President Donald Trump will be the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl on Sunday when he sits down to watch the Kansas City Chiefs face off against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Prior to the historical moment, Trump sat down with Fox News’s Bret Baier and reflected upon his first three weeks in office. During the wide-ranging interview, the president discussed his love for sports, his goals for the country, and how the 47th president is different from the 45th.
Here are the top takeaways from Trump’s pre-Super Bowl interview.
Canada as the 51st state is ‘real’
Trump has been vocal about wanting to annex the United States’s northern neighbor, seeing Canada as disproportionately benefitting from the two countries’ trade relations. Baier asked him in the interview that aired on Sunday whether his wish to make Canada the 51st state is a “real thing.”
“Yeah, it is. I think Canada would be much better off being a 51st state because we lose $200 billion a year with Canada, and I’m not going to let that happen,” the president said. “Why are we paying $200 billion a year, essentially, in subsidy to Canada Now, if they’re the 51st state, I don’t mind doing it.”
A Trump transition official told CNN shortly before his inauguration that the majority of the $200 billion figure is due to U.S. defense spending from which Canada benefits and the rest is from the trade deficit.
The president has also attacked the northern country’s immigration system, accusing them of having too lax of laws and allowing fentanyl to come into the U.S. through its border.
Difference between 45th and 47th
Recounting all he has done in the past three weeks, Trump discussed what has been different this time around than when he governed from 2017 to 2021.
“With the 45th, I had tremendous opposition … but, I didn’t know people, and I didn’t have the kind of support that I needed,” he said. “I put people in office, some great … but I had some that I wouldn’t have put … I would’ve known better if it were a couple of years later or if I had a little more experience in D.C.”
TRUMP’S RETURN TO OFFICE PARALLELS THE ONLY OTHER PRESIDENT TO DO THE SAME
Trump is one of only two people in U.S. history to serve two nonconsecutive terms. Since re-entering the Oval Office, he has revoked the security protections of some of his top advisers and Cabinet officials from his first term.
Judge’s decision to restrict DOGE ‘crazy’
The president vehemently disagreed with U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer’s decision to bar the Department of Government Efficiency from the Treasury Department‘s payment system.
“Irreparable harm” could be risked by DOGE’s ability to access millions of Americans’ sensitive data, including Social Security numbers and bank account information, Engelmayer said following a lawsuit from 19 Democratic attorneys general.
“I disagree with it 100%. I think it’s crazy. We have to solve the efficiency problem, we have to solve the fraud, waste, abuse,” the president said in the Sunday interview.
DOGE leader Elon Musk and Vice President JD Vance also decried the ruling, with the former calling it “absolutely insane.”
Picks the Chiefs to win
The president showered praise on both the Chiefs and Eagles ahead of Sunday’s big game, but when asked who he thought would win, he picked the franchise that has won the last two times.
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“The quarterback really knows how to win,” Trump said of superstar Patrick Mahomes, before turning his attention to his wife. “I’ve watched this great quarterback, who, by the way, has a phenomenal wife. She’s a Trump fan, she’s a MAGA fan, so I happen to love her.”
“I guess that when you say that when a quarterback’s won as much as he’s won, I have to go with Kansas City,” the president predicted.
