Trump's Axios-on-HBO interview has aired. Asked about the situation in Yemen, he said, "I think it's a terrible situation. I hated seeing what happened with the bus and the children. 'Cause that's pure, that's a horror show."
Told that it was a US bomb used by the Saudi coalition to hit the children's bus, Trump said, "It wasn't operated by US people. We don't do that. Our people are the best operators in the world." He said the issue was "people that didn't know how to use the weapon."
Swan asked Trump if Sessions gave him a "heads-up" on the administration's court submission saying the ACA's pre-existing condition protections are unconstitutional. "He didn't," Trump says, then says it doesn't "matter," because he'll just have protections on "anything WE do."
"Anything we do, we will put in pre-existing conditions," Trump says. He has not put in protections even nearly as strong in anything he has tried to do so far.
Trump concedes that humans certainly "contribute" to climate change, but he doesn't agree they're the primary cause. He says he can show us reports where scientists dispute the overwhelming scientific consensus.
Trump: "Is there climate change? Yeah. Will it go back like this? I mean, will it change back? Probably. That's what I think."
Trump says you can't just call it "man"-made climate change. "Man meaning us, people. Man and WOMEN, to be politically correct. 'Cause everyone says man, but now we have to add women to that one too. Man and women."
Told that his children and others must be urging him to tone down the rhetoric on "enemy of the people" and such, Trump shrugs and says, "Not too much. Eh, I'm here. It got me here."
Challenged on whether there's a danger of inciting a supporter to anti-media violence, Trump says, "When I do really good -- I know when I do good and when I do bad. I really get it. I really get it, better than anybody in the whole world."
Reminded that he is a big reader of the New York Times, Trump says: "I wanna know, I wanna know -- I have to know about the enemy."
Trump says he'd be nicer if the media coverage were nicer, explaining: "It's much easier for me to be nice, because I'm basically a nice person, I hope."
A chime rings as Trump is showing off his Sharpies to the Axios team. Trump says, "Must be the head of France. He calls a lot."
Trump explains that he called up Sharpie and asked them to do him a favour and make him a "rich" black Sharpie, and not only did they do that, they made him Sharpies with his own signature on it. "It writes well, so it works out good," he says, and the interview is over.
