By Ben Weingarten, REAL CLEAR INVESTIGATIONS
In a wide-ranging interview from the corner office atop his eponymous New York City tower last week, an unfiltered Donald Trump showed he has lost none of his edge as he attacked President Bidenâs ethics, demanded reparations from China for COVID-19, and advanced his claim that the 2020 election was stolen.
Here are some of the highlights, as the former president held forth on a range of issues in his inimitable style.
Chinese Influence Over the Bidens, and America
Trumpâwhose administration was hobbled by false charges that he was beholden to Russian President Vladimir Putinâasserted that China has American politicians, âespecially Biden and the son Hunter Biden ⊠wrapped around their finger. They know so much about Biden thatâs so illegal ⊠that the president can no longer be a person that takes on China because they can blackmail him like nobodyâs ever been blackmailed before.â
âChina has tremendous power over the Biden administration because of Biden himself,â Trump added. âThere was tremendous money paid to the Biden familyânot only China; there were numerous other countries too, and itâs not allowed to be spoken about.â
Trump did not provide evidence for these claims, although a U.S. Senate committee report (pdf)Â on the Biden familyâs business dealings raised questions about its involvement with Chinese, Russian, and Ukrainian nationals and entities. Information found on a laptop once owned by Hunter Bidenâwho is facing a federal investigation into his taxesâhas also raised questions about President Bidenâs ties to his sonâs questionable affairs.
âWe were doing great with China. I was going to be doing things that wouldâve put us on a course that wouldâve been forever great, and now we have peopleâthey almost canât be tough on China because China knows too much about them,â Trump said. âItâs a very sad thing.â
With respect to the political class more broadly, Trump asserted that âChinaâs got the strongest lobbying machine youâve ever seen. ⊠You go to Washington and try and hire somebody to oppose China? Canât do it. Theyâve got everybody.â
The 2020 Election
Trump remains adamant that the results were illegitimate. âYouâve heard the expression that the person who counts the votes is far more important than the candidate, right? I never thought much about it; turned out to be right. Itâs a corrupt election and youâll never hear me say anything else. And theyâre vicious. ⊠They go after you for saying it.â
Although it is widely disputed that any alleged improprieties influenced enough votes to swing the election to him, Trump remains fixated on the mail-in votes that were counted late in the evening on Election Day in many states, eroding a larger-than-expected Election Day turnout by Trump supporters. He presented several charts showing the changes in the presidential vote countsâincluding those in swing states such as Pennsylvaniaâas election night wore on into the wee hours of the morning.
âOur elections are rigged,â he said. âPeople say, âOh, just focus on the future.â You canât focus on the future when this happens.â
Later, the former president asserted: âI donât believe that a message of defund the police, open borders, sanctuary cities, no freedom of speech ⊠gets 50 [percent] of the vote. I think you get 50 [percent] because [Democrats] cheat like hell in the elections ⊠and thatâs what they want to do to the whole country.â
Possible Wuhan Lab Leak
Denounced by Democrats and the media as a racist for blaming China for COVID-19, Trump feels vindicated as evidence emerges suggesting that the virus might have leaked from a Chinese virology lab in Wuhan. But he believes it was unintentional, likely a product of âgross incompetence.â What was intentional, in Trumpâs mind, was the decision by Chinese leaders to allow its citizens to travel globally, which spread the pandemic. Trump has called for countries to cancel their debts to China as part of a down payment on a future reparations plan that he suggests ought to total some $10 trillion.
Trump said COVID-19 has exacted prices and affected history in ways that may be hard to measure. Before the pandemic, he said, he âhad a great relationship withâ Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping. But the âChina virus killed all of that. ⊠It killed a lot of people, it also killed my relationship with Xi.â
Boycotting the 2022 China Olympics
Trump said he would not pull America out of the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing and neighboring Hebei province because it would be âunfair to the athletes.â
Describing the Olympics as âpeanuts,â Trump also suggested that a boycott would be seen around the world as âsour grapes.â
âI see it both ways,â he added, âbut I would not do that. ⊠You go. You compete. You win.â
The Border and Central America Policy
Trump said the Biden administration has âtotally lost controlâ of the U.S.-Mexico border. He also questions the wisdom of the administrationâs plan to provide several billion dollars in aid to the Central American countries from which immigrants are flowing. âI refused to give them money, and their signs say, âWe love Trump, Trump won.â Theyâre booing Vice President Kamala Harris.â Meanwhile, âinstead of saying weâre not going to pay you, the Biden administration is giving them $4 billion.
âI treated them so tough, and they liked me,â he said, adding that the Biden administration âtreats them weakly.â
The Durham Probe
Trump asked, rhetorically, about the status of the federal probe into the origins of Russiagate led by Special Counsel John Durham: âWhere the hell is Durham? Is that an embarrassment, or what? I wonder if Durhamâs ever even going to come out with a report.
âThey have him scared,â Trump continued. âProbably come out with a bad report. When I heard that he was going to come out with a report sometime during the Biden administration, I said, âYou gotta be kidding.â Itâs a disgrace. In the meantime, we donât hear anything about him.â
During the interview, President Trump focused on the success of the candidates he endorsed, and his continued endorsementsâwhile describing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as a âstupid bastard.â Trump also touted his efforts to facilitate vaccine development through Operation Warp Speed and roll it out in short order as perhaps his greatest achievement. He also emphasized his toughness in deal-making with friends and enemies alike.
Over the course of the more than hourlong session, Trump gave the distinct impression that he is itching to get into the presidential race in 2024.
This article was written by Ben Weingarten for Real Clear Investigations.