Less than two weeks ago, presidential candidate Donald Trump sat down for a 3-hour interview with controversial podcaster Joe Rogan. Many liberal commenters described the interview as boring, lacking substance, and rambling. We’ve learned over the past year, especially, that corporate media and its reporters cannot and should not be trusted as neutral arbiters of news, especially involving topics such as Israel/Palestine, Trump, and Kamala Harris. We compiled a transcript of the entire full-length interview and asked our neutral AI system, BillBuddy, to summarize the details of the conversation with real quotes to back up the summaries.

The purpose of this piece is not to boost or hurt Trump (we are on record endorsing Dr. Jill Stein), but rather to serve as a true account of the only completely candid interview undertaken by a candidate for President in 2024. While Democratic candidate Kamala Harris was invited to appear on Rogan for the same length of interview, she backed out at the last minute and to our knowledge has not sat for any candid, hour-long interviews during her campaign, leaving voters with little to go on except talking points and sound bytes.

For those interested in an unbiased take, here we present several topics of interest and the main takeaways of what was said.

ON IMMIGRATION:
Trump portrayed immigration as an existential crisis for America, claiming that other countries are deliberately sending criminals and that current policies are destroying communities. He specifically cited numbers of alleged criminals and focused on impacts to specific cities.

“We had 13,099 murderers dropped in our country over the last three years…When other countries are allowed to empty their prisons into our country with murderers…People from mental institutions.”

“Springfield, Ohio is this very nice community of 52,000 people that just had 32,000 migrants that don’t speak the language dropped into their community. You can’t get into a hospital, you can’t get into a school.”

ON ELECTION INTEGRITY:
Trump advocated for paper ballots over electronic voting machines, citing both cost and security concerns. He strongly opposed mail-in voting and pushed for voter ID requirements, suggesting current policies enable fraud.

“Paper ballots would cost 8%…and you’re done by 9 o’clock in the evening. Right now we have these sophisticated machines, it goes up to heaven, it goes all over the place and down and around. And they say we’ll need two weeks to figure out who the hell won the election.”

“Jimmy Carter was in charge of a commission…and their primary finding was you cannot have mail in ballots.”

ON TARIFFS:
Trump presented tariffs as his primary tool for international negotiations, citing multiple examples where he used tariff threats to achieve policy goals. He believes tariffs can force manufacturing back to the US without government subsidies.

“I said, Emmanuel, if you do that, I’m going to put 100% tariff when your wines and champagnes are coming to the United States, and you’re going to regret that you ever did it.”

“All you had to do is charge them tariffs. If you were to put a tariff on the chips coming in, you would have been able to…Just like the auto companies.”

ON FOREIGN POLICY/WAR:
Trump claimed he could end the Ukraine war quickly through personal relationships with leaders, though he declined to specify how. He emphasized the threat of nuclear weapons and criticized current administration’s handling of international conflicts.

“I would meet with Putin and I would meet with him and I know exactly what I’d say to each one of them. And I believe that as President elect, I would get that war stopped and stopped fast.”

“The biggest threat we have in the world today is nuclear weapons…I was talking about de-escalation with both China and Russia.”

ON ENVIRONMENT/ENERGY:
Trump expressed skepticism about climate change while supporting nuclear power. He strongly criticized wind energy, citing both aesthetic and practical concerns, while supporting fossil fuel development.

“I think windmills are really disruptive when you talk about the environment. They kill the birds…You want to see a bird cemetery go under a windmill someday.”

“France does it. France is largely nuclear. And they build small little compact plants and if they need more, they build the same thing.”

ON HEALTH/FOOD SAFETY:
Trump discussed collaboration with RFK Jr. on food safety initiatives, acknowledging problems with chemicals in food supply while expressing caution about environmental regulations.

“Look at this chart. These are healthier countries. Look where the United States is…That’s our food. That’s our diet. That’s the chemicals we ingest.”

ON DOMESTIC MANUFACTURING:
Trump advocated using tariffs rather than subsidies to encourage domestic manufacturing, particularly in electronics and automotive sectors.

“We put up billions of dollars for rich companies to come in and borrow the money and build chip companies here…All you had to do is charge them tariffs.”

ON TRANSGENDER ISSUES:
Trump strongly opposed transgender athletes in women’s sports and gender transition procedures for minors, presenting these as unpopular policies.

“I have never had one person come up to me and say, president, you got to do something to allow men to play in women’s sports.”

“The transgender operations where they’re allowed to take your child when he goes to school and turn him into a male to a female…without parental consent.”

ON MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE:
Trump criticized current military and intelligence leadership, particularly regarding Afghanistan withdrawal and other strategic decisions.

“That’s when I realized that Milley was a dummy…He was so stupid. He was so unwise.”

ON VOTER FRAUD CLAIMS:
Trump maintained his position that the 2020 election was fraudulent, citing various factors including media suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story and mail-in voting procedures.

“They say it made 10 point difference, and I lost by 1/10 of a point…51 intelligence agents come up, that the laptop was from Russia. It turned out to be totally false.”

ON MEDIA AND PRESS:
Trump described a dramatic shift in media coverage from before his presidency to after, suggesting coordinated opposition. He emphasized how entertainment figures and media personalities who previously supported him turned against him.

“The View…you got introduced as our friend Donald Trump…Whoopi Goldberg gives you a big hug and a kiss. Joy Behar gives you a big hug…they all loved you…And then you actually started winning in the polls, and then the machine started working towards you.”

“I don’t think I’ve had a good story in years. I really don’t.”

ON UFOs/ALIENS:
Trump revealed he interviewed multiple military pilots about UFO encounters, showing more openness to the possibility while maintaining skepticism. He emphasized the credibility of the witnesses.

“I interviewed jet pilots that were solid people, perfect…they said, we saw things, sir, that were very strange, like a round ball…it was going four times faster than an F22.”

ON JFK FILES:
Trump explained his decision to partially release JFK files while holding back others, citing concerns about living persons and national security. He committed to full release if elected again.

“I opened them up partially…There are people that are affected and there could be some national security reason…But if I win, I’m going to open them up.”

ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:
Trump emphasized his business background as crucial to his governing approach, frequently contrasting his negotiating style with career politicians.

“I made my money largely on luxury…I was never a politician. First of all. Even if you were a politician. But I was never a politician. It just. I sort of just started.”

ON PERSONAL HEALTH/FITNESS:
Trump discussed his approach to personal health, emphasizing genetics and golf while dismissing traditional exercise routines.

“I was never one that could like run on a treadmill…I can do it, you know, when passing a physical…But I said, doc, I can do this all day long. I’m not. I have no problem, but it’s boring to me.”

ON AGE AND MENTAL FITNESS:
Trump addressed age concerns in politics, distinguishing between chronological age and mental capacity, while criticizing opponents’ cognitive abilities.

“I think you should take cognitive tests. I think everybody…They say it’s unconstitutional…But I think that’s ridiculous.”

ON PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY:
Trump expressed mixed views on pharmaceutical companies, acknowledging their innovations while criticizing their influence on policy and pricing.

“They’ve come up with some amazing things…like the polio vaccine…But look at that chart…it’s such a bad chart when you look at where we are compared to other countries that don’t spend 10 cents.”

ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY:
Trump discussed his recent success on TikTok and changing media landscape, acknowledging the platform’s influence despite previous concerns.

“I’m on TikTok now…And I’ve done really well…Like billions of hits. It’s crazy…I’ve gone up 30 points. A Republican is always down 30 with young people. I’m plus 30 and I’m on TikTok.”

ON CAMPAIGN STYLE:
Trump described his approach to campaigning, emphasizing stamina and continuous engagement.

“I haven’t taken a day off in 56 days. That’s a long time…this is too exciting. Golf is great, but this is too exciting. This is more exciting than anything you can do.”

ON MILITARY RECRUITMENT:
Trump addressed concerns about military recruitment standards and health issues affecting eligibility.

“More than 70% of young men are ineligible for the military because of their health…A lot of it’s obesity.”

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10 MOST (UNINTENTIONAL) HUMOROUS MOMENTS:

The McDonald’s Story:
“I did McDonald’s last week…I got a call from your friends at Google, from Sundar…He said, this is the biggest thing we’ve had in years…I thought it was a throwaway…I went there and the crowd was crazy…they had 28,000 people. Did you see the outside? It was crazy. The cars couldn’t get through. Secret Service was not exactly thrilled. We had no idea what the hell. But I went into the place and I did the French fry thing and it just hit. But that’s like in life sometimes you do. I thought it was like a quick throwaway. We’re going to be there for 15 minutes. Then I said, I worked here for 15 minutes, which is 15 minutes more than she worked here.”

The Air Force One Landing Story:
“I flew to Iraq and I met the real generals…I got on Air Force One and we started flying. And when we reached about half an hour away from Iraq…they said, sir, I’m sorry, you’ll have to turn off all your lights. Why? We’re getting close to our site, our land. I said, you mean we spent $8 trillion that we can’t leave the lights? Think of this, 20 years, $8 trillion that we can’t leave the lights on in a plan. I said, that’s okay, turn the lights off. I’m not going to fight them.”

The Whale Psychiatrist Comment:
“You know what it is? I want to be a whale psychiatrist. It drives the whales freaking crazy and something happens with them. But for whatever reason, they’re getting washed up on shore.”

The Pollster Theory:
“I don’t think they interview them in many cases. I don’t want to get myself in too much trouble…I think they sit there, they make a deal, they get a half a million bucks and they say Trump’s leading 51 to 49, they announce it and everybody says, oh, do you understand? I don’t think they. I think in a lot. Look, I’m a very common sense person. I think that they probably don’t always poll. Some of them probably never poll. What’s the difference between 49 to 51 and 47 and a half?”

The MAGA Cap for Kamala:
“She changed policies on 15. I’ve never seen a guy change…Anybody change on more than one. You know, you can maybe get away with one. Her whole life fracking every single thing that she was for the confiscation of guns she wants to confiscate. Now she’s saying everybody should have gun. In fact, we’re going to get her a magic. I’m going to send her a MAGA cap. But she’s changed. And I don’t think people are buying it. I don’t think people are buying it.”

The UFC Fighter Comparison Goes Off on a Tangent:
“These guys are specimens…Like, for a fighter, you know, you have some Guys that are perfect specimens and you know, they pick. They pick the best pilots in the Air Force, United States Air Force, to fly Air Force One. And I get up there and I’m sitting and I’m feeling my way up. You know, it’s up high because 747, so you go through the stairs. But I sort of knew my way up. There wasn’t a light in the plan. I’m saying, can you imagine? We spent trillions of dollars and we’re trying to fly in blind. But I got into the plane, the cockpit is dark, black, little tiny light.”

The French Wine Tariff Story:
“I sent all the smartest guys. I sent Mnuchin. They all failed me. And I said, I’ll do it myself. And I called him. I said, Emmanuel, you’re taxing American companies…if you do that, I’m going to put 100% tariff when your wines and champagnes are coming to the United States…within about two minutes, he dropped the whole thing.”

The Golf Handicap Explanation:
“With tennis, if you’re much better than somebody, you can’t really play with somebody, you know, it doesn’t work…With golf…you can play with a lousy guy and give him a stroke. A hole or two strokes.”

The Five-Year-Old Military Strategist:
“I had a big rally, and I saw a child in the front row about a year and a half ago…I called the child up…I gave them quick details…I said, do you take your soldiers out first or last?…After everything’s done, you take them out last, sir. A child would know that.”

The Rosie O’Donnell Debate Reference:
“Like the Rosie O’Donnell debate…that was a hell of a question, man. If I didn’t come up with that answer, it was a great line…when I said that, the place went crazy.”

10 MOST CONTROVERSIAL COMMENTS:

On Kamala Harris’s Intelligence:
“Kamala is a very low IQ person. She’s a very low IQ…I think Kamala should have a test because there’s something missing. There’s something wrong with her.”

On Military Leadership:
“That’s when I realized that Milley was a dummy…He was so stupid. He was so unwise. He was like an unwise man…these idiots that we deal with.”

On Political Opponents’ Mental State:
“Biden gives people a bad name because that’s not an old, that’s not an age…He’s got a problem…He’s got a problem.”

On Women Athletes vs Men:
“I had a woman who’s a very good athlete…and Brian Urlacher…I noticed she was the size of his leg, his leg was bigger than she was.”

On Americans’ Loyalty:
“We have a bigger problem, in my opinion, with the enemy from within…We have people that are really bad people that I really think want to make this country unsuccessful.”

On Congress:
“Well, look at these guys in Congress, all these sleazebags in Congress that are Democrats.”

On Intelligence Officials:
“51 intelligence agents lied. They lied. They lied. They knew it was. It was Hunter’s. It was from his bed.”

On Election Officials:
“It’s crooked stuff…they want to cheat…Because their policies are no good.”

On Harris’ Speaking Ability:
“She can’t put two sentences together…she’s not a smart person…These guys are very smart, and they’re very streetwise, and they’re very tricky and evil and dangerous.”

On Mental Capacity of Officials:
“And Comey had it, because when Comey got up and he stupidly… because he’s a stupid guy, too…he’s a stupid son of a bitch.”

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The conversation covered a wide range of topics from election security to foreign policy. Trump demonstrated strong knowledge of certain business and negotiation tactics, particularly regarding international trade. His proposals on manufacturing, food safety, and voter identification should resonate with many voters.

However, his communication style remained controversial, with frequent personal attacks and unsubstantiated claims. While he showed detailed knowledge of certain policy areas (particularly trade and business), he often avoided specifics on complex issues like ending the Ukraine war or addressing climate change.

For conservative voters, his emphasis on American manufacturing, strong borders, and election security aligned with traditional Republican values. For progressive voters, his willingness to work with RFK Jr. on food safety and his criticism of pharmaceutical companies might resonate, though his approach to social issues and climate change will surely face opposition.

The conversation revealed both Trump’s strengths (business acumen, negotiation experience) and weaknesses (tendency toward personal attacks, lack of specific policy details on complex issues). His positions on paper ballots, food safety, and domestic manufacturing could appeal across party lines, while his stances on immigration, climate change, and social issues remain polarizing.

The entire transcript of the interview can be found here.