Updated 2/1/2019 2:05 PM PST
1/ In a wide-ranging interview in the Oval Office, Trump called negotiating with Congress over his border wall "a waste of time" (again), brushed off the Russia investigation and claimed that Rod Rosenstein told him he was not a target in the probe, dismissed the importance of the proposed Trump Tower his team was trying to build in Moscow during the 2016 campaign, denied he ever spoke with Roger Stone about WikiLeaks and the stolen Democratic emails, and insisted that he played no role in Jared Kushner receiving a security clearance despite concerns by both the FBI and CIA. The interview was arranged after Trump reached out to A. G. Sulzberger, the publisher of The New York Times, inviting him for an off-the-record dinner. Sulzberger initially declined, saying he would prefer an on-the-record interview that included two of his reporters. Trump agreed. During the interview, Trump told the Times "I love this job," but also complained that he's "lost massive amounts of money" since becoming president. He called the job of being president "one of the great losers of all time. You know, fortunately, I don't need money. This is one of the great losers of all time." [Editor's note: Just read the interview. Podcast and excerpt links below.] (New York Times)
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2019/02/01/day-743/