Trump blows up in TIME interview on DC makeover, Iran and cost of living: ‘I don’t know what the hell’s wrong’

In a wide-ranging interview with TIME, President Donald Trump grew combative when pressed on the cost of living, rising healthcare costs and the Washington makeover he has championed. He said he does not understand why the press is not praising him, and he swore at the interviewer, complaining that he had not been asked a single positive question after being asked whether ailing Senator Mitch McConnell should step down, according to The Independent.

Trump called building his favorite pastime and said he is making no commitments on the Kennedy Center, whose fate he said would be settled in court. A federal judge has told the administration it must give 30 days' warning before altering the venue physically, and the Justice Department's recent filings describe the building as dangerously dilapidated.

On Iran, Trump said razing the country is possible, a follow-up to the choice he posed in his United Nations speech last month. He also appeared to concede that some munitions stocks are running lower. TIME reports he was angry to read in The New York Times about depleted Patriot interceptors, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth allegedly called that coverage fake news. Trump also declined to rule out a state of emergency before the midterms.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Independent’s reporting. Read the full story at The Independent →