President Donald Trump reflected on the Republicans’ big losses last week with 60 Minutes correspondent Ross Douthat in his first sit-down interview since the midterm elections.
Douthat asked Trump for his analysis of what happened. “Well, No. 1, I was not on the ballot,” he replied. “But I campaigned hard for some people. And I think if I was on the ballot, it would’ve been a much different situation because you saw the level of popularity and love. There was love. We had massive rallies. You had to transfer those voters, however, to candidates that they didn’t like. But there’s something beyond that. They didn’t like the war. They didn’t like the fact that gasoline went up, ’cause I had it down at a low, and there’s a great dislike, incredibly, for Israel.”
The interview aired a few days after Vice President J.D. Vance posted his own lengthy and candid analysis of what he believed went wrong for his party. He outlined four things that disaffected Republicans wanted, which led to the Democrats reclaiming Congress: “End the war, focus on cost of living and inflation, put America first and change our relationship to Israel.”
Douthat asked Trump if he agreed with Vance’s analysis. “I don’t disagree with it,” Trump replied, adding: “He asked me what do I think. I said, ‘You write what you want.’”
Trump added that he does wish Vance would have included one thing he didn’t: “The only thing I wish he would’ve said there, if he felt it, and you’d have to ask him about that, but if you had to do it again, would you do it? You know, he’s part of a decision-making process. And my answer is an emphatic yes because you can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon. I think, historically, this will be a very good decision. Is it a good decision for today and tomorrow? Maybe not. But you know, I have to go with what’s right for our country. If they had a nuclear weapon during my term, I would be excoriated far worse than what’s happened. … I’ve stopped them from having a nuclear weapon. That’s a big thing.”
Trump argued that the economy has been strong during his second term, even though Douthat noted that polls have shown Americans are unhappy with the economy. “Cost of living, inflation, and so on,” he said. “Is that all just the Iran war?”
Trump replied: “Well, it’s not really the Iran war because the numbers are phenomenal. I think it was bad messaging, maybe by me, but I would talk about it all the time. So I don’t know, how much can I talk about it? Look, the press doesn’t cover … positive news for Republicans. They don’t cover certainly positive news for me. So I have to do it myself. I have to get it out there. We have historically good numbers. We have the highest stock market in history.”
Asked what the “bad message” was, Trump replied: “We couldn’t get the word across.”
The interview also touched on Trump’s successor. Douthat asked the president if he will be endorsing a Republican nominee in two years. “Probably. Not necessarily,” he replied. As for how he decides whether to endorse a candidate, Trump said: “I don’t know, we have a tremendous bench. I mean, I have so many people that I have great relationships with.”
Besides Vance, Trump cited U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as a “great” option and said there are “others” including “some senators that are excellent” but he declined to name names. I know ’em all, I like ’em a lot,” he said. ” So I may or may not get involved. I don’t know. Maybe I’m better off not getting involved.”
Asked if he thinks Democrats will try to impeach him a third time, Trump replied: “What have I done? I’ve had the best two years in the history of the presidency.”
60 Minutes‘ two-part Interview with Trump aired Sunday on CBS and Paramount+.