Donald Trump's BBC interview in full and the story behind it

Americast

BBC

Politics, Government, News

4.2 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 15 July 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Adam Fleming from Newscast speaks to the BBC's Chief North America Correspondent Gary O'Donoghue about his exclusive interview with Donald Trump. It happened by phone call, waking Gary up in his apartment as he was asleep.

Donald Trump told Gary that he is disappointed but not done with Vladimir Putin. The US president was pressed on whether he trusts the Russian leader, and replied: "I trust almost nobody." Trump was speaking hours after he announced plans to send weapons to Ukraine and warned of severe tariffs on Russia if there was no ceasefire deal in 50 days. In an interview from the Oval Office, the president also endorsed Nato, having once described it as obsolete, and affirmed his support for the organisation's common defence principle.

The president made the phone call, which lasted 20 minutes, to the BBC after conversations about a potential interview to mark one year on since the attempt on his life at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Asked about whether surviving the assassination attempt had changed him, Trump said he liked to think about it as little as possible.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	We get it. Life is busy. You want to keep up with the news, but there's just too much going on.
0:07.0	Which is where newscast comes in. We do the work and when you're ready to dig deeper into the day's news, you just pop us into your ears.
0:14.9	It does mean we have to put in the hard work though. Listen to newscast every day on BBC Sounds.
0:24.4	Hello, AmeriCasters. Just in. We have a special treat for you. It's a BBC interview with President Donald Trump, someone who doesn't always speak highly
0:30.6	of the BBC or appreciate it, but does appreciate one correspondent in particular, and that is the BBC's chief North America
0:38.7	correspondent Gary Adonoghue, and that is because Gary was in Butler, Pennsylvania, a year
0:44.8	or so ago when the assassination attempt was made, and Gary's reporting was used by all the
0:51.8	American networks, partly because he had the most extraordinary
0:55.4	eyewitness interviews, and it was much appreciated by the White House, who understood, I think,
1:01.0	that the BBC's in the business of telling the truth, not necessarily being pro or anti anyone.
1:06.6	Anyway, so Donald Trump appears to have a thing for Gary Adonoghue,
1:11.4	and the White House called Gary while he was at home, asleep,
1:15.3	telling him that Donald Trump was on the line.
1:17.4	It's supposed to be a five-minute interview.
1:18.7	They chatted for much longer.
1:20.1	And you can hear it all now on our sister podcast, newscast.
1:25.5	BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts.
1:29.2	I'm here with the President. Here you go.
1:31.3	Mr. President.
1:32.0	Hi, Gary. How are you?
1:33.2	I'm very well, sir. Thank you very much for sparing some time.
1:36.5	Good. You covered us very fairly. Appreciate it.
	...

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