{"id":2429019,"date":"2025-04-29T22:41:02","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T02:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/four-takeaways-from-trumps-testy-100-days-abc-interview-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-04-29T22:42:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T02:42:56","slug":"four-takeaways-from-trumps-testy-100-days-abc-interview-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/four-takeaways-from-trumps-testy-100-days-abc-interview-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Four takeaways from Trump&#8217;s testy 100 days ABC interview- Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffour-takeaways-from-trumps-testy-100-days-abc-interview-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2429019&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In a recent ABC News interview marking the first 100 days of his second administration, President Donald Trump defended himself and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth amid a combative discussion led by anchor Terry Moran. The interview revealed Trump&#8217;s ongoing confidence in Hegseth despite concerns about his qualifications and communication methods. Trump rejected claims of being authoritarian, asserting that his actions aim to &#8220;make America great again&#8221; and dismissing accusations of personal animosity towards critics, including former President Joe Biden.<\/p>\n<p>The president addressed the contentious issue of tariffs, insisting that China would bear the costs and reassuring supporters that a trade war was part of his campaign strategy. Further, Trump defended his controversial stance on deported immigrants, maintaining that some <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">hold important gang affiliations<\/a>, exemplified in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The interview highlighted heightened tensions around issues of national security,trade,and Trump&#8217;s leadership style as he navigates a challenging political landscape,especially with declining approval ratings.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Hegseth, tariffs, and tattoos: Takeaways from Trump&rsquo;s testy 100 days ABC interview<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2109899\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>President<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"> Donald Trump<\/a> defended Defense Secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/pete-hegseth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Pete Hegseth<\/a> and himself during a fiery sit-down interview with ABC News for his first 100 days of his second administration.<\/p>\n<p>ABC News anchor and senior national correspondent Terry Moran promised the interview, surprisingly granted to a mainstream news outlet, would be combative, and he and the president delivered.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3395893\/trump-fires-doug-emhoff-biden-appointees-holocaust-museum-board\/\">Trump fires Doug Emhoff and other Biden appointees from Holocaust museum board<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3395748\/trump-returns-campaign-playbook-michigan-mark-100-days-governing\/\">Trump returns to campaign playbook in Michigan to mark 100 days of governing<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3395797\/aipac-ad-push-us-israel-rift-iran-nuclear-talks\/\">AIPAC&rsquo;s $500,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/aipac-pressures-trump-on-iran-nuclear-talks\/\" title=\"AIPAC pressures Trump on Iran nuclear ...s\">000 ad push underscores growing<\/a> US-Israel rift over Iran nuclear talks<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;I picked you because, frankly, I never heard of you,&rdquo; Trump told the reporter.<\/p>\n<p>The defensive posture comes as Trump&rsquo;s approval rating, even regarding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/immigration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">immigration<\/a>, once his highest performing polling issue, is in net negative territory.<\/p>\n<p>Here are four takeaways from Trump&rsquo;s first 100 days sit-down with ABC:<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Trump remains confident in Hegseth &mdash; for now<\/h2>\n<p>Hegseth faced opposition ever since he was announced as Trump&rsquo;s nominee to become <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/did-president-trump-spring-a-trap-on-treasonous-democrats-on-election-night\/\" title=\"Did ... Trump Spring a Trap on Treasonous Democrats on Election Night?\">defense secretary<\/a> over a lack of government leadership experience. <\/p>\n<p>But despite this month&rsquo;s reporting of his use of Signal, an unclassified messaging app, to communicate sensitive information to his wife and using it on his work laptop, Trump remains convinced the former <em>Fox &amp; Friends<\/em> Weekend co-host should be in the Pentagon&rsquo;s top job.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I had a talk with him, and whatever I said, I probably wouldn&rsquo;t be inclined to tell you,&rdquo; Trump said. &ldquo;But &mdash; we had a good talk. He&rsquo;s a talented guy. He&rsquo;s young. He&rsquo;s smart, highly educated. And I think he&rsquo;s gonna be a very good defense &mdash; hopefully a great defense secretary.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>But Trump provided himself with some room to distance himself from Hegseth in the future if he needs to.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have 100% confidence in anything, OK?&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Only a liar would say, &lsquo;I have 100% confidence.&#8217;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Trump defends himself against &lsquo;authoritarian&rsquo; allegations <\/h2>\n<p>Moran ended the hourlong interview by asking Trump to address critics&rsquo; concerns that he has too much power and has become &ldquo;authoritarian.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I would hate them to think that,&rdquo; Trump said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m doing one thing: I&rsquo;m making America great again.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Earlier in the interview, Trump also defended himself when pressed on his desire for &ldquo;personal retribution,&rdquo; including against federal government officials, such as former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Joe Biden<\/a>, and onetime government lawyers.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There has never been a president in this country &hellip; that was persecuted like I was persecuted,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When you say I&rsquo;m treating people rough, I&rsquo;m not treating people rough.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Trump, for instance, has revoked Biden&rsquo;s security clearance so he can no longer receive classified briefings in which former presidents can participate.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s not a man that should be allowed to be looking at things that are very confidential,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Here&rsquo;s a man that used an autopen to sign very important documents.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Trump adamant China &lsquo;will eat&rsquo; the cost of tariffs<\/h2>\n<p>As the stock market recovers from Trump&rsquo;s tariff announcements, in fact, the S&amp;P 500 entered a bear market&nbsp;this month, the president downplayed the prospect that people will experience higher prices because of the duties.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/china\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">China<\/a> probably will eat those tariffs,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They were ripping us off like nobody&rsquo;s ever ripped us off. &hellip; They&rsquo;re not doing that anymore.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Trump pushed back on the concerns of some Trump supporters who contend they &ldquo;didn&rsquo;t sign up&rdquo; for a trade war, with the president adding that &ldquo;everything&rsquo;s going to be just fine&rdquo; and &ldquo;great times are ahead.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They did sign up for it, actually, and this is what I campaigned on,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>During the campaign, Trump promised to decrease prices on &ldquo;Day One.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Trump insists Abrego Garcia has &lsquo;MS-13&rsquo; tattooed on his knuckles and not symbols<\/h2>\n<p>Despite Moran acknowledging Trump&rsquo;s success at reducing the number of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/border\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-recruiting-gop-senators-for-amnesty-deal\/\" title=\"Democrats Recruiting GOP Senators for Amnesty Deal\">illegal border crossings<\/a><\/a>, another election promise, the president and the interviewer disagreed over deported alleged criminal illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia and whether deportees deserve due process.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;He had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ms-13\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">MS-13<\/a> on his knuckles, tattooed!&rdquo; Trump said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;That was Photoshop,&rdquo; Moran responded of the &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3385269\/trump-highlights-photo-abrego-garcia-tattoo-ms13-knuckles\/\" title=\"MS-13\">MS-13<\/a>&rdquo; interpretation added to a widely circulated photograph of the images tattooed on Abrego Garcia&rsquo;s hand.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Terry, they&rsquo;re giving you the big break of a lifetime,&rdquo; the president replied. &ldquo;I picked you because, frankly, I never heard of you, but that&rsquo;s OK to you, Terry, but you&rsquo;re not being very nice.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Trump went on to argue it is his attorneys who do not want to, in the words of the federal court order, &ldquo;facilitate&rdquo; Abrego Garcia&rsquo;s return to the United States from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/el-salvador\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">El Salvador<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Tensions rose again when Moran asked Trump whether he trusted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/russia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Russian<\/a> President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/vladimir-putin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Vladimir Putin<\/a> as he sought a negotiated peace in the Russia-<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ukraine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Ukraine<\/a> War.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t trust you, I don&rsquo;t trust a lot of people,&rdquo; Trump said, continuing of Putin. &ldquo;He would like to stop the war. I think that if it weren&rsquo;t for me, I think he&rsquo;d want to take over the whole country, personally.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2109899\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2109899\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump&#8217;s 100-day ABC interview: Key points on Hegseth, tariffs, and tattoos<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2652,"featured_media":2429020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AP25119842924207.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[54032,34027,3634],"class_list":["post-2429019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-100-days","tag-abc-interview","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AP25119842924207.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2429019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2652"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2429019"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2429019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2429023,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2429019\/revisions\/2429023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2429020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2429019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2429019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2429019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}