One of the things that makes
President Trump so unique is the way he interacts with the media.
He doesn't give many traditional press conferences, you know?
He mostly just shouts at reporters
in front of a helicopter
or takes a few questions when he's with a foreign leader
or, his favorite, just shares policy ideas
at the drive-through.
Just like, "Let me get a burger.
"No lettuce, no pickles,
and no deal with Iran!"
It's like, "Okay, sir. Do you want fries with that?"
"The Iran deal?" "No, sir, the burger."
"Okay, 'cause if the Iran deal comes with fries,
I would be open to negotiating!"
But what's also interesting about Donald Trump
is, sometimes, he'll switch things up
and he'll give one reporter total access to him
for an entire day.
And the latest example was with ABC's George Stephanopoulos.
And one thing we learned from this interview
was that Trump may not like intelligence briefings
or cabinet meetings or reading in general,
but he loves giving tours.
The Oval Office is such a special place.
Show us around. Famous desk.
TRUMP: Oh, that's a very famous desk.
That's the Resolute desk.
You have your choice of seven desks.
They have seven desks.
They give you pictures of desks.
They give you pictures of carpet.
-This is the Ronald Reagan carpet. -Mm-hmm.
They give you pictures of the drapes.
You see the drapes? They say--
I think we have 12 sets of drapes we can use.
Here's your new Air Force One.
Gonna look incredible. It's gonna look sleeker.
What's the biggest personal touch you've put on the office?
I've put a lot of 'em. Uh, the flags.
You didn't have flags to any great degree.
(laughter)
It's like the-the weirdest episode of MTV Cribs.
"Yeah, you know, these are my flags.
Yeah, yeah. This is my desk."
That is a lot of flags though, right?
And it seems innocent. But when you think
about what Trump does to flags in public,
I don't even want to imagine what he does when they're alone.
Yeah. Those flags were probably like,
"Stephanopoulos, take us with you!
Please, Stephanopoulos, please."
Trump spends so much time
showing George Stephanopoulos around
you'd think that he was looking to sublet the Oval Office.
But since he had a member of the fake news media there,
he also used the opportunity to hit back at them
and their phony reporting.
I watched your show this morning.
I watched Good Morning America.
And they had, uh, something about, uh, the polling.
And it's really suppression polling. It's fake polling.
But, in that case, it was just made-up polling.
-And I had-- I-I had the same thing... -Made-up?
Made-up. I mean they give you phony numbers.
They give you numbers.
They said that they have access to numbers,
which I don't believe they have access to.
Trump basically treats polls
the way some people treat their bathroom scales.
You know? Yeah, when you're happy with the number,
you're like, "Yeah, this is science.
"I mean, that's what I weigh.
I mean, this-this technology."
But if the number is not what you want it to be,
then you're like, "This is-- This shit is going back
"to Bed Bath & Beyond!
"That's not-- that's not right.
"That's not right.
Is this pounds or kilograms?"
Unfortunately for Trump though,
there's one poll that he couldn't blame the media for,
because it was done by his own campaign.
REPORTER: The Trump campaign's internal polling shows
the president trailing former Vice President Joe Biden
in critical battleground states:
39% to 55% in Pennsylvania,
41% to 51% in Wisconsin,
and by 7 points in Florida.
CBS News has learned the Trump campaign fired
several pollsters
after those internal polling numbers were leaked.
(laughter)
Oh, man.
So Trump learns that he's behind in the polls,
and he responds by firing his pollsters.
Which makes sense to me.
It's like how I used to have Ebola
but then I fired my doctor, so I don't have Ebola anymore.
Yeah. I'm just a regular guy who pees out of his butt.
My favorite moment from this interview,
my favorite moment, was when Trump talked
about releasing his tax returns.
Not because I think he'll actually release them.
At this point, it's more likely that he'll release an album
of duets with Hillary Clinton. No.
What made this thing interesting was that,
while Trump was talking,
someone in the background coughed.
And just watch what happens after that.
They're after my financial statement.
The Senate. They'd like to get my financial statement.
At some point, I hope they get it.
-You're gonna turn it over? -No, at some point--
I might. But, at some point, I hope they get it,
'cause it's a financ-- it's a fantastic financial statement.
It's a fantastic financial statement.
And-- L-Let's do that over.
-He's coughing in the middle of my answer. -Yeah.
-(chuckles): Okay. -I don't like that, you know?
-I don't like that. -Your chief of staff.
TRUMP: If you're gonna cough, please leave the room.
MAN: Get a shot of-- You know, I'll come over here.
-Just... -You just can't-- you just can't cough.
-Just to change the shot. -Okay. -Boy, oh, boy.
Sorry, Mr. Trump.
Okay, do you want to do that a little differently then or...?
-Yeah, we just changed the angle. -Okay.
-Yeah. Thank you. -So, at some point...
So, at some point, I look forward to--
Frankly, I want-- I'd like to have people see
my financial statement,
-because it's phenomenal. -It's up to you.
Yo, are you serious?
It's like a real-life episode of The Office.
He's looking at the camera. The camera's going over.
I half-expected Dwight to pop up onscreen
and just shake his head.
(laughter, applause)
But you have to give it to Trump.
He might not be a good president,
but he is a fantastic television professional.
He knows his angles. He's giving them different line readings.
He's changing it up. "They're coming
"for my precious tax returns, and I--
"Wait, who's coughing?!
"All right, let me take that again.
"They're coming for my precious tax returns.
All right, that was the one, that was the one."
And, by the way, I don't think it was a coincidence
that his chief of staff just "happened to cough"
right when Trump was talking about releasing his tax returns.
Yeah, that didn't sound like a real cough.
It sounded more like a... (coughing): "Shut the (bleep) up
about your taxes."
That's what that was.
(cheering and applause)
So,
that was Trump's one-on-one with ABC.
And, really, this makes it clear
why he doesn't do interviews very often.
Because, in one interview,
he contradicted himself on the polls,
he flipped out at his coughing staff,
and, worst of all, he somehow managed
to look shorter than George Stephanopoulos.
So I think it's safe to say tomorrow's interview
will be back at the drive-through.