Even without his tenure as the forty-fifth president of the United States, Donald Trump has had quite a career. From his real estate ventures to the various facets of the Trump Organization to hosting The Apprentice and Celebrity Apprentice, Trump was a New York and, in many ways, global icon before entering politics.
During their sit down on Wednesday, Megyn noted that the former president was near “universally loved” prior to throwing his political hat into the ring in 2015. But a lot has changed since then, which has undoubtedly taken a toll on both him and his family. So, why is he continuing to put himself through the wringer of running for president and even facing jail time instead of enjoying retirement?
Is It Worth It?
With five children, 10 grandchildren, and properties all over the world, Megyn noted that it would be very easy for Trump to be “going into your seventh eighth year enjoying this beautiful [Bedminster] golf course, Mar-a-Lago, your lovely family.” He doesn’t have to be “running for president, sitting for criminal trials – some civil – and possibly looking at jail time,” she added.
Trump agreed. “I have the most beautiful places in the world; I have the best of everything,” he said. “Would I like to be at Turnberry in Scotland right now, or would I like to be at one of the many places I have… I may never see those places again.” But he believes he has a larger purpose. “I actually like doing this because of the fact that I see something that we have to save: Our country,” he said.
Make America Great Again… Again
Trump said his 2024 campaign all comes back to the catchphrase he made famous in 2016. “I have the expression ‘Make America Great Again,’ and I was going to stop using that,” he said. “It was going to be ‘Keep America Great,’ but such destruction took place over such a short period of time, I had to go back to ‘Make America Great Again.’”
As he explained, “our country’s going down…but the country, I believe, has one last chance.” That would be, in his view, the 2024 election. “This is the most important election we’ve ever had,” he said. He admitted that he used to consider 2016 the most important, and he maintains that it was pivotal. “It was a very important election, and we turned the country around,” he said. “We had the greatest economy in history… We knocked out a lot of enemies… I took everybody out of these crazy wars that nobody wanted to be in.”
That success, he said, brought people together. “African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, women, men, people with degrees from MIT, from Wharton, from Harvard, people with no degree at all, people with no high school – everybody had great jobs and everybody was making more money,” he said. “People were coming together.”
Calling the results of his first term “incredible,” Trump believes “our country’s going bad” now. “We’re a nation in serious, serious decline,” he said. He believes he is the one who can fix that. “I think I can turn it around very fast,” he concluded. “I think we’re gonna win the election… [and] we’re going to save our country.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Trump by tuning in to episode 627 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.