1. "How is the business of the news? We're keeping you busy?

"
And away we go!
2. "What are you going to do in 6½ years with a normal boring person here?"
One thing Trump is absolutely right about is that the political world -- elected officials,
media etc. -- will have a major adjustment to make once he is no longer president,
whether that's after 2020 or 2024. There's never been a president anything like him and
it's hard to see there being another one that even approximates Trump in the future.
3. "I spoke to the king yesterday, the crown prince, today wanting to know what
was going on, what was happening, and he said very strongly that he and his
father knew nothing about it but they are starting a major, they've already started
a major investigation to find out."
Trump, again, repeats the denials of King Salman and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman that they had anything to do with the disappearance and suspected murder
of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Turkey.
Trump's willingness to accept their denials comes amid reporting that the Saudi
government had conversations about how to lure Khashoggi back to their country.
Trump, as I wrote recently, has a huge double standard when it comes to denials and
the people who make them.
7. "We just went through that with Justice Kavanaugh. And he was innocent all
the way."
Not true. The Senate confirmation process for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh
was a job interview, not a trial. The only thing decided by Kavanaugh's confirmation vote
was that 50 senators believed the allegations of sexual assault leveled by Christine
Blasey Ford against Kavanaugh were not disqualifying for him to be on the nation's
highest court. Guilt or innocence was not part of the equation.
8. "But I will say they were very strong in their denial about themselves knowing."
Again, the fact the Saudis were "very strong" in their denial that they had anything to do
with Khashoggi's disappearance means a lot less than Trump seems to think. Did he
expect that, after weeks of the Saudi government denying involvement, that King
Salman was going to say "OK, now that were on the phone, I want to tell you we did
this?" Come on, man.
win total, but not so sure his endorsement changed all that much. That said, there's NO
question he is very popular among Republican base voters.
11. "I will say that we have a very big impact. I don't believe anybody's ever had
this kind of an impact."
Just Trump saying he has had the biggest political impact of any president ever on a
midterm election. (He might be right, but the impact may not be the positive kind.)
12. "And I was getting literally tens of thousands of people, also, more than
Hillary in the same location."
For starters, he's talking about an election that is almost two years in the rearview mirror
now. Second, he is obsessed with crowd size as not just an indicator of popularity but
also of him being right (about everything).
15. "I would say, without question, first two years of office, I've had the most
successful two years in the history of this country as a president."
This is, of course, totally unverifiable given that it's difficult to know what Trump means
by "most successful." He's been making this claim about being the most successful ever
since he got into office. Most successful first 100 days. Most successful first year. Most
successful 18 months. And on and on and on. Most fact-checks of these sorts of
claims suggest Trump is exaggerating -- to put it mildly.
16. "And, would get me the list? Would you get me the list, please?"
Trump's talking to a staffer here -- asking him/her to fetch the paper copy of the list he
has of his accomplishments. How do I know Trump has a paper copy of his
accomplishments? Because he read from it at a campaign rally in Las Vegas last
month!
17. "I have the most successful. Nobody has done what I've done, and nobody
has come close in the first two years of office."
What question was Trump responding to here, you ask? "Do you think you have the
legal team necessary?" That was the question to which Trump responded "I have the
most successful." I mean, what the actual hell.
19. "Who is the one, who's the one president that percentage-wise has done
better than me? There's only one. George Washington — 100%. Nobody has
gotten that yet."
I think -- emphasis on think -- that Trump is talking about how many judges he's
nominated who have been confirmed? Also, 100% is the best you can do. Unless you
do 110%.
21. "He wasn't in trouble for what he did for me; he was in trouble for what he did
for other people."
Of the counts that Cohn pleaded guilty to earlier this year, two are campaign finance
violations tied directly to payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and McDougal, a former
Playboy model, that Cohen testified under oath that he coordinated at the behest of and
in coordination with Donald Trump. So...
22. "He represented me very little. It's a very low-level. And what he was is also a
public relations person."
"The New York Times and a third rate reporter named Maggie Haberman, known as a
Crooked H flunkie who I don't speak to and have nothing to do with, are going out of
their way to destroy Michael Cohen and his relationship with me in the hope that he will
'flip.' They use non-existent 'sources' and a drunk/drugged up loser who hates Michael,
a fine person with a wonderful family. Michael is a businessman for his own
account/lawyer who I have always liked & respected. Most people will flip if the
Government lets them out of trouble, even if it means lying or making up stories. Sorry, I
don't see Michael doing that despite the horrible Witch Hunt and the dishonest media!"
-- Donald Trump, April 21, 2018. Ahem.
23. "You know what? You can take it any way you want."
This is Trump's response to an AP reporter asking whether it is appropriate for the
President of the United States to call a woman "horseface" -- as Trump did to Daniels
on Twitter earlier that day. Let me translate Trump's response: "Yes, it's totally and
perfectly fine for me to do whatever I want to do at all times."
24. "I'm just saying, I just speak for myself. You take a look, and you make your
own determination."
This is an important window into how deeply Trump breaks with past presidents. He
views the presidency as his personal pulpit. He doesn't view himself as speaking for the
nation -- whether to the rest of the country or to the world. Also, his response here on
the Daniels' name-calling is, essentially, "it is is what it is."
25. "And you have scientists on both sides of the issue. And I agree the climate
changes, but it goes back and forth, back and forth."
Trump should watch this John Oliver clip about the notion that there are "scientists on
both sides" of the climate change issue.
26. "Everything I want and everything I have is clean. Clean is very important —
water, air."
[nods head slowly]
27. "My uncle was a great professor at MIT for many years. Dr. John Trump. And I
didn't talk to him about this particular subject, but I have a natural instinct for
science, and I will say that you have scientists on both sides of the picture."
OH. MY. GOD.
On a related note: "Sting. Sting would be another person who's a hero. The music that
he's created over the years. I don't really listen to it, but the fact that he's making it, I
respect that." -- Hansel
28. "And even people that are not my friends say that was a horrible thing that he
did to the president, a horrible thing."
This is such a revealing answer from Trump about Attorney General Jeff Sessions'
decision to recuse himself in the Russia probe. Sessions did so, he said, because he
wanted to avoid even the appearance of any bias or favoritism due to his prominent role
as a surrogate for Trump in 2016. Trump doesn't go for the whole justice-is-blind thing.
He's totally focused on why what Sessions did was unfair to HIM.
29. "He should be ashamed of himself for doing it."
REMINDER: Jeff Sessions -- aka the person who should be ashamed of himself -- is
the current attorney general!
30. "I could fire him whenever I want to fire him, but I haven't said that I was going
to."
Have a good day at work today, Jeff!
31. "I just haven't said I was going to fire him. We'll see what happens. But if you
ask me: Am I thrilled? No, I am not thrilled."
It's not that Trump isn't going to fire Sessions. It's just that he hasn't said he is going to
fire him. Yet!
32. "My son's a good young guy."
Well, I'm convinced! [re-hangs portrait of Donald Trump Jr. over mantel]
33. "There was nothing wrong with having an opposition research meeting and
nothing happened from the meeting."
True-ish. But remember that this June 2016 Trump Tower meeting was with Russians
that was set up with the understanding that the dirt they had on Hillary Clinton was
coming from the high levels of the Russian government. Which makes the decision to
take the meeting a lot more dicey than Trump is suggesting here.
34. "To think that I would be even thinking about using Russia to help me win
Idaho. We're using Russia to help me win the great state of Iowa or anywhere else
is the most preposterous, embarrassing thing."
No one is saying that. Not Robert Mueller. Not anyone. The special counsel probe is
looking into Russia's attempted interference in the election to help Trump and hurt
Clinton. And the possibility that members of the Trump campaign colluded with
Russians to further that goal. This is a total straw-man argument by Trump.
35. "The word is 'sow,' an old English term."
CORRECT. Sow: "to scatter seed upon the ground or plant it in the earth, disseminate."
36. "This was an excuse made by the Democrats for the reason they lost the
Electoral College, which gives them a big advantage — a big advantage. Very
different than the popular vote. The popular vote would be much easier to win if
you were campaigning on it."
The question asked of Trump that elicited this answer -- and, no, I am not kidding, was:
"Would you prefer to have an in-person interview [with Mueller] or do it this way?"
37. "I covered it so nicely on '60 Minutes,′ but they only put on pieces of it, and
they were fine but you know they cut, cut, cut because I guess they have so much
time."
"60 Minutes" has said they cut any Trump answer or comment that they couldn't
independently verify. So, yes, "cut cut cut" is an accurate description.
38. "I think we've done an incredible job with children."
Trump's answer on whether he had any regrets on his border separation policy. He, uh,
doesn't.
39. "Nobody has been better at the military."
"These are my awards, Mother. From Army. The seal is for marksmanship, and the
gorilla is for sand racing. Now if you'll excuse me, they're putting me in something called
Hero Squad." -- Buster Bluth
40. "I see no talent."
Donald Trump assesses the 2020 Democratic field. This feels like the right place to end.