If his tweets are anything to go by, Donald Trump is all about the bottom line. From defending himself against claims of wire-tapping to discussing his stand on ‘fake news’, the US President held nothing back in an interview with the TIME magazine’s Washington Bureau chief, Michael Scherer, in the weekly cover story headlined “Is Truth Dead?”
In an editor’s letter, Nancy Gibbs talked about the difficulties associated with reporting on Donald Trump. She said:
We can point out, as we often do, when a president gets his facts wrong. We can measure distortions, read between lines, ask the follow-up question. But there’s a limit to what we can deduce about motive or intent. [...] For Donald Trump, shamelessness is not just a strength, it’s a strategy.
“When I Said ‘Wiretapping’, it Was in Quotes”
Trump’s accusations that former US President Barrack Obama and his office wire-tapped him during the presidential campaign caused a major stir. The new leader of the free world, however, made the claim without a shred of evidence.
In the interview, Trump boldly stood by his wiretapping claims.
.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fmt=webp&width=720)
“I Predicted Brexit, You Remember That, the Day Before the Event”
Trump claims that he should be trusted without question, as everything he has predicted so far, has turned out to be true.
Trump said so with confidence, after White House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes said on Wednesday that members of Trump’s transition team and possibly Trump himself MAY have been under surveillance.
.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fmt=webp&width=720)
“Why Do You Say That I Have to Apologise? I'm Just Quoting the Newspaper”
Trump’s statements on what publications qualify as ‘real’ and ‘fake’ news have raised red flags among many news agencies in America. Bafflingly, President Trump has been more trusting of information put out by news channels and newspapers than of intelligence from the White House itself.
When asked whether he should apologise to fellow Republican Ted Cruz for repeating an unproven claim that his father was with Lee Harvey Oswald moments before John F Kennedy’s assassination, he said:
Well that was in a newspaper. No, no, I like Ted Cruz, he’s a friend of mine. But that was in the newspaper. I wasn’t, I didn’t say that. I was referring to a newspaper.
.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fmt=webp&width=720)
“I Inherited a Mess”
From foreign relations with North Korea, to issues in the Middle East, to trade and employment, the US President had not shied away from blasting Obama’s administration, as he claims he has had an ‘uphill struggle’ from his very first day in office.
He closed the interview with a characteristic statement of confidence, ensuring everyone that he’s doing well.
Hey look, in the meantime, I guess, I can’t be doing so badly, because I’m President, and you’re not. You know. Say hello to everybody OK?
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)