Interview

Trump muses about taking over DC government in new interview

From CNN's Michael Williams

President Donald Trump in a new interview published Friday mused about whether he should “take over the government” of Washington, DC.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Spectator’s editor-at-large Ben Domenech at the White House Thursday, Trump discussed his plan to have the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles visit the White House. The conversation then shifted to RFK Stadium, where the Washington Commanders (then the Redskins) played until moving to Maryland in 1996 and is undergoing demolition with ongoing conversations surrounding the team’s potential future at a rebuilt stadium.

Trump said he thought the RFK Stadium site is “beautiful,” and then asked: “So should I take over the government of DC?”

He later added, “Well we’re trying to do it. We’re looking at doing it.” Trump earlier this month also floated the idea of the federal government taking over DC, which has been governed by Home Rule since 1973.

Here’s what else he said in the interview:

Biden’s election loss: Trump said he had asked then-President Joe Biden who he blamed for his election loss during a meeting at the White House after the November election. Biden, Trump said, responded: “I blame Barack.” Trump continued, “And he said, ‘And I also blame Nancy Pelosi.’ I said, ‘What about the vice president?’ He said, ‘No, I don’t blame her,’ which was interesting. Yeah. He didn’t blame her. He blamed … he told me he blamed those two people.” CNN has not independently verified Trump’s claims about Biden’s remarks. CNN has reached out to a Biden spokesperson for comment.

Former President Richard Nixon: Trump praised Nixon, saying he was “very smart.” Trump said he “might have had more” enemies than the infamously paranoid president, who resigned from his role amid the Watergate scandal in 1974. “People don’t realize how smart he was, but he made one bad decision. He didn’t fight. I spoke to his family. They say he regretted that until the day he died. He didn’t fight,” Trump said.