Trump met with the NY Times today. Both Maggie Haberman and Mike Grynbaum of the NY Times tweeted the entire on-the-record meeting and I’ve organized their tweets below for you by topic.
Here’s how it went.
Beginning:
“I have great respect for the New York Times. I have tremendous respect,” says Trump. “I think I've been treated very rough."
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
Trump is speaking in measured, quiet tones. “I will say the Times is about the roughest of all,” he says of NYT’s coverage of his campaign.
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
“You could make the case the Washington Post was bad, but every once in awhile I actually got a good article,” Trump says.
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
Trump is at NYT, says he has been treated unfairly during campaign. Says he'd like to improve relationship,that it would make his job easier
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
Trump’s remarks about NYT’s “rough” coverage of him- “I’ve been treated very unfairly"- lasted about 4 min. Now onto reviewing the campaign.
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
On the Election and Electoral College:
Trump on the experience of the campaign: "It's been 18 months of brutality in a true sense."
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
"We had a great victory," Trump says. "I'll see every once in awhile someone says, 'Well, the popular vote.'"
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
"I'd rather do the popular vote," Trump says. "I think we'd do as well or better." Says he was "never a fan of the electoral college."
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
Adds: "Until now." Also says Electoral College "gets you out to" see states you wouldn't otherwise.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
Without EC "You wouldn't leave New York," Trump says.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
"The African-American community liked me. They liked what I was saying," Trump says.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
On the Alt-Right:
Dean Baquet asks if Trump feels like he did things to energize the alt-right movement. “I don’t think so, Dean,” Trump replies.
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
Trump: “I don’t want to energize the group, and I disavow the group.” (1/2)
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
Trump: "It’s not a group I want to energize, and if they are energized, I want to look into it and find out why.” (2/2)
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
On Hillary Clinton:
“I don’t want to hurt the Clintons, I really don’t. She went through a lot and suffered greatly in many different ways."
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
Trump is pressed if he has definitively ruled out prosecuting Hillary Clinton. “It’s just not something that I feel very strongly about."
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
"My inclination would be for whatever power I have on the matter is to say let's go forward.This has been looked at for so long, ad nauseum"
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
"I think it would be very very divisive for the country," Trump says about prosecuting the Clintons.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
Trump on disappointing his supporters re Clinton: "I don't think they will be disappointed…" 1/2
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
2/2 "I think I will explain it that we in many ways will save our country."
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
On Climate Change:
"Clean air is vitally important," Trump says about climate change. Says he is keeping "an open mind."
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
Tom Friedman asks if Trump will withdraw from climate change accords. Trump: “I’m looking at it very closely. I have an open mind to it."
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
Does Trump think human activity is linked to climate change? “I think there is some connectivity. Some, something. It depends on how much."
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
On climate change, Trump says he is also thinking about "how much it will cost our companies” & the effect on American competitiveness.
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
On Conflicts of Interest:
Conflicts of interest? Trump says: “If it were up to some people, I would never, ever see my daughter Ivanka again."
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
What about selling your company? “That’s a really hard thing to do, because I have real estate."
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
Trump on his businesses/conflict q's: "The law's totally on my side, the president can't have a conflict of interest."
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
"My company's so unimportant to me relative to what I'm doing." Trump.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
Trump says "in theory" he could continue signing checks at his company, but he is "phasing that out now" and giving to his kids.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
"In theory I could run my business perfectly and then run the country perfectly. There's never been a case like this,"he says of his tangles
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
"I'd assumed that you'd have to set up some type of trust or whatever and you don't," Trump says.But he adds "I would like to do something."
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
On Steve Bannon:
Trump: “I’ve known Steve Bannon a long time. If i thought he was a racist, or alt-right…I wouldn’t even think about hiring him."
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
Trump says that criticism of Stephen Bannon is "very hard on him. I think he’s having a hard time of it. Because it’s not him."
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
Trump: “If you see something or you get something where you feel that I’m wrong, I'd love to hear it. You can call me. Arthur can call me."
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
"A lot of people are coming to his defense right now," Trump says of Bannon. Reince voices support too at conference table.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
On Breitbart:
Trump is asked about concerns from minority groups about Breitbart News’s coverage under Steve Bannon. His reply: pic.twitter.com/FBqCGwQpBr
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
Trump: "Breitbart is just a publication."
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
On Infrastructure Plan:
What will Paul Ryan & the GOP think about that trillion-dollar infrastructure plan? “Right now, they’re in love with me,” says Trump.
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
"Paul Ryan, right now, loves me. Mitch McConnell loves me," Trump says. Then says, "I've liked Chuck Schumer for a long time."
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
Trump then says, "I think I was the first person that ever contributed to Chuck Schumer." Says Chuck may not admit that.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
On Obama:
Trump on Obama: “I didn't know if I’d like him. I probably thought that maybe I wouldn’t, but I did. I really enjoyed him a lot."
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
"I had a great meeting with President Obama," Trump says, says he never met him before. "I really liked him a lot."
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
"He said very nice things after the meeting and I saidvery nice things about him," Trump says of Obama.Says he didn't know if he'd like him.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
"I think he's looking to do absolutely the right thing for the country in terms of transition," Trump says of Obama.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
'He did tell me what he thought were the biggest problems, in particular one problem," Trump says. Won't say what that was.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
On America’s Role in the World:
Thomas Friedman asks, “What do you think is America’s role in the world?” Trump laughs: “That’s such a big question!"
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
“I would love to be the one who made peace with Israel and the Palestinians, that would be such a great achievement."
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
"I don't think we should be a nation-builder," Trump says of the US role in the world.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
"Syria, we have to solve that problem," Trump says. Adds he has a "different view than everybody else."
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
On Mattis for DoD:
Trump says he is "seriously considering" Mattis for DoD, says he asked Mattis about waterboarding, was surprised he didn't favor it.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
On Kushner:
I asked PEOTUS what role he sees Kushner playing. Indicates formal role unlikely but he could be a player on Mideast peace.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
On First Amendment:
Trump is asked about his attitude toward the First Amendment. “I think you’ll be happy, I think you’ll be happy,” Trump says.
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
Open up the libel laws? Trump says someone told him, “You know, YOU might be sued a lot more.’ I said, You know, I hadn’t thought of that."
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
End:
The president-elect’s meeting at the NYT wrapped after 75 minutes. Trump was in sales mode — joking, solicitous. Certainly evasive at times.
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
The President-elect’s parting message: The New York Times is “a world jewel. And I hope we can all get along."
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
Our meeting with Trump is now over. Thanks for following along.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016