President Donald Trump sat down with Fox News anchor Bret Baier in Beijing this week for one of the most combative interviews of his second term and didn’t back down after Baier attacked him on rising gas prices.
The wide-ranging interview, which aired Friday on Fox News’ Special Report, touched on the Iran war’s length, gas prices, and the statement Trump made about how Americans’ financial pain is “not even a little bit” of a factor in how he wages the war.
Baier went after that quote immediately.
“You can imagine how many people stop the sound bite at, ‘I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation,'” Baier said. “So what’s your response to that framework?”
Trump didn’t flinch.
“That’s a perfect statement. I’d make it again,” Trump said. “It’s very simple. When people hear me say it, everybody agrees, short-term pain. It’s going to be short-term pain.”
“But the pain is much less than people thought. Because people thought that oil would go up to $250. You know, it was $99 yesterday, $99 a barrel. I thought it might go up to 200. I was OK with that, not that I wanted it, but you cannot let them have a nuclear weapon. They will use it on us.”
Baier then turned to gas prices, which could be a political minefield. National average prices are sitting around $4.50 a gallon, up 50 percent since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran in late February.
“Gas prices in America are still high. Painfully high for…” Baier began.
Trump was ready to pounce.
“They’re going to drop like a rock as it’s over,” Trump said.
“Painfully high though now, and — and could be creeping higher before…” Baier pressed.
“Well, lower than Biden,” Trump shot back.
“It’s done,” Baier said. “Excuse me, lower than Biden, and much lower than people thought they’d be,” Trump responded sharply.
“This inflation number is going up,” Baier said. “You’re right, it’s much lower than President Biden’s was. But it’s going up under you, the numbers are.”
The sharpest exchange came when Baier confronted Trump directly on his assurances that the Iran war would be over in four to six weeks, which the president said publicly when the conflict began nearly three months ago.
“You did say it was going to be fairly quick, and you said it numerous times,” Baier said.
Trump pushed back by drawing a contrast with Venezuela, where the U.S. captured Maduro in a matter of hours.
“Here’s the difference. Venezuela was sending drugs in at a level that was terrible, and they did something that was a terrible, mortal sin. They emptied their prisons into our country. That was terrible. And that was different. This one is, I guess you could say, worse,” Trump said. “In this one, they are trying to make a nuclear weapon. I’ve stopped it twice. And they would have had it two years ago.”
“Right,” Baier replied. “So why isn’t that good enough?”
“It is good enough,” Trump said. “But you know what? It’s not good enough public relations-wise.”
“I didn’t underestimate anything. We hit them unbelievably hard. Look, we left their bridges. We left their electricity capacity. We can knock that all out in two days. Two days. Everything,” Trump said. “Vietnam lasted 19 years. Iraq was like 10 years. Korea was seven years. We’re in there for two and a half months. I’ve lost 13 soldiers in two wars.”
On whether the war would end, Trump was resolute.
“We’re going to have a solution one way or the other,” he said. “It’s either going to be violent or not violent. And I far prefer non-violent.”
In a classic Trump way, he quickly rated his own answer.
“By the way, perfect answer,” the president quipped.
Trump’s closing message was the same one he’s been delivering since February.
“The only thing that matters, I’m talking about Iran — they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing. We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon, that’s all.”
Take a look at the full interview –