Donald Trump Tells CBS Reporter 'I'm President and You're Not' During Contentious Interview
In Donald Trump‘s first appearance on 60 Minutes as president, he made sure to remind CBS reporter Lesley Stahl of that fact.
During the interview, which aired on Sunday, Trump, 72, claimed that Stahl, 76, treated him unfairly when she pressed him about family separations at the border. “When I say Obama did it, you don’t wanna talk about it,” he said, according to the CBS transcript. “I’m just telling you that you treated me much differently on the subject.”
Stahl replied, “I disagree, but I don’t wanna have that fight with you.”
When Trump answered, “Hey, it’s okay,” Stahl said, “All right, I’ll get in another fight with you.”
Trump declared, “Lesley, it’s okay. In the meantime, I’m president and you’re not.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Trump said, “You know, Obama had the same thing” regarding family separations. Stahl responded, “It was on the books, but he didn’t enforce it. You enforced it. You launched that the zero tolerance policy to deter families with children coming.”
“Let it be whatever it needs to be to get the job done,” President Trump says of his relationship with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and the impact it has had on security. “No more threats.” https://t.co/1DM45dDeTSpic.twitter.com/MHjYbO3zF3
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 15, 2018
Trump has used a similar retort in the past. In July 2017, he said at a faith rally, according to The New York Times, “The fake media is trying to silence us. But we will not let them. Because the people know the truth. The fake media tried to stop us from going to the White House. But I’m president and they’re not.”
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In March 2017, Trump said in a Time interview, “I inherited a mess in so many ways. … Hey look, in the mean time, I guess, I can’t be doing so badly, because I’m president, and you’re not.”
At another point in the 60 Minutes interview, Stahl brought up comments that First Lady Melania Trump made to ABC News. She said, “Melania has said that there are still people in the White House that she doesn’t trust, and that you shouldn’t trust either.”
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“I don’t trust everybody in the White House, I‘ll be honest with you,” Trump said. “I’m usually guarded. And I think I’m guarded anyway. But I’m not saying I trust everybody in the White House. I’m not a baby.”
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He added, “This is a tough business. This is a vicious place. Washington, D.C. is a vicious place. The attacks, the bad-mouthing, the speaking behind your back. But you know, in my way I feel very comfortable here.”
