Days after Republicans suffered a sweeping midterm defeat, President Donald Trump told Ross Douthat in a wide-ranging, 51-minute 60 Minutes interview that the loss came down to an unpopular Iran war, higher gas prices, “bad messaging” about a strong economy, and candidates voters didn’t like. He insisted he would order the Iran strikes again, said he is open to a bipartisan immigration deal with the new Democratic majority and conceded his deportation push “might be too tough,” promised “a few changes” to his Cabinet while standing by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, called himself an “AI bull” unworried by doom scenarios, predicted a Ukraine deal is close, defended his family’s crypto business, and said he expects to issue “tremendous numbers” of pardons. Asked whether he could forgive his enemies before the judgment of God, he answered plainly: “I do hate some of my enemies and I always will.”
No fact-checking was performed. Every factual assertion below is reported as Trump’s claim, not as verified fact. Context notes are general background only. Transcript is the full 51:42 interview, not the broadcast cut. Material here may not appear in the version CBS airs. Assistance from Claude AI.
Participants
| Name | Title / Role in this interview |
|---|---|
| Donald J. Trump | President of the United States (interviewee) |
| Ross Douthat | Interviewer, CBS News’ 60 Minutes; also widely known as a New York Times opinion columnist |
People and figures discussed (not present): Vice President JD Vance; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth; Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Chinese President Xi Jinping; Russian President Vladimir Putin; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy; Elon Musk; Sen.-elect James Talarico (D-Texas); Ken Paxton, John Cornyn, Lindsey Graham and Jon Husted (2026 candidates); Erika Kirk; former Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama and George W. Bush; and James Comey and Nancy Pelosi.
The Midterm Defeat: Trump’s Explanation
Ross Douthat opened by noting that two years after Trump’s “historic” win, Republicans had just suffered a “historic” defeat, and asked for Trump’s political analysis.
Trump’s answer, in order:
- He wasn’t on the ballot. He said the result would have been “much different” if he had been, pointing to huge rallies where “thousands of people” were left outside.
- Voters wouldn’t transfer their enthusiasm. He said he had to “transfer those voters… to candidates that they didn’t like.”
- The war and gas prices. He said voters “didn’t like the war,” largely because gasoline rose. He recalled Iowa gas at $1.85 a gallon before it climbed to $3.50 or $4, which he said is still lower than under Biden or Obama.
- Israel. He said there is “a great dislike, incredibly, for Israel.”
- Peacemaking record. He said he has “settled eight wars,” citing India–Pakistan (he said 11 planes were shot down and that Pakistan’s prime minister told him he “saved 30-50 million lives”) and Azerbaijan.
Context for general readers: Midterm elections happen halfway through a president’s term. The president’s party usually loses seats, but Trump’s comments here frame this as a rebuke of specific policies, especially the Iran war.
The candidate question
Douthat pressed: in many races Trump picked the candidates. He named Ken Paxton in Texas (“a tough time”) and Lindsey Graham in South Carolina (rendered in the transcript as “Darline Graham”), who lost “a very Republican state” to “a very liberal challenger.”
- On Texas, Trump said Cornyn “would’ve lost also.”
- On South Carolina, he said he backed the candidate “in honor of a man named Lindsey,” a friend, and that she “fought hard.”
- He said he won South Carolina, Texas and Ohio by the “highest vote in history,” that Florida’s candidates won because he endorsed them (“a wave” would have beaten them otherwise), and that Jon Husted in Ohio was “15 down” and lost by about a point or less, so Trump “brought a lot of people… a lot closer.”
Revealing exchange: Douthat asked why Trump’s appeal didn’t transfer, noting he told rallies, “Vote like I’m on the ballot.” Trump said he thinks voters “didn’t vote, really,” that in some cases they didn’t like the candidates (“that’s their prerogative”), and that “maybe they disagreed.” He said that on two earlier occasions voters had also not “necessarily listened” to him, but that he campaigned less then; this time he “went all out,” about 30 rallies in 28 days.
The Economy: “Bad Messaging”
Douthat handed Trump the jobs report released days after the election, calling the numbers “very good” with low unemployment. But polls show Americans unhappy about cost of living and inflation, in a way they weren’t in Trump’s first term. He asked whether that is all the Iran war.
Trump’s responses:
- “It’s not really the Iran war,” he said, because the numbers are “phenomenal.” The problem was “bad messaging, maybe by me.” He added that the press “doesn’t cover positive news for Republicans.”
- Stock market: He said the market hit record highs, then lost nearly 2,000 points and about $3 trillion after the election “because of the Democrats,” as global investors reacted, he said, to events in France and Italy. He also claimed the market gained $25 trillion in value before the vote and, later, that it had set records for “91 days.”
- Jobs: He said the new report beat expectations by 125,000–130,000 jobs, with 165,000 created. “Too bad they didn’t come out the day before the election.”
- When will people feel it? “In the next two, three, four months,” as factories being built with “trillions of dollars” open. He credited tariffs for that investment.
- 401(k)s: He said retirement accounts are “at their all-time high” and recalled telling rally crowds, “Please look at your 401(k) before you go to vote.” Douthat noted not everyone has one and that wages and gas prices are the pain points.
Notable moment: Trump said finance is “probably, maybe my best thing, although I was very good on the border too.”
Context for general readers: Trump is saying strong headline numbers (jobs, stocks) haven’t translated into voters feeling better off. Douthat’s point is that “average” households judge the economy by prices and paychecks, not by the stock market.
JD Vance’s Post and the Iran War
Douthat said Vice President JD Vance had posted that “the reason we lost is the war,” with comments about Israel. Did Trump agree?
- “I don’t disagree with it,” Trump said, except for one thing. Vance had asked what to write; Trump said he told him to write what he wanted and asked, laughing, “What are you gonna write?”
- The omission, per Trump: “If you had it to do again, would you do it?” His own answer: “an emphatic yes,” because “you can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon.” He called it a decision that will look good “historically.”
- He conceded: “Is it a good decision for today and tomorrow? Maybe not.” If Iran had gotten a bomb on his watch, he said, “I would be excoriated far worse.”
- He insisted “we won that war”, that Iran is “withering away” and will “make a deal,” and that a deal was close before the election (“within the next few days”). The Democratic win, he said, gave Iran “a little bit of a hope certificate.”
Will he escalate now that the midterms are over?
“I’m not looking to. I don’t think there’s any reason to.” Douthat noted Iran still has nuclear material. Trump said it is “buried under thousands of tons of rock” and that the U.S., via the Space Force, watches the sites: “I can tell the color of the red dots on your tie.”
- The three sites hit earlier, plus Pickaxe Mountain, are monitored. There has been “very little activity” at Pickaxe, and Trump said that if he needed to strike it, “we would have that done in one hour.” Asked whether anything remains there, he said “we don’t know that.”
Context for general readers: Pickaxe Mountain is the nickname for a deeply buried site near Iran’s Natanz nuclear complex. Trump’s “three sites” refers to the nuclear facilities U.S. B-2 bombers struck in the June 2025 raid he describes as “more than a year ago.”
The Strait of Hormuz
Douthat asked what a deal looks like and how it gets the Strait of Hormuz open.
- “The strait is open, Ross,” Trump said, citing a Wall Street Journal article that more oil was moving through than at the war’s start.
- Douthat countered that ships are only moving because they’re “babysat” by a large U.S. military presence, and asked whether forces stay indefinitely.
- Trump said the presence is “not very expensive” and that the countries the U.S. has protected “are going to pay us back any and all costs… 100%,” because “without us, they wouldn’t exist.” Later he said, “We own the Hormuz Strait.”
Context for general readers: The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which a large share of the world’s seaborne oil passes. Whoever controls access to it can influence global energy prices, which is why it ties directly to the gas-price complaints.
Israel and the “Decapitation” Strikes
Trump said “Israel would not exist except for Donald Trump,” citing the earlier B-2 raid on three sites, which he described as hitting “nuclear dust” and said left Iran “two weeks away” from a weapon. He said atomic energy inspectors found the strikes “the most accurate imaginable.”
Douthat’s challenge: Does Trump regret helping Israel with “decapitation strikes” that changed Iran’s regime and seemed to make it escalate, when the U.S. “could’ve just kept hitting the nuclear facilities”?
Trump’s answer: “Yeah, you could’ve done that, but… we had people that would have gone further.” He said he wants the outcome “for the long term, not for the short term” and that “we decapitated their nuclear arsenal.”
Revealing aside: Explaining his negotiating style, Trump said “I make deals… I became president easily,” then argued that Iran “would use a nuclear weapon in 24 hours, just like the Democrats will terminate the filibuster immediately.” He said he is trying to get the Republican Senate to understand that.
Context for general readers: The filibuster is a Senate rule that effectively requires 60 votes to end debate on most bills. Trump’s claim is that Democrats would eliminate it once they have the chance.
Working With Democrats and the Immigration Deal
Trump confirmed he congratulated Democrats after the midterms and is open to working with them. Douthat asked for one thing. “I’d love to do something on immigration.”
Trump on his record:
- He gave himself an “A+” for closing the border, claiming 25 million people entered under Biden, including people “from prisons… from mental institutions,” and 11,888 murderers. He said “zero people” have come through the southern border in the last 17 months.
- He said he gets “very high marks for getting the bad ones out.”
- But: “I get hurt because we also took people that had good jobs” whose only violation was entering illegally. Asked directly whether his deportation policy went too far: “I think it might be too tough, yeah.” He said a lot of people think so.
What a deal could look like: Trump said “we would work something out” and called it “doable.” He pointed to hotel maids, cleaners and landscapers who have worked for years, and said it’s “tough” when they’re removed. Douthat asked if that meant a kind of legal status; Trump didn’t use the term but described letting long-term, law-abiding workers stay.
Three camps, per Trump:
- The “pretty far right,” who “would like everybody taken out.” Asked whether such people work in his administration and are “in the building with us right now,” Trump said “Yes… there’re a lotta those people.”
- A “modified” group: remove criminals (“get the killers out… the drug dealers out”) but “work a deal” for long-term residents.
- A “very dangerous” group, the sanctuary city group, which he accused of wanting to protect murderers.
Does any Democrat want this? Trump said “people have already called me.” Douthat cited Sen.-elect James Talarico of Texas, who said on Fox News that immigration was an area to work together; Trump said he “said very nice things” and that others, including someone from South Carolina, said the same.
Notable exchange: Douthat noted Trump called Talarico “Talafreako” during the campaign and asked if he could work with Democrats without insulting them. Trump admitted the nickname (“Yeah, I did”), said he also calls them “Dumbocrats,” and said he could go six months without insults “very easily.” “I’m here to help the country.”
Investigations and Impeachment
Douthat asked if Trump could work with Democrats while they investigate his administration. Trump said he “did it for four years,” complained of “weaponization,” and noted he was impeached twice. Asked if they would impeach him again: “I can’t imagine it,” adding “I’ve had the best two years in the history of the presidency.”
When Douthat said “except for public opinion,” Trump pointed to his rallies (“the greatest amount of love”) and repeated economic claims: record stock market for “91 days,” record job creation, and record exports.
Artificial Intelligence, “Superintelligence,” and China
Douthat noted Trump has said “whoever wins superintelligence wins the future,” but that Americans are wary of data centers and AI. What does the average American get?
Trump’s answers:
- He first pushed back on the idea that AI is “a big part” of the boom, citing auto plants (Audi’s $4 billion announcement) and pharmaceutical plants (Eli Lilly, Merck, Pfizer).
- Pressed, he said he’s an “AI bull” partly because Xi Jinping visited “two weeks ago” and is “all in.” He prefers calling it “SI,” superintelligence, because “it’s not artificial.”
- The China race: “China’s gonna have it,” he said, estimating China is “one year behind us.” He said Xi told him “have you done a great job” and that he knows Xi “better than… almost anybody.”
- Power: China has no problem with electricity, and U.S. data centers are now “demanded” to build their own power plants and feed excess power into the “old, broken grid,” which he said “is gonna lower electric.”
On Elon Musk’s “universal high income” vision (a future where AI makes everyone rich and no one has to work): asked whether that sounds good to someone who likes to work, Trump said “No,” and reinterpreted Musk as meaning communities benefit from data centers. He cited West Virginia (“They’re goin’ wild”) and Finland.
On AI doom fears: Douthat said AI leaders themselves talk about a “10% chance” of killing humanity, comparing it to someone opening a hotel while saying it might collapse. Trump said the risk “is not nearly as real as… they talk” and “can be managed.”
The DOJ story (a notable moment): Trump said the Justice Department handled a case where “somebody was reported to us to be doing something bad with AI.” He said officials told the person, “Get ready to go to jail. Please give your wife a kiss good night.” Douthat asked who; Trump said he couldn’t say, but confirmed it was a leader of “one of the big ones,” and said it “totally changed everything.” He added it probably wasn’t done “maliciously.”
Guardrails: Asked if he’d work with Democrats to codify AI safety rules, Trump said, “I don’t mind guardrails,” but doesn’t want the U.S. in “a deep second position.” He said China has “no guardrails,” and that “very brilliant people” are watching every AI company. Asked if those monitors are “superintelligent,” he replied, “They’re superintelligent.”
Context for general readers: Superintelligence refers to AI systems that would outperform humans across most tasks. The administration frames AI as a race with China, which is the main reason Trump gives for opposing tough restrictions.
Cabinet Shake-Up and Pete Hegseth
Douthat asked whether Trump, once famous for “You’re fired,” will fire anyone after the defeat. “I do. Yeah… Little bit.” He said he loves his Cabinet but expects “a few changes,” and declined to name names.
Hegseth: Douthat said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had just met with Trump and that people have called for his resignation. “Do you have confidence in him?” “I do.”
Trump’s case for keeping him: “We’ve won two wars.” He listed:
- Venezuela: The U.S. “won that war in less than one hour,” “nobody was killed,” and the U.S. has taken out “billions and billions” in value. He described a raid on a fort in which forces launched from aircraft carriers at 1 a.m. and removed Venezuela’s leader and his wife; he said the leader lived in a house that “was a steel cage.” The couple, he said, are awaiting trial. He called them “guilty,” then said, “I don’t wanna prejudge.”
- Iran: “Their navy’s gone. Their air force is gone,” though Iran “is simmering.”
Revealing moments:
- Pressed on whether he credits Hegseth, Trump said Hegseth “was a part of it” but he credits “great soldiers, great generals, and great equipment.”
- Asked if Venezuela influenced the Iran decision, Trump said “No.”
- Of calls to impeach Hegseth, he said, “How do you impeach a guy that… we had two wars, we won ’em both?” and then added “Let’s impeach him,” in what reads as sarcasm.
2028 and the Future of MAGA
Douthat noted someone else will be the Republican nominee in two years. Would Trump endorse? “Probably. Not necessarily.”
- He cited a “tremendous bench,” praised Marco Rubio (“Marco’s great”) and said he thinks Rubio is staying as Secretary of State. He declined to name others but mentioned “some senators that are excellent.”
- “Maybe I’m better off not getting involved,” he said, though he stressed his endorsement carries weight: “People I endorse get nominations.”
Can MAGA exist without him? “I think so. Because MAGA is basically common sense”: strong borders, a good military, and lower interest rates.
Interest rates: Trump blamed a Federal Reserve board “largely composed of Obama and Biden people” who “wanna keep the interest rates as high as possible because that’s bad for the country, which is therefore bad for me.”
Net Worth, World Liberty Financial, and Conflicts of Interest
Douthat cited a Forbes report that Trump’s net worth rose by about $3 billion since returning to office, and asked how.
Trump’s responses:
- “So did everyone” who had stock. He said he devotes “almost no time” to his net worth, that his son “watches over money,” and that his funds are managed by “the biggest firms on Wall Street” in computer-generated trades he doesn’t follow, which he said involve tens of thousands of stocks. He said he doesn’t take a salary (“$2.5 million, I don’t take a salary”) and that he’s the only president who didn’t.
The core challenge: Douthat noted Trump co-owns World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency company run partly by his sons and partly owned by investors connected to the government of the United Arab Emirates. If Joe Biden’s family had such an arrangement, wouldn’t Trump call it corrupt?
- Trump: “Here’s the difference… I know nothing about it.” He added that Biden also had “a lotta different” foreign dealings.
- Douthat: Why not divest? Trump: “How do you divest from cash?” He said his sons run the family company and “it’s hard to say to them, ‘Don’t do anything anymore for four years because I’m president.’”
- Douthat: Don’t foreign investors think they’re buying influence? Trump: “I don’t know. But… every president has a problem,” arguing that aides leaving government for industry creates the same conflicts, “going back to George Washington.”
- Douthat: “Every president has not owned a cryptocurrency company.” Trump said presidents’ circles always have conflicts, and “I’m a bigger name than other presidents.”
Obama tangent: Trump said Obama “got $100 million from Netflix” during his presidency. Douthat disputed the framing and said, “I’ll have to ask ChatGPT about that after this conversation.”
Context for general readers: World Liberty Financial is a crypto venture associated with the Trump family. Critics argue that foreign investment in it could create a pathway to influence the president; Trump rejects that and says he isn’t involved in its operations.
UFOs
Douthat noted Trump’s administration has released UFO footage, and asked whether he’s seen anything suggesting there’s more to it.
- Trump said it’s a question he gets asked “in private” more than almost any other. He said he’s “not too much of a believer,” but that Air Force pilots in the Oval Office, “the real deal,” told him of an object that passed an F-22 “at three times their speed” and “it’s round.”
- Asked about whistleblower claims of a secret program even presidents don’t know about: “No. And I haven’t heard that. But if there is, I’m gonna find out about it right after this interview.“
- He mentioned tourists at a chain-link fence in Nevada and said he’d “like to find out whether or not it’s true.”
Ukraine, Russia, and Starlink
Biggest obstacle to peace? “The hatred between Zelenskyy and Putin.” Trump said, “I believe we’re very close to making a deal” and that the war ends “only because of me.”
- He claimed the 2020 election “was rigged,” which is why he ran “a third time,” and that if he had been president, “that war would’ve never started.”
- Trump said a “very important meeting” was scheduled to run from Saturday through Tuesday, without saying who was meeting.
- Asked whom he trusts more, Putin or Zelenskyy: “I’d rather not say, but I get along with both.” Douthat noted it’s more understandable that Zelenskyy would be hostile since his country was invaded. Trump said “great disrespect” was shown to Russia at their first meeting.
- Is Putin “stringing you along”? “Oh, I don’t think so.” He said “nobody’s been tougher on Russia than me,” citing sanctions and giving Ukraine “antitank busters.”
Diesel sanctions: Douthat said Trump recently lifted diesel sanctions on Russia. Trump replied, “I didn’t lift diesel sanctions,” saying he allowed Russia to sell diesel to the world, “not us.”
Weapons: Douthat said Europe is now supplying weapons. Trump said the U.S. supplies them and Europe pays full price, contrasting Biden’s “$350 billion” in “cash and weapons.” Asked if the U.S. got Ukrainian independence in return, Trump said, “You haven’t gotten it yet.” He expects Ukraine to end up with “a little bit different shape.”
Starlink: Douthat asked who controls Starlink in the war zone, after reports of slowed speeds, “you or Musk?” Trump: “It wasn’t me… I would say that probably I have a lotta power over everything.” Should the president control it? “Probably, probably.” Pressed on who turned it down, he said, “I can’t tell you,” that it “hasn’t been proven to me that it was turned down,” and that it went back up when he heard about it. He added, “There’s a lotta lies going on with that war.”
Context for general readers: Starlink is a satellite internet network owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Ukraine’s military has relied on it for communications, which is why control over it is a sensitive question.
Pardons
- Will he issue a lot of pardons? “Yes, I do.” He said he intends “tremendous numbers” so good people don’t spend their lives “defending myself by radical left lunatics,” joking that he’s said “anybody that… got within a thousand miles of the Oval Office” could be covered.
- Self-pardon? “I don’t,” he said, but “it’s certainly not unreasonable,” and he believes he has the power.
- Notable exchange: Douthat asked, “So will you pardon me?” Trump: “I think I might have to… No. I think it’s very unfair.” He then pivoted to defending his pardons of the January 6 defendants, saying “no group’s been treated more unfairly.”
- Douthat asked whether those who attacked police were treated unfairly. Trump said “some… got rough, but… they were rough to them too,” and added that “nobody better with police than I am,” that Capitol Police “love me,” and that D.C. crime is down 89%, with no murder “in a long time.”
War Casualties
Trump said the Iran war has run “seven months, maybe eight months,” with 18 people killed, including Venezuela. He compared that to Afghanistan (20 years, “thousands”), Iraq (nine years, 5,000), Vietnam (21 years, 60,000), and Korea (four years, 40,000). “Eighteen is too much,” he said, but “what did we get? No nuclear.” Douthat agreed that casualties are far lower than in past American wars.
Mortality, Heaven, and Forgiveness
The interview ended on its most personal turn. Douthat noted Trump has survived multiple assassination attempts, one “very, very close,” and asked what he thinks happens when he dies.
- “I hope I’m missed,” Trump said. Pressed on what happens to him: “I’m a religious person, so in theory I go to heaven.” Does he think he will? “I hope so. I don’t want to go to hell.”
- Douthat recalled Erika Kirk’s remarks about Christian forgiveness at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service and Trump’s reply there, “I hate my opponents and I don’t want the best for them.” If the only requirement for paradise were forgiving James Comey, Nancy Pelosi and others, could he do it?
- Trump: “Then I wouldn’t be real, would I?” He called those people “extremely dishonest… very bad for our country.” “The answer is no. I want to be honest: no.”
- Douthat pushed: “Before the judgment throne of God?” and “After all that’s been given to you? Come on. Help me out here.” Trump: “I probably cannot do that, no, because I do hate some of my enemies and I always will.”
Legacy line: Asked what single line his presidency will be remembered by, Trump said: “That I made America great again.” Douthat replied, “I guess I asked for that.”
Source
Trump, Donald J., and Ross Douthat. “Interview: Ross Douthat of CBS News’ 60 Minutes Interviews Donald Trump – November 8, 2026.” Factbase, powered by FiscalNote StressLens, CQ-Roll Call, 8 Nov. 2026, cqrc.al/60-minutes-20261108. Full 51-minute, 42-second transcript; not the abbreviated broadcast version. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.