Read the full transcript of Norah O’Donnell’s interview with President Trump here

NORAH O’DONNELL: Mr. President, thank you for doing this.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Thank you.

NORAH O’DONNELL: I’m glad you are safe. I am glad that everyone is safe. How are you doing?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  I’m doing well. (DING) It was quite an evening. It was a very– difficult thing to watch, frankly. But– doing very well.

NORAH O’DONNELL: Mr. President, do you know if you were the target of the gunman?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I don’t know. It sounded to me. I read a manifesto, which is– he’s radicalized. He was a Christian– believer, and then he became an anti-Christian, and he had a lotta change. He’s been goin’ through a lot, based on what he wrote. His brother complained about him and I think reported him to the police. And his sister, likewise, complained about him. His family– was very concerned. He was– probably a pretty sick guy.

NORAH O’DONNELL: And I wanna get to all of those details and also walk through this, what happened last night. But first, this appears to be the third attempted assassination on your life, the first in Butler, the second, of course, on the golf course in Florida. Why do you think so many people may be trying to kill you?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: So I’ve said it, and I’ve said it– numerous times. And I actually– because of the position I’m in, I’ve done quite a bit of research into the word “assassination.” Terrible word. And they go after consequential presidents. They go after– presidents that do things.

If you look at what I’ve done, we’ve turned this country around. We’ve taken a country that was actually a dead country, it was dying very rapidly, and it’s the hottest country anywhere in the world. We had a skirmish, a war, whatever you wanna call it, with Venezuela.

We won that very decisively, and we now have a great relationship with Venezuela. It’s been a very profitable relationship. And we’re in Iran right now. Other presidents should’ve done it, but they never chose to do it. They should have. They made a terrible mistake by not doing it.

It’s tougher now than it would’ve been ten years ago or even five years ago because– you know, they had thousands and thousands of missiles and everything else, and we didn’t do the B-2 bomber attack. That alone was a big deal. The killing of Soleimani, which I did in my first term, was a big deal.

But when you’re a consequential– when you do things, a lotta things, and things that work out very well for our country– Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. McKinley was assassinated. McKinley made the country very rich. People don’t realize that. Then Teddy Roosevelt went out and spent the money that was made by McKinley, but he was very consequential, actually, but he was assassinated. So–

NORAH O’DONNELL: You mention, Mr. President, consequential. Your policies are also controversial. Is that part of it?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I don’t think that way. I don’t think in terms of what they are. I just think of what they are for the country. For instance– I inherited the worst border we’ve ever had in the history of our country, where 25 million people came in, 25 million people at least.

And many of them were from hardcore criminals, and they were drug dealers, and they were from prisons. They emptied out prisons into our country. They had– they had– mental institutions, insane asylums into our country. And I don’t know if that’s controversial to say we have to move those people out, but we have.

And– but it– it is, from the standpoint if you’re doing something and you’re doing something that’s good– things like– men playing in women’s sports. I’m against that. Things like transgender for everyone. I’m against that. There’s so many things that I’m against.

I don’t think they’re controversial. I think the other side is controversial. But I do a lot of things and I get things done. And, you know, we’re respected now as a country all over the world. And some people love that but some people probably don’t.

NORAH O’DONNELL: Mr. President, I’m sure you’ve now have the opportunity to see some of the pictures of what happened last night–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I have.

NORAH O’DONNELL: And I want to walk through that.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Sure.

NORAH O’DONNELL:  It was just around 8:30 p.m. You are sitting there next to the first lady. The entertainer named Oz Pearlman is talking to you. He’s known as The Mentalist. When did you know something was wrong?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Right around that point. In fact, you can see the expression on the first lady’s– face. And your president of the evening, chairman, or president, or both, who was doing a great job, by the way. 

NORAH O’DONNELL: Weijia Jiang, CBS News

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Your– your associate, yeah. She was a terrific person. And she was– you know, she had this big smile. I mean, they were– you know what they were doing? They were asking the name of Karoline’s child, that he didn’t know, I guess. But he was able to get it.

NORAH O’DONNELL: Your press secretary is expecting and he was trying to guess the baby’s

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: That’s right.

NORAH O’DONNELL:  –name.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: That’s right. And that was the question that was what he– and he was actually able to get it. I’m not sure I’m a believer in this, but he was able to get it. And– the– first lady and your associate were amazed. You could see the– and that was– 

NORAH: The shock on their faces

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  it wasn’t the shock about something outside. But right after that we heard a big bang, and it was either a gunshot or it was– a tray of dishes, which happens a lot in ballrooms. And I was hoping it was a tray, but it wasn’t.

NORAH O’DONNELL: You mentioned the first lady, her face. She looked very alarmed.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  She was–

NORAH O’DONNELL: Was she scared?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I don’t wanna say, and people don’t like having it said that they were scared. But certainly, I mean, who wouldn’t be when you have a situation like that? By that time I think she realized ahead of time that that was more of a bullet than it was a tray. And she was– I– I looked at her face just a little while ago before I came. I saw the scene. They played it for me and, you know, pretty good closeup. And– she looked– very upset about what just took place, you know? Why not?

NORAH O’DONNELL: You see the security moving quickly, within seconds, grabbing the vice president by his coat, lifting him up, bringing him out. Then the counter assault comes in. Took ten seconds for them flank you, Mr. President, and then 20 seconds to get you out. It looked chaotic. At one point you were down. What was happening?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, what happened is– it was a little bit me. I wanted to see what was happening, and I wasn’t making it that easy for ’em. I wanted to see what was going on. And by that time we started to realize maybe it was a bad problem, different kind of a problem, bad one.

And different than what would be normal noise from a ballroom, which you hear all the time. And– I was surrounded by great people. And I probably made them act a little bit more slowly. I said, “Wait a minute, wait a minute. Lemme see. Wait a minute.” So, you know, I’m telling guys to–

NORAH O’DONNELL: Just at that moment where it looks like you go sort of down with the Service, you were telling them to wait?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, they asked me– well, I, no, what happened is then I started walking with them. I turned, I started walking, and they said, “Please go down. Please go down on the floor.” So I went down and the first lady went down also. But we were asked to go down by the– agents as I was walking. In other words, I was–

NORAH O’DONNELL: They wanted you almost to crawl out

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  I was standing up– pretty much. I was standing up and then turned around the opposite direction and started pretty much walking out pretty tall, a little bent over because they– you know, I’m not lookin’ to be standing too tall. And– but I was walking out. I was pretty– about halfway there when they said, “Please go down to the floor. Please go down to the floor.” So I dropped to the floor. So did the first lady.

NORAH O’DONNELL: What was your thought at that moment? — what did the first lady say?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, my thought was, “You know, I’ve been through this before a couple of times.” And– she has not to this extent. She handled it great. I mean, she was– she’s– very strong, smart. She got it. She knew what was happening. She listened. I did too, by the way — 

NORAH O’DONNELL: Cause this was the first time she was –

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: – when– when they said– you know, when they said, “Drop down,” that meant trouble. And obviously I’m the president, and I listened to what they said, “Please drop down. Sir, please drop down.” So I wa– was walking halfway and then I dropped down at the f– final because we had a little ways to go where you’re exposed to the ballroom, surroundings. And– then I got up and we went to a hold room for a while and I tried to get them to continue the event, if possible.

NORAH O’DONNELL: You wanted to go back in.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I did. I really did. Because I don’t like to have a criminal or a sick person or somebody, whoever he is, they’ll figure it out, I mean, we’ll– I think we’re already figuring out. He’s a man with a lot of problems. But you don’t wanna have somebody like this, you know, essentially attacking our Constitution, attacking our country– changing events that are– you know, it’s an important event. It was a very important–

NORAH O’DONNELL:  A night celebrating the first amendment and the freedom of the press

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: That’s right. That’s right. Exactly. And– and this was a big– this was a record setter. I mean, this was a very big– you know, the– that dinner had some problems for the last nine years, and now– and I– I didn’t help them. And this time I went and I felt really good being there.

There was a great camaraderie. I wasn’t sure what the response. It was, you know, a lot of press, a lot of media. And when I walked in I got a very nice applause. I wasn’t sure. I said, “You know”– told my wife. I said, “You know, I may walk in and they may give me a hard time. Or I may walk in and let’s see what happens.”

And I walked in and got very nice– a very– I think they were happy to see me there, actually. And I can tell you there– there’s– the biggest impact that I saw in the entire evening was– and I say this being somebody that’s had a lot of– well, let’s say we’ve argued a little bit to get things that I want done.

I fly– I fight for a border and they fight for an open border. And, you know, we have a lot of– a lot of differences. (OVERTALK NORAH: You’ve got some tough words for the press) But there was tremendous– there was tremendous– by this time the events had taken place. People were starting to feel safe.

There was tremendous camaraderie. I mean, I saw Democrats. I saw senators. I saw congressmen and women. I saw people that weren’t necessarily on my side from the other party mostly. Pretty much the Republicans are on my side, so I’m not that, you know, surprised. And they were goin’, “Way to go. Way to”– there was spirit in that room. I mean, it was like the whole country was together. It was pretty amazing. And it m– it made a big impression. It was very nice to see.

NORAH O’DONNELL: Do you think this will change your relationship with the press?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  Well, look, for whatever reason, we disagree on a lot of subjects. We– we talk about crime. I’m very strong on crime. It seems like the press isn’t. It’s not so much the press, it’s the press plus the Democrats because they’re almost one in the same.

It’s, like, the craziest thing. I have the strongest border we’ve ever had in the country where, as you know, it– it’s at zero people for nine months came into our country through our southern border. We have a very tough border. Before me, 25 million people came in.

I mean, whether it’s 20 or 25 or 30, but they say 25 million people came in. Zero people. We have people coming in legally. (OVERTALK NORAH: Can I ask you something, you said something…) But– but the other side doesn’t like that. There are things that I like that I think are very standard. I want women to be able to play women. I don’t want men in women’s sports. And for whatever reason, the other side likes men in women’s sports. So when you say get along, I can but–

NORAH O’DONNELL: But that’s the other side, that’s not the press…

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  I– I don’t think I could ever– no, but I don’t think I could ever change my feelings on certain policies. I want strong borders. They want open borders. There’s such a difference.

NORAH O’DONNELL:  Can I ask you Mr. President –

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I– I will say this, though. After the– event, meaning it looked like things were good, they– we knew he was caught, I was given the information immediately, there was a camaraderie that you just have not seen in a while. It’s very nice to see.

NORAH O’DONNELL:  The president– Mr. President, the vice president, the speaker of the House, the secretary of state, Secretary Hegseth, almost the entire line of presidential succession was in that ballroom. Who was the designated survivor?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  Well, first of all, I have to say it’s not a safe ballroom. I’m building a safe ballroom. And one of the reasons I’m building it is exactly what happened last night. We’re building a room right there. If you walk out and move 20 yards to the left, you’ll be right at the entrance to the ballroom. And that ballroom is being built on the safest piece of property in this country, probably one of the safest pieces of land in the world. We have–

NORAH O’DONNELL:  I think that’s owned, that’s the White House. The White House Correspondents dinner can’t use White House property

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, but– but it’s– it’s able to be used by certainly the White House. It says the White House Correspondents. Well, that’s the White House press. I’m sure that it is available. You know, it’s up to the president. But that would be made available.

And this has bullet-proof glass. This has– you know, this is the highest level of security. Also, very importantly, I could’ve built suites on top. I could’ve done a lotta things, and I said, “No, no. We have– this has to be pure. This has to be where people stay off property, and they go through one very impactful, very strong entrance, one very powerful entrance.”

There’s no games with this. This is the best, highest– this has all sorts of– security equipment at– at levels that you could never have in a regular ballroom. And we’re ahead of schedule. We’re right on budget, ahead of schedule.

I wish it could be even sooner. But we’re, you know, months ahead of schedule. But it doesn’t open till ’28. So, you know, that means you have another season and a half to go. (NORAH: Right) But– this is exactly why the military, and this is exactly why Secret Service and all law enforcement want it.

Because you have maybe 1,000 hotel rooms above the ballroom we were in last night. And I’m not knocking it. I’m just saying in terms of maximum security– it’s not the best thing. You can do it, but you can have problems like this. They have an elevator that comes down from the rooms that’s very close to the ballroom. Which makes sense. So we’re doing– we’re doing something that’s gonna have a tremendous impact on solving this problem.

NORAH O’DONNELL:  In that video you can see the gunman running through the metal detectors. And he fired off one or two rounds.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  Yeah. His speed was rather incredible, actually. It was– he was like a blur.

NORAH O’DONNELL: How did he get that close?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well–

NORAH O’DONNELL: With the place was swarmed with security?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I will say– I– I say it because I’m a big fan of the people, of law enforcement. And, you know, some of these people, they may be crazy, but they’re not stupid and they figure things out. You know, he ran 45 yards they say, and he just went to it, and then boom, he popped through it.

A thing like that could happen. I would say this. Having the– equipment on the outside of the building maybe is better than having it on the inside of the building. Sometimes that’s tough. Sometimes it’s horrendous weather. Sometimes it’s pouring, it’s raining, it’s– lots of things happen.

But maybe less– it was actually quite nice. The weather was beautiful. So– maybe something like that has to take place. I can only say that from the moment they realized that he was– I mean, he ran like– I think the NFL should sign him up. He was fast.

When you look at it on tape, it’s almost like a blur. (NORAH: Right) But it was amazing ’cause as soon as they saw that you could see them draw their guns. They were so professional. Aimed their guns, and then they took him down immediately. The doors were sealed. The room was sealed. The ballroom itself, where the people were. And– they really– they really– I think they did a great job.

NORAH O’DONNELL: I was in the room not far from you, Mr. President. Could hear what sounded like gunshots or commotion. People nearby could smell the gun powder. Everybody hit the floor. There were a number of people who were very, very scared. How worried were you that there were gonna be injuries?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I wasn’t worried. I understand life. We live in a crazy world. You can really enhance your chances of having a perfect situation, but sometimes things will happen. I did wanna see what was happening ’cause I– you know, I’m the president. In one way I guess I should be hiding.

In another way, I wanna see if I can be helpful. But I– I did watch because I could see what was going on at the door. I also saw a lot of very strong– physically strong, really attractive law enforcement people come through those doors. And frankly, it made me feel very safe, very, very safe. There was nobody gonna get by them. And this was at the very back of the ballroom looking at the back of the ballroom, big room–

NORAH O’DONNELL:  Yeah, (UNINTEL)–the counter assault team that comes in–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah, yeah. They were very impressive. I think they were very impressive. I think the whole operation was very impressive. The only thing you could say is maybe they could move that counterpoint out deeper. Out– in other words, move it– to the outside of the building.

NORAH O’DONNELL:  Let’s talk about that. Mr. President, I wonder, how much has the Secret Service and the FBI briefed you about this suspect, Cole Thomas Allen? Have you read what a senior U.S. official is describing to us as a manifesto?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  Yeah.

NORAH O’DONNELL: Did you know that he emailed it to family members?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  We– we found all of that out this morning with that–

NORAH O’DONNELL:  (UNINTEL PHRASE). Before. Right before the attack.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  Yeah. We found that out this morning. And the family members were concerned. I think the brother called up the police. I think the sister may have called the police. The parents were rather devastated. He lived with the parents. I saw the parents last night on television opening the door.

I assume that was his parents. Look, you have sick people. And you have to mitigate the risk. But some of these sick people, it’s amazing. Some of the– they’re very sick, but they’re also in some cases very, very smart. He went to a great school.

I can tell you the person in Butler– I don’t know if you ever looked at his academic credentials. He had almost 1,600 on his college boards. 1,600. Nobody has. I mean, that’s– the upper– 99.9 percentile or something. And he was a crazy person. But a smart crazy person. I think the law enforcement did a great job last night.

NORAH O’DONNELL: Lemme ask you–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  I guess if they didn’t, I wouldn’t be here. But I think they really did a great job. Now, can you make adjustments? We’re also learning. Can you make adjustments? I think the only adjustment would be you move your security equipment further away.

But it was ba– it was about 50 yards away. Fifty yards is a lot of yards – now, when a guy’s running at that speed, he was a very fast person– and he got ’em by– a little bit by surprise. But that didn’t matter because he was totally subdued very shortly after he passed at one point.

NORAH O’DONNELL:  The so-called manifesto is a stunning thing to read, Mr. President. He appears to reference a motive in it. He writes this quote, “Administration officials, they are targets.” And he also wrote this, “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.” What’s your reaction to that?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would because you’re– you’re he– you’re horrible people. Horrible people. Yeah, he did write that. I’m– I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody.

NORAH O’DONNELL:  Oh you think– do you think he was referring to you?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I’m not a pedophile. Excuse me. Excuse me. I’m not a pedophile. You read that crap from some sick person? I got associated with all– stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated. Your friends on the other side of the plate are the ones that were involved with, little’s say, Epstein or other things. But I said to myself, “You know, I’ll do this interview and they’ll probably”– I read the manifesto. You know, he’s a sick person. But you should be ashamed of yourself reading that because I’m not any of those things.

NORAH O’DONNELL:  Mr. President these are the gunman’s words –

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  And I was never– excuse me. Excuse me. You shouldn’t be reading that on 60 Minutes. You’re a disgrace. But go ahead. Let’s finish the interview.

NORAH O’DONNELL: The other thing that he wrote, in the–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You– you’re disgraceful.

NORAH O’DONNELL:  (UNINTEL PHRASE) The other thing in the manifesto that I think is worth looking at in terms of determining his motive is he had been staying at the hotel since Friday. He checked in, he said he had cased the place, and he wrote, “What the hell is the Secret Service doing?” And he wrote this quote, “I expected security cameras at every bend, bugged hotel rooms, armed agents every ten feet, metal detectors out the wazoo. What I got is nothing.” He wrote, “Like, this level of incompetence is insane.” Sir, you have already had two attempted –

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, he was pretty incompetent too, because he got caught. And he got caught pretty easily. So I’d say he was pretty incompetent too. You know, I can take any event having to do with security or anything else. I– I can always find fault no matter what.

I can take a baseball team that won the game 18 to nothing and say they should’ve played better. Those guys did a good job last night. They did a really good job. Now, do they make adjustments? They do. They learn. They make adjustments. We’re living in a different world with the internet than we had– years ago.

But even years ago is very dangerous. I mean, just ask Honest Abe Lincoln. Pretty dangerous. And– but we are living a very– you know, the internet, I think maybe more than anything else, it’s radicalized some people. It’s made people mentally sick.

It’s also a great thing. It’s a phenomenal thing. We’re the leader in it. We are– we’re the leader in AI. It’s a great thing. But you’ll always find problems. But it’s a different– it’s a different age. It’s a very different– it’s a very different time.

NORAH O’DONNELL: I mention that because, again, his m– his motive. You brought this up. He had social media accounts that had anti-Trump and anti-Christian rhetoric.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You should read– why don’t you read all the anti-Trump? Why don’t you read it? You just did, so why don’t you read it?

NORAH O’DONNELL: Well, he had a lot of anti-Christian rhetoric. He had– he was part of a group called the Wide Awakes. He had attended a No Kings protest in California.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No Kings, yeah.

NORAH O’DONNELL:  What did security tell you about what may have been his motives?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, see, they– the part– the reason you have people like that is you have people doing No Kings. I’m not a king. What I am– if I was a king I wouldn’t be dealing with you. No, I’m not a king. I– I get– I– I don’t laugh. I don’t– I– I see these No Kings, which are funded just like the Southern Law was– funded– you saw all that? Southern Law is financing the KKK and lots of other radical, terrible groups. And then they go out and they say, “Oh, we’ve gotta stop the KKK.” And yet they give, you know, hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars.

NORAH O’DONNELL:  They were –

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  It’s a total scam run by the Democrats. It shows you that– like Charlottesville. Charlottesville was all funded by the Southern Law. That was a Southern Law deal too. And it was done to make me look bad, and it turned out to be a total fake. It basically was– a rigged election.

This was a part of the rigging of the election. And that’s what you really should be doing. I mean, I hope one of your 60 Minute episodes, which really hasn’t changed very much for the last few years. I’m surprised. But one of those episodes should be on Southern Law and the fact that they spent millions and millions of dollars on absolute far-right and just bad, bad groups.

And then they’d use those groups and they’d say, “These are Republican groups and we’re coming to your rescue.” And they’re the ones that have funded it and they’re the ones that kept ’em– keep ’em going. Pretty– pretty sad. Do you think it’s pretty sad, Norah?

NORAH O’DONNELL: The allegations and the indictment–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: They’re not just allegations. These are–

NORAH O’DONNELL:  It was an indictment…

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: These are facts, okay? These are facts. I mean, they have checks to the Ku Klux Klan and many others. And then they’re saying how bad they are and blaming the Republican Party and Republicans. These are not just allegations. But go ahead.

NORAH O’DONNELL:  Well, as you know sir, you’ve been accused of things and were able to go to a court of law and adjudicate them, so.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah, after f–

NORAH O’DONNELL:  (UNINTEL)–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: –after– after five years it’s– it’s– takes you about five years.

NORAH O’DONNELL: Do you wanna talk about that?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  Well, I’ve also– I’ve also won a lot of money from fake news media where they write falsely about me. And– not that I wanna sue people, ’cause I don’t. But I bring lawsuits against the fake news. I brought lawsuits against your network and you paid me $38 million because you did something that was so horrible with– Kamala.

You put an answer down that wasn’t responsive to the question because her answer– her real answer was so bad it was election-threatening. And– you paid me a lotta money. And you tried to pull one off. It was terrible. It was a terrible thing that you did.

And, you know, when you say, “Can we all get along,” you can. But when people do things like that, where– how about the BBC when the BBC has me– actually AI. They had me saying a horrible statement. And I said, “I never said that.” It turned out they– gave me an AI– a little AI treatment where they had my lips speaking words of hate, tremendous hate, that I never said.

They don’t know what to do. They’ve admitted they’re wrong, they just don’t know what to do. They actually had me making a major statement and it wasn’t me. It was my face. It was my lips. My lips were perfectly in sync with the words. I said, “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it.” So–

NORAH O’DONNELL:  I hear you, Mr. President–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You know, so then when you say, “Can you get along,” I can get along with anybody. But if people are gonna cheat, if people are going to be– fake– you sort of don’t wanna get along.

NORAH O’DONNELL: On that, what do you say to the people who are encouraging political violence or even cheering it on?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I think the ones that are doing that are much more far left than far right. Much more. When you see, again, Southern Law, when you see some of the statements that are made that are so– even when you say No Kings. That’s– that’s encouraging.

You’re saying– one of the things this guy said in his manifesto which you didn’t read, you should have, is that he attended a No Kings rally along with not too many people. And probably it had an impact. You know, they get up and they say whatever they want. No, I’m against that. I think it’s terrible.

NORAH O’DONNELL: Also at the dinner last night was your Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. His sister, Kerry Kennedy was there. The’ve both witnessed their father and their uncle be assassinated.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  That’s right.

NORAH O’DONNELL: Erika Kirk was there. The House Majority Leader Steve Scalise was there. Political violence has touched so many people in that room. Is there something that you as president can do? What can be done to change the trajectory–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, you know, you go back 20 years, 40 years, 100 years, 200 years, 500 years, it’s always been there. People are assassinated. People are injured. People are hurt. And I’m not sure that it’s any more now than there was. I do think that the hate speech of the Democrats much more so is– is very dangerous.

I really think it’s very dangerous for the country. I think the fact that I’ve accomplished so much– I’ve made our country great again. I mean, this country was dead. Our country was dead. A year and a half ago sleepy Joe Biden had no idea what he was doing.

I don’t think it was him, either. I think it was the people that surround the– surround him in the Oval Office at the beautiful Resolute Desk. I don’t think he knew what he was doing. He didn’t sign anything. He used the autopen to sign 90% of the things. I think that they engendered– I mean, they really created a tremendous amount of anger and hate. Our country was dead and now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world. No– not even close.

NORAH O’DONNELL: Last night –

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: As an example, investments in our country– for four years less than $1 trillion under Biden. In 11 months, $18 trillion under Trump. Now, most people are happy about that but some people are really angry about it. You know why? Because it means we should be around for a long time, and they don’t want that to happen.

NORAH O’DONNELL: Last night, you had very much a tone of unity —when you were in the White House Press Briefing Room

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  I think so, yeah. I think– I really felt very calm. I feel very calm, and I if– I feel very calm right now other than a couple of your questions, which are y– meant to antagonize and– and totally inappropriate. But I feel very calm.

I thought last night was a very important thing to do. And– and– people have said it was — I did it well. Not an easy thing to do, you know? You leave a scene like that, and then you’re supposed to let our country and even the world know that it’s gonna be okay.

NORAH O’DONNELL: And what about when we’re talking about the division in this country, the political violence. Now many of your Cabinet secretaries live on military bases.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  Yeah.

NORAH O’DONNELL: In order to, because of potential threats against them.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, they choose to. I’m not sure that– they need to. They also have nice places, you know? Democrats did the same thing. Some of the housing on the military bases is very nice. I’m not sure they do it necessarily for violence, but probably this– it’s not the worst thing in the world.

Look, they’re– they’re doing– we are consequential. This is a consequential presidency. I have a great Cabinet, and they do things that are very good, but some people– you know, they’re good for us. They’re not good for other people.

Like, as an example, Iran. When– they’re not gonna have a nuclear weapon. They will not have. They’re not gonna blow up the world. They’re crazy. They’re not gonna blow up the world. And therefore they’re not happy. And when they’re not happy, people do things that are violent.

Now, I’m not tracing anything back to them, but certainly if they had a shot, they’d probably take it. So when you’re a consequential president or if you have a consequential administration, things happen that wouldn’t happen if you’re Sleepy Joe Biden.

Everyone was happy with Biden. The world was happy. You know why they were happy? Because they were takin’ advantage of us, because they treated the United States like we were stupid people, and they made a lot of money. But they don’t do that anymore.

NORAH O’DONNELL: Last night was gonna be your first attendance–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah.

NORAH O’DONNELL:  –at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: That’s (LAUGH) right.

(OVERTALK) 

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And I was lookin’ forward to makin’ a speech. Would have been a lot different had I gone up and– had I stayed– it was very interesting, because I said, “I can’t make that speech.” I was (LAUGH) gonna do a pretty–

NORAH O’DONNELL: Tell me.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  –rip-roarin’ sp– oh, I– I won’t go into the total details, but, no, I was gonna hit people really hard with humor. In other words, really hard with humor. And I thought it was good. When this happened, and I wanted it to go forward, ’cause I just didn’t want it canceled by a crazy person.

Our country’s too good for that. Our country’s too important for that and too powerful for that. I didn’t want that to happen. But I said to ’em – and I still would go up. I was expecting until the last moment, when the military came, and Secret Service, and law enforcement, and they said because–

(OVERTALK) 

NORAH O’DONNELL: Why did they say you can’t go back? When you were saying “I want to go back”

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  –because we had a very sealed room. It was very airtight. Once the doors opened and the Secret Service, military, others came in, the police came in, the law enforcement, they came in, lot of ’em. We had a lot of law enforcement. And it was a wall.

But the doors were open. It was breached by them. If somebody happened to slip in. And when they said that, I said, “You’re right.” But I did want to go up. But it (LAUGH) would have been a much different speech. I would have had to just get up and say, “I love you all.” And there was love in the room. It was amazing. There was love in the room.

NORAH O’DONNELL: And why do you think that is? Why do you think that the tone changed?

(OVERTALK) 

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  People came together. Democrats that truly can’t stand me were saying, “Sir, could I just shake your hand?” I mean, I’m– I’m leaving and I’m seeing people, you know, high-level people, and they’re saying, “Sir, great job.” “Sir, could I–” one of ’em– I don’t want to g– you probably have it on tape someplace.

One of ’em said, “Could I hug you?” A (LAUGH) big politician on the other side. There was love. It just all came together. It was very amazing to see. It was a very beautiful thing at– at a non-beautiful moment, really. But it was a very beautiful thing that was happening.

NORAH O’DONNELL: I hesitate to ask you about this but as you know, these conspiracy theories out there on the left and the right that– that the event was staged or that it didn’t happen.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: What d– last night didn’t happen?

NORAH O’DONNELL:  That– yeah, that t was– because it was your first time there, or that Butler didn’t happen. These conspiracy theories that are gaining traction —

(OVERTALK)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  Wow, I know. And October the 7th didn’t happen, and World War II didn’t happen, and the Holocaust didn’t happen, and many things didn’t happen. Yeah, no, I hear it. I– I– I don’t know. I– I think they’re more sick than they are con people, but there’s a lot of con in it too. I haven’t heard that last night didn’t happen. Well, usually it takes a little bit longer. Usually they wait about two or three months to start saying that.

NORAH O’DONNELL: It think that it was — I think the– forgive me. I’m not– I don’t peddle in that stuff. We’re certainly lookin’ at cons– we– I was there. But the idea– I’m wondering where this is coming from.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  (UNINTEL PHRASE). That’d be a tough– I think that’d be a tough sell.

NORAH O’DONNELL:  Yeah. Secret Service now is currently meeting as (they always do)–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah.

NORAH O’DONNELL:  –to discuss your security footprint. The King is coming here, the King of England.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I think it’s great. He’ll be very safe, yeah. You know, the White House grounds w– yes?

(OFF-MIC CONVERSATION) 

NORAH O’DONNELL: (OVERTALK) no concerns about security going forward

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No. The White House grounds are really safe. This area of not very many acres, it’s really safe. And he’ll be staying here. Now, I believe he’s going to a couple of other locations ’cause he’s here for a few days, and he’s a great guy. Oh, he– they called, and– and they are so looking forward to being here. We spoke this morning.

NORAH O’DONNELL:  So he’s– the king is fine? He’s still coming to (UNINTEL)– your– your events are still going forward–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah. No, he’s a good– he’s a good person.

NORAH O’DONNELL: There’s no indication from the —

NORAH O’DONNELL: –Secret Service or the FBI that there’s an additional threat to you or other administration officials–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, no, no. This was a lone wolf, in my opinion. No, but we may find out something else. This was a sick lone wolf. He’s a sicko and a very disturbed person. You could see it with his– journey through life. I mean, he was a Christian. He was– a member of the Christian club at his college, Caltech, which is a good college.

And I’m sure they’re very embarrassed by this, because, you know, it’s a great college. So that means he’s pretty smart, to be in. You know, you gotta– gotta get pretty good marks, gotta get pretty good board scores. It’s a hard school to get into.

So he’s a smart guy, but he’s a sick guy. Yeah, that’s the problem. I mean, it would be a lot easier if they weren’t smart. Some of ’em are very smart. And– they go around, and all they want to do is kill people. They’re sick, and they have to be put away.

NORAH O’DONNELL:  I understand today is the first lady’s birthday? Is that right?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Today is her birthday, yes. Happy birthday. (LAUGH) Happy birthday, Melania. Yeah, today’s the (UNINTEL)–

(OVERTALK) 

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  –I always say it was interesting.

NORAH O’DONNELL: (OVERTALK) How do you deal with- that after what happened last night?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, it was– yeah, by the time we get back here, it’s like around 12:00, and I said, “Happy birthday, darling.”

NORAH O’DONNELL: And you were back here in the White House, I understand, in five minutes.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  Well, they– they move fast, yeah.

NORAH O’DONNELL:  Yeah. They move fast. 

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  I mean, it’s– look, it’s a pretty quick drive. It’s not very far away. But think of it. The security of having this really perfect facility, built with– at the highest, highest security levels on the grounds, where you’re not taking c– I’m talkin’ about any president.

By the way, other presidents will use the ballroom a lot more than me. I’m gonna have four or five months left. But other presidents would be having– having the– the– you know, that tremendous asset is gonna be so great. But outside of that, it’s dangerous.

You know, you need tremendous– that you could never build– you can’t have thousands of rooms on top of a ballroom and have security, real security. Now, with that being said, I hope they do this event again, and I hope they do it again soon. And if they do–

NORAH O’DONNELL: You are committed to doing this event with the White House Correspondents Dinner, it’s about freedom of the press.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Oh, I would a hundred–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I want them, because I don’t want to see it be canceled. I don’t want to have a crazy person– I think it’s really bad for a crazy person to be able to cancel something like this. You know, I– I remember with a certain event that took place, I don’t even like mentioning it, where they had sports games going on.

And it was a big decision. “Do we cancel the games, or do we not?” And when you cancel, you’re sort of playing right into the hands of these nutjobs, and they are. They’re really sick people. I– I don’t want to have– an event like tha– that was a great event.

That was an event I– so I refused to do it the first four years, ’cause I felt the press treated me very unfairly. I had a right not to do it. I didn’t do it. And the thing died. It was dying. And I– even though the press treats me pretty badly– it’s hard to treat me– look, I won the election, you know?

People are fighting me, everybody– not everybody. I’d s– I have some– there are great people in the press too I can name, but I don’t want to– I don’t want to embarrass your show. We have some great people in the press, some very fair people, and people that are just on my side.

But for the most part, it’s a very liberal or very progressive– let’s use the word liberal. Liberal press. But– I was just really– I was really happy to see the– the– I don’t know how long it’ll last– the relationship, the friendship, the spirit after a very bad event took place. Now, the event turned out to be much less bad because nobody was killed. Nobody was hurt. The Secret Service agent– had– I spoke to him. He had– a bulletproof vest on. Unbelievable.

NORAH O’DONNELL: He’s okay?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Oh, he’s a hundred percent. Yeah, no. He was a hundred perc– he didn’t want to go to the hospital. He really didn’t. They asked him to go, and they– he said– he didn’t want to go. He said, “I don’t need to go to the hospital.” But he went because they asked him to go.

I would said to tell him not to g– if he doesn’t wanna go, what do you force him to go for? Because then the press will say, “Oh, he was badly hurt.” No, he didn’t want to go to the hospital, and they forced him to go. And I’m not saying they’re wrong, but I would have said, “If he doesn’t want to go, don’t make him go.”

NORAH O’DONNELL:  Well, I know the White House Correspondents’ Association very much appreciates you going last night and honoring the commitment to do it.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I hope we’re going to do it again. Norah, tell ’em to get it going, and we should do it within 30 days, and they’ll have even more security, and they’ll have bigger perimeter security. It’ll be fine. But tell ’em to do it again. We can’t let something be– it’s not that I wanna go. It’s no– I ha– I’m very busy. I don’t need that. I think it’s very important that they do it again.

NORAH O’DONNELL:  Well, thank you. Thank you, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Thank you very much.

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