PALM BEACH, Fla. – When our CBN News crew met a relaxed Donald Trump at his home at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida Tuesday, there was plenty to talk about, specifically, the recently leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that could overturn Roe v. Wade.
“Well, we don’t know exactly if that’s true, because it was certainly something that they’re working on I would imagine, I don’t think anyone made it up,” said the former president. “They don’t know who leaked it. I will say the leak was a terrible thing. You’re just not used to that for the Supreme Court. It was very shocking. I think it was a very bad thing for the court.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) blames Trump for the potential major pro-life outcome because he was the president who was able to get three pro-life justices on the high court.
“Well, a lot of people are very happy about that,” Trump told CBN News. “So some people maybe say it’s my fault and some people say, ‘Thank you very much.'”
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From abortion to the transgender movement’s rise, to Disney embracing gay rights, our culture is in the midst of a serious fight. Trump doesn’t believe any of this is the way to go.
“That’s not the way it should be, that’s for sure, it is a terrible thing,” he said. “Especially when you’re taking children that don’t even have this period to form. And you know, in many cases, I hear 60% of the cases, later in life, they say, why did they do this to me? 60%. No, I think it’s a terrible thing. I think what’s happened with Disney and what Disney’s doing, Walt Disney is looking down. He’s not happy, Okay? Walt Disney said, ‘Whatever happened to my beautiful Magic Kingdom?'”
Whatever is happening, there are charges that those who support discussing the LGBT lifestyle with little kids are in what they call, “the grooming business.”
Trump said he gets it.
“Yeah, I’m opposed to it,” he said. “This is a different world. It’s a new world, and I think it’s actually going to be shut out. You know, how it’s going to get shut out? Common sense. It’s common sense. But I think it’s going, and I think religion will help shut it out. You know, nobody has done more for Christianity. Nobody has done more for religion of all types than me. And they’re really doing things now too and I’ve always said it. They are against organized religion. They’re against Christianity.”
Now, free speech faces another potential challenge, courtesy of the Biden administration’s Disinformation Governance Board aimed at making sure Americans have the truth on a variety of topics. It’s led to comparisons of George Orwell’s “ministry of truth” in his book 1984.
“I think that it’s not even believable that we’re talking about this subject,” Trump said. “Who would have believed that we’re talking about somebody that’s going to censure people over a long period of time, and very strong. Now they’re saying, ‘Oh, no, it’s just a recommendation.’ That’s where it all began. I guess that’s what they used to say in Russia. That’s what they said in the Soviet Union, right? We’re just going to do it a little bit. No, we can’t do that. We can do that. That’s a horrible thing.”
“Imagine the media uproar if Donald Trump decided to administer a ministry of truth? Well, I have a ministry of truth,” the former president said flatly. “It’s called truth. It’s called Truth Social (his social media platform).”
The truth about the upcoming midterm elections is that polls show the GOP poised for victory. Trump, as you might imagine, sees himself leading the way. He saw fruit Tuesday night when J.D. Vance, his endorsed U.S. Senate candidate, won Ohio’s GOP Primary.
“My record is unparalleled, my endorsements, it’s totally unparalleled,” he said. “Nobody’s ever had a record like this. I’m almost unblemished.”
Trump is no doubt the top Republican dog. Months ago, Joe Biden remarked how he couldn’t believe there were so many Republicans still afraid of Trump. So, should Republicans be afraid of crossing him? Trump stated his answer to that very clearly.
“Well, if they want to win politically, probably because if I endorsed them, they win and if I don’t endorse them, they don’t win,” he said. “I mean, that’s almost 100% of the case.”
As poll after poll shows Donald Trump as the likely GOP leader going forward, it looks like he’ll be moving on without his Vice President Mike Pence. When asked how that relationship is today, Trump answered matter-of-factly.
“Honestly, I haven’t spoken to Mike in a long time, Trump said. “A long time is four or five months. I haven’t spoken to him in a long time. And he’s a nice man. He disappointed me on one thing because I think he should have sent the votes back to the legislatures.”
“So if Mike Pence gets into the 2024 presidential race, does the former president think his former VP has a shot?,” CBN News asked.
“I don’t want to say,” Trump said. “If Mike got in, I think it’d be a hard one for him. I think it would be a hard one. I understand where the base is. I love the base. The base loves me. I think it’d be hard, but Mike was a good guy. I thought he was a very good vice president. He was my friend.”
But that was then. As 2024 rounds the corner, Trump said he’ll decide about running again after the midterms. Until then, he’s taking every opportunity to use the Biden administration’s troubles to tell the country he was right all along.
“Everything I said was right,” Trump exclaimed. “I’m not just talking about energy or on the border. I’m talking about religion. I said these people are against evangelicals. I said they’re against Israel. I said they’re against organized religion, frankly. They’re against all of the things that you and I, and most of your viewers, stand for. And when I said that during debates and elsewhere, people sort of weren’t sure. I turned out to be right. And I’ve had many people say, as good as I think we were, they said, you were the best at it. You were the best, and they want me back.”
From all appearances, Donald Trump seems ready for an encore.
The remainder of this article is available in its entirety at CBN