Ainsley Earhardt interviews President Donald Trump

Fox News  |  Aug 23, 2018

 

'Fox & Friends' exclusive: President Trump speaks out on the Michael Cohen plea deal, Paul Manafort guilty charges and his frustrations with Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

1:50 Trump on Cohen: He was one of many lawyers. Didn't do big deals. Did small deals. Not someone who was with me that much. Turns out he wasn't a very good lawyer. I would see him sometimes. Always found him to be a nice guy. He made the deals and pled [sic] to two counts that aren't a crime. I tweeted about the payments. They didn't come out of the campaign. It's not even a campaign violation. 

4:18 Cohen is doing this because he made a great deal. He was in another business unrelated to me. He worked for me, you could say more or less part time. I am not his only client. A lot of lawyers on TV say they're not even crimes. He makes a better deal when he uses me. 

5:17 People make up stories. Flipping, they call it. I know all about flipping. Thirty, 40 years I've been watching flippers ... It almost ought to be outlawed. It's not fair ... I've seen it many times. I've had many friends involved in this stuff. It's called flipping and it almost ought to be illegal. 

7:35 I put in an attorney general that never took control of the Justice Department. Jeff Sessions. Never took control of the Justice Department. And it's sort of an incredible thing ... Mueller, he's so conflicted. Comey's his best friend. He had a really nasty business transaction with me that he never reported ... He wanted the FBI job that Christopher Wray has. 

8:40 Trump on Manafort: I have great respect for what he's done, in what he's gone through ... He worked for many many people ... Look I didn't know Manafort well, he wasn't with the campaign long. [Ed note: Trump hired Manafort to lobby for him in the 1980s. The two men go back almost 40 years.] They got him on things totally unrelated to the campaign ... I'm not involved. I wasn't charged with anything. I wasn't charged. 

10:24 People say but you appointed Jeff Sessions. I said, "I did." But I really feel as long as this is going on, I don't have to do this, but I will stay uninvolved. Maybe that's the best thing to do. 

10:50 At the right time I think I'm going to have to do the documents. I didn't want to... There's such corruption. It'd from before I got here. They surveilled my campaign. The FISA report. 

Earhardt: Rosenstein signed the last FISA report.

Trump: It bothers me. It's always bothered me. 

Earhardt: Will you fire him? Will you fire Sessions?

11:16 Trump: I'll tell you what. I wanted to stay uninvolved. But when everyone sees what's going on in the Justice Department. I always put Justice now with quotes. It's a very, very sad day. Jeff Sessions recused himself, which he shouldn't have done. Or he should have told me. Even my enemies say that Jeff Sessions should have told you that he was goign to recuse himself and then you wouldn't have put him in. He took the job, and then he said, "I'm going to recuse myself." I said, "What kind of a man is this?" And by the way, he was on the campaign. The only reason I gave him the job. Because I felt loyalty. He was an original supporter. He was on the campaign. He knows there was no collusion. And what's come out of Manafort? No collusion. What's come out of Michael Cohen? No collusion.