Trump dismisses ‘retribution’ claims over indictments of critics: ‘I’ve been very mild-mannered’

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump is brushing off accusations that his Justice Department is out for revenge.

In a no-holds-barred sit-down with '60 Minutes' host Norah O’Donnell, Trump defended the recent indictments of several of his most vocal critics, saying it’s “the opposite” of political retribution.

Trump denies political retribution claims in ‘60 Minutes’ interview

When pressed about whether the DOJ targeting figures like former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and former National Security Adviser John Bolton was a form of retribution, Trump wasn’t having it.

“No, it’s the opposite. I think I’ve been very mild-mannered,” he told O’Donnell in the interview aired Sunday.

“You know what? You know who got indicted? The man you’re looking at,” he snapped. “I got indicted, and I was innocent. And here I am because I was able to beat all of the nonsense that was thrown at me.”

The president was indicted four times in 2023.

“You’re looking at a man who was indicted many times, and I had to beat the rap,” he said. “Otherwise, I couldn’t have run for president. They tried to get me not to run for president by going after me and by indicting me.”

“You go after a dirty cop like Comey or a guy like Bolton, who I hear took records all over the place. Letitia James is a terrible, dishonest person in my opinion,” Trump said.

Still, Trump said he never ordered the DOJ to take action against any of them because he wouldn’t have to.

“You don’t have to instruct ’em because they were so dirty, they were so crooked, they were so corrupt that the honest people we have, Pam Bondi’s doing a very good job. Kash Patel’s doing a very good job,” Trump said, naming his attorney general and FBI director.

The comments came after reports in September that Trump had explicitly urged Bondi to pursue cases against Comey, James, and even Rep Adam Schiff (D-Calif). When Comey was later indicted, Trump publicly said he hoped there were others.

Letitia James notably brought a civil fraud case against Trump’s business in 2022.    

Trump defends ICE raids and crypto CEO pardon

The commander-in-chief also defended his administration’s controversial immigration enforcement tactics after videos went viral showing ICE agents tackling a young mother and smashing car windows during raids.

O’Donnell asked whether those crackdowns had “gone too far.”

 “No. I think they haven’t gone far enough,” Trump responded, “because we’ve been held back by the judges, by the liberal judges that were put in by Biden and by Obama.”

He also brushed off criticism about the emotional scenes of children watching their parents being taken away. O’Donnell also grilled Trump on his decision to pardon Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who had been sentenced to four months in prison.

“I don’t know who he is,” Trump said, before insisting that Zhao’s prosecution was “a Biden witchhunt.” 

Trump pushes back on recession fears, foreign policy questions

O’Donnell also pressed Trump on foreign policy hot spots such as Venezuela and China, as well as domestic issues including the government shutdown and the high cost of living.

Trump flat-out disagreed when O’Donnell mentioned that grocery prices have gone up. He told her she was “wrong,” insisting that the economy was doing great and that 401(k)s have doubled. That, however, contradicted comments made earlier in the day by his own Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, who admitted that some sectors of the economy are in recession.

While the conversation was tense at points, it never reached the boiling point of Trump’s infamous 2020 '60 Minutes' appearance with Lesley Stahl, when he ended up walking off the set.  

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.