Donald Trump Makes Headlines in Viral Lex Fridman Interview

The conversation took a dramatic turn in the second half.

In an explosive interview with Lex Fridman that’s quickly going viral, Donald Trump delivered several headline-making soundbites.

The first topic that grabbed viewers’ attention was Trump’s reaction to Kamala’s train-wreck interview with CNN, saying he “can’t believe” how “very poorly” she performed in what he called a “softball interview.”

“We have a woman who couldn’t do an interview. This was a really soft interview. This is an interview where they’re given multiple choice questions—multiple guesses. I call it multiple guess. And I don’t think she did well. I think she did very poorly,” Trump said.

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The conversation then shifted to the issue of mass migration, sparked by reports of Venezuelan gangs taking over buildings in Colorado.

Trump said that countries like Venezuela are dumping their prisoners into America, noting that crime is down in those countries for a reason.

As president, Trump declared, “We can’t let that happen,” but acknowledged the rationale behind the prisoner dumping, given that America is willingly absorbing the world’s criminals.

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The discussion pivoted to foreign policy, where Trump touted his approach to keeping the peace in Afghanistan during his tenure.

Crediting “The Stick,” he argued that his tough stance was why there were no U.S. casualties for 18 months before Biden’s chaotic withdrawal.

That disastrous withdrawal, which left 13 US soldiers dead, is a big reason why Putin felt emboldened to go into Ukraine, Trump claimed.

As the conversation continued, Trump dismissed any association with Project 2025, insisting that the Democrats know it has nothing to do with him, yet they continue to link him to it anyway.

“Project 2025 has absolutely nothing to do with me,” Trump stressed, adding that he hasn't even read the document.

“I've heard about things that are in there that I don't like, and there are some things in there that everybody would like. But there are things that I don't like at all. And I think it's unfortunate that they put it out, but it doesn't mean anything because it has nothing to do with me. Project 2025 has absolutely nothing to do with me.”

Lex Fridman didn’t shy away from pressing Trump on what he called “tension” with Joe Rogan, challenging him to go on Rogan’s podcast after saying some “not-so-nice things” about him.

Trump played it cool, denying any real tension, saying, “I guess I’d do it, but I haven’t been asked.”

This particular moment was an interesting exchange.

LEX FRIDMAN: “Let me ask you about my good friend Joe Rogan. So you had a bit of tension with him. So when he said nice things about RFK Jr., I think you've said some not-so-nice things about Joe. And I think that was a bit unfair. And as a fan of Joe, I would love to see you do his podcast because he is legit, the greatest conversationalist in the world. So what's the story behind the tension?”

DONALD TRUMP: “Well, I don't think there was any tension, and I've always liked him, but I don't know him. I only see him when I walk into the arena with Dana, and I shake his hand. I see him there, and I think he's good at what he does. But I don't know about doing his podcast. I mean, I guess I'd do it, but I haven't been asked and I'm not asking them. You know? I'm not asking anybody.”

LEX FRIDMAN: “It sounds like a challenging negotiation situation.”

DONALD TRUMP: “No, it's not really a negotiation. And he's sort of a liberal guy, I guess, you know, from what I understand. But he likes Kennedy. This was before I found this out, before Kennedy came in with us. He's going to be great. He's doing... Bobby's going to be great. But I like that he likes Kennedy. I do, too. He's a different kind of a guy, but he's got some great things going, and I think he's going to be, beyond politics, I think he could be quite influential in taking care of some situations that you probably would agree should be taken care of.”

The interview took another interesting turn when Trump reflected on his decision not to prosecute Hillary Clinton, saying, “She’s so lucky I didn’t do anything.”

Trump added that he “could have done a big number on Hillary Clinton,” but the reason he decided not to was because he thought it would divide the country because it “looked so bad.”

“I could have done a big number on Hillary Clinton. I thought it looked terrible to take the president's wife and put her in prison. She's so lucky. I didn’t do anything. She's so lucky. Hillary is a lucky woman because I had a lot of people pushing me, too. They wanted to see something, but I could have done something very bad. I thought it looked so bad.”

Arguably, the most interesting moment of the entire interview was when Lex Fridman questioned Trump about the Epstein client list, asking if the next Trump administration would reveal the names to the public.

Trump responded by saying he would have “no problem” doing that, adding that the names on that list would also be “very interesting.”

In the final moments, Trump emphasized what he sees as a major problem for today's America: a lack of religion.

He says, “I think our country's missing a lot of religion. I think it really was a much better place with religion.”

“It was almost a guide to a certain extent. It was a guide. You want to be good to people. Without religion, there are no real guardrails. I'd love to see us get back to religion, more religion in this country.”

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