Transcript - Interview: Pete Hegseth Interviews Donald Trump at Rally in Billings, Montana - September 6, 2018 | Factba.se

Pete Hegseth

00:00:00 - 00:00:06 (7 sec)

You're here in Billings. There's a big hurricane going on in Washington D.C. What is your message to the good people of Montana?

Donald Trump

00:00:06 - 00:00:25 (18 sec)

Well, I'll tell you what I think the country and even the world are seeing what's going on. The level of popularity, the wor- the level of love, not only in this room, but all over the country, outside of that little swampy area -- the level of love is incredible.

Donald Trump

00:00:25 - 00:00:48 (24 sec)

Our country Pete is doing better than it's ever done before. The markets are the highest. The jobs are the best. We've cut your taxes massively. We have... So I mean, what we've done on regulation, I think it's probably really the big secret, because, frankly, it may be even more important than what we've done with taxes.

Donald Trump

00:00:48 - 00:01:13 (25 sec)

Today, we have, as you know, a great future Supreme Court justice, going on, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and we just had a brilliant young fantastic justice approved, Justice Gorsuch, that's going to save, hopefully, Your second amendment and so many other things.

Donald Trump

00:01:13 - 00:01:22 (9 sec)

So, I mean the level of love in the country is beyond belief. Outside of that little area, but the level of hatred there is also beyond belief.

Pete Hegseth

00:01:22 - 00:01:46 (24 sec)

Yes. Let's talk about that area just a little bit. Folks here may have seen an anonymous column written in The New York Times. And I think that this audience would say an attack on the people that voted for you. Are you closer to knowing who did it, and what should be done if you find out who did it?

Donald Trump

00:01:46 - 00:01:55 (9 sec)

Well number one, The Times should never have done that, because really what they've done is, virtually, you know it's treason.

Donald Trump

00:01:55 - 00:02:12 (17 sec)

You can call it a lot of things. But to think that you have somebody in all of the cabinet, so many people, as you know, they came forward. They're writing editorials. They're all saying, you know, it's got to be at a fairly low level, because so many people today -- I was just coming out, and I see all the people that are saying such great things.

Donald Trump

00:02:12 - 00:02:28 (16 sec)

We have a lot of love in the administration, and the White House is truly, as you would say, a well-oiled machine. It is working so well. And, you know, we have -- I heard you say yesterday, we have thousands of people that in theory could qualify.

Donald Trump

00:02:28 - 00:02:42 (14 sec)

So they take one person out of thousands. But what's unfair -- I don't mind when they write a book, and they make lies, because it gets discredited, we just discredited the last one, we discredited all of them because it's lies.

Donald Trump

00:02:42 - 00:03:05 (23 sec)

But, I'll tell you, when somebody writes and you can't discredit, because you have no idea who they are, usually you'll find out it's a background that was bad. It may not be a Republican. It may not be conservative. It may be a deep state person that's been there a long time. You don't know where. It's a very unfair thing, but it's very unfair to our country and to the millions of people that voted, really, for us. They voted for us.

Pete Hegseth

00:03:05 - 00:03:56 (51 sec)

Another issue this crowd is often fired up about, is the wall, a commitment you've made. Washington hasn't been so good at that. There's another budget showdown coming up -- [Crowd chants Build that Wall] Well, Congress hasn't been very good at funding that wall. You've got a budget showdown coming out this month. Will you -- would you shut down the government if wall funding is not included?

Donald Trump

00:03:56 - 00:04:06 (10 sec)

So -- So we've started the wall. We've spent now close to $3.2 billion where -- in different parts of California. We're doing an 80-mile strip, but we are looking to get the rest of the funding.

Donald Trump

00:04:06 - 00:04:29 (23 sec)

Here's the thing. I have a lot of great Republicans. We need Republicans elected in the midterms. We have to get Republicans. And we are getting the wall done. I've had so many people -- good people, great people. They'd rather not do it before, they'd rather do it right after the election. They don't want to do anything to upset the apple cart.

Donald Trump

00:04:29 - 00:04:54 (24 sec)

And, my inclination -- if it was up to me, I'd shut down government over border security. And I guess, when you get right down to it, is -- it is up to me. But I don't want to do anything that's going to hurt us or potentially hurt us, because I have a feeling that the Republicans are going to do very well. We have the strongest economy we've ever had.

Donald Trump

00:04:54 - 00:05:18 (25 sec)

I think we're going to do really well in the midterms, between the tax cuts and all of the other things we have done. So, most likely, I will not do that. But we're going to do it immediately after the election. I have that commitment from Mitch McConnell, from Paul Ryan from everybody. We do it right after the election, where, hopefully frankly it'll be easy because we'll have more Republicans not less.

Donald Trump

00:05:18 - 00:05:42 (24 sec)

We're doing very well in the Senate races. And I think we're doing really very well in the House. We'll see how it comes out. It will be an exciting day, I can tell you that. Nothing will be as exciting as our day, almost two years ago. Can you imagine? It's almost.. almost three years. So, we're going to get the wall. We've already started the wall, and will -- we'll continue onward.

Pete Hegseth

00:05:42 - 00:06:01 (19 sec)

Mr. President, tonight is the first NFL game. They don't have as many viewers as they used to. [Crowd boos] From Colin Kaepernick, to the NFL, to now Nike, who's going to win this cultural showdown of standing for the anthem.

Donald Trump

00:06:01 - 00:06:26 (25 sec)

We are. I don't know what the NFL is doing. Honestly, I don't know what the NFL is doing. From what I understand it's in contracts that you have to stand for the national anthem. In fact, they have somewhere, it says you will stand, you will have the helmet on the ground and the hand on the heart. That's what it says. I don't know why they're not enforcing it.

Donald Trump

00:06:26 - 00:06:42 (16 sec)

And in cases where they don't have it -- you know they had a new thing, where they don't have to do that. You don't have to kneel. You can go back into the locker room. I think that's worse than kneeling in a certain way. You're going back in. That shows you just have no respect for the anthem or the flag.

Donald Trump

00:06:42 - 00:06:59 (17 sec)

I don't like what Nike did. I don't think it's appropriate what they did. I honor the flag. I honor our national anthem, and most of the people in this country feel the same way. They feel the same way.

Pete Hegseth

00:06:59 - 00:07:18 (19 sec)

One more quick question, back to Washington. Rudy Giuliani just told the AP that you will not be answering any questions written or in person to the so-called special counsel. Can you confirm that?

Donald Trump

00:07:18 - 00:07:26 (8 sec)

Look. There was no collusion. Even in these crazy books, they don't talk about collusion. There was no collusion with Russia. I love this country.

Donald Trump

00:07:26 - 00:07:47 (20 sec)

Now, if we get along with China where we're doing very well in trade -- you notice what's happening, you see what's going on, and with Canada, and with Mexico, and with different places. But, if we get along with China, if we get along with Russia. If we get along -- just a little while ago, a very nice statement came out from North Korea. You probably saw that.

Donald Trump

00:07:47 - 00:08:08 (21 sec)

By the way, you don't read that in the papers, because when it's nice, they don't put it in. Kim Jong-un said very nice things. He said we want to get denuclearization during the Trump administration. It just came out, and I hope you heard what I said, because you don't read that in the fake news media.

Donald Trump

00:08:08 - 00:08:31 (23 sec)

You just don't. I mean, they don't want to write it. They only want to write bad when it comes to us, and it's a shame. The -- the level of unfairness and bias in the press is actually incredible. But in the meantime, we're winning folks. Be happy, because we're winning. We're winning.

Pete Hegseth

00:08:31 - 00:08:48 (17 sec)

Last question. You're here in Montana for a reason. I have -- I have a feeling you would like to get rid of one Jon Tester and replace him with somebody else. The VA is a personal passion of mine.

Donald Trump

00:08:48 - 00:08:49 (1 sec)

Pete Hegseth

00:08:49 - 00:09:00 (11 sec)

What -- what happened to Ronny Jackson was a shame. Is that going to be a focus of your remarks?

Donald Trump

00:09:00 - 00:09:26 (26 sec)

Well, first of all, you have a new man. Matt. Do we love Matt? [Audience cheers] So Matt is -- he's, I mean they know him so well here. He's been so successful. He's running for the Senate. And frankly, what Tester did to a phenomenal man. Admiral Ronny Jackson. My doctor. He's an admiral. He's a doctor. He's like a perfect -- he's just a great person. And what they did to demean this man, and he held up because he's strong. But most people could never take it. Ronny Jackson: We love you. It should never have happened.

Donald Trump

00:09:26 - 00:09:48 (22 sec)

But what Senator Tester did, and what he said that turned out to be false, was incredible. And you see that in politics. People say things that are totally -- they're -- they're doing that with Matt. They're saying bad stuff, and they figure, hey, we'll correct it after the election's over. Let me tell you, you have a winner here. He's going to win, and he's going to give us his votes, because Tester is never going to give us a vote.

Donald Trump

00:09:48 - 00:10:07 (18 sec)

I know he did a commercial. I feel -- I feel a little bit guilty, because he did a commercial today, and everyone saying it's like a love letter to President Trump. That's because I won this state by many, many points. And so, is that right? I mean, he did like, it's a love letter. I shouldn't say bad about it. The fact is we're never going to get his vote.

Donald Trump

00:10:07 - 00:10:34 (27 sec)

On the Second Amendment, if he can get rid of it, he'll follow Schumer, he'll follow Pelosi, he'll follow Maxine Waters. And, the problem we have, as a group, he will never, ever vote for us. He didn't vote for Judge Gorsuch. Justice, now Justice Gorsuch. He didn't vote for tax cuts. He didn't vote for the things that we need.

Donald Trump

00:10:34 - 00:10:57 (23 sec)

So, you need to elect our friend, and he's going to be a phenomenal Senator. You've got to vote against Tester. You got to vote -- he will never -- remember this. Remember this. I -- in a way ,I feel very guilty saying it, because I almost thought I made the commercial about me, and it was his commercial. But he'll never vote for us. And that's ultimately what's important.

Donald Trump

00:10:57 - 00:11:18 (22 sec)

So stay with Matt. Be with Matt. I think he's leading in the polls right now. Is there a poll --he's two points up. You're going to have somebody that's going to be with us. He's going to vote for us. And he's going to be a great, great Senator for your state. Great. Thank you.