FROM EIR DAILY ALERT
Trump Rips Into the Institutions of the Empire in ‘60 Minutes’ Interview
Oct. 15, 2018 (EIRNS)—President Donald Trump, as part of his organizing blitz before the midterm election, has been expanding his access for the “fake news press,” while also holding multiple mass rallies around the country. On Sunday night, CBS ran a 20-minute segment of its interview with Trump by Lesley Stahl on their “60 Minutes” broadcast. Despite Stahl’s constantly baiting him with questions straight from the MI6 style book, and constantly cutting him off, Trump showed himself to be increasingly comfortable in his office, and ripped into the imperial axioms which obedient Americans are expected to accept. Some examples:
Lesley Stahl: Do you still think that climate change is a hoax?
President Donald Trump: Something’s changing and it’ll change back again. I don’t think it’s a hoax, I think there’s probably a difference. But I don’t know that it’s manmade. I will say this. I don’t want to give trillions and trillions of dollars. I don’t want to lose millions and millions of jobs. I don’t want to be put at a disadvantage.
Stahl: I wish you could go to Greenland, watch these huge chunks of ice just falling into the ocean, raising the sea levels.
President Trump: And you don’t know whether or not that would have happened with or without man. You don’t know.
Stahl: Well, your scientists, your scientists—
President Trump: We have scientists that disagree with that.... You’d have to show me the scientists, because they have a very big political agenda, Lesley. Look, scientists also have a political agenda.
Stahl: You have also slapped some tariffs on our allies.
President Trump: I mean, what’s an ally? We have wonderful relationships with a lot of people. But nobody treats us much worse than the European Union. The European Union was formed in order to take advantage of us on trade, and that’s what they’ve done.
Stahl: But this is hostile.
President Trump: You know what’s hostile? The way they treat us. We’re not hostile. We’ve been the stupid country for so many years.
Stahl: Are you willing to get rid of that Western alliance..., are you willing to disrupt the Western alliance? It’s been going for 70 years. It’s kept the peace for 70 years.
President Trump: You don’t know that. You don’t know that.
Stahl: Is it true General Mattis said to you, “The reason for NATO and the reason for all these alliances is to prevent World War III?
President Trump: No, it’s not true. Frankly, I like General Mattis. I think I know more about it than he does. And I know more about it from the standpoint of fairness, that I can tell you.... I think he’s sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth.
Stahl: The First Lady, Melania. She said that there are still people in the White House that she doesn’t trust and that you shouldn’t trust.
President Trump: I feel the same way. I don’t trust everybody in the White House.... I’m not a baby. It’s a tough business. This is a vicious place. Washington, D.C. is a vicious, vicious place. The attacks, the— the bad mouthing, the speaking behind your back. But, you know, in my way, I feel very comfortable here....
Stahl: Will you pledge that you will not shut down the Mueller investigation?
President Trump: Well, I don’t pledge anything. But I will tell you, I have no intention of doing that. I think it’s a very unfair investigation, because there was no collusion of any kind.... I don’t want to pledge. Why should I pledge to you?
