[This interview is on the premium cable channel HBO. It was recorded October 29th and first broadcast November 4, 2018. It is available for streaming on HBO here: http://tiny.cc/factbase-axios-hbo-s01e01] [Note the interview contains several audible breaks. We have noted where it appears there may be a cut or edit. We do not know the nature of the cut.] [Inaudible] Amazon and Facebook, [Inaudible] Amazon. And screw the Google question. Hello fellas. How are you? Good, how are you doing? Good to see you. Appreciate you doing this. Mr. President. How are you? Thanks so much. Jonathan. Good. Let's go. So we want to talk about what's been happening on social media. Lot of people questioning whether or not these companies are getting too big, too fast. Your Facebooks. Your Amazons -- Yup. Have you put thought into how Amazon and Facebook specifically should be regulated? You look at the European Union. They fined, I guess it was Google -- Right. -- billions of dollars. And frankly, I don't like that they're doing that, because that's an American company. I don't think it's good that they're doing that. But if anybody does that, that should be us doing it. That shouldn't be the European Union. Do you think you'll regulate in the first term? You know you get into the whole thing with freedom of speech, and what do you think, and -- What about monopoly? What about saying to the Justice Department, look into monopoly? Well, you do. You know, I have so many people saying that, but it's certainly something that we have looked at, are looking at. Would you ever break 'em up? They were talking about this years ago. Right. You know, they were actually talking about this same subject, monopoly, years ago, long before I was in office. You think you'll be the man to do it? In fact, a lot of people thought it was going to happen, and then, I guess, the previous administration stopped it from happening. But you're in charge now. I'm in charge. I am definitely in charge, and we are certainly looking it. This is antitrust. Antitrust, yes. For Amazon? For all three. Okay. No, look. That doesn't mean we're doing it, but we certainly looking -- and I think most people surmise that. Let's talk about foreign policy. Big issue. What do you make of the situation in Yemen right now? I think it's a terrible situation. I hated seeing what happened with the bus and the children, because that's pure -- that's a horror show when you see a thing like that. You saw the bus, and -- [Audible break in interview transition] Well, I was going to ask you, I know you're know you're very proud of the arms deal you did with the Saudis, but that was a U.S.-made bomb on that bus. No, that's right. But it wasn't operated by U.S. people. That's a big difference. We don't do that. I know it. But it's like, it's the Saudis using our weapons. Our people are the best operators in the world. But does that bother you when they use an American -- like a [Inaudible] weapon? Does that bother me? Bother me? Jonathan, bother's not strong enough. That was basically people that didn't know how to use the weapon. Right. Which is horrible. Would you ever stop selling them arms, if this continues, if you keep seeing -- I don't want to see that. That is a terrible thing. What's going on in Yemen, generally, is a terrible thing, and we're going to see, and we're looking at Yemen very carefully right now. We are actually studying Yemen very, very carefully. It is -- How would you handle it, if you were the Saudis? It is, probably, right now, the worst place on earth, I would say. Yeah, the U.N. says that. The U.N. says that. Oh, is that right? Yeah, since 2018. I say it too. I didn't know the U.N. said it, but I say it. How would you handle it differently if you were the Saudis? I will be talking about a lot of things with the Saudis. But certainly, I wouldn't be having people that don't know how to use the weapons shooting at buses with children. The Defense Department says it does not make tactical targeting decisions, but does improve their targeting, quote from Mattis: "I would tell you that we do help them plan what we call 'kind of targeting'" the defense secretary [Inaudible] And we teach them how to use the equipment, but that doesn't mean -- Obviously, not good enough. Yeah, I'm not happy about it. I'm not happy about it, but we'll see what happens with Yemen. [Audible break in interview transition] Mr. President, you say on the trail all the time that you support preexisting conditions, 100 percent. Yeah. Big issue. Yeah. Did Jeff Sessions give you a heads up before the Justice Department filed -- No he didn't. Actually -- Because it's an amazing lawsuit. I mean, you've seen this thing, right? No. No, he didn't, but it wouldn't matter because preexisting conditions on anything we do will be put into it. So it doesn't matter whether it -- basically that's the lawsuit on Obamacare, and we have pretty much dismantled -- [Inaudible] -- because if you think of it, we've taken out -- You took out the mandate, but this will take out pre-existing conditions. We've taken out -- we took out the individual mandate. But, anything we do we will put in preexisting condition. So if it gets terminated, we will put preexisting conditions back in. But what if you can't get that done? I'll get it done. I mean, that's part of the deal. I'll get it done. I -- I support terminating Obamacare, but if we terminated we will reinstitute preexisting conditions in whatever we do. On climate change, I saw you -- the CBS interview. Still a little confused. So the -- Don't be confused. Is he confused? But on you -- when you look at NASA, or you look at the Energy Department, and -- Yeah. and what your own government, your own scientists have said about it. They said it's indisputable that humans have contributed to global warming in big ways -- do you agree with that? Well I we've contributed. We've certainly contributed.I mean there's certain, pollutants that go up, and there are certain things that happen, certain things we do, that if we weren't here, certainly -- They say the overwhelming cause for the last 50 years. Well, I don't necessarily agree, but -- [Audible break in interview transition] But it doesn't seem like in the report that there is that much of a "may" to it, like it's your government, right? It's your scientists. They work for you. It's your company -- your country. Well, that's okay. That's okay, and I want everybody to write report whatever they want. But ultimately, I'm the one that makes that final decision. I can also give you reports where people very much dispute that. You know, you do have scientists that very much dispute it. I want to make sure that we have the cleanest air -- But there really aren't. On that one, there really aren't that many scientists that dispute this. But Jim, I want to make sure -- here's what I want. So you have different views on this, and is there climate change? Yeah. Will it go back like this? I mean, will it change back? Probably, that's what I think. I believe it goes this way, and I believe, yes, man, meaning us people, men and women, to be politically correct, but -- because everyone says man, but now we have to add women to that one too. Man and women. We do have an impact. But, I don't believe the impact is merely what some say, and other scientists that dispute those findings very strongly. Have you ordered the government to then to include the scientists -- Well I haven't seen -- I haven't seen -- -- to include the scientists who dispute this as part of the report [Audio dubbed at end]? I would always -- I would always include everybody. I want to hear all sides. On immigration, some legal scholars believe you can get rid of birthright citizenship without changing the constitution. With an executive order. Exactly. Right. Have thought about that? Yes Tell me more. It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment. Right. Guess what? 14th amendment. You don't. You don't. Number one -- number one, you don't need that. Number two I mean -- that's in dispute. That's very much in dispute. -- you can definitely do it -- well, you can definitely do it with an act of Congress. But, now they're saying I can do it just with an executive order. Now, how ridiculous -- we're the only country in the world where a person comes in, has a baby and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States for 85 years, with all of those benefits. It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. And it has to end. Have you talked about that with counsel? Yeah, I have. So where in the process -- It's in the process. It'll happen. This year? With an executive order, that's what you're talking about, right? Yes, that's exactly what I was talking about. I didn't think -- I didn't think anybody knew that but me. I was the only one. Well, let's talk a little bit about what's happened over the last couple of days with the -- the shootings, and your response -- Yeah. Yeah. -- and I'll stipulate that you think that most of the media is -- is fake news, and that we're the enemy -- Well, a big part -- a big part -- A big part -- and we're part -- And when I see any of the people, I'm only referring to fake news, because it's a very bad thing, but a big part -- Right, if you say most of the news is fake news, and enemy of the people are the part that are fake news, you're talking about most. You know what's interesting -- And so, the question I have on it is, I'm sure like your children and all these people come to you and say, "come on, calm down with the rhetoric. You've got to stop it. Like people are really hot, not thinking on social media. Not that much. I'm here. It got me here. Right. But like, come on, like your kids and other people aren't saying come on, just come it down. The country is at a full boil. Not really. To be honest, like, what scares the crap out of me, is that when -- if you're saying, enemy of the people, enemy of the people. God forbid -- You have to fight back to you. You're -- But no, but hold a sec -- but think about it. God forbid that like somebody like -- you've got fervent supporters. They love you. They listen to you. Enemy of the people. Enemy of the people. They like me more because of that. And boom -- they like you more, but what happens if all of a sudden, someone gets shot, someone shoots one of these reporters. Jim -- I -- Honest, I don't think you think we're the enemy of the people, do you? I don't. I don't, but if you give me false reports, I would say that's not a good thing for our country. But, don't you worry at all -- I mean, people, you are the most powerful man in the world, and if you say that word: enemy, enemy conjures -- I think I'm doing a service when people write stories about me that are so wrong. When I do really good. I know when I do good and when I do bad. I really get it, okay? I really get it better than anybody in the whole world. Literally, tens of thousands of people go into to a stadium to listen to you, and then people go on social media, and they get themselves so jazzed up. There's gotta be a party that's like dammit, I'm scared that someone is going to take like too far. Jim, it's my only form of fighting back. I couldn't be here if I did that. I would never be here. You one. You have the presidency. No, no no. But I did this before I won. And you know what, I'm doing very well right now. Now, I think momentum might have been stopped, because we were doing fantastic. All of a sudden, they're not talking about the election. They're talking about the two plots, if you want to call them that. But let me just say this: all I'm doing is fighting back against false stories and false things that are being said. It's my only form of doing it. [Audible break in interview transition] But lots of presidents in the past have said, you know what? It's my job to bring the boil down. But I think I did. Sometimes, it feels like it's your job to bring the boil up. Yeah. And you said yes, because it works for you. Among the fair people, I got a lot of credit for my statement on the anti-Semitism, and what took place over the last two or three days. I mean, they like the statement. But then I'm at a rally, and you have to go to a different mode, and I told the people, I said, I'm going to tone it down. I was going to cancel the rally in Illinois, and then I said, when you start canceling things, that gives too much importance to these very sick people. These are sick people. But Jim, the only way I can get my point across is to fight it, because the press is very much against me. And I thought after I won the election, I honestly believe this, after I won the election, the one thing that would straighten out is the press. At least I'd start getting fair press Jim, it got worse. But you read The New York Times. You're like a massive consumer of it. It worse. [Inaudible] I read The Times. I read a lot of things. Because I want to know. I want to know -- But if it's fake, but if it's fake, why do you read it? But you're [Inaudible] I have to know about the enemy. Let me just say this: some of the finest people I know are reporters. They are honorable. They're great. They write bad about me, and they're good about me. You know, if I deserve it, bad. And if they would write accurately about me, I would be the nicest president you've ever seen. It would be much easier. It's much easier for me to be nice, because I'm basically a nice person, I hope. It's much easier Jim for me to be nice, than it is for me to be the way I have to be. [Interview ends - Post credit interview begins] We're going to have to wrap. I'll show you the Sharpie. Thank you. Let me just show -- put them right there. Thank you, darling. Thank you. The famous Resolute desk, right? So I was signing documents with a very expensive pen, and it didn't write well. It was terrible, actually. It was a horrible pen, and it was extremely expensive to put it mildly, a government ordered pen [Mobile phone rings]. Is that for me? You can take it. We'll keep filming. Sounds like the head of -- must be the head of France. He calls a lot. Emmanuel -- and I get along with every one of them. You'd be surprised. No, he does shake hands. Yeah, he does shake hands. Touches you a lot. -- and then you pull that hand away from him. Emmanuel. But he's a good man. He's actually a good man. So. I'm signing, and then I started using. Just a Sharpie, and then one like, sort of like this. So that's a sharpie. [Break in video] Now I said to myself, well, wait a minute, this this writes much better. And this costs almost nothing, and the pen is extremely expensive. So I called up the folks at Sharpie, and I said, do me a favor: can you make the pen in black? Make it look rich? And he said, not only we can do that, we can put your signature on it. See, that's your signature right here. This cost practically nothing, and the other one was immensely expensive, and you give them out and more important than anything, it writes well. So it works out good. I don't want to make this as a commercial for Sharpie [Laughter]. But what it is, is a commercial on saving money too. You're getting the wrap. We're getting the wrap. Thank you Jon.