The 6 Most Bizarre Passages from Donald Trump's Interview with the 'Wall Street Journal'

By Dustin Rowles | Politics | August 1, 2017 |

By Dustin Rowles | Politics | August 1, 2017 |

Last week, the Wall Street Journal conducted an on-the-record interview with Donald Trump, but for reasons that weren’t clear, they didn’t release a transcript of the interview. However, Politico got its hands on a full transcript and published it, and now the reasons are more obvious. The Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Gerard Baker has taken some flak for his pro-Trump slant in the news, and questions have been raised about how objective the conservative paper has been.

It’s a very lengthy interview, and largely more of Trump’s greatest hits: His electoral college victory, how he hasn’t colluded with Russia, etc., etc., and a lot of gibberish, per usual. Here, however, are 5 of the more bizarre or revealing passages from the interview.

(Again, the interview was originally conducted last week, before Priebus and Scaramucci were fired).

1. On Britain

WSJ: You tweeted this morning about trade talks with Britain.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yes.

WSJ: Can you tell us more about what’s going on?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, but I can say that we’re going to be very involved with the U.K. I mean, you don’t hear the word Britain anymore. It’s very interesting. It’s like, nope.

2. On the Stupid People in the White House

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Number one, they should go after the leakers in intelligence. I don’t mean the White House stuff where they’re fighting over who loves me the most, OK? (Laughter.) It’s just stupid people doing that.

3. On Anthony Scaramucci

MR. BAKER: But we can’t expect any more staff changes in the immediate - in the immediate future?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, I don’t think so.

MR. BAKER: No?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: But I’m very happy with Anthony. I think Anthony is going to do amazing.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Was that a scene, though? Huh?

WSJ: That was a scene, yes. (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Biggest crowd they’ve ever had. What did you think?

WSJ: I thought it was an interesting speech in the context of the Boy Scouts.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Right.

WSJ: They seemed to get a lot of feedback from former scouts and -

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Did they like it?

WSJ: It seemed mixed.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: They loved it. (Laughter.) It wasn’t - it was no mix. That was a standing -

WSJ: In the - you got a good - you got a good reaction in -

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I mean, you know, he writes mostly negative stuff. But that was a standing ovation -

WSJ: You got a good reaction inside the arena, that’s right.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: - from the time I walked out on the stage - because I know. And by the way, I’d be the first to admit mixed. I’m a guy that will tell you mixed. There was no mix there. That was a standing ovation from the time I walked out to the time I left, and for five minutes after I had already gone. There was no mix.

WSJ: Yeah, there was a lot of supporters in the arena.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: And I got a call from the head of the Boy Scouts saying it was the greatest speech that was ever made to them, and they were very thankful. So there was - there was no mix.

5.

Cross Talk Between the WSJ, Ivanka, and Donald Trump, which raised questions about the Wall Street Journal’s impartiality (MS is Ivanka).

MS. : And I liked your editorial today, very nice. (Laughs.)

MR. BAKER: Oh, good, good. Well, you see, you know, my colleagues write those, so they’ll be - they’ll be -

PRESIDENT TRUMP: You did a good job.

MS. : Yeah, you really did.

MR. BAKER: Thank you very much. Thank you.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: You did a good job. He’s a good - he’s a good boy.

MS. : They wrote a very nice editorial, so very good.

MR. BAKER: Thank you.

WSJ: Thank you.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thanks, honey. Stay around if you want.

MS. : Yeah, yeah.

6. On Pardons:

PRESIDENT TRUMP: You know what? I don’t even think of pardons. Here’s why, nobody did anything wrong. Look at Jared, everybody - we do appreciate the editorial - but everybody said Jared Kushner. Jared’s a very private person. He doesn’t get out. I mean, maybe it’s good or maybe it’s bad what I do, but at least people know how I feel. Jared’s this really nice, smart guy, who’d love to see peace in the Middle East and in Israel, OK?

Note that the WSJ never mentioned Jared in the context of pardons. Trump mentioned Jared himself.