https://time.com/6972021/donald-trump-2024-election-interview/https://time.com/6972022/donald-trump-transcript-2024-election/A little surprised not to see discussion of this. Time isn't the most relevant publication as of 2024, but Trump doesn't grant much access outside of his media sphere, so it's interesting to get not just an article based on a long interview but also a transcript.
Politico reamed Joe Biden for suggesting that the media focus more on what's at stake in this election, and I think this interviewer does that as well as anyone who's been given direct access to the Republican nominee.
A few highlights. On immigration:
We will be using local law enforcement. And we will absolutely start with the criminals that are coming in. [...] When we talk military, generally speaking, I talk National Guard. I've used the National Guard in Minneapolis. And if I didn't use it, I don't think you'd have Minneapolis standing right now, because it was really bad. But I think in terms of the National Guard. But if I thought things were getting out of control, I would have no problem using the military, per se.
On policing:
There are far more problems with what's happened now, where police are standing outside of a department store as it’s being robbed and 500 mostly young people are walking out carrying air conditioners and televisions and everything else. And the police would like to do something about it. But they're told to stand down. They said don't do it. And if you do anything about it, if you stop crime, we're going to go after your pension, your home, your family, your wife or your husband. And you know, police are being prosecuted all the time. And we want to give them immunity from prosecution if they're doing their job.
On Netanyahu:
I had a bad experience with Bibi. And it had to do with Soleimani, because as you probably know by now, he dropped out just before the attack. And I said, “What's that all about?” Because that was going to be a joint and all of a sudden, we were told that Israel was not doing it. And I was not happy about that. That was something I never forgot. And it showed me something. I would say that what happened on—the October 7 should have never happened. [...]
It happened on his watch. And I think it's had a profound impact on him, despite everything. Because people said that shouldn't have happened. They have the most sophisticated equipment. They had—everything was there to stop that. [...] And I will say this, Bibi Netanyahu rightfully has been criticized for what took place on October 7.
[...]
Most people thought it was going to be a two-state solution. I'm not sure a two-state solution anymore is gonna work.
There's a lot more there, on topics including federal abortion restrictions, the president's power to fire US attorneys, January 6th, NATO, and the Cabinet ("Biden’s a very different kind of a guy than me. He keeps bad people.")
