 (1 sec)

Laura Ingraham

00:07:23 - 00:07:29 (6 sec)

But what specifically is NATO going to contribute that's going to take some of the burden off the American taxpayers?

Donald Trump

00:07:29 - 00:07:59 (30 sec)

So when I came in, as you know, NATO was virtually a dead organization. It had no money. Nobody was paying except us. Practically nobody was paying. If you look at a chart of money and funds received, it looked like a roller coaster down. Now, and Secretary Stoltenberg, I think he's terrific. In my first year, I raised $130 billion from them, not from us, and now he just announced $530 billion all because of me. He's my biggest salesman, my greatest salesman, Secretary Stoltenberg.

Donald Trump

00:07:59 - 00:08:07 (8 sec)

But I said to him, look, you're there for Russia and Europe, OK? By the way, NATO's much more for Europe than it is for us, and yet we pay -- [Crosstalk]

Laura Ingraham

00:08:07 - 00:08:10 (3 sec)

What are we protecting them from now with all the money we're sending in NATO? [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:08:10 - 00:08:11 (1 sec)

We're protecting them -- we're protecting -- [Crosstalk]

Laura Ingraham

00:08:11 - 00:08:12 (1 sec)

What -- who are we protecting them from?

Donald Trump

00:08:12 - 00:08:34 (22 sec)

Well, they build and office building for $3 billion. They do lots of things that they shouldn't be doing before I got here, but I raised a lot of money. We can use NATO in other locations. We can use NATO as an example in the Middle East, and that's what we should do. And frankly, it's more palatable to countries in the Middle East if an international force comes in rather than just the United States.

Donald Trump

00:08:34 - 00:08:51 (18 sec)

And from our standpoint, let somebody else pay for it. Why are we always paying? We pay for everything. One thing, I moved my troops out of Syria -- on the border between Turkey and Syria. That turned out to be such a successful move, Laura. Look what happened. Now they protect their own -- they've been fighting over that border for 1,000 years.

Donald Trump

00:08:51 - 00:09:03 (12 sec)

Why should we do it? And then they say he left troops in Syria. You know what I did? I left troops to take the oil. I took the oil. The only troops I have are taking the oil. They're protecting the oil. I took over -- [Crosstalk]

Laura Ingraham

00:09:03 - 00:09:05 (2 sec)

Why are we taking the oil, not taking -- [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:09:05 - 00:09:07 (2 sec)

Well, maybe we will. Maybe we won't. We -- [Crosstalk]

Laura Ingraham

00:09:07 - 00:09:08 (1 sec)

They're protecting the facility.

Donald Trump

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

I don't know. Maybe we should take it, but we have the oil. Right now, the United States has the oil. So they say he left troops in Syria. No. I got rid of all of them other than we're protecting the oil. We have the oil.

Laura Ingraham

00:09:20 - 00:09:36 (17 sec)

The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that after the strike, "Mr. Trump told associates he was under pressure to deal with General Soleimani, to take him out, from GOP senators he views as important supporters in the coming impeachment trial in the Senate, associates said."

Donald Trump

00:09:36 - 00:09:36 (0 sec)

Laura Ingraham

00:09:36 - 00:09:39 (2 sec)

Sounds like you got a leaker here in the White House -- or someone -- [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:09:39 - 00:09:40 (1 sec)

Well, it's not -- it's fake news.

Laura Ingraham

00:09:40 - 00:09:41 (0 sec)

What is -- is this fake?

Donald Trump

00:09:41 - 00:09:41 (1 sec)

They just made it up. It's fake news.

Laura Ingraham

00:09:41 - 00:09:42 (1 sec)

OK. Wall Street Journal -- [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:09:42 - 00:09:52 (10 sec)

I used to think leakers. They just make it up. They're all very dishonest, most of them are really just -- I mean, 80 percent are dishonest, and I mean really dishonest. They made that story up.

Laura Ingraham

00:09:52 - 00:09:54 (1 sec)

So no concern about --

Donald Trump

00:09:54 - 00:09:54 (1 sec)

You notice the way they --

Laura Ingraham

00:09:54 - 00:09:55 (1 sec)

Lindsey Graham, or --

Donald Trump

00:09:55 - 00:10:14 (19 sec)

Well they don't -- no, not at all. By the way, absolutely not at all. We have tremendous support. Look, in the House we are 196 to nothing, and we got three Democrats. So therefore it was bipartisan, I guess you can say. We got -- nothing, they had nothing. We didn't lose one Republican vote, as you know, that's very unusual.

Donald Trump

00:10:14 - 00:10:26 (12 sec)

In the Senate, I think I have the same, if not more support. I don't have to do that. I would never compromise what we're doing with Iran and potential war, and all of the things that -- where we're doing so well --

Laura Ingraham

00:10:26 - 00:10:31 (5 sec)

We're not doing Bush 2.0 here. This is not Bush 2.0, this is not WMD --

Donald Trump

00:10:31 - 00:10:39 (8 sec)

You know what I want in the Middle East? I don't people having nuclear weapons because they'll use them. I don't want people having nuclear weapons. That's my biggest thing.

Laura Ingraham

00:10:39 - 00:10:45 (5 sec)

John Kerry was up there yesterday saying, well, you guys got out of the Iran deal and that's what's caused all the tension --

Donald Trump

00:10:45 - 00:11:00 (16 sec)

You know how bad the Iran deal was? The Iran deal, I did a great thing getting out of the Iran deal. They gave them 150 -- they gave them the 1.8 billion, forget that. You couldn't do inspections at the most important locations. And you know another big thing? They have the right to do ballistic missiles.

Donald Trump

00:11:00 - 00:11:21 (21 sec)

We couldn't go into areas and, look, we'd have to give massive notices. So if they were doing something, they could clean them up. It was ridiculous. But most importantly, it expires. This is a short-term agreement. And now, once it expired, they have an absolute, clear, unstopped path to have nuclear weapons, unstopped.

Donald Trump

00:11:21 - 00:11:43 (22 sec)

In a very short period of time, the deal that President Obama made with John Kerry, who may be the worst negotiator I've ever seen, that deal expires. And you know what? Once it expires, you can't do what I did, I mean, because they have a deal that says, once it expires, they can do what they want to do. You cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon, that's what I'm doing.

Laura Ingraham

00:11:43 - 00:12:05 (22 sec)

Pete Buttigieg and other Democrats, I -- I predicted this when I talked to Mike Pompeo yesterday, are actually blaming your moves against Iran for the downing of that commercial jetliner in Iran, in Tehran the night of this the strike by Iran to our Iraqi facilities. Your reaction to that charge?

Donald Trump

00:12:05 - 00:12:22 (17 sec)

Well, a couple of people started that and they got hit real fast by a lot of different people, not me. I think it's just low life -- look, he's not going anywhere, he was a lousy mayor of a place that is not doing well, and Indiana is doing unbelievably well. Indiana, the state had the best year they've ever had, thank you very much.

Donald Trump

00:12:22 - 00:12:26 (4 sec)

But that city was badly run. If you look at what's going on --

Laura Ingraham

00:12:26 - 00:12:27 (1 sec)

Jackie Speier's saying [Inaudible] --

Donald Trump

00:12:27 - 00:12:31 (5 sec)

He's going nowhere, and she's another beauty. I mean, take a look at her past. Check out her past, please.

Laura Ingraham

00:12:31 - 00:12:43 (11 sec)

The Iraqi Prime Minister has notified Mike Pompeo about potential plans, drawing up plans for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq period. You ran on pulling out of the Middle East.

Donald Trump

00:12:43 - 00:12:43 (0 sec)

I don't -- [Crosstalk]

Laura Ingraham

00:12:43 - 00:12:45 (2 sec)

Why not use this opportunity to say we're done?

Donald Trump

00:12:45 - 00:12:47 (3 sec)

I'm OK. I'm OK with it. By the way, listen -- [Crosstalk]

Laura Ingraham

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

You're OK with removing our troops from Iraq?

Donald Trump

00:12:49 - 00:12:53 (3 sec)

-- listen just so you understand. That's what they say

Laura Ingraham

00:12:53 - 00:12:54 (2 sec)

-- pulling out of the Middle East.

Donald Trump

00:12:54 - 00:12:54 (0 sec)

Laura Ingraham

00:12:54 - 00:12:57 (2 sec)

Why not use this opportunity to say we're done.

Donald Trump

00:12:57 - 00:12:57 (0 sec)

I'm OK with it. By the way --

Laura Ingraham

00:12:57 - 00:12:59 (2 sec)

You're OK with removing our troops from Iraq?

Donald Trump

00:12:59 - 00:13:01 (2 sec)

That's what they say publicly. They don't say that privately. Because if we leave, that means they're not going to be able to -- [Crosstalk]

Laura Ingraham

00:13:01 - 00:13:02 (1 sec)

But why not leave?

Donald Trump

00:13:02 - 00:13:16 (14 sec)

I'm not so bad with it. When I heard that, I said -- I have it down to 5,000 troops. We had many, many troops there in Iraq. And we're there only in the training. We train them. But if they want us to leave -- but they speak different publicly than they do privately.

Laura Ingraham

00:13:16 - 00:13:19 (3 sec)

But are we sending more troops to the region as we speak?

Donald Trump

00:13:19 - 00:13:37 (18 sec)

We're sending more to Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia's paying us for it. We're doing something that nobody's ever done. I said to Saudi Arabia -- we have a very good relationship with Saudi Arabia. I said listen, you're a very rich country. You want more troops, I'm going to send them to you but you've got to pay us. They're paying us. They've already deposited $1 billion in the bank.

Donald Trump

00:13:37 - 00:14:02 (25 sec)

We are going to help them but these rich countries have to pay for it. South Korea gave us $500 million. They've never gave us -- they gave us $500 million. I said you got to help us along. We have 32,000 soldiers in South Korea protecting it from North Korea. You've got to pay. And they gave us $500 million.

Donald Trump

00:14:02 - 00:14:19 (17 sec)

I mean you saw that breaking news because nobody wants to report that stuff. I'm not sure anybody knows it. It might be sort of saying you have some -- I mean, that's good stuff. But they're a wealthy country. They build all your television sets. They took that away from us. They build the ships; they've built a lot of things.

Donald Trump

00:14:19 - 00:14:24 (5 sec)

I said look, we're protecting you, you got to pay. They paid us $500 million. They're going to pay us a lot more.

Laura Ingraham

00:14:24 - 00:14:30 (6 sec)

Do you think that Iraq should repay the American taxpayer for these bases --

Donald Trump

00:14:30 - 00:14:31 (0 sec)

Sure. [Crosstalk]

Laura Ingraham

00:14:31 - 00:14:32 (1 sec)

-- for what we've done there?

Donald Trump

00:14:32 - 00:14:33 (1 sec)

You heard that from me.

Laura Ingraham

00:14:33 - 00:14:34 (1 sec)

Yes. I -- [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:14:34 - 00:14:55 (21 sec)

Absolutely. I said we built one of the world's most expensive airport facilities anywhere in the world. I mean I wish we had it in New York. I wish we had it in Washington. We build runways that are 15,000 feet long. At LaGuardia they're 7,000 feet long. In fact, I think they're 20,000 feet long over there and deep thick concrete and steel.

Donald Trump

00:14:55 - 00:15:08 (12 sec)

Nobody ever built runways like this. OK, it's way over built but that's OK. But we have billions of dollars into that. I said if we leave you got to pay us. If we leave, you have to pay us by embassies. You have to pay us for the money we put in.

Laura Ingraham

00:15:08 - 00:15:09 (1 sec)

How are you going to collect?

Donald Trump

00:15:09 - 00:15:20 (11 sec)

Well, we have a lot of their money right now. We have a lot of their money. We have $35 billion of their money right now sitting in an account. And I think they'll agree to pay. I think they'll agree to pay. Otherwise we'll stay there.

Note

00:15:20 - 00:15:20 (0 sec)

[Commercial Break]

Laura Ingraham

00:15:20 - 00:15:28 (8 sec)

Mr. President, we just learned that Nancy Pelosi has announced she's sending articles of impeachment next week to the Senate. What's your reaction?

Donald Trump

00:15:28 - 00:15:46 (19 sec)

Well, I think it's ridiculous. She should've sent them a long time ago. It -- it just -- it belittles the process, what they've done to impeachment, it's like -- I was interviewed by a very, very good writer -- reporter, somebody that you know very well, I could say, Bob Woodward. He said he's doing something.

Donald Trump

00:15:46 - 00:16:02 (16 sec)

And this time I said maybe I'll sit down. Because nobody's done more than me -- I mean no body -- if you're look at three years with the economy, with regulations, with the tax cuts, with everything -- one of the things, we've rebuilt our military -- our military was totally depleted. Our military was old and depleted.

Donald Trump

00:16:02 - 00:16:21 (19 sec)

And he said, you know, you don't look like somebody who's under impeachment. As you know, he's slightly covered Nixon, and he covered Clinton. But Bob Woodward, he said, you actually look like you've won everything, you look happy. I said I am happy. So maybe I'm wired a little bit different, I don't know --

Laura Ingraham

00:16:21 - 00:16:24 (3 sec)

Impeachment managers -- anyone that you would prefer to see? She hasn't named -- [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:16:24 - 00:16:26 (2 sec)

-- well we have a team. We have a team.

Laura Ingraham

00:16:26 - 00:16:28 (2 sec)

But her impeachment managers, they haven't named any -- [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:16:28 - 00:16:45 (17 sec)

Well, I would love to ask a couple of their people some questions, like Schiff. Why did he lie? Why did he make up my statement? Totally made it up. But again the whole thing unraveled when I put in the transcript, because it's all about the transcript, and it's all about the president of Ukraine saying he did nothing wrong.

Laura Ingraham

00:16:45 - 00:16:48 (3 sec)

How long do you think this will last?

Donald Trump

00:16:48 - 00:17:02 (14 sec)

We'll it depends if they have a trial, it probably takes a few days, or a week, and -- or unless we want to have a bigger trial, where we're bringing in the whistleblower, which I'd love to do. And I'd love to bring in the informant who disappeared. I'd love to bring in the second whistleblower who disappeared.

Donald Trump

00:17:02 - 00:17:22 (20 sec)

I'd love to bring in the inspector general, why did he bring it up there -- he should've never done it. He didn't want to see the call -- he didn't want to see the call. He took his whistleblower -- who's a fraud -- he took the whistleblower's report and he put it in. They said to him, you know, if it's -- if that's the case -- if you have to do that, what we'll do is we'll show you the actual call.

Donald Trump

00:17:22 - 00:17:32 (11 sec)

No, no, no, I don't want to see it. What's that all about? Why did he do that -- inspector general? So I'd like to interview the inspector general, why did he do that and put everybody through --

Laura Ingraham

00:17:32 - 00:17:35 (3 sec)

Are you worried about future presidents, what's this is going to do to the presidency in the future?

Donald Trump

00:17:35 - 00:17:53 (17 sec)

I think it cheapened the word impeachment. I think impeachment's a very ugly word. But I think this cheapened the word impeachment. I think Nancy Pelosi and Schiff -- you know, because he's corrupt. I mean here's the guy stands up at the United States Congress and repeats a conversation -- except it was a fraud, he made up a conversation.

Donald Trump

00:17:53 - 00:18:21 (28 sec)

He was saying my conversation and was totally wrong, and he knew it. He said don't call me, I'll call you. That's from The Godfather, that's from -- that's a mafia statement. I never said that. He said eight times, "quid pro quo." It was no times. He made up a conversation and repeated it in front of Congress, and because he has immunity we can't do anything about it. I'd like to say why did you do that?

Donald Trump

00:18:21 - 00:18:33 (13 sec)

You know, these people are frauds and it's very bad -- no, they cheapened the word impeachment. It's a bad word to start off -- I really say it's an ugly word. To me it's a very ugly word. But maybe it played to our benefit.

Laura Ingraham

00:18:33 - 00:18:41 (7 sec)

When we talk about impeachment now, it looks like McConnell is agreeing with Josh Hawley's proposition --

Donald Trump

00:18:41 - 00:18:41 (0 sec)

Laura Ingraham

00:18:41 - 00:18:52 (11 sec)

-- to dismiss these articles of impeachment if Pelosi doesn't send them over. My question to you is, why not have them dismissed today? Why would McConnell just say, we're done with these games? Or do you want a trial --

Donald Trump

00:18:52 - 00:19:14 (22 sec)

Well, in many ways I'd like a trial and I'd love to have sleepy Joe Biden, I'd love to have his son. I call him, where's Hunter. I've change his first name to where, where's Hunter. I'd love to have the whistleblower who wrote a fake report. The whistleblower is a person that is -- you know who the whistleblower is? By the way, everybody knows who the whistleblower is -- [Crosstalk]

Laura Ingraham

00:19:14 - 00:19:16 (2 sec)

The whistleblower is still working in the White House?

Donald Trump

00:19:16 - 00:19:45 (29 sec)

Everybody -- I don't want to say, but everybody knows about the whistleblower and they know about the whistleblower's lawyer. But then do you remember, there was a second whistleblower. I want to know what happened to the second whistleblower, what happened to the informer? Remember that, an informer. They all disappeared when I gave the transcript because I gave the transcript and that blew everything apart because we have an accurate -- and the only thing covered by the hearings was that now people agree -- everybody, even our great lieutenant colonel -- please call him lieutenant colonel.

Donald Trump

00:19:45 - 00:19:58 (13 sec)

Our great lieutenant colonel agrees that the transcript was accurate. I think he had one word different, we changed the one word -- it meant absolutely nothing -- the transcript was professionally done by the best people there are -- [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:19:58 - 00:20:20 (22 sec)

Just one second. So we have a transcript, they never thought I'd release it -- they probably never thought I had it. I can only say thank goodness they had it. Because I -- otherwise I would've been falsely accused and it would've been sadly my word against them. But we had other people on that call -- think of this; I was going to do something wrong on a call where I know there are many people listening.

Laura Ingraham

00:20:20 - 00:20:21 (1 sec)

Donald Trump

00:20:21 - 00:20:37 (16 sec)

The President of Ukraine said I did absolutely nothing wrong, he said I had no pressure whatsoever. He didn't even know what we were talking about. And we called them before I released the transcript -- because it's a terrible thing to have to release the conversation with a leader from another country, it's a terrible thing.

Donald Trump

00:20:37 - 00:20:43 (6 sec)

I mean what are other counties other than Ukraine, what are they saying? So anyway, they have no case --

Laura Ingraham

00:20:43 - 00:20:47 (4 sec)

Why not call Bolton, why not allow him to testify? This thing is bogus -- [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:20:47 - 00:20:59 (13 sec)

I will have no problem other than one thing. You can't be in the White House as president -- future; I'm talking about future -- many future presidents, and have a security advisor -- anybody having to do with security handling though and other things. [Crosstalk]

Laura Ingraham

00:20:59 - 00:21:01 (1 sec)

-- that privilege?

Donald Trump

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

Well, I think you have to for the sake of the office. I would love everybody to testify. I'd like Mick to testify, I'd like Mike Pompeo to testify, I'd like Rick Perry to testify, I want everybody -- but there are things that you can't do from the standpoint of executive privilege. You have to maintain that.

Donald Trump

00:21:21 - 00:21:36 (16 sec)

So, we'll see where it all goes. But especially, a national security advisor -- you can't have him explaining all of your statements about national security concerning Russia, China, and North Korea -- everything -- we just can't do that.

Laura Ingraham

00:21:36 - 00:21:37 (0 sec)

How about [Inaudible]?

Donald Trump

00:21:37 - 00:21:56 (20 sec)

I think for the good of the others. Look, Nancy Pelosi will go down as probably the least successful Speaker of the House in the history of our nation. She has done nothing, the only thing she's done is she finally got done one of the best trade deals our country has ever made to USMCA, that's with Mexico and Canada -- but I did that.

Donald Trump

00:21:56 - 00:22:15 (19 sec)

She doesn't even know what it says -- she has no idea what it says. She was forced to do that -- you know why? She wouldn't have done it, but she did nothing. So now she can say I signed something. She is obsessed with impeachment, she has done nothing. She is going to go down as one of the worst Speakers in the history of our country.

Donald Trump

00:22:15 - 00:22:28 (13 sec)

Now, in all fairness, she's hurting our country. She's very bad for our country. And she's become a crazed lunatic. But she will go down as -- I think maybe the worst speaker in the history of our country.

Laura Ingraham

00:22:28 - 00:22:29 (1 sec)

How do you get --

Donald Trump

00:22:29 - 00:22:45 (16 sec)

And she will be overthrown pretty soon because she's doing very little and the people are tired of it. And she's controlled by the radical left. She's controlled by AOC, she's controlled by this Tlaib -- that's another great one -- and she's controlled by Omar. That's who is controlling her, the radical left.

Laura Ingraham

00:22:45 - 00:22:53 (8 sec)

We just heard that they are thinking about adding another article on impeachment, they're floating this, to include the events over the last few weeks. Here's what Chuck Schumer just said:

Donald Trump

00:22:53 - 00:23:26 (33 sec)

So they can't win an election that's going to take place in 10 months, they know that, and they only thing they can do -- it's like with their Congressman Green, when he said, we can't beat him, we have to impeach him. And they all know that. They're making things up. This is the craziest thing anyone's ever seen, and the two articles that they put in, as you know, they're not crimes, they're not -- they're not even allowed to be put in. It's a disgrace.

Laura Ingraham

00:23:26 - 00:23:35 (9 sec)

Doesn't that show the weakness of their case, that they're still trying to rebrand this as something else?

Donald Trump

00:23:35 - 00:23:36 (1 sec)

Laura Ingraham

00:23:36 - 00:23:39 (3 sec)

I've never seen anything like this, this is --

Donald Trump

00:23:39 - 00:24:08 (29 sec)

No, I think it's incredible. I think it's really hurting them. Look, my numbers are the highest -- my poll numbers. You have this guy that goes on television all the time, he gives phony numbers. My poll -- as you know, my poll numbers right now, today, are the highest they've ever been. And by the way, people love that we took out this horrible terrorist, they love it, Soleimani.

Donald Trump

00:24:08 - 00:24:29 (21 sec)

They love that we took him out. They think it's so fantastic. He should have been taken out over the last 20 years by somebody. Te should have been taken out a long time ago. But my numbers are the highest they've ever been, and a lot of it because of the impeachment hoax. It's a hoax. How would you like to be two, two and a half years, I'm under investigation -- federal investigation before I even ran.

Donald Trump

00:24:29 - 00:24:41 (12 sec)

In my opinion, before I came down the escalator, but from the time I came down the escalator, I'd been under investigation. They found nothing. They found nothing. Who else do you think in Washington -- [Crosstalk]

Laura Ingraham

00:24:41 - 00:24:43 (2 sec)

Not -- well, Steve could have withstood it --

Donald Trump

00:24:43 - 00:24:44 (1 sec)

No, no. Think of it.

Laura Ingraham

00:24:44 - 00:24:44 (0 sec)

Donald Trump

00:24:44 - 00:24:47 (3 sec)

Not only withstood it mentally and I think, you know, somebody said -- [Crosstalk]

Laura Ingraham

00:24:47 - 00:24:48 (1 sec)

But accomplished.

Donald Trump

00:24:48 - 00:25:01 (13 sec)

-- it actually energized me, yes, because it makes me angry. But think, who else could have withstood that? You take some of these Democrat senators. They couldn't withstand. You know what would happen? Number one, they'd fold up like an umbrella, and number two, they'd be guilty of a lot of stuff.

Note

00:25:01 - 00:25:01 (0 sec)

[Commercial Break]

Laura Ingraham

00:25:01 - 00:25:07 (6 sec)

Will you slap the sanctions back on China, the tariffs if they -- if you sign them -- [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:25:07 - 00:25:08 (1 sec)

Well [Inaudible]. People don't know.

Laura Ingraham

00:25:08 - 00:25:11 (3 sec)

-- if you sent the extra tariffs if they don't fulfill what they said they would do?

Donald Trump

00:25:11 - 00:25:33 (22 sec)

Oh yes, well, I have the right to do that, but people don't realize I still have the tariffs. 25 percent tariffs on China are $250 billion worth of goods, I still have those. And by the way, remember they used to say we paid for it? No, no. China devalued their currency and they're paying for it. And we have a great relationship with China right now, so I don't want to speak badly of anyone, but they are having the worst year that they've had.

Donald Trump

00:25:33 - 00:25:57 (23 sec)

Last year was the worst they had. In 67 -- was 57, now it's 67 years, and they wanted to make a deal and we made a deal, and it's a great deal. Now we have a Phase Two deal, which will start at some point, but Phase One was very important for banking. You know what we did? We opened it up to banking, but for banking, for our farmers, for manufacturers, it's a great -- it's great.

Laura Ingraham

00:25:57 - 00:25:57 (1 sec)

China, though, is -- [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:25:57 - 00:26:01 (3 sec)

We have a lot of these deals that I've made. South Korea, Japan. Japan is -- [Crosstalk]

Laura Ingraham

00:26:01 - 00:26:02 (2 sec)

I've documented all of this.

Donald Trump

00:26:02 - 00:26:03 (0 sec)

-- [Inaudible]. We have all these deals.

Laura Ingraham

00:26:03 - 00:26:04 (1 sec)

No one else has touched this.

Donald Trump

00:26:04 - 00:26:19 (15 sec)

But remember this. They're all kicking in now. We didn't have anything. We had horrible deals or a no deal. The Japan deal we had no deal. We're getting $40 billion. What this is going to do for our economy is going to be amazing, and it's just now -- it just started a month ago. It's just starting kicking in.

Laura Ingraham

00:26:19 - 00:26:40 (21 sec)

On the human rights issue in China -- and you don't talk a lot about it, but it concerns a lot of our strongest supporters, Evangelical Christians, Catholics, other people who are really concerned about human rights. Got a million people in reeducation camps, internment camps. The Catholics were getting missiles in their pews at Christmas that had tributes to Xi instead of silent night.

Laura Ingraham

00:26:40 - 00:26:58 (18 sec)

Crazy stuff happening. Reagan saw the power of the moral argument for freedom and married it to the economic and military argument for peace through strength. Can you do more on that front without damaging your ability to make future trade agreements more on the human rights -- [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:26:58 - 00:27:03 (5 sec)

Well, I'm riding a fine line because we're making not good trade deals. We're making great trade deals -- [Crosstalk]

Laura Ingraham

00:27:03 - 00:27:05 (2 sec)

But human rights count.

Donald Trump

00:27:05 - 00:27:21 (17 sec)

They do count, and when you say Reagan, look. I was a big fan of Reagan, but he wasn't heavy into it. He wanted to do certain things. He wasn't really heavy into it, but he wasn't also making trade deals. He let Japan come in and take our automobile market. You know, as much as I like Reagan, he was not good on trade.

Laura Ingraham

00:27:21 - 00:27:27 (6 sec)

Well, he didn't trade with the Soviet Union at all. We didn't have a big bunch of students from the Soviet Union coming in the United States.

Donald Trump

00:27:27 - 00:27:39 (12 sec)

I think we should be able to trade with Russia. I think we should be able -- I think getting along -- by the way, getting along with Russia now that the witch-hunt has ended having to do with Russia, now that they've spent $45 million, found nothing, think of this.

Laura Ingraham

00:27:39 - 00:28:03 (24 sec)

Mr. President, when you look at this trajectory of your administration, huge progress on trade, credible progress on dealing with our political foes, ISIS, incredible deregulation, judges. You've done a lot. On the economy today we found out that -- still added 146,000 jobs. Unemployment historically low at 3.5 percent.

Laura Ingraham

00:28:03 - 00:28:11 (8 sec)

But we do have a little bit of a stall out on wage growth, which you ran on, and we've seen some, 2.9 percent last year, 0.1 percent --

Donald Trump

00:28:11 - 00:28:12 (0 sec)

Yes, versus -- I know.

Laura Ingraham

00:28:12 - 00:28:18 (7 sec)

-- over the last month. But we don't have a tight labor market. If we had a tight labor market we'd be seeing real increases in wages.

Donald Trump

00:28:18 - 00:28:19 (0 sec)

Laura Ingraham

00:28:19 - 00:28:26 (7 sec)

I hear that your team is planning on advocating more foreign workers coming in for some of these high-tech companies. I'm very concerned about that as our body of supporters.

Donald Trump

00:28:26 - 00:28:29 (3 sec)

I know. I know you're concerned. And so is Mark Levin a little bit.

Laura Ingraham

00:28:29 - 00:28:31 (2 sec)

Yes, we're concerned because Americans --

Donald Trump

00:28:31 - 00:28:32 (1 sec)

And so was the great Lou Dobbs -- [Crosstalk]

Laura Ingraham

00:28:32 - 00:28:34 (1 sec)

You ran on American jobs --

Donald Trump

00:28:34 - 00:28:54 (20 sec)

Lou Dobbs is concerned too. But I'll say, Lou, here's the problem. I'm demanding that Japan and all these companies -- countries that have these massive -- we have [Inaudible] nobody's ever seen before. I say you got to open up. I call -- Prime Minister Abe's a friend of mine, I say Shinzo, you got to open up more plants in the United States.

Donald Trump

00:28:54 - 00:29:01 (8 sec)

And they tell me we want to do it. We want to do it. They start opening. They can't get labor. We need help, otherwise we could just say don't open up any --

Laura Ingraham

00:29:01 - 00:29:04 (3 sec)

If they couldn't get labor, wages would be going up. Wages aren't going up.

Donald Trump

00:29:04 - 00:29:05 (1 sec)

Wages are going up.

Laura Ingraham

00:29:05 - 00:29:08 (3 sec)

Not in the high-tech industry. We're seeing a plateauing of wages --

Donald Trump

00:29:08 - 00:29:14 (6 sec)

We wanted 3 percent and it went up 2.9 percent. In the last two years, wages have gone up more than they have in 25 years.

Laura Ingraham

00:29:14 - 00:29:18 (4 sec)

But for Google, why reward Google? Google's working against you in your campaign. [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:29:18 - 00:29:19 (1 sec)

No, no, I don't want to reward Google. I'm not -- I'm not a fan --

Laura Ingraham

00:29:19 - 00:29:20 (1 sec)

Those guys -- [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:29:20 - 00:29:21 (0 sec)

Laura Ingraham

00:29:21 - 00:29:23 (2 sec)

All they want is low-skilled workers instead of well-paid workers.

Donald Trump

00:29:23 - 00:29:25 (2 sec)

Laura, I'm not a fan of Google. But I'm a fan of great companies, OK?

Laura Ingraham

00:29:25 - 00:29:27 (2 sec)

You didn't run on bringing more foreign workers into the United States.

Donald Trump

00:29:27 - 00:29:35 (8 sec)

Not foreign workers. We have to allow smart people to stay in our country. You graduate number one in your class at Harvard, you graduate from the Wharton School of Finance --

Laura Ingraham

00:29:35 - 00:29:36 (1 sec)

Yes, that's a small percentage of what they want.

Donald Trump

00:29:36 - 00:29:38 (2 sec)

No it's not. It's a lot.

Laura Ingraham

00:29:38 - 00:29:51 (13 sec)

But you ran on people training their foreign replacements, that you ran against that. Americans -- it's humiliating for an American worker wo worked for a company for 30 years, now is told, you've got to train your foreign replacement who lives in Korea and they're going to pay him 20 percent.

Donald Trump

00:29:51 - 00:30:07 (16 sec)

No, no, that's different. That -- I would never do that. But we do need workers in our country and I do want an immigration policy -- nobody's been better on immigration than me -- by the way, and we won the funding for the wall. And the wall has been built anyway, because I was taking it out of the military and everything else, and now it's easier.

Donald Trump

00:30:07 - 00:30:18 (10 sec)

We need people -- I got Foxconn to go into Wisconsin. They have to get people, they spent a fortune. They built the most incredible plant I've ever seen. In Wisconsin, Foxconn --

Laura Ingraham

00:30:18 - 00:30:22 (5 sec)

But why shouldn't we have American graduates of colleges and universities taking those jobs?

Donald Trump

00:30:22 - 00:30:29 (7 sec)

We do. No, we do. We do, but we don't have enough of them. We're not -- we don't have enough of them and we have to be competitive with the rest of the world too.

Donald Trump

00:30:29 - 00:30:32 (3 sec)

The companies want to hire these people and they can't --

Laura Ingraham

00:30:32 - 00:30:36 (4 sec)

They want to hire people they can hire for the cheapest amount because that's what they want.

Donald Trump

00:30:36 - 00:30:42 (7 sec)

I'm not talking about cheap. I'm talking about brainpower. They want to hire smart people and those people are thrown out of the country. We can't do that.

Laura Ingraham

00:30:42 - 00:30:44 (2 sec)

No, no, you ran on American first. Anyway -- [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:30:44 - 00:30:45 (1 sec)

No, no, this is America first.

Laura Ingraham

00:30:45 - 00:30:46 (1 sec)

All right, yes --

Donald Trump

00:30:46 - 00:30:54 (8 sec)

Excuse me -- I just have to finish this. If we tell smart people to get the hell out, that's not America first.

Laura Ingraham

00:30:54 - 00:30:55 (1 sec)

That's not what we're saying. [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:30:55 - 00:30:55 (0 sec)

That's a bad thing.

Laura Ingraham

00:30:55 - 00:31:01 (6 sec)

There's a never-ending appetite on the part of corporate America to bring in as much cheap labor as possible to drive down wages. That's just going to happen.

Donald Trump

00:31:01 - 00:31:11 (9 sec)

Laura, I have so many companies coming into this country. You're not going to have to worry about it. It's always going to be a shortage. If somebody's smart sitting in this position -- we have so --

Laura Ingraham

00:31:11 - 00:31:11 (1 sec)

Donald Trump

00:31:11 - 00:31:27 (15 sec)

-- many companies coming in from Japan. Japan is doing many car companies, China now is going to start building a lot of things -- you know, they haven't been doing it too much. We have so many companies wanting to come in and they don't have the labor. But they're coming in. [Crosstalk]

Laura Ingraham

00:31:27 - 00:31:28 (1 sec)

Donald Trump

00:31:28 - 00:31:33 (5 sec)

And I'll tell you what, we're doing great. Our country is doing great, our economy is doing great.

Note

00:31:33 - 00:31:33 (0 sec)

[Commercial Break]

Laura Ingraham

00:31:33 - 00:31:40 (7 sec)

Mr. President, I know you're close to the Queen and she has a lot of affection for you, you have great visits over there.

Donald Trump

00:31:40 - 00:31:42 (2 sec)

We have a great relationship.

Laura Ingraham

00:31:42 - 00:31:53 (11 sec)

Would you be able to give her any advice for some of the rogue royals? Like, what's happening there, it seems like there's a lot of tumult. And you've been so good at keeping your kids together in a close-knit family.

Donald Trump

00:31:53 - 00:32:14 (21 sec)

I think it's bad, I do. I think -- she's a great woman. I sat with her -- I was supposed to be with her 15 minutes, I stayed an hour and a half. By the way, I got killed by the press -- she wanted me to stay. The press said, no, no, he was supposed to leave that was very rude. We had a great time. Then we had dinner, we were honored, our country was honored; I sat with her for a long time, and she was smiling and laughing the whole time.

Laura Ingraham

00:32:14 - 00:32:19 (5 sec)

Protocol is important for her. She -- the tradition of the monarchy and the responsibilities -- [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:32:19 - 00:32:39 (20 sec)

But we have a very great relationship. I think this was a blindside -- she was blindsided by this whole situation and I think it's too bad. But you know, she's been the queen, has to be an all-time record, from the time she was like 25 a d now she's 94. She's never made a mistake, if you look. I mean, she's had like a flawless time.

Laura Ingraham

00:32:39 - 00:32:41 (2 sec)

I think Harry should go back, come back and take a look --

Donald Trump

00:32:41 - 00:32:49 (8 sec)

Well, I think -- I think -- you know, I don't want to get into the whole thing, but I find it -- I just have such respect for the queen, I don't think this should be happening to her.

Laura Ingraham

00:32:49 - 00:33:08 (18 sec)

IOC announced today -- and this is our final question, Mr. President -- just announced that no politics at the upcoming Olympics -- new policy -- by any of the athletes. Would you like to see that extended to the United States, where politics stay out of sports? I know you're going to the big LSU-Clemson game on --

Donald Trump

00:33:08 - 00:33:24 (16 sec)

Well, I am, and I was responsible for getting the Olympics. The Olympics is coming to Los Angeles, and I was called by the mayor, and he said, could you do us a favor, when I was president-elect, and he said, could you do this? And I worked very hard, and we got the Olympics and we have the World Cup coming into the United States.

Donald Trump

00:33:24 - 00:33:35 (11 sec)

And I don't know, I guess you can say that no politics, but people are going to talk politics. I think politics -- I do believe I've made politics somewhat more exciting. The New York Times would be dead right now, it would be filled --

Laura Ingraham

00:33:35 - 00:33:36 (2 sec)

What are they going to do without you?

Donald Trump

00:33:36 - 00:33:48 (12 sec)

The Washington Post would be out of business. I hate to say it but cable television would be -- it's obsolete. Cable would be out of business, so we'll go another, hopefully, five years and we'll keep everybody happy.

Laura Ingraham

00:33:48 - 00:33:51 (3 sec)

Thank you so much that was fantastic.

Donald Trump

00:33:51 - 00:33:52 (1 sec)

Thank you very much.