Transcript - Interview: Donald Trump Is Interviewed by Tony Katz of WIBC - October 17, 2017 | Factba.se

Tony Katz

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

Tony Katz, WIBC, sir, how are you?

Donald Trump

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

Tony Katz

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

How's everything going?

Donald Trump

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

It's going good, it's going really good. We're trying to get the budget approved, and then we get the tax cut approved, and you know, we have to get John McCain to vote for it, and we have to get a couple of others to vote for it, but hopefully that'll take place, and we're gonna have the largest tax cut in the history of our country.

Tony Katz

00:00:21 - 00:00:39 (18 sec)

You talk about John McCain, it's literally one of my first questions. It's the question I've asked of your commerce secretary and others. The plan of -- without getting into the real details, the real specifics -- works, I'm a big fan of reducing the the corporate tax rate. Gary Cohn and Mick Mulvaney of OMB literally have sat down next to the president.

Tony Katz

00:00:39 - 00:01:00 (21 sec)

I'm being muscled, sir. That's what's happening right here. That plan works, dropping two three tax rates, but you have the Bernie Sanders contingent, who will tell you that you're just supporting big business, and then you have people like Senator John McCain, who seem much more interested in frustrating you than they are in moving policy forward. What's the plan for bringing them aboard?

Donald Trump

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

Well, we're gonna see what happens. We're not gonna have any Democratic support, and we may have a few for the tax cuts, but probably not for the budget. We're focused on the budget first -- that'll take place very shortly. We think we have the votes for the budget. We have to get the budget before we get to taxes. We hope that John McCain's gonna be on board. Rand Paul I believe will be on board.

Donald Trump

00:01:19 - 00:01:22 (3 sec)

He's a, here's, a guy that I like, I've always liked him, he's been --

Tony Katz

00:01:22 - 00:01:24 (2 sec)

Donald Trump

00:01:24 - 00:01:53 (29 sec)

Yeah, sure, he's nice. But we've been we've been talking, I think he'll be there, and we need every vote. You know, Thad is, Thad Cochran, is in a little bit of a problem health-wise and unfortunately he would be a great vote for us, but he may not be there. So that's almost like a no vote. So that's a problem for us, but we're working very hard and you know, we, we had a real, you know, win on health care and then, as you know, John amazingly voted against us, John McCain amazingly voted against.

Tony Katz

00:01:53 - 00:01:56 (3 sec)

Did you ever speak to him about that? Did you ever reach out to him and say, 'Senator, what are you thinking?'

Donald Trump

00:01:56 - 00:01:59 (3 sec)

Well, I don't want to comment on it, but I thought it was --

Tony Katz

00:01:59 - 00:02:02 (3 sec)

But if you wanted to comment on it --

Donald Trump

00:02:02 - 00:02:17 (15 sec)

I thought it was rather incredible that that happened. You know, you're talking repeal and replace for years. Don't forget, I've been doing this for two years -- they've been saying repeal and replace for seven. So I was surprised, but we're gonna get health care. Health care is going to happen.

Donald Trump

00:02:17 - 00:02:40 (23 sec)

When I knocked out the CSRs one week we knocked out almost, you look at it, $800 million, $700 million a month, all of a sudden everyone's talking to me now, and we're gonna get health care. We're gonna get it probably in a short-term form and then in a long-term form, maybe the, maybe the blocks, we do the block grants, but we will have health care.

Tony Katz

00:02:40 - 00:03:08 (28 sec)

Talking, of course, to the president of the United States, Donald Trump. You talk about the Democrats on board. Nancy Pelosi, in an interview, she -- I thought that there was a relationship -- she referred to your policies as violence and you as dangerous. So my question to you, sir, is you're the one who has to bring -- I don't want to say you have to bring them aboard -- gosh, would be nice if they would vote for something to make life a little bit easy for all of us -- do you dismiss that as noise or do you respond to that as well?

Donald Trump

00:03:08 - 00:03:21 (13 sec)

Yeah, you know, she's a politician and we, I think we get along fine, but she's a politician. She's on the other side. The Democrats have had a very failed policy, as you know. The truth is they're good at one thing and that's obstruction.

Donald Trump

00:03:21 - 00:03:47 (26 sec)

They obstruct anything from getting through. I have nominees that I have half the number that President Obama had approved at this point. They're waiting forever and they know they're gonna get approved, but it takes too much time We have judicial appointments that are taking forever to get approved, so the Democrats are obstructing government and that's what they do best. Their policy is terrible, they're not good politicians, but they obstruct and that's what Nancy is doing.

Donald Trump

00:03:47 - 00:04:05 (18 sec)

That's why if you mention Nancy's name in a campaign, like I did where, as you know, Karen out in Atlanta, she ended up winning a campaign where the person against her and against the Republicans spent $32 million for Congress, and the whole campaign was about Nancy Pelosi, and we ended up winning

Tony Katz

00:04:05 - 00:04:07 (3 sec)

Karen Handel, my parents' district down there in Roswell.

Donald Trump

00:04:07 - 00:04:32 (25 sec)

Well, Karen's going to do a great job. But she ended up winning by 5 or 6 points and, as you know, 32 million was spent and it was said to be a lost race. I got involved the last three or four days and she won that race and, honestly, you mention Nancy Pelosi and you get a good result from the standpoint of being a Republican, and I hope Nancy continues to keep her position, because I think that's very important. But I do get along with her.

Donald Trump

00:04:32 - 00:04:38 (6 sec)

I get along with her very well. I get along with Schumer very well, but they're on the other side. But what they are doing is obstructing.

Tony Katz

00:04:38 - 00:04:50 (12 sec)

Is it for you, if there's a way to work with them and get a victory, which is a victory for the American people, is that more valuable than working with Republicans? Less valuable? Inconsequential?

Donald Trump

00:04:50 - 00:05:01 (11 sec)

I just want the job to be done. We're the highest-taxed nation in the world. We are taxed beyond belief and we need tax relief. We need tax reductions. This is really tax cuts we're talking about.

Donald Trump

00:05:01 - 00:05:11 (10 sec)

It's also reform, but, more importantly, it's tax cuts. We're the highest-taxed nation in the world. We need tax cuts for the middle class, we need them for business. Businesses are leaving our country.

Donald Trump

00:05:11 - 00:05:29 (18 sec)

Now, I have to say, I've turned that around, where businesses now are starting to come back in because they know that I'm going to get something very substantial having to do with tax cuts. But businesses now -- you see the car companies, what's happening, they're expanding, they're coming into the country. You see Foxconn, that makes the Apple iPhone -- [Crosstalk]

Tony Katz

00:05:29 - 00:05:30 (1 sec)

Into Wisconsin.

Donald Trump

00:05:30 - 00:05:56 (26 sec)

You see Apple, you see a lot of other, they're building plants, no, businesses, are starting to [Inaudible], but we need to make it -- really what I want to have it, we need these massive tax cuts. These will be the largest tax cuts in the history of our country, and it will make us grow like you wouldn't believe. And the big problem is, we can't really compete competitively when China is at 15% and we're at 35%, so the 35% is coming all the way down to 20.

Tony Katz

00:05:56 - 00:06:10 (15 sec)

I wholeheartedly agree. Before I let you go really quick -- you've done a lot for Indiana in terms of Carrier and a bunch of other subjects. Amazon is looking to build a second headquarters. Indianapolis, central Indiana, is one of the possible locations.

Tony Katz

00:06:10 - 00:06:14 (3 sec)

You agree central Indiana is a perfect place for Amazon to build that second headquarters, correct?

Donald Trump

00:06:14 - 00:06:26 (12 sec)

Well, I love it. It's a place that I happen to love. You know, Indiana has been very good for me, and Mike Pence has been terrific. He's my friend and he's been great, so anytime anybody wants to build in Indiana, I'm OK with that.

Tony Katz

00:06:26 - 00:06:32 (6 sec)

There it is. You heard it here first, Jeff Bezos, you're building in Indiana. President Trump, an honor, sir. Thank you for the opportunity,

Donald Trump

00:06:32 - 00:06:34 (2 sec)

Thank you. Appreciate it, appreciate it.

Tony Katz

00:06:34 - 00:06:52 (18 sec)

Good luck with everything, sir. Thank you so much. There goes the president of the United States right there, President Donald Trump.