Trump's TIME Interview: Key Takeaways on Trade, Foreign & Domestic Policy

In a recent interview with TIME magazine on Tuesday, which was published on Friday, President Donald Trump discussed various aspects of his administration’s policies and future plans. Here are the main highlights:Following are key quotes from an interview that U.S.

ON EXPANDING THE POWER OF THE US PRESIDENCY

“Well, I don’t feel I’m expanding it. I think I’m using it as it was meant to be used. I feel that we’ve had a very successful presidency in 100 days.”

ON INFLATION

“The prices of groceries have gone down. The only price that hasn’t gone down is the price of energy. The cost of energy, I’m sorry, well, energy has gone down, excuse me …

“And interest rates have essentially stayed the same. But almost every other thing.”

ON U.S. ECONOMIC CONTRACTION

“If you look at all of the years that I’ve been doing this, I’ve been right on things. You’re gonna—you’re gonna have the wealthiest country we’ve ever had, and you’re gonna have an explosion upward in the not-too-distant future.”

WHY ARE RECENT SIZABLE JOB LOSSES ACCEPTABLE?

“Because we have to have an efficient country. And when the country gets down to bare knuckles … you’re going to see something the likes of which this world has never seen before.”

HOW CAN US COMPANIES PLAN AMID TARIFF UNCERTAINTY?

“I’ll turn it around. How can they make long-term investments if our country is losing $2 trillion a year on trade? …

“I had the head of Walmart. I had the head of Home Depot and the head of Target in my office. And I’ll tell you what they think, they think what I’m doing is exactly right.”

ON SUSPENDING TARIFFS AFTER U.S. BOND PRICES FELL

“I’m doing that until we come up with the numbers that I want to come up with … The bond market was getting the yips, but I wasn’t.”

ON TRADE ROW WITH CHINA, AND PRESIDENT XI JINPING

“He’s called. And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf …

“Oh, there’s a number at which they will feel comfortable. Yeah. But you can’t let them make a trillion dollars from us. You can’t let them make $750 billion.”

WHAT IF TARIFFS ARE STILL 20-50% IN A YEAR’S TIME?

“Total victory … Because the country will be making a fortune …

“I will set a price, and when I set the price, and I will set it fairly according to the statistics, and according to everything else …

“Over the next three to four weeks, and we’re finished.”

IF REPUBLICANS SEND TRUMP A BUDGET BILL THAT CUTS SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE AND MEDICAID

“If it cuts it, I would not approve … I would veto it, yeah. But they’re not going to do that.”

WHY IS ELON MUSK’S DOGE AMASSING SENSITIVE PERSONAL INFORMATION ABOUT EVERYDAY AMERICANS?

“Because we want to find waste, fraud, and abuse, and want to cut our costs.”

ON IMMIGRATION

“People have been led into our country that are very dangerous. If you were walking down the street, and if you happen to be near one of these people, they could, they would kill you, and they wouldn’t even think about it.”

ON NOT BRINGING DEPORTED KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA BACK FROM EL SALVADOR, DESPITE SUPREME COURT RULING

“I leave that to my lawyers. I give them no instructions.”

DO YOU THINK PEACE IS POSSIBLE IF VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY REMAINS PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE?

“Yeah, I do. He is president now and I think we’re going to make a deal.”

ON THE TERMS OF A DEAL FOR UKRAINE

“Crimea will stay with Russia. And Zelensky understands that, and everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time …

“I don’t think they’ll ever be able to join NATO … that’s I think what caused the war to start was when they started talking about joining NATO.”

ON NUCLEAR DISPUTE WITH IRAN

“I think we’re going to make a deal with Iran. Nobody else could do that.”

DID TRUMP PREVENT ISRAEL ATTACKING IRAN’S NUCLEAR SITES?

“I didn’t stop them. But I didn’t make it comfortable for them, because I think we can make a deal without the attack.”

WOULD THE US JOIN AN ISRAELI ATTACK ON IRAN?

“If we don’t make a deal, I’ll be leading the pack.”

ON RELATIONS WITH CANADA

“We’re taking care of their military. We’re taking care of every aspect of their lives, and we don’t need them to make cars for us … We don’t need their lumber. We don’t need their energy. We don’t need anything from Canada. And I say the only way this thing really works is for Canada to become a state.”

DO YOU WANT TO BE REMEMBERED AS A PRESIDENT WHO EXPANDED AMERICAN TERRITORY?

“Wouldn’t mind.”

ON SECURING HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN PRO-BONO-WORK PLEDGES FROM MAJOR LAW FIRMS

“I think they felt that the election was rigged and stolen and they didn’t want to be a part of it … They gave it to me because they knew what they did wrong and they didn’t want to get involved with it.”

ON A POTENTIAL THIRD TERM AS PRESIDENT

“I have more people begging me to run again, but I haven’t looked at even the possibility … there are some loopholes that have been discussed that are well known. But I don’t believe in loopholes. I don’t believe in using loopholes.”

These statements reflect President Trump’s continued commitment to assertive trade policies, unconventional foreign relations approaches, and a focus on domestic economic growth, despite facing criticism and skepticism from various quarters.

Note: Key Takeaways in short:

President Trump said that Chinese President Xi Jinping has already called him, and that active trade talks with China are underway.
He claimed the U.S. has completed “200 tariff deals,” with formal announcements expected in the next 3 to 4 weeks.
Trump declared he “owns the store” when it comes to tariffs, and will personally set “fair prices” for each country.
He stated that keeping tariffs between 20% and 50%+ a year from now would count as a “total victory.”
The overall goal of his tariff strategy, he said, is to bring back U.S. manufacturing.
Referring to recent market volatility, Trump said the bond market may have had “the yips” in April, but “I wasn’t.”
He emphasized that the April 9 tariff pause had nothing to do with bonds, saying, “I’m doing it until I get the numbers I want.”
Trump expressed theoretical support for taxing the wealthy, though he’s concerned about political backlash.
He confirmed he would sign a bill to ban stock trading by members of Congress.
On foreign policy, Trump said he believes Ukraine will never join NATO.
He added that Crimea will remain with Russia in any future peace deal.
Trump predicted a major “economic explosion” for the U.S. in the coming months.
He defended his cuts to government programs, calling them necessary for “efficiency.”
He said his policies would benefit small businesses more than Big Tech.
Trump introduced the DOGE database, aimed at fighting fraud, waste, and abuse in government.
He said he would be open to sending violent criminals to foreign prisons if it’s legally permissible.
He also expressed willingness to meet with Iranian leaders to reach a nuclear agreement.
According to Trump, a Saudi-Israel normalization deal is “close.”
He floated the idea of expanding U.S. territory and said that Canada should become the 51st state.
Lastly, he once again claimed he “decisively” won the 2024 election, despite allegations of cheating.