TRANSCRIPT: President Trump Speaks with Sid Rosenberg of WABC Radio, 1.27.26
[Video]
Sid Rosenberg: I love this man, sincerely and literally love him, the greatest president ever, Donald J. Trump. Good morning, Mr. President.
President Trump: Wow. You can't give me a better introduction than that, Sid, I would say. That's not so bad, huh? That's great. Well, we have good news. You know, we got the last, as you know, the hostages back. And we got the last of the dead back, sad. And those parents were -- they wanted -- they wanted the body of their son back more -- just, like almost more than anything I've ever seen before.
It's amazing. Uh, you know, we got all of the -- we got the 20 back. We got many before that, hundreds before that. But that last 20 we said are going to be rough, and we got them back and now we got all of the dead back. Remember, everyone said that would be impossible. We just got the last one back today, so I know you're happy about it.
Rosenberg: I'm so happy. And I have to tell you, I speak to so many prominent Jewish figures, as you know, President Trump, Yehuda Kaplan, one of your guys, so many others around the country and they were celebrating you all day because let's be honest, OK, if Biden was the president or if Harris, God forbid she would have won, those people would still be in those tunnels, getting raped, getting murdered.
It would be awful. I don't know how you did it. I got to be honest, President Trump, but from all the Jewish people, and Christians around the world, thank you so much.
Trump: Well, actually, Sid, I think, really, you wouldn't have Israel right now if that were the case because there wouldn't have been that whole situation that we did, Midnight Hammer, where we knocked out the nuclear power. They would have used that if they had it. And you just -- I don't think you'd have Israel, I really don't think so. The attack wouldn't have taken place, wouldn't have been allowed to have taken place.
They instead would have been attacked. Think of it. Somebody was saying it today, I never gave it that kind of thought because we'd like to think a little more positively, but they were saying today, you wouldn't have Israel. I don't think Israel would be around. During that 60-day negotiation, so much took place in terms of readiness and getting it done. You know the famous 60-day negotiation.
Rosenberg: Yes. Yes.
Trump: And so I don't think you would have had -- I really don't think he would have had Israel around, if you want to know the truth.
Rosenberg: I agree with you.
Trump: That was a very dangerous time.
Rosenberg: I agree and I think Bibi agrees. And you know, just a couple of days ago, President Trump, I know you know this, but they shut the airspace in Israel. I've got all these friends, they live in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, all over the country, you know, and they text me at 2:00 in the morning, we just shut the airspace.
I said, what the hell's going on, you know? But of course, Iran keeps threatening us. They keep threatening you. So Israel kind of replies in turn. But I think the Israelis -- I'll speak for them, OK? I think they're very, very confident with you at the helm, that this Iran thing will eventually get fixed and go America's way, Israel's way and quite frankly, President Trump, the world's way.
Trump: Yeah. Well, we have a lot of support. We have a big armada going over there right now and hopefully we won't have to use it, but it's very powerful, and bigger than what we have in Venezuela, that we sent over. That worked out so well and the leadership there is doing a very good job coordinating with us and everything else. But we have a big armada going over there and we'll see. Hopefully, we won't have to use it.
Rosenberg: You know, you mentioned um, the Armada, you mentioned Iran. And I got to go to the mayor here, because people in New York love you. Uh, you know, I walk past the Trump Tower every day. There's not a conversation, President Trump, I don't have with you or your daughter-in-law, she's coming on today, or your son, Eric, I don't bring up New York.
I know you still love New York. And you had a meeting with the mayor in your office a couple of months ago and you guys got along really, really well. And that was, I'll be honest because I love you, odd for me because I spent a lot of time, I'm being honest, badmouthing the mayor. And I got to say this, the last couple of weeks, you know, he's so nice to you.
Hochul does the same thing, she's so nice to you then she kills you. You know, Walz today I'm sure was very, very nice to you, then he kills you. Mamdani was angry about the -- the Maduro capture, as great as that was. He called your administration evil after good was murdered, Mr. President. He actually came out and said he wants to abolish ICE on The View and in a tweet yesterday. So I want to give the guy a chance because you are, but when people bad mouth Trump, I get very upset. Sorry.
Trump: Yeah. Well, you know, it's politics. I see it with so many. They'll be so nice to me. You -- you don't know how nice they are. I mean, at a level that you have rarely heard, and then you'll see him three days later on a show or something and they'll be knocking the hell out of you. And it's just -- it's politics.
And you know what, I do the same to them. I'm nice to them and then I'm not so nice maybe when I'm talking about them as a politician, so -- which I hate to call myself, but I guess ultimately, I'm a politician, right? But you know, it's politics. It's a nasty world. It's a nasty profession, if you want to know the truth.
It really is. But, uh, I get along very well with him. We had some good meetings, some good talks and he's the way he is. I guess you're not going to change. You know, you grow up a certain way and you sort of tend to be a certain way, but they got to be -- they got to do a good job for New York. What I want to see is I want to see New York be successful.
And if he could help make it successful, make it much more successful because now it's heading in the wrong direction, losing people. Uh, you -- [Inaudible] the New York Stock Exchange having a major stock exchange built in Dallas is not a good thing, OK? That's a real bad thing.
Rosenberg: Oh my God.
Trump: And it's by the owners of the New York Stock Exchange. They're the ones doing it. And I would have talked to them, I would have talked to them, tried to get them to not do that, if I were the mayor of New York. That's a big deal. That's not a positive thing for New York.
Rosenberg: So is it fair to say then -- I'm not going to put words in your mouth. You're the president, the greatest president ever, but the jury's still out. You say nice things, but if New York doesn't get better if there's an issue with the Jewish people, you mentioned the stock exchange, is it fair to say the jury is still out when it comes to Trump and the mayor?
Trump: Well, it is. I mean, I think he's got a really good personality. I think he's got, you know, tremendous assets, but I -- you know he's -- he's got some, uh, things -- forget about what he says about me. I don't really care about that. It's policy, it's, you know, concepts that really haven't worked over the last, uh, 10,000 years, to be honest with you.
They haven't worked and maybe he can get them to work, but a lot of people think that can't happen. So got to be very careful. When people leave, when you -- when you have a stock exchange opening up in Texas, when, you know, things like that happen, it makes your job a lot -- It really makes your job a lot harder.
I'd love to see him be successful, because if he's successful, that means that's a good thing for New York. So I would love to see him be successful. And you know, those policies, the ones that I'm hearing about, typically haven't worked. Not typically, they've never worked anywhere, ever.
Rosenberg: Right. Never, never. Yeah, and then you get the --
Trump: So -- so I don't -- I don't want to see that.
Rosenberg: The governor's race, Hochul is the same creature. You know, she calls you and she's, uh, loves you and then she goes on one of these channels here and she's not very nice. But we've got our mutual friend who just won his second consecutive race, Mr. President, Nassau County, Bruce Blakeman.
Trump: Yeah.
Rosenberg: He's now running for governor. How great, Mr. President, would Bruce Blakeman be as the governor of our state?
Trump: Well, he's a fantastic guy and, you know, I know him very well. I've supported him all -- always. And he won a Nassau, Nassau County, and that's like impossible for a Republican. Not only that he just had an election, he won -- he won in a landslide. He's a great guy. He would be an amazing governor. You're right about Kathy Hochul.
She is so nice to me. She calls me. Hi, President, hi, hi, how are you doing, can not be nicer. She wants to build windmills all over the place, you know, it's like crazy. And -- but she cannot be nicer and then I'll see her the following day on television, knocking the hell out of me. I said, you know, you're -- you're very disloyal when you call me and you're so nice and then all of a sudden, it's like just a weird thing.
You know when she's calling, because it says Buffalo, New York. I pick up, I say, oh, it's -- I know exactly, Buffalo, New York. And I love Buffalo. I love the whole state. But when she calls and she's nice and then, uh, the following morning, she'll just, you know, rip you. It's -- it's so dishonest. People understand it, but it's dishonest. I handle it because I -- I understand politics and that's the way it is. It's pretty -- pretty sad.
Rosenberg: Well, you understand politics and not to patronize you, which I do all day every day, but you're a mensch, you are. I mean, I laugh when I hear people speak badly about you. They don't know you. You're the nicest guy in the world. There's nothing you wouldn't do for anybody. Tim Walz, for example. He calls you today. You say, I'll help you out, Minnesota. He's been killing you, killing ICE, killing America, him in that awful mayor from Minneapolis, Frey. All they do every day is kill Trump.
Trump: He called -- he called me too.
Rosenberg: Yeah.
Trump: I just spoke to -- Jacob Frey, I just spoke to him. He called me.
Rosenberg: Oh, so you spoke to both of them?
Trump: We had a great conversation.
Rosenberg: Yeah.
Trump: Actually, they were both great conversations, so let's hope that turns out to be so. So we'll see if we can get that. You know, what we've done is so many locations have no crime now. We send in the military, we send in the National Guard, we do what we have to do. And I mean, look at Memphis, crime is down 77 percent in four weeks.
Look at the greatest, Washington DC. This place was really dangerous and now it's the safest place you have in the country. There's no crime whatsoever. It's -- it's amazing. Uh, New Orleans -- New Orleans, uh, we have -- I would say after four weeks, we have the crime down more than 60 percent. I'll tell you what, if I were a Democrat governor or mayor, I would be calling Trump.
I would say, get over here, let me -- make me look good. Because, you know, people are going to -- people are looking at me. If you see crime go down -- we've brought crime down in Chicago and you know, we did a minor job compared to what we could do. We could have had -- we could have virtually no crime in Chicago, virtually no crime within a few months.
We did that in DC. After one month we had very little and now we have virtually no crime. It's crazy that they're not wanting this. But I had two very good talks. I had Jacob Frey and I had Governor Walz. And I mean, they were -- they were great calls, so let's see how they report it, but they were very nice calls, very respectful.
Rosenberg: So is there a possibility, President Trump, of some type of compromise? I read that some of the guard will be leaving the state of Minnesota. Some type of compromise to, I guess make those guys feel like they're in charge, even though, God help us.
Trump: Yeah, well, we'll -- we'll -- I think so. Yeah, I mean, I think so. What -- what we need is their criminals. You know, they have criminals and all -- I said, just give us your criminals. And if you give us the criminals, it all goes away. They're there to -- to pick up murders. I don't know if you saw, but it was a couple of days ago announced that crime is the lowest in the history of our country, in the recorded history of our country.
Rosenberg: Wow.
Trump: That's a big statement. That's because of us. That's because we go into cities and towns. Usually, we're embraced. Sometimes we're not. Chicago is like pulling teeth with Pritzker and with the mayor, the mayor of Chicago, low-IQ person. And usually, we're embraced, but sometimes we're not. And when we're not, it just makes it harder.
Now, we -- we've had a positive impact in Chicago, but that's just, you know, like an enforced -- uh, we go in there without, uh, any support whatsoever, except from the people. They have women walking around all over Chicago, wearing Make America Great hats. I mean, all over the place, MAGA, Make America Great Again.
And they're -- they're -- I mean, fantastic women, beautiful, Black women with MAGA hats on, think of it. And they're -- they're -- they want us to be in there because they don't want to be mugged or anything else. They don't want to be killed. And we have so many of them. You look around Chicago, they have -- people that you wouldn't suspect it and they have MAGA hats on, because they want us to go and they want to have a safe --they don't want to get knocked on the head or worse.
Rosenberg: Of course not. And Bowser actually came along and said thank you, President Trump, Bowser in DC. No one could have predicted that. So again, I'm not sure about Brandon Johnson and JB Pritzker, but -- because they're just not good people. But at the end of the day, you're doing amazing work in this country, so that does bode the question, we need to win in November. We need to win. I know you made the address to Congress.
Trump: Yeah.
Rosenberg: The last thing I want is my dear friend every day -- I don't want to hear that word ever again, impeach. I hate that word. We need to win in November. Do you really feel in your heart of hearts, we got a good shot?
Trump: I think so, other than statistically -- you know the numbers better than anybody. You report them as well as anybody. But statistically when a president wins, they lose the midterms. I don't know why. It doesn't make sense, even if it's a successful president. And I don't think any president has had a better first year than we've had.
Rosenberg: No. No.
Trump: We've had such accomplishments with the biggest tax cuts in history, biggest regulation cuts in history, how about ending eight wars and probably another one coming, you know what that is, but -- but ending all these wars and everything else. I -- I do it almost by second nature. You know, I just -- I know how to do it. I've ended wars that have been going on for 35 years. I will say, Putin, on -- uh, with a certain war -- I don't want to say which one. I don't want to get anybody in trouble, but there was a certain war, he said, I can't believe you got that war ended, I've been trying to do it for 10 years.
Rosenberg: Wow.
Trump: I said, don't tell me about that war. Let me get your war done. That's the one I'm interested in right now. So -- and there's a shot at doing that. Last week, 27,000 -- last month, 27,000 soldiers died, uh, 31,000 the month before. I mean, you have no idea. It's like a bloodbath going on there, to use a word that they brought up inappropriately, when I said it in a very appropriate manner.
Rosenberg: I remember.
Trump: Remember the word bloodbath, with the fake media?
Rosenberg: I do. Yep.
Trump: I always call it. The fake media took that word and used it in a very different light, but it's a bloodbath over there. There's so many soldiers being killed, and I'd like to see that stopped.
Rosenberg: Yeah. And you actually thought that would be the easiest one. You've told me that many times, and I thought that would be the easiest one.
Trump: I thought it would be one of the easy ones, I did. I did -- I did a war for 35 years. Well, look at India and Pakistan, I did that. That was raging. It was -- uh, that could have been a real bad one, two nuclear countries. They -- the prime minister of Pakistan said he saved 10 million lives and he actually told me over the week because I saw him at the Board of Peace. He's on the Board of Peace. He said 10 million lives is a low number. It's much more than that.
Rosenberg: Yeah, yeah.
Trump: [Inaudible]
Rosenberg: I believe it.
Trump: So we do a good job and all we can do is a good job and they'll have to see what happens with the midterms. Uh, the word affordability, that's a word that they made up, but they're the ones that caused the problem. We have brought prices way down and they're going lower. Look at gasoline. So we're hitting $1.99 a barrel -- a gallon in gasoline.
Think of that, $1.99, $1.99. It's $2.30, $2.50 an average, but it's down to in some states, $1.99. One hit $1.95 today. And you know, when oil comes down, everything comes down, but we're doing good. Then we had the, uh, the Venezuela situation two weeks ago and that was amazing.
Rosenberg: Amazing, amazing.
Trump: And we're helping them and we're benefiting very greatly financially as a country. So it's -- great stuff is happening, Sid.
Rosenberg: Great stuff. And then two more, we'll let you run. This is President Trump. Last week, you mentioned Davos. What a week for you again. I mean, I got to say this, you know, no disrespect to the other world leaders, I'm sure they're very nice guys. You know them, I don't. OK? But when you stand up there, you're the boss.
You are the boss. You know, look and Putin looks at you the same way that I do, just -- you know, this guy, you just -- You just man the stage, you demand the camera. There's never been anybody like you. And between what you accomplished with Greenland, which is coming closer and closer and the Board of Peace, that was a heck of a couple of days in Switzerland, Mr. President.
Trump: Yeah. No, it was great, a lot of -- lot of great things happened. That was an amazing Davos. That was the best one they've ever had, probably, but it was amazing. No, the -- the Greenland thing is coming along well and Board of Peace is going to be amazing. We have peace in the Middle East. Think of it, did you ever think you'd have peace in the Middle East?
Rosenberg: No.
Trump: We have peace in the Middle East. And now on top of it, we have the Board of Peace, just to assure things go well, and can probably spread to other territories as we need them. But largely, the wars are put out. Most of the wars are put out, almost all of them. And who -- I didn't know they had eight wars when I was running. I never even thought about it. But I ended up putting out eight wars and we have a ninth one coming, I believe.
Rosenberg: Amazing. Last one. We're down to the Patriots and the Seahawks.
Trump: Yeah.
Rosenberg: And, uh, I know you love football, I do too. Do you know -- you might not even know this, that I had -- me and my dad, God rest his soul, had season tickets to your Jersey generals. I saw Herschel Walker, Doug Flutie all those guys play for you way back when at Giants Stadium.
Trump: Oh.
Rosenberg: Yeah, but when I found out that they're going to have Bad Bunny and, uh, Green Day perform at halftime -- this Jay Z's no good, just so you know, President Trump. And uh, it almost seems like Roger Goodell and the halftime people, uh, they pick their shows just to piss you off, I swear to God, because they're so nasty to you. So I'm with you, I'm, uh, I'm very angry with the National Football League. There's a million acts I can find out there that love you, love the country. How about one of those guys?
Trump: Well, I thought it was a strange choice, the one in particular, I guess, is a very strange choice. And I don't know what they do. I don't know why they do a new kickoff rule. You know, they say safety, but I can't imagine that's a lot safer. And if it was, uh, you know, you're changing the game. I don't know if it bothers you, but it bothers me, when I look at that NFL kickoff, it's so bad.
It's so bad. It's so -- so horrible that they can do that. It takes all the glamor away from the game. It's not the same. You see these kickers there. I don't even know what they're doing. They're punching the ball forward now. It used to be -- you got a big salary if you could kick it out of the end zone. Now they're doing sort of just the opposite. And uh, you know, you see the ball floating in the air and everybody's standing still. They're not allowed to move.
Rosenberg: Right.
Trump: The whole thing is crazy. But uh, hey, look, it's -- I just want everybody to be healthy, happy and successful.
Rosenberg: I think the Giants hired John Harbaugh because of you, I really do.
Trump: Well, he's great. I mean, him and his brother, they're great. The, uh -- that family is fantastic. They actually came up to the White House a few months ago with the mother and father, two brothers, mother and father. They're great football coaches. I think the Giants, look, they have a real coach. He's going to be -- I think he's going to do fantastically well.
Rosenberg: So do I. And you were great during that Washington commander game. I still call them the Redskins. I'll let you run. I know you got a bunch of very important people to call.
Trump: That's all right.
Rosenberg: But thank you again for -- for what you did for me with the Holocaust Council, inviting me up on stage at the White House. Uh, you're just -- you're an amazing man, Donald J. Trump, a great president, a great man and somebody that hundreds of years from now, our great grandchildren will be learning about because no one has ever done it like you and no one ever will. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Thank you so much for your friendship and what you do for this country.
Trump: Well, that's really nice. And happy anniversary for you. You know, that's big stuff, right?
Rosenberg: Yeah, 10 years.
Trump: If people knew the entertainment business, they would say that's an amazing thing you've -- you've done. But I think you've been -- you've been my friend for a long time and I appreciate it.
Rosenberg: God bless you, President Trump. I love you. Thanks.
Trump: So long, Sid.
Rosenberg: Take care.
Trump: Take care. Bye.
Rosenberg: Take care. There he is, a great 45th and 47th president of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump.