Trump to Fox News' Laura Ingraham: 'I'm the only one that matters'

Donald Trump (Photo: Fox News)
Donald Trump (Photo: Fox News)

Laura Ingraham capped her first week as host of the new Fox News primetime hour The Ingraham Angle with an interview with President Trump on Thursday night. In it, he praised the new Republican tax plan as only he can — “We’re getting great reviews” — and Ingraham tried to make a little news by asking him the sort of entertainment-world question the media loves to repeat. She wanted to know what he thought about “Hollywood celebrities who aren’t supporting you,” but she ended up phrasing it like this: “Hollywood depravity and our children — how big of a problem do you think it is?” Trump generously responded as though her question made sense. “Well, I think Hollywood depravity is, period, not only for children.” (Oops. You get what Trump means, right?) “Frankly, if they said some of the things about Obama you would have politically correct people say, ‘You can’t say that,’ but with me it’s a laugh. I think it’s disgraceful, but we power forward.” Got that?

Ingraham sought a comment on the story that Fox is now focused on to the exclusion of much else: the excerpt from former DNC chairwoman Donna Brazile’s new book that says Hillary Clinton manipulated the Democratic primary in her favor over Bernie Sanders. “I don’t know if the mainstream fake media, because they are fake and phony, but I just don’t know if they are going to pick it up,” said Trump. “That is a big story, what you’re saying. It’s illegal, No. 1. And it’s really unfair to Bernie Sanders.”

Ingraham’s interview with Trump lasted less than 15 minutes, and, sitting across from Trump in the White House, she seemed highly aware of the limited face time she would get with the president, so she peppered him with a barrage of questions. When she asked him about his administration’s failure to fill jobs at the State Department, Trump gave her the sort of response a king might. “The one that matters is me. I’m the only one that matters, because, when it comes to it, that’s what the policy is going to be. You’ve seen that. You’ve seen it strongly.”

Ingraham wasn’t exactly pitching hardballs (“Are you getting enough credit for this stunning economic revival?”) and Trump never let an opportunity go by to praise himself (“No, I’m not getting enough credit for it”). He also responded to a question about North Korea in a manner that was impressive for its inarticulate hostility: “I must tell you, North Korea is a thing that I think we will solve, and if we don’t solve it, it’s not going to be very pleasant for them. It’s not going to be very pleasant, I guess, for anybody.” Wow, I’m so glad he’s going on a 12-day trip to Asia to spread that feel-good message. Meanwhile, Trump acted like Ingraham’s PR department, obligingly tweeting on Thursday evening:

The Ingraham Angle airs weeknights at 10 p.m. on Fox News.

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