Donald Trump said “surviving” while he was in the White House was more difficult than being president, in a new documentary released Thursday, where he also suggested the challenge wouldn’t stop him from running again.
He also confirmed long-standing reports that the US had demanded $5 billion from South Korea to keep American troops stationed there during its 2019 renegotiations of the defense treaty with the longtime ally.
The clips, sourced exclusively from , are from an hour-long new documentary focusing on Trump and his perspective on the presidency.
The film, titled “My Dinner With Trump” by Daily Wire+, is largely set at the former president’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, save for the opening credits. It starts streaming today.
He is surrounded by former members of his administration, including relatives and ex-advisers Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Kellyanne Conway, ex-press secretary Sarah Sanders, former economic adviser Larry Kudlow and Dr. Ben Carson, who served as Trump’s housing and urban development secretary.
Even the dinner guests are not all from the same place in his administration. While he introduced key figures like Sanders from the start, some later recruits like Trump’s last acting Secretary of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, were also in attendance.
Former aides still in Trump’s orbit such as Stephen Miller, Dan Scavino, Mercedes Schlapp and Jason Miller also had a seat at the table.
The documentary focuses on the ex-president and his guests as they reflect on Trump’s term while expressing dissatisfaction with the current Biden administration.
Daily Wire+ is releasing a new documentary titled “My Dinner with Trump” on November 3rd.
Two exclusive clips were sourced from just ahead of the much-anticipated release
In it, Trump holds court with current allies and former government officials over dinner at his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey
In what appeared to be deliberate teasing, the guests repeatedly goaded Trump’s ambitions for 2024 with approaches ranging from righteous outrage to fawning requests for help.
Each time it’s brought up, Trump jumps to a different topic while barely acknowledging the idea.
He once said: “We have done a great job. We did it together. Once again we have built the largest economy the world has ever seen. And we are very, very seriously considering doing it again.”
It’s not dissimilar to what Trump has said in the past, but takes on new meaning with the upcoming midterm elections – after which it’s reported he will announce his decision.
He said in the first clip, made available to : “You know, we worked very hard and we probably worked three times harder, five times harder than everyone else. Because I had two jobs – running the country and surviving.”
“If you think about it, surviving was a lot harder than running the country,” Trump continued.
Conway quipped, “Biden feels the same way.”
“No matter what, one thing and two weeks later another would start, we would beat that, another would start. It goes on and on. They were desperate and they were terrible,” Trump said of his critics.
He also suggested that these critics made the United States a “tougher” country than Russia, North Korea, or China.
“By far the toughest country was the USA. It was the hardest country. We have some very, very bad and disturbed people,” Trump said.
“I mean, if you look at some of the things that were said during impeachment hoax number one and number two while so many other things were being done, it was all made up. Everything was invented by sick people.’
Fast forward to the present this mid-election cycle, Trump accused Democrats of spreading “disinformation” about Republicans and claimed the left blamed the right for wanting to disappoint the police.
“All of a sudden the Democrats are all backing down and saying the Republicans want to defund the police. It’s called disinformation,” Trump said.
“That’s the most incredible thing, and the other thing was – the ID, the voter ID. They said we require voter ID because they’re losing on that front.
He added: “This is called total disinformation. And it’s a shame. It’s a shame. But I actually said they said what was – could it be Russia? Could it be China? I said no, it’s the USA, that’s the hardest part.’
Trump delved into his foreign policy in other parts of the documentary – seemingly confirming for the first time that he was demanding $5 billion from South Korea to keep US troops stationed there.
At the time of the negotiations, which ultimately collapsed, Seoul lawmakers had said Trump had asked for a 500 percent increase in their contribution to their joint defense agreement with Washington.
He discusses aspects of his foreign policy, such as negotiations with then-President Moon Jae-In about US troop stations in South Korea
The then-President had said the US presence there was worth $5 billion, although neither side officially confirmed the figure was really high.
But Trump recounted the conversations – in somewhat general terms – in the second clip made available to .
“South Korea, I said, ‘You’re not paying for military protection.’ They went insane. And then they ended up paying billions of dollars. And we weren’t done yet,” Trump said.
Describing his conversation with former South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Trump continued: “I said, so pay $5 billion. And we agreed to a billion two, not the best deal. I said, but next year you pay $5 billion. He said no, no, no, I said yes, yes, yes. I would have won, okay?’
“Yes, you didn’t pay anything. And we got a lot of money, but the big hit was next year,” he said, referring to the 2020 presidential race.
“Then we had an election that was rigged and stolen. And then it didn’t matter what I said.’
Referring to Biden’s current ties with the Asian country, he said: “I heard that South Korea and the United States have agreed to a long-term military cost-of-living protection agreement. And I said: Isn’t that sad? Isn’t that pathetic?’