Trump's "60 Minutes" Interview

Yesterday evening, the CBS show "60 Minutes" broadcast an interview with cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump. Only about a third of the interview was actually included on the show, but a transcript of the full interview was published on the CBS News website. I decided to go through the full transcript and comment on parts that caught my eye.

The start of the interview was about trade with China and mostly consisted of Trump spouting his usual talking points. He stressed how much he likes the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping, and how much Xi likes him. Trump turned the conversation toward tariffs, which is perhaps his favorite topic. I've always suspected that, despite his fixation on tariffs, Trump doesn't really understand them. This suspicion was increased when Trump stated:

We lost a hundred percent of the chip-- you know, it used to be all Intel and other companies. And what happened is other countries came in, and they stole our chip business, and we didn't charge tariffs.

If we would have charged, let's say, a 100% tariff, none of those companies would have left. But they all left. Now they're all coming back, Norah, because the only way they avoid the tariffs is to build in our country. If they build in our country, make their plant, and make their product in our country, then it's a very simple thing. They-- they don't have any tariff to pay.

One thing that Trump is missing here is that Intel didn't lose business simply because other countries stole it. I am not sure that is even a significant factor. For instance, consider the case of Apple. Apple used to use Intel chips in its computers. However, Intel began missing deadlines and failing to produce chips of the specifications that Apple required. Intel's failures became Apple's failures. In response, Apple bought a small chip design company and began developing its own processors. When these were released, they were faster and used less electricity than Intel's. These chips are used in iPhones, iPads, and even computers. Apple no longer produces a single computer with an Intel chip. Other smartphone manufacturers chose non-Intel processors as well, especially Qualcomm Snapdragon chips. Both Apple and Qualcomm are American corporations. Intel didn't lose business because other countries stole it, but because it couldn't produce a competitive product and it lost the business to American companies.

Imagine that Trump had used tariffs to somehow protect Intel. Apple and other smartphone manufacturers would have either had to raise prices or rely on lower performing chips that used more power. Either of those choices would have been bad for the consumer and would have slowed smartphone adoption. The development of smartphones has probably been one of the most important advances in recent history, and Trump's favorite economic policy might have prevented it. Consider how much of our current economy relies on the widespread adoption of smartphones and how many companies simply would not exist now were it not for the devices? The most likely scenario is not that smartphone development would have been prevented, but rather that it would have moved to another country. In that case, Apple and Google might not be the leaders in mobile technology that they are today. That is the direction that Trump is driving our economy.

Trump bragged about job creation, saying, "I don't know if you saw the last numbers in terms of employment" and suggesting that he was creating a tremendous number of jobs. In reality, job growth has been dismal, and Trump has been so reluctant to face that fact that he fired the Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner after a disappointing jobs report. This sort of delusion occurs throughout the interview but is rarely called out.

Trump claimed that grocery prices are lower now. Anyone who has been grocery shopping lately knows that this is not true. Throughout the interview, Trump made statements that conflict with the everyday experiences of regular people. One wonders at what point the public will notice that what Trump says is the opposite of what they experience in their daily lives.

Speaking of Venezuela and the chances that the United States might go to war with the country, Trump returned to one of his most frequent talking points, saying, "They also-- if you take a look, they emptied their mental institutions and their insane asylums-- into the United States of America, 'cause Joe Biden was the worst president in the history of our country--". For what it is worth, Trump consistently blamed former President Joe Biden for anything negative happening in our country and personally took credit for anything good. But I want to address Trump's point about "insane asylums." There has never been any evidence that it is true. Migrants from Latin America must take an arduous journey through several countries and then wait for a great length of time in Mexico. Very few people suffering from significant mental health issues could pull it off. Politifact has given this claim a "Pants on Fire" rating, indicating that it has no basis in truth. On social media, many have suggested that Trump has confused asylum seekers with people released from asylums.

There has been a rash of Trump administration officials suggesting that insurance premium increases for those who purchase health insurance on the healthcare exchanges won't raise by that much. During the interview, Trump claimed that "people are gonna get an 18-19% increase in Obamacare." In fact, most consumers will see increases of over 100%. My family's premiums are due to increase to more than three times what they are now. It is one thing for Trump to lie about this on national television, but those receiving the increases are going to know the truth. Trump just refused to recognize this reality and, instead, simply blustered. He was repeatedly asked if he had a plan to replace Obamacare and would not answer, instead trying to change the subject. At one point, he responded to a question about his plan by talking about former President Barack Obama's presidential museum.

Asked about reopening the government and why he wouldn't meet with Democrats to negotiate a reopening, Trump again blustered incoherently. He became fixated on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, whom Trump said had become a "kamikaze". Trump clearly sees entering negotiations as some sort of surrender and is refusing to do it. He expressed hope that enough Democrats will agree to vote to overcome the filibuster or that Republicans will get rid of the filibuster altogether. It is remarkable that Trump gladly negotiates with Putin and Xi, but refuses to do the same with Schumer.

Returning to the topic of tariffs, Trump again insisted that they are of the greatest importance and that he requires complete freedom to administer tariffs as he wishes. When he was asked whether tariffs have led to inflation, something that most experts agree they have, Trump insisted otherwise. "They haven't led to inflation. We have no inflation," he said. In fact, we not only have inflation, it has been increasing during the Trump administration. This is another case in which what Trump says is clearly at odds with what people are experiencing in their lives.

Norah O'Donnell noted that "Americans have been watching videos of ICE tackling a young mother, tear gas being used in a Chicago residential neighborhood, and the smashing of car windows. Have some of these raids gone too far?" Trump's response was "No. I think they haven't gone far enough because we've been held back by the-- by the judges, by the liberal judges that were put in by Biden and by Obama." Many of Trump's efforts to militarize deportations have been rejected by judges that he appointed himself. But the larger point here is that Trump wants more brutality rather than less.

Again, Trump made statements that simply are at odds with what people are witnessing. He claimed that not only are landscapers and farmers not being deported, but that "I need landscapers and I need farmers more than anybody, okay." Social media is full of videos of federal agents seizing landscapers in residential neighborhoods, and a migrant died during a well-publicized operation to arrest farm workers. Trump continually asks us to believe him rather than our own eyes.

Asked about the election in New York City to select a new mayor, which takes place tomorrow, Trump came out in favor of former Governor Andrew Cuomo, saying that he would pick Cuomo in the election. If, as expected, Zohran Mamdani wins, Trump said "it's gonna be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York." This is another issue on which Trump refuses to recognize the rule of law. As much as Trump may wish otherwise, he is a president, not a king. Congress appropriates money, and the president simply doles it out. It is not his decision whether or not New York City receives federal funds.

Asked about a statement referring to Democratic cities that he made in Japan in which he said, "If we need more than the National Guard, we'll send more than the National Guard," Trump said:

Well, if you had to send in the Army or if you had to send in the Marines, I'd do that in a heartbeat. You know, you have a thing called the Insurrection Act. You know that, right?

Trump was asked specifically what about what he meant when he said "more than the National Guard," he responded by saying "Well, more would be Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines." He said that the Insurrection Act would allow him to do this. Trump fundamentally misunderstands the Insurrection Act, but that will probably be the topic of a future post.

Another example of Trump denying reality occurred when O'Donnell asked, "Did you instruct the Department of Justice to go after them?", referring to former FBI director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and former National Security Director John Bolton. Trump's response was "No, and not in any way, shape or form." Yet, we have seen Trump's post on Truth Social in which he specially ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute them. Trump has absolutely no qualms about telling blatant lies that he knows all of us know are lies.

The interview ended with a discussion of cryptocurrency during which Trump made another astonishing statement. O'Donnell said the following:

This is a question about pardons. The Trump family is now perhaps more associated with cryptocurrency than real estate. You and your son-- your sons, Don Jr. and Eric, have formed World Liberty Financial with the Witkoff family.

Helping to make your family millions of dollars. It's in that context that I do wanna ask you about crypto's richest man, a billionaire known as C.Z. He pled guilty in 2023 to violating anti-money laundering laws.

Looking at this, the government at the time said that C.Z. had caused "significant harm to U.S. national security", essentially by allowing terrorist groups like Hamas to move millions of dollars around. Why did you pardon him?

Trump's response was "Okay, are you ready? I don't know who he is." O'Donnell pressed the issue, saying:

He pled guilty to anti-money laundering laws. That was in 2023. Then in 2025 his crypto exchange, Binance, helped facilitate a $2 billion purchase of World Liberty Financial's stablecoin. And then you pardoned C.Z. How do you address the appearance of pay for play?

Trump responded by saying, "Well, here's the thing, I know nothing about it because I'm too busy doing the other--" Trump would have us believe that he knows absolutely nothing about a man who gave his family millions of dollars and who he subsequently pardoned. At a time when Congress is suggesting that pardons offered by former President Joe Biden are not valid, isn't it worth asking about Trump's pardons? He apparently doesn't know to whom he is giving them. This is a simple case in which there is no correct answer for Trump. Either he knows who the recipient of this pardon is, in which case it is a clear example of corruptly selling a pardon, or he doesn't know, in which case Trump is obviously incompetent. The most likely answer is that he is both corrupt and incompetent.

Trump's message during this interview was that everything in the country is great except for those things for which someone else is responsible. Even when what Trump claims is contrary to what we can see with our own eyes, we are expected to believe him. He displayed no inhibition to lying and told falsehood after falsehood. Ominously, Trump reinforced criticisms that he plans on ruling as king, using violence if necessary, to enforce his rule. He expects everyone to bend to his will and continually refused the suggestion that he negotiate with Democrats to reopen the government.