President Donald Trump said he isn’t letting disloyal aides or critics obstruct his second term, firmly asserting his control during an interview with The Atlantic as he reflected on his first 100 days back in office.
“In my first term, I had two jobs — running the country and surviving all the crooked people around me,” Trump said in the interview published April 28. “This time, I run the country and the world.”
The interview comes at a time when Trump’s approval rating has dropped significantly, falling to 39% according to reports and Ipsos poll, amid economic concerns and criticism over his heavy use of tariffs.
Still, Trump agreed with a close ally’s observation that he’s enjoying himself more this time around, even while “blowing up Washington with a twinkle in his eye.” “I’m having a lot of fun, considering how serious my work is,” Trump said.
Trump also commented on the warmer reception he’s received from billionaire figures like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos during his second term. “There’s just a higher level of respect now. Maybe they didn’t know me well before, and they know me now,” he said.
The Atlantic interview, conducted April 24 by reporters Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer, followed Trump’s announcement on Truth Social that he agreed to participate “out of curiosity” and to see if The Atlantic could be “truthful,” despite previously criticizing and declining the magazine’s interview request. Trump’s feud with The Atlantic stems from past reporting that claimed he called U.S. soldiers who died in combat “suckers” and “losers.”
Present in the Oval Office during the interview was The Atlantic’s editor Jeffrey Goldberg, who had recently been linked to a leaked Signal chat that exposed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth discussing U.S. airstrikes in Yemen on an unsecured app.
Asked about Hegseth, Trump said, “I think he’s going to pull it together,” as Hegseth faces scrutiny over the leaks and reports of installing a private makeup room near the Pentagon briefing area.
Trump was also questioned about floating the idea of seeking a third presidential term — despite constitutional limits — a notion he continues to tease without formally pursuing. “That would be a big shattering, wouldn’t it?” Trump joked. “Maybe I’m just trying to shatter.”
Despite his frequent attacks on the media — again calling them the “enemy of the people” on Truth Social — Trump recently gave an interview to Time magazine as well.
