Fox News "Hannity" - Transcript Interview with Donald Trump

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Joining us now on the phone is President Donald Trump from the White House tonight.

Mr. President, thank you, sir, for being with us.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, thank you very much.

And how good is Mark?

HANNITY: Mark is on fire tonight. There's no doubt about it.

TRUMP: He's on fire.

HANNITY: That's why I call him the great one.

I want to start. We have an election in 117 days, Mr. President. And your campaign came out with an ad. The issue of law and order and safety and security are now key in this country.

We will go over Joe Biden's comments.

But your campaign released this ad. It's -- I'm of the view that nobody pursues happiness if you're not safe and secure.

Let's roll with -- let's roll tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NARRATOR: You have reached the 911 police emergency line.

Due to defunding of the police department, we are sorry, but no one is here to take your call. If you're calling to report a rape, please press one. To report a murder, press two. To report a home invasion, press three.

For all other crimes, leave your name and number, and someone will get back to you. Our estimated wait time is currently five days.

Goodbye.

TRUMP: I'm Donald J. Trump, and I approve this message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Mr. President, I'm going to read the comments of Joe Biden, if I may.

He said: "Surplus military equipment for law enforcement" -- by the way, they used it in Ferguson and Baltimore -- "they don't need that. The last thing you need is an up-armored Humvee coming into a neighborhood."

I haven't noticed that.

"It's like a military invading. They don't know anybody. They have become the enemy. They're supposed to be protecting the people."

Then asked about funding: "Do you agree we can redirect the funding?"

"Absolutely."

OK.

Mr. President, I would argue that no American could be happy if they are not safe and secure or pursue happiness without safety and security.

TRUMP: Well, I agree with that 100 percent.

And we need safety. We need security. We can't defund our police. And we can't abolish our police. They want to abolish our police.

And as far as the surplus equipment, I have given out hundreds of millions of dollars. This is stuff that was sitting in storage houses all over the country. It wasn't even old, but it was never going to be used again. It was gathering dust. And I gave it out to all of our police forces all over the country, saved many, many police lives and many lives, I think, period.

It was really -- a lot of it was protective equipment. And I know that President Obama and Biden didn't want to give it out. They thought it was terrible to give it out. It made the police look too strong. And I gave it out, and I have been thanked by every police department.

HANNITY: Mr. President, while the summer of love zone turned into a shooting zone -- and I'm going to run some videotape.

One is a man shot while walking his 6-year-old little girl in the Bronx in New York, assassinated in broad daylight. Another, a gunman opened fired in a Bronx apartment building.

Then I will show the -- on this very show live our own Steve Harrigan interviewing protesters that took over a city block in Atlanta. That resulted in the death of an 8-year-old girl two weeks later.

You see what's happening, shootings up. Violent crime is up. Murder is up, 130 percent shootings up in New York City. You see the statistics in Chicago every weekend.

How do you react to that?

TRUMP: Well, first of all, New York City is not recognizable. Crime is way up. Shootings are way up. Murder is way up. It's just unbelievable.

Chicago -- what's going in Chicago -- and we're looking at it very seriously, because we're going to have to do something.

We have asked them. We're really supposed to be asked to come in and help the federal government. And we have the greatest people in the world, and we can solve it. But we are supposed to be asked. So, the mayor or the governor of Illinois should be asking. But they don't want to ask.

And you look every weekend and every week in Chicago, it's just numbers that are not believable. Atlanta is starting to have some problems.

So, we are ready to act. And, at some point, we may have to act anyway. We may have to do it sooner, rather than later.

HANNITY: Let's talk about the issue of acting.

I had a source that told me -- I was not able to confirm it -- that one of the reasons that the Seattle mayor finally acted is that they were given notice that, if they didn't act, that you were going to.

Is there any truth to that?

TRUMP: A hundred percent. We were going in. We were going in very soon. We let them know that.

And they, all of a sudden -- they didn't want that, so they went in before we got there. And -- but we were going and very shortly, very soon, and we would've taken the CHOP, I call it, CHOP. We would have taken it back very easily.

But they went in. And, frankly, the people just gave up. They were tired. They had it for a long period of time.

But because of the fact that we were going to go in -- now, if you look at Minneapolis, after four or five days of horror, we called them. We said, you got to get out the National Guard. We insisted that they do it.

When the National Guard finally got out, they walked through it like a knife goes through butter. That was the end of their problem. That was it. It was a great job done by the National Guard.

And, yes, we were all set to go into Seattle. Frankly, I looked forward to it.

HANNITY: Mr. President, Joe Biden was vice president for eight years, Barack Obama's hometown is Chicago.

Every weekend, we get these statistics. Lawrence Jones, who is our 2020 reporter on this program, actually interviewed the father. He lost a 7- year-old little girl. I don't know how you recover from something like that.

And -- but this -- Biden and Barack Obama, President Obama, Vice President Biden, they barely ever talked about the violence in Barack Obama's hometown.

What specifically can you do? I know you have offered to help New York City. I know you have offered to help Chicago. I know you offered to help Seattle. I know you did help Minneapolis and you did help D.C.

But when they keep refusing your help, what are your options?

TRUMP: So, first of all, I saw the interview.

And he's a lovely man. I spoke to him at length, and with his friend, who is a great guy too.

HANNITY: Horace Lorenzo Anderson, yes, sir, his son killed.

TRUMP: I actually invited them down to the White House at some point, when they get -- when they get -- when they get adjusted, because it is so tough.

I mean, what he is going through is so tough. And he was treated very badly. They didn't even tell him what had happened, when it had happened. Very sad thing.

But I did speak to him. And I had a great, but very sad conversation. And so, he will be coming down. When he's ready, he will be coming down to the White House.

I will say, look, they have to be tough. They have to be smart. What's going on there -- and, you know, the Chicago police is terrific. The New York police, New York's finest, they are just not being allowed to do their job. They don't want to do anything, because they will end up -- they will end up with lots of bad things happening to them. They are not letting them do the job.

And I dealt a lot with Mayor de Blasio. I was very nice to Mayor de Blasio. I got him ventilators when he needed them. I got him hospital help when he needed it. I got him everything he needed. I got him the gowns. I got him the masks. I got him everything, the shields. I got that man everything. I spoke to him many times.

He couldn't have been nicer. And then he throws a big Black Lives Matter sign right down in the middle of Fifth Avenue. And all merchants along Fifth Avenue are furious. They are furious. And the whole city is furious.

The city is a city that's enraged. And...

HANNITY: Well, but I'll tell you, but nobody...

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: I mean...

TRUMP: Everything I did -- and I'm -- it's almost -- it was almost a test, Sean.

But I was so good to him and to Governor Cuomo, like nobody has ever been good. And all you end up doing out of that place is get prosecuted and have a lot of trouble.

So, New York is not the place that it was. Everyone's leaving. They're moving to Florida. They're moving to other places. It's very sad, actually, to see what happened.

HANNITY: Yes.

To be honest, I'm the only idiot who stays here. I need to get my contract changed, so I can get the hell out of here myself, to be honest.

You know, in 1984, the question came up, especially after the first debate President Reagan had at the time with Walter Mondale, the age question.

TRUMP: Right.

HANNITY: Let me play a montage of, well, let's say, not some of the finest moments of Joe Biden.

And I want your reaction. And the question will be, does he have the mental alertness, does he have the strength and stamina, what I believe is the hardest job in the world? It's not what I do. Being president, I argue -- I would argue, is a hell of a lot harder.

But here's Joe Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(PHONE RINGING)

JOE BIDEN, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The scale -- the scale of the loss is staggering.

I don't know whose phone that is, but the scale of the loss is staggering. It's been two months since Congress gave them that money.

You introduce me?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

BIDEN: Am I on?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, sir.

BIDEN: Good evening. Thanks so much for tuning in

Look, tomorrow's super star Tuesday. And I want to thank you all. I tell you what. I'm rushing ahead, aren't I?

We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women are created by the -- go -- you know -- you know the thing.

My name is Joe Biden. I'm a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate. Look me over. If you like what you see, help out.

If you agree with me, go to Joe 30330.

We choose truth over facts.

Play the radio. Make sure the television -- excuse me -- make sure you have the record player on at night, the phone. Make sure the kids hear words.

Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.

Donald Trump does pose an existential to this -- the -- it's not hypothetical.

Why in God's name should someone who is clipping coupons in the stock market make -- in fact, pay a lower tax rate than someone who, in fact, is, like I said, a schoolteacher and a firefighter?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: I think my favorite -- my personal favorite is, we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created -- and women are created equal by the thing -- you know, the thing. That would be God, who created everything.

But, Mr. President, in your view, does he have the alertness -- trying to be charitable here -- the strength and stamina? You are in the job. I would argue the toughest job in the world. That's my position. And I have held that for many decades.

TRUMP: Well, I don't think it's the age, because I was with Bernie Marcus. I think he's 91. He is so sharp. He's as sharp as ever.

He's great, the founder of Home Depot, one of the founders, great guy. And I deal with other people in their late 80s, early 90s, and they're 100 percent mentally so sharp. Sheldon Adelson is an example, and others, many others. I could -- and they -- they're mentally 100 percent.

But Joe is just -- look, let's face it, he's been taken over by the radical left. He has no clue what they are doing and what they're getting him into.

This is worse than Bernie Sanders at his -- at his best. And you look at the deal they made with Bernie Sanders now in the group. It's all crazy, radical left stuff. And Joe is never going to be able to fight it, even if he disagreed with it, which I actually don't think he does.

I think they -- you know, there is an expression, an old expression, was used badly in old time ago in politics. I think they brainwashed him. They brainwashed him. He doesn't know where he is. He doesn't know what he's doing.

And our country will suffer. Our stock markets will crash. Bad things will happen. They will defund the police. They will abolish the police. It will be maybe a backlash, or maybe it'll just go to hell, like Venezuela.

HANNITY: You hear stories now, and Thomas Friedman and The New York Times is wanting to now create all new conditions for Joe Biden to agree to debate you. Now, he apparently says that he has many cognitive tests. He's tested all the time cognitively. Maybe they -- maybe he will release those records, and maybe he will release his medical records. Everybody wants to see -- seemingly see everything about you.

Now, would you agree to any new conditions? Or does he have to debate, like it's always happened? And do you think he's trying to back out of debating you?

TRUMP: Well, the answer is yes, absolutely.

But he -- he meant the COVID tests, the COVID tests. He didn't mean cognitive. He meant COVID.

HANNITY: No, he said cognitive. I'm pretty sure he...

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Well, I know. But he didn't mean that, because you don't have those tests that often. He said, I take them all the time.

And, no, he meant to COVID. But I think he was confused by the questions and the words and everything else. He didn't mean that, because he hasn't taken any cognitive test, because he couldn't pass one.

I actually took one when I -- very recently, when I -- when I was -- the radical left were saying, is he all there? Is he all there? And I proved I was all there, because I got -- I aced it. I aced the test.

And he should take the same exact test, a very standard test. I took it at Walter Reed Medical Center in front of doctors. And they were very surprised. They said, that's an unbelievable thing. Rarely does anybody do what you just did.

But he should take that same test.

But, no, he has been totally taken over, and I think it's because he doesn't understand what's going on. I watched him today. I watched him over the last couple of weeks. And I look forward to debating him, but it looks like he wants to try to get out of the debates.

I think we are doing very well in the polls. I think, if you look at the different states, I think we are doing very well. We are rapidly rising.

I was with the president of Mexico yesterday. We had an incredible day. We have tremendous Hispanic support. We have tremendous African American support. I think we have great support, period.

You look at the boats, you look at the bikers, you look at everything that's happening in our country, there is great spirit, spirit like nobody's ever seen before, actually. And there's no spirit for Joe.

HANNITY: Let me ask you about the recent rise in outbreaks.

And we had talked about this all throughout the beginning of coronavirus. And that was that it -- Dr. Oz said it often on both radio and TV with me, that it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when, that there are going to be hot spots and a reemergence, et cetera.

We are now seeing such things happen, this time in the Sunbelt.

Florida Governor DeSantis was on. One of the things that he did differently is, he went in and protected the nursing homes and the elderly care facilities. He's doing the same.

And I was a little bit surprised at the numbers in Florida in terms of the ages of people now that are contracting the virus, much, much younger. On the one hand, you don't want anyone to contract it.

But, on the other hand, we know that the people that are most vulnerable to this virus for severe illness or death are those that are elderly, those with underlying conditions, or those with compromised immune systems. And it does not impact young people anywhere near the way it does older people.

What do you make of these hot spots, as we call them, in Florida and Texas and other states, and Dr. Fauci's comments?

TRUMP: Well, first of all, the mortality rate -- and Dr. Fauci is a nice man, but he's made a lot of mistakes, like, you don't have to ban them coming in from very infected China. I did it anyway, and we saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

I banned Europe from coming in, when Italy and when France and Spain were having all the problems, and we saved hundreds of thousands of lives. A lot of people said, don't do it. They have been wrong about a lot of things, including face masks. Maybe they are wrong, maybe not. But a lot of them said, don't wear a mask, don't wear a mask. And now they are saying, wear a mask.

So, a lot of mistakes were made, a lot of mistakes.

Let me just make one statement, though. We do testing like nobody's ever done testing. And when we test, the more you test, the more cases you find. Other countries, you know when they test? And I ask them all. They test when somebody's not feeling well or when somebody walks into a hospital. So they don't have tests.

They have tests that are very, very limited. We have these massive -- 40, 45 million people have been tested. It's a record. And our tests are the best.

So, we have cases all over the place. Most of those cases immediately get better. They get -- people -- they're young people. They have sniffles, and two days later, they are fine. And they are not sick to start off with. They are asymptomatic.

A lot of things happen. And what we are doing is, with all of these tests that we are doing all over the country, test everybody, test, pull-up parking lots, everything else, what we have done is, we have created a tremendous number of cases.

Everybody else -- can you imagine if China tested like we test? They don't. Can you imagine if other big countries, the bigger countries, tested like we -- or Germany. We have tested many, many, many times, even proportionately, the number of people that other countries have tested.

But I was with, as an example, a great gentleman yesterday, the president of Mexico. And they are having a hard time, especially in Mexico City. They test when somebody is sick or when somebody goes into the hospital. And that is a different way of doing it, and it's just fine.

And we are testing and creating -- it's the greatest thing that ever happen for the opposite party, but we are doing something that nobody has ever done to the extent, and we are doing a great job.

But we have a mortality rate, think of this, that's tenfold better than any other. We -- what we are doing is incredible, if you look. You have heard the numbers, tenfold. We have fewer people dying. And our people have done an incredible job.

And one other thing. We are very well on the way to a vaccine, very well on the way therapeutically, therapeutics. We're very well on the way. We have a lot of great things happening.

We already do. We do have some that are very effective, or at least effective. And a lot of very good things have happened, a lot of really good things. They're doing a great job.

But the testing is just showing up all these cases. And if you turn the news on, you will see it's always the word cases. They don't talk about death, because deaths are way down. They talk about cases, all the time, cases. And those cases get better.

They -- in most -- most cases, in almost -- I mean, literally, in most cases, they automatically cure. They automatically get better.

HANNITY: Joe Biden revealed in a previous rare -- well, a rare appearance out of his bunker or basement bunker, but he revealed that everybody around him, including his Secret Service, are tested every day.

I know, having interviewed you, for example, before the Wisconsin town hall that we did, that I was -- I had to have a test before I got around the president.

TRUMP: Right.

HANNITY: I think, by the way, I think that's the right thing to do for both you and Joe Biden. That is my own opinion.

TRUMP: Right.

HANNITY: But you're the two people that don't need to wear a mask.

And there's been a lot made over the fact that, well, Donald Trump doesn't wear a mask. You're the two people, I would argue, that probably don't need to wear the mask, where the rest of the public might benefit from it.

I saw it, anecdotally, in -- I was at the epicenter of this in my local grocery store. They all wore masks, and, thank God, no cashier and no guys stocking the shelves ever got sick in that store. And I would ask them every week.

What are your thoughts on not only mask wearing, but, also, do we have enough PPE for Houston and other hot spots as they arise?

TRUMP: Well, we do.

And we have done a great job, in that we have created a supply chain that's incredible. On ventilators, we are making thousands a week. On PPE, we are doing great. We do.

But I think it's fine to wear a mask, if it makes you feel comfortable. I think, under certain conditions, like when you are going into a hospital -- I will be going to Walter Reed to see some of our great soldiers that have been injured, badly injured, and also see some of our COVID workers, the people that have done such a great job.

And I expect to be wearing a mask when I go into Walter Reed. You're in a hospital setting. I think it's a very appropriate thing. I have no problem with a mask.

I don't think you need one you're tested all the time, everybody around you is tested, you're quite a distance. You talk about social distancing. You're away.

Like, I watched Biden walk onto a stage with his -- practically -- like, today, there was almost nobody in the room. He's making a speech. And they have these massive circles. And the circles are very far away from each other to start off with. And then they have just a few people in the audience.

And he makes a speech. And he walks onto the stage wearing this massive mask. There's nobody on the stage. And then he takes it off. He likes to have it hang off usually the left ear. I think it makes him feel good, frankly, if you want to know the truth. And I guess that's OK.

But when there's nobody around, you don't really have to do that. But he feels it's good. And I'm OK with it, if he wants to do that. He's got the largest mask I think I have ever seen. It covers up a big proportion of his face.

HANNITY: So, you will be wearing a mask at Walter Reed?

TRUMP: And I think he feels he looks good that way.

(LAUGHTER)

HANNITY: I think -- look, I walk around with a mask in New York, and I look better. There's no doubt about it.

(LAUGHTER)

HANNITY: So, you will be wearing a mask at Walter Reed on Friday?

TRUMP: Yes, I think, if I'm in the right setting, if I'm with soldiers, people that -- I don't want to spread anything.

And it's -- a lot of it is, it's you spreading, not them spreading.

HANNITY: Right.

TRUMP: It's you spreading. No, and I don't want to cause a problem for anybody. No, I have no problem with masks. But it's got to be done at the right time.

Now, I'm usually fairly isolated, as the president, so I'm fairly isolated. Everybody's tested before they come in. They...

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: I wasn't allowed to go around you until I got a test. This...

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: No, I know, but it's -- they do a great job. They really do a great job.

No, I have no problem with masks. That's up to you.

HANNITY: Let me ask you this.

I know, when you built all of these hospitals, you brought in the Navy ship for New York. You built the hospital. You built 3,000 beds at the Javits Center. They only used 1,000. The only used like 200 on the Comfort.

But you also manned those beds. You also provided the PPE. But you also converted both the ship and the Javits Center, 3,000 beds.

TRUMP: That's right.

HANNITY: They only used 1,000 -- to COVID capability.

Now, my understanding is, you had to change the ventilation system to actually make that happen.

TRUMP: Right.

HANNITY: Does that -- and there are reports maybe the RNC is exploring an outdoor venue for the convention in Jacksonville.

Is it -- are you convinced, or are the experts telling you the ventilation systems need to be up to a certain standard? I'm not an expert on it.

TRUMP: Well, a ship ventilation system is very much -- they circularize. And they are very much under review, to be honest with you.

But we did a great job with the Comfort. We did a great job with the Mercy and the Comfort. In Los Angeles, we had a great ship, very -- a sister -- sister ship, a really terrific operation.

But when we moved it in, there was -- they didn't send us people. And then they said, could you convert it to COVID? Because it wasn't meant for that. It was meant for operations. But it wasn't getting used, and so the governor asked if we could convert it for COVID. And we did. And they didn't use it.

And we took -- the Javits Center did a phenomenal job in record-setting time. A matter of days, we converted into a massive, like, 2,600 units, and they didn't use it, or very little did they use it.

And I said, what are you doing with all of these requests, and then you're not using it? What's going on? And if they would have used that, instead of nursing homes, they wouldn't have lost thousands of people in the nursing homes. They could've put people in the Javits Center or they could have put them in the ship.

But they put them back in nursing homes. And they were badly infected, and then they ended up hitting the people that are most vulnerable, and thousands of people died.

HANNITY: Oh, thousands died, thousands.

It was the worst decision. And it was made by New York Governor Cuomo and Pennsylvania Governor Wolf and Murphy in New Jersey and, in Michigan, Governor Whitmer.

Let me ask you about today's Supreme Court decisions and rulings. Mark Levin was talking about, as it relates to a mixed bag verdicts, 7-2 decisions. And one would send things to the lower court, but open up the possibility of at least some of your taxes being revealed to a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, and the other saying no to Congress, they don't have a right to that information.

Your thoughts?

TRUMP: Well, first of all, I'm under tax audit, OK?

So, I mean, they treat -- the IRS treats me just like they used to treat the Tea Party, except worse. And I'm under tax audit. I have been for a long period of time. We made a deal a long time ago. And once I ran for politics, that deal was like -- we didn't make it.

So, I am under a continuing audit. And anybody that did that or showed that, before you have it finalized, but they treat -- they treat me horribly, the IRS, horribly. It's a disgrace, what's happened.

We had a deal done. In fact, it was -- I guess it was signed even. And once I ran or once I won, or somewhere back a long time ago, everything was like, well, let's start all over again. It's a disgrace.

So, I was disappointed. And, at the same time, it was -- because I think we -- a president should get protection from thousands of prosecutors out there, thousands all over the country. They could go after you. And you're supposed to be running the country.

I will tell you, Justice Alito wrote a totally brilliant decision. He wrote something today that really got it.

HANNITY: Smart man.

TRUMP: Justice Thomas, likewise, was great.

HANNITY: Another smart man.

TRUMP: They were the two that came.

So, it was -- look, it basically sends it all back, and we start all over again. I guess that is what it means.

HANNITY: Let me ask you some new information as it relates to the deep state, as we call it.

We now know that George Papadopoulos, that exculpatory evidence was withheld. We now know, in the case of General Flynn, exculpatory evidence was withheld. And I will get specifically into that January 5 meeting in the White House with Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

And, still, I mean, the judges -- even the Department of Justice said, it's time to let that case go. Both parties, when they say that, usually, it ends it. But the judge has a vendetta, clearly, against General Flynn.

Then we have -- I thought we were guaranteed the right to a fair and impartial jury. And we discovered that the jury foreperson in the Roger Stone case literally was speaking out publicly in the most negative terms against Roger personally and any Trump supporter.

The judge refused to grant him a new trial, which, to me, is unfathomable. I would give that right to every American. If somebody is biased on the jury, that case is out.

And then you have -- of course, they dragged out of mothballs the Manafort issue. There's been some reports, especially about Roger Stone.

Do you have any plans to either commute sentences or any plans to pardon any of these men?

TRUMP: Well, first of all, President Obama and Joe Biden spied on my campaign. They knew everything that was going on. They were in the rooms when everyone was talking about it. These people all worked for them. I know how the White House works, I guess I can say now, better than anybody.

And they knew everything that was going on. They spied on my campaign. I said it a long time ago. Nobody believed me. And now it turns out to be fact. So, let's see what happens. But they were the head of it.

And it was Comey and Brennan and everybody else, Clapper. And those guys all lied to Congress, and bad things happened, and Strzok and Page, the two lovers, and many other people, many other people. When you look at -- I could go down a list of lots of people.

They were spying on my campaign. It was totally illegal. If that were the other way around, the people would be in jail for 50 years, and it would've started two years ago. It's a disgrace, what's going on. We caught them, 100 percent.

As far as General Flynn, he's a great hero. He's a great gentleman. What they are doing to that man, they have destroyed that man. But he will come back. He's going to come back.

Roger Stone was treated very unfairly, unbelievably unfairly. And I watched that, and I thought it was incredible, the way that man was treated...

HANNITY: He's about to go to jail. You know that.

TRUMP: ... including with the jury forewoman, who was -- it was disgraceful.

And the judge, the way she treated him, I think it was a disgrace that they didn't give him a retrial, Roger Stone.

And Papadopoulos, I mean, you -- they have a tape of his conversation. If anything, he is like -- it was a perfect -- as I said about my conversation. I turned out to be right. It was a perfect conversation that Papadopoulos had. And they destroyed him too and put him in jail for two weeks.

So these people -- and Paul Manafort, what they did to that man is a disgrace.

HANNITY: Have you thought about pardons or commutations at all?

TRUMP: I am always thinking. I am always thinking.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: So, you will be watching, like everybody else in this case. You will be watching.

HANNITY: Well, I want...

TRUMP: But Roger Stone...

HANNITY: Yes.

TRUMP: ... Papadopoulos, Manafort, what they did to that man, what they did to that man, putting him in solitary confinement.

Al Capone, the great gangster, the ultimate gangster, was never in solitary confinement. You know, what they did to -- what they did to him was just incredible.

And, you know, look, it's a very sad thing. Here's a group. We have them cold. They lied. They leaked. They did everything. We have them already. We could get -- they could get more evidence, it doesn't matter. They have them cold.

I hope that they act. I hope that Lindsey Graham does something with the Judiciary Committee. We have all the evidence they need. Now, maybe they're getting new stuff. I let them handle that.

But the Judiciary Committee should act.

HANNITY: I -- well, I would say this.

TRUMP: And it's also -- like, people don't like to say, it President Obama.

He knew everything. He was probably in charge of it or was in charge of it. Joe Biden, you know, I don't know if he knows where he is, but he was there. He knew everything.

HANNITY: Well, he lied. Joe Biden lied to George Stephanopoulos when he said, I know nothing.

TRUMP: That's right. That's right.

HANNITY: But the notes -- the notes from Peter Strzok were clear about the January 5 meeting.

Now, the case against Flynn was to be dropped on January the 4th. Strzok and Comey brought it back to life. But in that meeting in the Oval Office, we know that it was Biden that said, oh, what about bringing up the Logan Act from 1799?

TRUMP: That's right.

HANNITY: We knew that Obama was saying, maybe we shouldn't tell the incoming administration. Obama said, we want our guys on this.

Sally Yates testified she was shocked that Obama knew every aspect of the call. Add to that, we know that premeditated fraud was committed on the FISA court. We know there was Russian interference. We had a Clinton- bought-and-paid-for lying dossier. We know obstruction happened with her with the deleted e-mails and BleachBit and hammers.

And we know that there was a quid and a pro and a quo with Joe and zero experience Hunter. There is no doubt that there's, in my mind, a double standard.

To me, one of the biggest opponents you have in 117 days is, well, I call them the media mob.

What is your thoughts on the media these days, because they don't seem to care about obstruction or Russian interference or quid pro quos if it's a Democrat?

TRUMP: And, by the way, Christopher Steele was just adjudged guilty in London...

HANNITY: Yes.

TRUMP: ... or wherever on what he said about other people with his fake dossier, his phony, disgusting dossier. And he is a part of it too.

There are many people part of it that you didn't even mention. You don't have enough time. They have all been caught.

Now let's see what happens. But they have all been caught. And they spied on the campaign. You could call it treason. You could call it many different things. But it's very serious.

And, so far, nothing's happened...

HANNITY: Well, let me ask you about that.

TRUMP: ... because the other side is vicious. And I guess the Republicans, they are just not vicious. They're just not -- it's very sad to see.

But we have some great ones, though, I will tell you, when you see Jim Jordan, and you see Meadows, and you see Devin Nunes, and you see many of them, many of them, Lee Zeldin. And Kevin is fantastic, Kevin McCarthy. What a job he's doing.

We got some -- we have some great ones.

But they are straight players. They are very straight players. And the other side, they are not straight players. It's a disgrace, what's happening.

And then you look at what's going on in Democrat-run cities, and how horrible it is.

And the media is totally corrupt. When I say totally, largely. There are some very fine people I know in the media, some very honorable people. But, largely, it's corrupt, not even fake. It's corrupt.

HANNITY: Well, there was -- they never cared about the Russian dossier that was never verifiable, because it was all false, used as a basis of a FISA warrant.

You are correct. That was to get a FISA application to spy on your campaign, your transition team, and, in the words of the attorney general, Bill Barr, deep into your presidency.

And we are awaiting the work of prosecutor John Durham. We will see where that goes. Attorney General Barr said that this is not about a report. It's a criminal investigation.

But, again, that is beyond, I guess, my pay grade.

I asked you a question in Wisconsin, and you got criticized for the answer. I want to ask you again.

You are now asking America, in 117 days, to give you a second term as president of the United States. Let's -- what is your second term agenda?

TRUMP: Well, first of all, I didn't know I was criticized for that answer, because it's a simple question.

First of all, we're going to defeat the invisible enemy. And that's -- and we are well on our way, and, again, as I told you, the mortality rate is tenfold down.

We are going to rebuild the economy. We're going to bring back jobs from all of these foreign lands that have stolen our jobs on horrible trade deals. We are going to continue to make great trade deals. We're going to finish rebuilding our wall.

We're going to finish. We're going to have that. It's going to be almost complete by the end of this year. Shortly thereafter, it's finished. It's made a tremendous difference. You see, we're doing record numbers on the border. Very few people are able to get through.

We are rebuilding with our military. We have rebuilt the military, $2.5 trillion. We are fixing up the VA for our vets. What -- the job we have done there, between Choice and Accountability. We have Choice, where they have -- they can go out and get a doctor if they are sick.

They don't have to wait for five weeks, six weeks, two weeks. So we are doing great with the vets. And the vets are loving Trump.

We are protecting our Second Amendment, so important. We need more judges and more justices. You see that now with the Supreme Court more than ever. And the next president -- I have had two -- and the next president is going to be able to pick two or three or one or whatever, but a lot of justices.

And that means everything, whether it's for life or other things. I mean, it means so much.

But protecting the Second Amendment, getting more judges, all of the things that we have done, nobody's done what this administration has done in the first three-and-a-half years. Nobody's even come close, when you look at everything that we are doing.

Now what we're doing is working on lowering drug prices and knocking out special interests, because it's not easy. We're fighting for choice. We did it for the veterans. Now we are doing it for school too. We want choice in school, so a parent can take their child to a school of their choice.

And that's happening, very good -- very, very well. And we have many things we are doing and many things that we have already completed. And you can't do more than what we have done. I think we have set records on every -- we actually set a record on judges.

We are going to be -- by the time of the end of this year, we will be up to almost 300 federal judges. And that's a record. That's incredible, including D.C.

HANNITY: Where do you see the economy come November 3, Election Day?

And in terms of -- we talk about a V-shaped recovery. We had the -- we broke a record in terms of retail sales. They expected a, what, 9.5- million-job lost. You got a 2.5-million-job gain...

TRUMP: Right.

HANNITY: ... followed by, what, a five-million-job gain.

TRUMP: Yes.

HANNITY: Personally, I didn't think we would see numbers like that until the earliest of August.

Where do you see the economy? Where will we be with the border wall? How many miles come November 3?

TRUMP: OK.

Well, first of all, the border wall is doing incredibly well. We are moving along. And we are up to about 250 miles already. We will have -- by the end of the year, it will be close to finished. It might take an couple extra months, but we will have it. And it will be -- it's had a huge impact already, because we're about halfway finished.

The economy, it's one of the -- it's the thing. The economy is starting to really do great. We are going to have a great third quarter. We are going to have a great fourth quarter. And next year is going to the best, I think one of the best years that we have ever had.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: And that is the way it looks.

HANNITY: There's a lot of records you shattered.

TRUMP: You know, the two jobs numbers that you mentioned, the 2.8 and the almost five million, those are record numbers in history.

We have never created jobs to the level that we have now. And before the China plague came in, the China virus, whatever you want to call it came in, we were beating everybody so badly, including China. We were beating everybody.

China had the worst year they had. The tariffs have hurt them. They had the worst year they have had. And we have taken in billions and billions of dollars in tariffs. They had the worst year in 67 years, whereas we had the best year we have ever had.

And then we got hit with the plague. But now we are rebuilding it. And it's going much faster than anybody thought possible, a V.

HANNITY: All right, we have less than a minute.

You worked with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian for criminal justice reform. You also put in your executive order of police reform. But now Kanye apparently is running for president.

What's your reaction?

TRUMP: Well, I like his voice being heard, but he's always going to be for us. I mean, he's going to be for us. And his wife is going to be for us.

But I like...

HANNITY: He said he's taken off the red hat.

TRUMP: I mean, he can't -- the problem, he's missed some states, little thing like that. He's missed a few states, like about 12.

So, you have to do that. But he's a very good guy. He is a person that I get along with very well. And, in the end, I think he would support us over anyone else. But, you know, if he does or not, look, we have to stop the radical left from taking over our country, ripping down our great heroes.

They are ripping down our heroes. When they take down those statues and those monuments, they're rip -- when they take down George Washington...

HANNITY: Yes.

TRUMP: ... and they take down Abraham Lincoln, and Ulysses S. Grant, and when they take down these people, an abolitionist, people that -- think of it.

Abolitionists are being -- because I think most of them don't even know what they are doing. But it's very destructive.

HANNITY: Well, I will tell you, Dr. Alveda King...

TRUMP: And we are not going to be Venezuela.

HANNITY: I did like what Dr. Alveda King said, and that was -- and she's a friend of the program -- is that this garden of heroes that will represent every American from every background.

Mr. President, we have gone just a little long here.

Thank you for your time. We appreciate you being with us, and 117 days to go. All right.

TRUMP: Thank you very much, Sean. Thank you.

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