US President Donald Trump appeared on CBS News’ 60 Minutes, his first interview since settling a lawsuit against the news outlet months ago.
Before the 2020 election, Trump walked away from a 60 Minutes interview with allegations of bias and later filed a lawsuit against the publication over an interview with Kamala Harris.
In a recent interview with CBS News, Trump discussed the conflict in India and Pakistan, nuclear tests by Russia and China, criticized former US President Barack Obama and claimed that he had succeeded in stopping illegal immigration. He also addressed the government shutdown, blaming Democrats and refusing to negotiate, insisting that Republicans must be tougher.
Here are the top 10 takeaways from Trump’s interview –
On stopping the India-Pakistan conflict
The US president has reiterated that he played a role in preventing a potential nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan, a position that Delhi has consistently rejected.
“If it wasn’t for tariffs and trade, I wouldn’t have been able to make deals… They were going to war. They were going to have a nuclear war with Pakistan,” he added.
Trump acknowledged the shaky stability in South Asia and mentioned that the United States is still keeping a close eye on India and Pakistan. While not specifically addressing recent military actions, administration officials indicated that Washington remains cautious about a possible escalation, particularly because of lingering nuclear concerns.
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Nuclear tests in Russia and China
Trump claimed that Russia and China were secretly testing nuclear weapons underground.
“Russia’s testing and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it,” he said. “You don’t necessarily know where they’re testing. They’re testing way underground where people don’t know exactly what’s going on with the test,” he added.
Speaking about America’s nuclear capabilities, Trump said, “Well, we have more nuclear weapons than any other country. Russia is second. China is a very distant third, but they’ll be even in five years. You know, they’re making them fast, and I think we should do something about denuclearization.”
Read also | US needs nuclear weapons testing like China, Russia is also testing: Trump
A crackdown on immigration
Trump claimed success in controlling illegal immigration across the US-Mexico border: “Right now we have a closed border,” he said. “Five months in a row they have had zero, think about it, zero people coming into our country through our southern border.”
Iran operation
When Trump spoke about Iran, he said his administration was “blasting the hell out of them” to prevent Tehran from becoming a nuclear power. “You could never have any deal if you had a nuclear Iran. And basically you had a nuclear Iran,” he noted.
About Barack Obama’s legacy
Trump has consistently criticized former President Barack Obama’s legacy, describing it as part of a “flawed plan initiated by Barack Hussein Obama,” whom he called a lousy president.
Read also | Trump to skip Supreme Court hearing on US tariff policy
Attack on Zohran Mamdani
Trump called out New York Mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani and said, “A communist, not a socialist. A communist. He’s far – far worse than a socialist. Oh, that’s so crazy. Look. When I left New York, we were in – the epitome of that was a great city. He did great. It was a great city, but there were some bad points, like Blaio, I said, the mayor. the worst president, de Blasio was the worst mayor in history.
Venezuelan politics
Speaking about the potential use of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, Trump said: “I would say yes. I think so.”
“I’m not going to tell you what I’m going to do with Venezuela, if I wanted to do it or if I didn’t do it,” Trump said.
Problems of the Middle East
When asked about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s upcoming visit to the White House and his assertion that the kingdom would not join the Abraham Accords without a two-state solution, Trump said: “No. I think they will.”
He added: “We will have a solution. I don’t know if it will be a two-state solution. That will be up to Israel and other people and me.”
Trump went on to claim that peace in the Middle East is preserved because the US has halted Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Government shutdown
Trump blamed Democrats for the government shutdown, which entered its sixth week.
“The Democrats’ fault,” Trump said, adding, “They don’t want to give us an extension because they used to think it was good for them, but the polls are turning around.”
Trump has rejected calls to compromise with Democrats to reopen the government. “I’m not going to be blackmailed,” he said, insisting that he “is not going to give $1.5 trillion so that prisoners, drug dealers and people in mental institutions” can get welfare or health care.
Healthcare reforms
Among domestic issues, Trump highlighted health care and argued that Democrats were blocking any reforms. “We almost did it. We were one vote short. John McCain, frankly, made a mistake,” he said, referring to Obamacare, the scheme to make health care affordable in the US.
He reiterated his long-standing criticism of the Affordable Care Act, describing it as “bad health care at too high a price.” “It’s too expensive for people,” Trump said. “They’re going to see a very big increase this year.”
