President Trump shared his thoughts on how his two terms as president have differed, saying in a new interview with The Atlantic that this time around he’s leading “the country and the world.”
“The first time, I had two things to do — run the country and survive; I had all these crooked guys,” Trump said in the interview published Monday. “And the second time, I run the country and the world.”
Trump has taken broad executive action on a range of issues since returning to office in January, with his moves on immigration and trade drawing the most attention and producing intense pushback in courts and among global leaders, respectively.
On trade, Trump sparked backlash globally by announcing tariffs on most countries, including top U.S. trading partners, though he has paused some of the country-specific levies until July. The rollercoaster action on trade has rattled global markets and raised economic anxiety.
Relationships with longtime American allies have also seen strain with rhetoric around acquiring Greenland and of Canada becoming part of the U.S. Meanwhile, Trump has focused much of his first few months in office on trying to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
While speaking with The Atlantic, the president also commented on the possibility of a third bid for the White House, something he has previously flirted with but which GOP lawmakers have largely dismissed as joking.
“It’s not something that I’m looking to do. And I think it would be a very hard thing to do,” Trump said in the interview.
On Tuesday, the president is set to go to Michigan for a rally where he plans to commemorate his first 100 days back in office.
“President Trump is excited to return to the great state of Michigan next Tuesday, where he will rally in Macomb County to celebrate the FIRST 100 DAYS!” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote last week in a post on social platform X.
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