President Donald Trump granted Fox News host Sean Hannity the first Oval Office interview of his second presidency.
The historic conversation ranged widely, covering his pardons for defendants in cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach, the wildfires burning through Los Angeles, his fast action on the border, and the declassification of records relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, among other topics.
While discussing former President Joe Biden’s preemptive pardons, granted to Dr. Anthony Fauci and many others, Trump noted they did not include Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), nor the former president himself.
Trump Reiterates Pledge to Declassify JFK, RFK, and MLK Shooting Records
Speaking just two days after his inauguration, Trump told Hannity he still plans to release classified government records concerning the assassinations of Kennedy; his brother, Robert F. Kennedy; and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.“We’re looking at it right now,” he said. “We’re going to release them immediately.”
In August 2024, a month after an assassin nearly killed him in Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump said he would create a presidential commission to oversee the release of the JFK files.
He said that during his first term, government officials including then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo advised him not to release all of the JFK files.
Trump Says Funding for California Should Hinge on Water Management
The president also addressed the recent devastating fires in Southern California.“It’s like a nuclear weapon went off, what’s happened to Los Angeles,” he said. “A lot of money is going to be necessary for Los Angeles.”
The president suggested that the needs of deep-red western North Carolina, still recovering from Hurricane Helene, could be balanced with those of bright-blue Los Angeles in highly partisan congressional budget fights. Lawmakers have until March 14 to make a deal to continue funding the federal government.
The president told Hannity that federal money for the state should hinge on changes to its water management practices. He added that the media do not like to highlight the outflow of significant volumes of water from the Rockies into the Pacific Ocean, a practice some environmental experts defend as necessary for the maintenance of the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta.
Trump Talks Border and Sanctuary Cities
Trump’s first days in office have been marked by rapid changes on the border, including through day one executive orders. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids on his first full day in office led to the arrest of 308 illegal aliens, and on Jan. 22, the president ordered 1,500 troops to deploy to the southern border.“This was a gross miscarriage of common sense, to allow people to come in,” Trump said of the volume of illegal border-crossings under Biden, who in 2020 ran against Trump’s policies that encourage legal immigration.
The president spoke about his border and immigration moves with Hannity, describing how his administration might tackle sanctuary jurisdictions, which do not fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities. One such jurisdiction is the entire state of California, where one community in Orange County, Huntington Beach, has just declared itself a “non-sanctuary city.”
“Would you cut off their money?” Hannity asked of sanctuary cities and states.
“I might have to do that. Sometimes that’s the only thing you can do,” Trump replied.
He also said it was easy to identify some illegal immigrants who “could be trouble.”
Trump Thinks TikTok Will Be Purchased
The president also spoke about TikTok.“People want to buy it,” Trump told Hannity.
He attributed his strong performance with many young voters to his presence on the app. He launched his TikTok profile in June 2024 despite concerns from many Republicans and Democrats over the influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) over the app’s owners.
Some claim to know that TikTok is a spying app for the Chinese regime, Hannity said.
“You can say that about everything made in China,” Trump responded. “Is it that important for China to be spying on young people, on young kids watching crazy videos?”
Trump Defends Large-Scale J6 Pardons
Trump and Hannity also spoke about his roughly 1,500 pardons and 14 commutations for those convicted of offenses in connection with the U.S. Capitol breach on Jan. 6, 2021.While discussing Biden’s preemptive pardons, Trump said he declined sweeping preemptive pardons at the time he left office.
“I said: ‘I’m not going to pardon anybody. We didn’t do anything wrong,’” Trump told the cable news host.
“We had people that suffered,” he continued, citing the imprisonment of Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon.
Trump cited the jail and prison time that many of those convicted of violence related to Jan. 6 have already served.
“They were treated like the worst criminals in history,” he said.
Trump Says Butler Assassination Attempt Strengthened His Faith in God
In addition to Jan. 6, Trump and Hannity covered July 13, 2024—the summer day when an assassin’s bullet nearly ended Trump’s life during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.“I don’t think you can call it just luck,” Trump told Hannity.
The president said he believed his unlikely survival left a mark on his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.
Trump agreed that it has strengthened his faith in God.
“I don’t think I’ve changed, but I think that has taken place,” he said.
