President Trump sat down last Friday for a lengthy one-on-one interview with Chuck Todd on Meet The Press.  In credit to NBC they provide the full unedited interview. WATCH:

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[Transcript AS BROADCAST] CHUCK TODD: Let me start right in. What happened last night?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, you had a situation that was very bad because the night before, they shot down an unmanned drone. And the unmanned is a very big factor. The fact that there was not a person on it, a U.S. person on it, or anybody. And that had an impact on me. I said, “Well, you know, we got a little problem.” And I think they did that on purpose because they understand that they will be hit very hard if that were a plane with a person in it. And I think they knew that there was nobody there. So we had a very, you know, modest but pretty, pretty heavy attack schedule.


CHUCK TODD: And this is a pre-plan that you had, something that if they did something, you had something —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah, we had it —
CHUCK TODD: — these were sort of ready-made plans —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Sure, we have many of them —
CHUCK TODD: — to use if necessary, right?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Oh, I have so many targets you wouldn’t believe.
CHUCK TODD: Right.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We have targets all over.
CHUCK TODD: So did you green light something? Or had you said —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Nothing’s —
CHUCK TODD: “If we do it, I’ll do this.” What was, what was the order you gave?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Nothing is green lighted until the very end because —
CHUCK TODD: Ok.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — things change, right?
CHUCK TODD: So you never gave a final order?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, no, no, no. But we had something ready to go, subject to my approval. And they came in. And they came in about a half an hour before, they said, “So we’re about ready to go.” I said, “I want a better definition –”
CHUCK TODD: Planes in the air? Were planes in the air?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, no. “We’re about ready to go.” No, but they would have been pretty soon. And things would have happened to a point where you wouldn’t turn back or couldn’t turn back. So they came and they said, “Sir, we’re ready to go. We’d like a decision.” I said, “I want to know something before you go. How many people will be killed, in this case Iranians?” I said, “How many people are going to be killed?” “Sir, I’d like get back to you on that,” great people these generals. They said, came back, said, “Sir, approximately 150.” And I thought about it for a second and I said, “You know what? They shot down an unmanned drone, plane, whatever you want to call it. And here we are sitting with 150 dead people that would have taken place probably within a half an hour after I said go ahead.” And I didn’t like it. I didn’t think it was, I didn’t think it was proportionate. Now that doesn’t mean —
CHUCK TODD: You think they were trying to provoke you?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, I don’t think so. And I think it was very important that they, to them, don’t forget, their economy —
CHUCK TODD: They don’t — they, they –you don’t think they intended to get you to respond militarily?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, their economy is shattered. Shattered.
CHUCK TODD: So what’s the message you think they’re sending?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Their inflation is through the roof. They’ve never had, the highest in the world right now. Worse than any place. They’re, they’re living not well.
CHUCK TODD: Do you want to do a separate deal with Iran? Or do you want to get everybody involved in the same deal? Get the Russians, get the Chinese?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I don’t care which, what kind of a deal. It can be separate or it could be total.
CHUCK TODD: But it’s one-on-one talks, you and the Ayatollah?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: All it is — all it is —
CHUCK TODD: Is it one-on-one talks, you and the Ayatollah, or you and the President?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It doesn’t matter to me. Here’s what I want, anything that gets you to the result. They cannot have a nuclear weapon. It’s not about the straits. You know, a lot of people covered it incorrectly. They’re never mentioned. They cannot have a nuclear weapon. They’d use it. And they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon.
CHUCK TODD: Did you send a message —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And it’s not about the oil.
CHUCK TODD: — last night? You know, Reuters is reporting that you sent a message to the Iranians saying, “I don’t want war. I want to talk.”
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Wrong. It’s wrong. I did not send that message. I did not send that message. I don’t know who —
CHUCK TODD: Ok.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I don’t know who would have said that.
CHUCK TODD: Send a message right now to the Ayatollah.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I mean it’s fake news.
CHUCK TODD: Then send a message right now to the Ayatollah.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Wouldn’t be much different than that message.
CHUCK TODD: Which is?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I’m not looking for war and if there is, it’ll be obliteration like you’ve never seen before. But I’m not looking to do that. But you can’t have a nuclear weapon. You want to talk? Good. Otherwise you can have a bad economy for the next —
CHUCK TODD: No pre-conditions?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — three years. Not as far as I’m concerned. No pre-conditions.
CHUCK TODD: And you’ll talk anywhere?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Here it is. Look, you can’t have nuclear weapons. And if you want to talk about it, good. Otherwise you can live in a shattered economy for a long time to come.
CHUCK TODD: If you, are you, do you feel like you were being pushed into military action against Iran by any of your advisors?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I have two groups of people. I have doves and I have hawks.
CHUCK TODD: Yeah, you have some serious hawks.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I have some hawks. Yeah, John Bolton is absolutely a hawk. If it was up to him he’d take on the whole world at one time, okay? But that doesn’t matter because I want both sides. You know, some people said, “Why did you put –” You know, I was against going into Iraq for years and years. And before it ever happened I was against going into Iraq. And some people said, “Oh I don’t know.” I was totally against and I was a private citizen. It never made sense to me. I was against going into the Middle East. Chuck, we’ve spent $7 trillion in the Middle East right now.
CHUCK TODD: What would a candidate Trump have said about a president who, on his watch, had Iran shooting down a drone, a Venezuelan dictator thumbing his nose at you, Obamacare still on the books and no results yet on the border? The border getting tough —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, let’s, let’s take a look. Let’s take a look —
CHUCK TODD: I just say — what would candidate Trump have said about that?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Okay, let’s take a look. The border’s doing great. Mexico’s been fantastic. They’ve been trying to get a deal with Mexico for 45 years, right? So for 45 years, they couldn’t get a deal. I got one in one day. I said, “We’re going to put tariffs on and we’re going to either have a deal or not. We agreed in one day.” Mexico just moved 6,000 people to their southern border. 6,000 troops to their southern border. The border’s working out well. And the wall is being built. I mean, a lot of people don’t like to talk about it. We’re building the wall. We will have 400 miles of wall built by the end of next year and that’s hard because the Democrats don’t want to approve it. We just beat them in a big lawsuit, as you know, in Washington, in D.C. We just beat them in a very big lawsuit.
CHUCK TODD: But does it frustrate you that your border numbers are worse than Obama’s?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, because the people are coming up because our economy is so good. They’re pouring up because the economy is so good. Obama had a lousy economy. It was a dead economy.
CHUCK TODD: Can I ask you about that?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Our, our economy is good.
CHUCK TODD: Let me show you this chart. Do you see that chart?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah.
CHUCK TODD: It’s the unemployment rate from the peak of the recession.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Right.
CHUCK TODD: Your economy is great. I’m not saying it’s not great. But this recovery started and in the 28 months that you’ve been president and the last 28 months of Obama’s presidency, he averaged more new jobs than your first 28 —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: That’s because he started off with a, with such a bad base. I mean, he hit —
CHUCK TODD: Ok. But it is — is it not a continuation?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah, but Chuck, you have to understand, nobody was working. The whole place was a disaster. And I don’t– I’d never take that away.
CHUCK TODD: Ok.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: But it’s very easy —
CHUCK TODD: Alright.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — because when that turned around they pumped a tremendous amount of money into the economy. He also had a Federal Reserve person who kept the interest rates low. I don’t. I don’t have that privilege.
CHUCK TODD: Sounds like you do now. Do you feel like you have —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, no, no.
CHUCK TODD: — do you feel you have sent —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: He raised them far too fast.
CHUCK TODD: — the threat —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: He raised them far too fast.
CHUCK TODD: — your threat to demote him, do you think that’s had an impact?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I didn’t ever threaten to demote him.
CHUCK TODD: There’s been some talk that you might demote him to the number two slot.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I, I, I’d be able to do that if I wanted but I haven’t suggested that. I mean —
CHUCK TODD: That’s not a threat —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, it’s not —
CHUCK TODD: — that’s just a reminder that you can?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, no, I have the right to do that. But I haven’t said that. What he’s done is $50 billion a month in quantitative tightening. That’s ridiculous. What he’s done is he raised interest rates too fast.
CHUCK TODD: Do you worry it’s going to hurt —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I’ve been proven right.
CHUCK TODD: — your reelection?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I think the economy’s so strong we’re going to bull through it. But I’m not happy with his actions. No, I don’t think he’s done a good job. I think this, if he didn’t raise rates Obama had very low rates. So Obama was playing with funny money. I wasn’t. I’m playing with the real stuff.
CHUCK TODD: Let me ask you this.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Wait, wait. Obama had somebody that kept the rates very low. I had somebody that raised the rates very rapidly. Too much. He made a mistake. That’s been proven. And yet my economy is phenomenal. We have now the best economy, maybe in the history of our country. One — just to finish off, when I took over, this country, the economy was ready to collapse. You take a look at the numbers. It was ready to collapse. And if I didn’t win —
CHUCK TODD: I just showed you the numbers. It was not ready to collapse.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No no, no, that’s — You showed me unemployment numbers.
CHUCK TODD: That was unemployment. It was not ready —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Excuse me.
CHUCK TODD: — to collapse.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Excuse me. Take a look at your GDP, take a look at your jobs, take a look at your optimism.
CHUCK TODD: Ok.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Take a look at all of the charts. When I took over from election day on, I mean, you show me one chart which, where I did —
CHUCK TODD: It was the unemployment rate.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — well in that too, but I’m not —
CHUCK TODD: Ok.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — talking about that. Take a look at some of the optimism charts and everything else. It went from 57 to 92. Nobody’s ever seen anything that —
CHUCK TODD: You’re right. You’re right.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — right after I won.
CHUCK TODD: The optimism, you’re right.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, optimism is a big part of success in business. Okay.
CHUCK TODD: You were always hard on Obama. You thought he wasn’t enough of a cheerleader.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: He was not a cheerleader.
CHUCK TODD: If you could have one do over as president, what would it be?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, it would be personnel.
CHUCK TODD: Who is it?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I would say if I had one do over, it would be, I would not have appointed Jeff Sessions to be attorney general. That would be my one —
CHUCK TODD: That’s your, in your mind, that’s your worst mistake?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah, that was the biggest mistake.
CHUCK TODD: Is Bill Barr your Roy Cohn?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: He should’ve never — I think he’s a very talented, very–
CHUCK TODD: But do you know what I mean by that? You’ve always said —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, no, look —
CHUCK TODD: “Where’s my Roy Cohn?” Is he your Roy Cohn?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You have to understand, Roy Cohn, but I had many, many lawyers. I mean, a lot of lawyers. Roy was one of them. He was a tough guy. Bill Barr is a — first of all, Bill Barr —
CHUCK TODD: Is he cut from the same cloth, do you think?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Bill Barr is a very, he’s equally tough. He’s a fine man. He’s a fine man. The job he’s done is incredible. He’s brought sanity back. I think he’s real — I don’t think, I know, he’s respected. You know, he loves the Department of Justice. He saw what was happening. He has done a spectacular job. Now he’s in the process of doing something and I stay away from it. I really, I stay away from it. But I think he feels that what’s happened in this country was a very bad thing and very bad for our country.
CHUCK TODD: They’re in terrible shape down there, Mr. President. Down in Homestead, Florida, that’s where I grew up, it’s, the conditions are terrible.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I agree. And it’s been —
CHUCK TODD: Do something.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — that way for a long time.
CHUCK TODD: Do something.
CHUCK TODD: I want to ask what’s going down with the, these, the children in these migrant camps. The stories are horrible, Mr. President. You have children without their parents. You have kids taking care of kids.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah.
CHUCK TODD: You’ve, you’ve read these reports. I know people are coming to you. I know you think this is the Democrats’ problem.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, it —
CHUCK TODD: Forget it.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It was —
CHUCK TODD: Why aren’t you doing something?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Are you ready?
CHUCK TODD: They’re in terrible shape down there, Mr. President. Down in Homestead, Florida, that’s where I grew up, it’s, the conditions are terrible.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I agree. And it’s been —
CHUCK TODD: Do something.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — that way for a long time.
CHUCK TODD: Do something.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And President Obama built the cages. Remember when they said that I built them? And then it was 1914 —
CHUCK TODD: Do two wrongs —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Excuse me.
CHUCK TODD: — make a right?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It was 2014. Chuck, just listen for one second.
CHUCK TODD: Ok. Alright.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Separation, President Obama, I took over separation. I’m the one that put it together. What’s happened though are the cartels and all of these bad people, they’re using the kids. They’re, they’re, it’s almost like slavery.
CHUCK TODD: But let’s not punish the kids more.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No this has been happening —
CHUCK TODD: Aren’t you — the kids are getting punished more.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You’re right. And this has been happening long before I got there. What we’ve done is we’ve created, we’ve, we’ve ended separation. You know, under President Obama you had separation. I was the one that ended it. Now I said one thing, when I ended it I said, “Here’s what’s going to happen. More families are going to come up.” And that’s what’s happened. But they’re really coming up for the economics. But once you ended the separation. But I ended separation. I inherited separation from President Obama. President Obama built, they call them jail cells. They were built —
CHUCK TODD: Let’s talk about what’s happening now.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — by the Obama —
CHUCK TODD: Your administration, and–
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I’m just telling you —
CHUCK TODD: –you’re not doing the recreation. You’re not even schooling these kids anymore. You’ve gotten rid of all that stuff.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We’re doing a fantastic job under the circumstances. The Democrats aren’t even approving giving us money. Where is the money? You know what? The Democrats are holding up the humanitarian aid.
CHUCK TODD: It looks like these kids are being used as, as some sort of — is it hostages? They’re being held —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, they are being used.
CHUCK TODD: — hostage.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: They are being used by very bad people on the other side where they actually get —
CHUCK TODD: But now they’re politically being used.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: –paid, where money is being made using them because our laws are so bad. Because if you have a child, you have an advantage. You know that better than anybody. And what should happen, Chuck —
CHUCK TODD: But why let the political debate hurt these children?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Chuck, we could —
CHUCK TODD: They could be impacted for years.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: If the Democrats would change the asylum laws and the loopholes, which they refuse to do because they think it’s good politics, everything would be solved immediately. But they refuse to do it. They refuse to do it.
CHUCK TODD: Let me ask you this.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You know what? If they change those, I say, I used to say 45 minutes. It’s 15 minutes. If they changed asylum and if they changed loopholes everything on the border would be perfect.
CHUCK TODD: Let me ask you this, why do you think Nancy Pelosi has held off her impeachment caucus?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Because I think she feels that I will win much easier. I mean, I’ve been told that by many people.
CHUCK TODD: Do you think impeachment’s good politics for you?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I think I win the election easier. But, you know, I’m not sure that I like having it. Look, I did nothing wrong. I was spied on. What they did to me was illegal. It was illegal on the other side. I did nothing wrong. So impeachment’s a very unfair thing because nothing that I did was wrong. And if you look at the Mueller report, there was no collusion. This was all about collusion.
CHUCK TODD: Nowhere in the Mueller report —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: This was about conspiracy.
CHUCK TODD: By the way, Mr. President, you say no collusion. There is not a single, I’ve read this Mueller report, both, both parts of it —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Use the word collusion, or use —
CHUCK TODD: — there’s not one place it says nothing happened.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Use the word collusion. Use the word conspiracy.
CHUCK TODD: It never says no collusion.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I’ll be honest with you, nobody even mentions Russia anymore since the Mueller report. They don’t mention it, in all fairness.
CHUCK TODD: I —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Nobody mentions Russia anymore. And it was about Russia. It was a hoax.
CHUCK TODD: Let me ask you this —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Wait a minute.
CHUCK TODD: — during the campaign —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Wait, wait. We’ll give you the time that you need.
CHUCK TODD: What hoax it was?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It was a hoax. The Russian hoax with me.
CHUCK TODD: You don’t believe it happened?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I had nothing to do —
CHUCK TODD: You don’t believe the Russians interfered —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: What they did with —
CHUCK TODD: — in our election?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — respect to the election is different. We’re not talking about that. We’re talking about —
CHUCK TODD: The idea that you were conspiring.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — my campaign working is a hoax.
CHUCK TODD: Fair enough.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Okay. Good.
CHUCK TODD: But going back, on WikiLeaks, knowing now that that was stolen foreign material, do you regret using it?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I, I wouldn’t have. But this was well-known. I think it was in papers. And, again, I’m going back now a long ways. But —
CHUCK TODD: It was all rumored to be Russian stolen property.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Wait a minute. But —
CHUCK TODD: So why’d you use it?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: –but how would I even know that? I made a speech. It was in there about WikiLeaks. I’m not a —
CHUCK TODD: Right, but I’m saying knowing now —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — WikiLeaks person.
CHUCK TODD: Knowing that they are a Russian intelligence —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Hey, Chuck.
CHUCK TODD: — asset —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Ok.
CHUCK TODD: — do you regret it?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Let me tell you– WikiLeaks, et cetera, that’s not my deal in life. You know, in other words, I don’t know about WikiLeaks. It was a strange name. But there were stories about something WikiLeaks that they had information. And I say it in a joking manner at a speech. Joking. Everybody laughing. Everybody having a — And they made it like it was serious. No, I don’t want anything bad to happen to our country. Anything bad happens to this country, I will end it and I’ll end it fast. I don’t want any of that to happen.
CHUCK TODD: You’re going to see Vladimir Putin in a week.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yes. I’m going to see many people.
CHUCK TODD: Are you going to address him directly about interference in 2020?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I may.
CHUCK TODD: Are you going to tell him —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I may.
CHUCK TODD: — not to do it?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I may if you’d like me to do it, I’ll do that.
CHUCK TODD: Because some — Well, some people think that your answer —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You know what? Here’s what you do —
CHUCK TODD: — that your answer last week invited him to do it again.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Oh, that’s not true. That’s not true.
CHUCK TODD: Are you going to tell him not to and what are the consequences?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: My answer last week was both. I said both. I’d do both. Except they didn’t put it on. And when they did put it on people understood. But they didn’t put it on because they put a different segment on. So they ask me a question. But when I said, “Yeah, I’d do both,” people saw that in the last version of it because the thing played like all weekend and on Friday. So it’s just more fake news. Chuck, there’s so much fake news. It would be so good if —
CHUCK TODD: The Republican Party has changed in your image. Do you think you caused that change or do you think the party was changing and you were the leader they selected?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I think common sense caused it. You know, I’m about common sense. People say, “Are you conservative?” I guess I’m conservative, but I’m about common sense. I’m about we need borders. We’re going to have borders. And we have strong borders. And by the way, Mexico has done a great job. It’s slowed down so much. But we have an amazing economy and people want to come up. But it’s slowed down so much. But I’m about borders. I’m about great health care. Obamacare is a disaster. I got rid of the individual mandate.
CHUCK TODD: By the way, why is the economy doing so well if Obamacare is still law of the land? You had said in 2011 —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We are managing —
CHUCK TODD: — “Obamacare’s going to destroy the economy.” Obamacare’s still here and —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Because I’ve managed it great.
CHUCK TODD: — the economy’s great.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I had a choice. I could have let it implode and killed it or I could have managed it —
CHUCK TODD: You’re still trying to kill it.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, no.
CHUCK TODD: Why are you still trying to kill it with the getting rid of preexisting — If you — This lawsuit that the Department of Justice joined, it could get rid of —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I am in favor —
CHUCK TODD: — coverage of preexisting conditions.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I am in favor of preexisting conditions. I am fighting —
CHUCK TODD: So get rid — so drop the lawsuit.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We will —
CHUCK TODD: So drop your aspect of the lawsuit.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It has nothing to do with it. The lawsuit is one thing. We are going to put in a bill, total preexisting conditions. And the Republicans are in favor of preexisting conditions.
CHUCK TODD: Mr. President, you had full Republican control and they couldn’t pass anything.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Chuck, are you ready?
CHUCK TODD: What makes you think you’re going to get it done this time?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We had a negative vote from John McCain. It was a surprising vote. But I got rid of the worst part of Obamacare which was the individual mandate.
CHUCK TODD: Ok.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We will always protect pre-existing conditions. And the reason Obamacare continues is my decision. Wait, I made a big decision.
CHUCK TODD: Ok.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We have a man named Azar, our secretary, he’s fantastic man, Alex. A total pro. I could have managed Obamacare so it would have failed or I could have managed it the way we did so it’s as good as it can be. Not great, but it’s as good — It’s too expensive and the premiums are too high. I had a decision to make. I could have politically killed Obamacare. I decided not to do it. But still it’s not good. We’re going to come up with great health care if we win the House, the Senate and the presidency.
CHUCK TODD: Are you prepared to lose?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No. Probably not. Probably not.
CHUCK TODD: Very hon — I mean, you joke —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It would be much better, it would be much better if I said, “Yeah.”
CHUCK TODD: You’re, you’re —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It would be much easier for me to say, “Oh yes.” No I’m probably not too prepared to lose. I don’t like losing. I haven’t lost very much in my life.
CHUCK TODD: You didn’t like the fact that you lost the popular vote. That bothered you, didn’t it?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I think it was a — I mean, I’ll say something that, again, is controversial. There were a lot of votes cast that I don’t believe. I look at California.
CHUCK TODD: Mr. President.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Excuse me.
CHUCK TODD: But that’s a —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Take a look at Judicial Watch, take a look at their settlement where California admitted to a million votes. They admitted to a million votes.
CHUCK TODD: A million votes of what?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Take a look at judicial —
CHUCK TODD: What are you talking about?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Judicial Watch made a settlement. There was, there was much —
CHUCK TODD: About what?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — there was much illegal voting. But let me tell you about popular vote. Do you have a second?
CHUCK TODD: Yes, because you were, you were a big fan of it —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: There are two —
CHUCK TODD: — until you weren’t
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I like popular vote.
CHUCK TODD: Yeah.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I think I do better with a popular vote. But I didn’t campaign for the popular vote.
CHUCK TODD: You’re right. I —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You didn’t see me campaigning in California or New York. If I — if it was up to the popular vote, I would have been I think even better. I won 306 to 223, which was a lot in the Electoral College. But it’s like you’re training for the 100-yard dash versus the mile.
CHUCK TODD: Yep. You’re, you’re totally right.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It’s totally different.
CHUCK TODD: If it’s the popular vote, you campaign differently.–
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I went to Wisconsin. —
CHUCK TODD: — I don’t disagree.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — She forgot. I went to Michigan. She didn’t go to Michigan enough. I won Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania. I won places that she didn’t do a good job. What can I tell you? No, maybe I did a great job. You know, I never get credit for that. They always say she was a lousy candidate. I actually think that Hillary Clinton was a great candidate. She was very smart. She was very tough. She was ruthless and vicious.
CHUCK TODD: You’d rather run against her again, wouldn’t you?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No.
CHUCK TODD: You only talked about her in your announcement speech.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No.
CHUCK TODD: You spent a lot of time talking about her.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No. I would actually rather run against Biden.
CHUCK TODD: Than Hillary.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I think that would be my preference.
CHUCK TODD: Why?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Sleepy Joe. He’s sleepy. She was not sleepy. Let me just tell you something, the Electoral College is tougher for a Republican to win than the popular vote. At least me. I feel that I go to three places. I went to 19 or 21 states. I went to Maine four times because I wanted to get one. And I did get it. And that’s the beauty of the Electoral College.
CHUCK TODD: Right.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You know, I’ve been a proponent of the other sometimes and I change. But I will tell you, the Electoral College brings you to many of the states in this country.
CHUCK TODD: You, you have joked about a third term. You’ve joked about these things.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I only joke.
CHUCK TODD: Okay.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I joke. And I say “Watch, I will drive Chuck Todd crazy.”
CHUCK TODD: You will, you will accept the re — Ok. You will —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yes, there won’t be a third term.
CHUCK TODD: You will accept the results?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: 100%. Sure.
CHUCK TODD: And you will accept whatever happens in 2020.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Sure.
CHUCK TODD: You lose, you’ll be like — you’re not going to like it but you walk out.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: In fact, I said at a speech recently, I said, “Watch. We’ll drive the media crazy. Let’s go for a third time and then a fourth.” And some of the media said, “He’s going to do it.”
CHUCK TODD: Speaking of driving people crazy, when you were asked about Mike Pence in 2024 and you, and you, and you paused a minute about endorsing him as your successor, that got a lot of people going, “Is Mike Pence 100% on your ticket in 2020?”
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, look, look — 100%, yes.
CHUCK TODD: 100%?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Oh yeah.
CHUCK TODD: There is no wiggle room?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: He’s been, he’s been a terrific vice president. He’s my friend and —
CHUCK TODD: Ok.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — a lot of things. No. Zero. Zero.
CHUCK TODD: So why’d you hesitate in endorsing him in being, succeeding you?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Because it was a surprise question.
CHUCK TODD: You hadn’t thought about it?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I mean, you know, I’m not even thinking of it. It’s so far out. I mean, It’s so far out. That would be the only reason. Now what happens in 2024? I don’t know that Mike is going to run. I don’t know who’s running or anything else.
[Transcript End]