Tucker Carlson interviews Donald Trump ahead of election: As it happened

Trump has praised Space X owner Elon Musk, saying that he was bewildered by the recent Starship test flight during which the company managed to successfully catch the returning booster, a feat which was seen as a major breakthrough towards its reusability.
 
He went to describe the billionaire as a “great cost-cutter,” noting that Musk thinks he could cut the government’s expenses by two trillion dollars. “He wants to save the country. He said that if Trump does not get elected, the country is finished,” Trump added.

The US has won nothing from its military interventions in the Middle East, Trump has said. “It used to be – you go to war, to the victor belong the spoils… We go to war, we bomb the crap out of [the country], and then we leave… What are we doing?” he asked.

The Republican blasted politicians that support these actions, including Liz Cheney, a former congresswoman and daughter of former vice president and war hawk Dick Cheney, who has endorsed Harris. “If it had been up to her, we would be in 50 different countries… It’s very dangerous. A lot of people get killed… And it’s very expensive, that’s why we owe $36 trillion,” he added.

Under the Biden administration, the US has ended up in a precarious position, as the dollar has started to lose its global clout. “If we lose the dollar as a standard, it is like losing a war. No way this will happen with me,” he said.

The administration of President Joe Biden has managed to “unite” China and Russia, accomplishing something that should have been avoided at all costs, Trump has said, adding that the two countries are “natural enemies,” given that Russia has massive territory and China needs it due to its large population. “We’ve allowed them to get together. It’s such a dangerous thing.” 

“The stupidity of what they have done… I’m going to have to un-unite them, I could do that too,” the former president has said.

Kamala Harris is a “low IQ individual,” meaning “she doesn’t even know when she’s lying,” Trump has claimed. “She’s dumb as a rock. We love our country too much, we can’t have that,” he added. The Republican also compared Harris with Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee he defeated in the 2016 presidential election. The former secretary of state was “much smarter” than the current Democratic candidate, Trump said, adding that Clinton was nonetheless a “liar” and a “horrible scoundrel.”

Trump unexpectedly took credit for “killing” Nord Stream 2, a pipeline built to deliver Russian gas to Germany through the Baltic Sea. The undersea pipeline suffered a series of explosions in September 2022, when Trump was no longer president. 

“[The Democrats] love to say that I was a friend of Russia, I worked for Russia, I was a Russian spy,” Trump said.

“The biggest job Russia ever had [was] Nord Stream 2. This is the biggest pipeline in the world, [it] goes from Russia to Germany and all over Europe. I killed it. Nobody would kill it but me. I stopped it,” he said, without elaborating.

Although Washington denied any involvement, Russia has suggested that it was likely behind the sabotage.

Trump slammed Liz Cheney, the daughter of former US Vice President Dick Cheney, as a warmonger and “dumb individual.”

“She’s a radical war hawk,” he said. “They’re all war hawks when they’re sitting in Washington in a nice building, saying ‘let’s send 10,000 troops right into the mouth of the enemy,’” Trump said. Cheney “always wanted to go to war” whenever she was present at meetings, he added. 

Despite her long career as a Republican, Cheney has strongly criticized Trump and endorsed Harris for president.

Trump similarly criticized former diplomat and State Department official John Bolton, describing him as “a real dope” and “a nutjob.”

Trump mocked the Democrats’ claim that, if elected, he would undermine democracy and the rule of law.

“They are a threat to democracy!” Trump argued. “They said I would put people in jail. That is what they wanted to do to me,” he said, referring to several court cases against him and investigations into his activities. 

The Democrats have impeached Trump in 2021, while accusing him of inciting the storming of the US Capitol building on January 6 of that year.

Trump slammed the Democrats for promoting the ‘Russiagate’ claims in 2016 and onward. 

He argued that Hillary Clinton and other high-profile Democrats have “conceived the hoax” that Trump had won the 2016 election thanks to the help from Russia just to justify their own loss.

Asked by Carlson about possible motives behind the administration’s current migration policies, Trump suggested that his opponents could be “stupid” or could “hate our country.” He also claimed that the Democrats could be motivated by wanting to encourage more migration so that they could win elections.

“They want to cheat on elections by signing these people. They’re trying to sign people up that don’t even know in what country they’re in,” Trump said.

Democrats, for their part, have denied the existence of “an open border” and blamed Republicans for stymieing legislation aimed at fixing the problem.