‘You’re guilty until proven innocent. I don’t like that’
US President Donald Trump has a way of staying in the news. There’s never a dull moment in this presidency. In his latest interview with the Associated Press, Trump in his usual combative (and abrasive) self signals that he will stand with Saudi Arabia. We present edited excerpts.
Trump: How is the business of the news? We’re keeping you busy? AP: Yes, sir, you are. Thank you for doing this.
AP: Police are searching the Saudi consulate in Istanbul where Jamal Khashoggi allegedly went missing. What did the crown prince tell you, and what is your intelligence telling you?
Trump: I spoke to the crown prince. He said he and his father knew nothing about it. And that was very important. And I spoke to him with Mike Pompeo there. And the crown prince. I spoke to the king, and the crown prince, 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 investigation to find out. So, the answers will be forthcoming.
Did they raise this idea of rogue killers in any of those conversations? When I spoke with the father it just sounded to me like he did not do it. He did not know about it and it sounded like the concept of rogue killers. But I don’t know. I think the investigation will lead to an answer. And they’re going to do a very thorough investigation. I believe they’re working with Turkey.
But he didn’t bring up that? Or that was something you came up with after the conversation? Just the concept of it. No, that was just from my feeling of the conversation with the king.
There’s been a lot of talk, including from Sen. Graham that this is the moment that perhaps the US relationship with Saudi Arabia should be re-evaluated. What do you think of that? Well, I think we have to find out what happened first. You’re guilty until proven innocent. I don’t like that. We just went through that with Justice Brett Kavanaugh. He was innocent all the way. So I was unconcerned. We have to find out what happened and they are doing a very major investigation. So is Turkey. Plus, they are putting themselves together and doing it. But I will say they were very strong in their denial about themselves knowing.
Did they give you any sense of the timetable? I would say within a week. That’s my impression. He said two weeks. But they’re going to try and do it in less than a week.
Moving to the midterms, you’re hitting the road for Republicans, obviously. A little bit.
If Republicans were to lose control of the House, do you believe you bear some responsibility for that? No, I think I’m helping people. Look, I’m 48 and 1 in the primaries, and actually it’s much higher than that because I endorsed a lot of people that were successful that people don’t even talk about. But many of those 48, as you know, were people that had no chance, in some cases. We look at Florida, you look at Donovan in Staten Island. He was losing by 10 points, I endorsed him and he won. I could give you a long list of names. Look at the governor of Georgia. And many, many races. And I will say that we have a very big impact. I don’t believe anybody’s ever had this kind of an impact. They would say that in the old days that if you got the support of a president or if you’ve got the support of somebody it would be nice to have, but it meant nothing, zero. Like literally zero. Some of the people I’ve endorsed have gone up 40 and 50 points just on the endorsement. Eight years ago, Barack Obama said he got shellacked, so you know, taking the outcome of the election as a referendum on himself. I think we’re going to do well. Look, it feels to me very much like ‘16. I was going out and making speeches and I was getting tens of thousands of people. And I was getting literally tens of thousands of people, also, more than Hillary in the same location. And I said, ‘Why am I going to lose?’ I mean, I go out, I make a speech like I have, you know, 25 times more people than she gets. And I didn’t need Beyonce to get them. I didn’t have to have, you know, entertainment and entertainers to get them. And then they’d all leave before she made the speech after the entertainer was finished. Honestly, it feels very much like it did in ‘16. You just mentioned Justice Kavanaugh. And I know, we’ve all been to your rallies, and you’ve suggested that fight was as hard as ... I will say, that fight because he was treated so viciously and violently by the Democrats. That fight has had an impact on energy, and it’s had an impact on the Republican Party, a very positive one in terms of getting out and voting. I think, but I’ll let you know in three weeks. In the days before the actual vote was held, former President George W. Bush made a number of calls of senators also sort of lobbying on Kavanaugh’s behalf. Does he deserve any of the credit here? Have you spoken to him, have you given him a thank you for that? I did speak with him. No, I didn’t say thank you, per se. But I did speak to him before it and we had a great conversation about Kavanaugh; what an outstanding person he is, which is what he told me. And we had a very pleasant conversation, a very good conversation.
I think we’re going to do well. Look, it feels to me very much like ‘16. I was going out and making speeches and I was getting tens of thousands of people. And I was getting literally tens of thousands of people, also, more than Hillary in the same location. And I said, ‘Why am I going to lose?’ I mean, I go out, I make a speech like I have, you know, 25 times more people than she gets. And I didn’t need Beyonce to get them.