Trump: "First Term Was Survival Amid Corruption, Second Term Is Running the Country and the World"

Interview with a Critical Magazine...
"I Am Enjoying My Work"

U.S. President Donald Trump stated that during his second term in office, he is "running the country and the world," according to a report by the American current affairs magazine The Atlantic on April 28 (local time).

In an interview with the magazine published that day, President Trump was asked about the differences between his first and second terms. He said, "During my first term, there were corrupt people, so I had to do two things: run the country and survive," making the above remarks.

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President Trump particularly emphasized his second term, saying, "I am really enjoying myself as I think about the work I am doing. As you know, what I do is a very serious job."

President Trump's comments are interpreted as expressing his dissatisfaction with having faced opposition from White House aides and Cabinet members while implementing policies during his first term, while also indicating that he is satisfied with policies such as tariffs and the deportation of illegal immigrants in his second term, which has been staffed mainly with loyalists.

Regarding Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who sparked controversy by inappropriately sharing classified military information with acquaintances in a civilian messenger Signal chatroom, President Trump expressed unwavering support, saying, "I believe he will do a good job."

President Trump also commented on the issue of legal immigrants being deported in connection with the deportation of illegal immigrants, stating, "Nothing in this world is ever perfect."

He went on to address the situation in which most billionaires, including Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta?individuals with whom he once had poor relations?are now cooperative with him, unlike during his first term. He described this as "simply a higher level of respect." He added, "Perhaps at first they didn't really know me, and now they do."

Regarding a potential third presidential run, which is prohibited by the U.S. Constitution, he said, "That could be a major shock to the norms. Maybe I'm just trying to shock people," but added, "It's not something I'm pursuing. That would be a very difficult thing to do."

This interview was conducted at the White House on April 24 by Jeffrey Goldberg, the magazine's editor-in-chief. Goldberg was recently mistakenly invited to a Signal group chat of key Trump administration diplomatic and security officials before the U.S. military's airstrike on Yemen's Houthi rebels. He later exposed the discussions in the chatroom, sparking controversy over the Trump administration's lack of security awareness. During the 2020 presidential campaign, when President Trump lost to former President Joe Biden, Goldberg reported on Trump's disparaging remarks about veterans, causing significant political damage to Trump.

Previously, President Trump had stated ahead of the interview with The Atlantic that he was doing the interview "out of curiosity, competition with myself, and to see if The Atlantic can be truthful."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.