As it aired: the Trump pregame interview on FOX

The United States, Donald J. Trump. Mr. President, thanks for having us. Thank you very much. Happy Super Bowl. Thank you. You know, you are going to be the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl. It's a big day for America, always is. What made you want to do it? Well, first of all, I'm very surprised to hear that. I would have assumed many presidents came, but I think just the spirit of the country, the country's taken on a whole new life. I thought it would be a good thing for the country to have the president be at the game. It's an iconic day. It's going to be a great game, two great teams. And let's see what happens. You know, it seems the first days of this administration are like a no huddle offense, you know, plays going down the field one after another. There's a long list of things you've already got done in three weeks. Big border policy changes, ice crackdowns on criminals, taking biological men out of women and girls, sports, big energy policy changes. So what's different with you and your administration? The difference between the 45th president and the 47th president? Well, 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. I put people in office, some great, some really great ones, but I had some that I wouldn't have put. I would have known better if it were a couple of years later, if I had a little more experience in D.C. I was a New York person, not a D.C. person. And I had a lot of opposition. I just noticed, I looked on the stage for the recent inauguration and I'm looking, it's like a who's who of Washington. Well, if you look on the stage for the first one, it was just the opposite. So some of your plays have raised some questions and had some pushbacks. 19 states attorneys general filed a lawsuit and early Saturday, a judge agreed with them to restrict Elon Musk and his government efficiency team, Doge, from accessing Treasury Department payment and data systems. They said there was a risk of irreparable harm. What do you make of that? And does that slow you down on what you want to do? I disagree with it a hundred percent. I think it's crazy. And we have to solve the efficiency problem. We have to solve the fraud, waste, abuse, all the things that have gone into the government. You take a look at the USAID, the kind of fraud in there. And you've found significant things. Well, we're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars of money that's going to places where it shouldn't be going. Where if I read a list, you'd say, this is ridiculous. And you've read the same lists and there are many that you haven't even seen. It's crazy. It's a big scam. Now, there's some good money and we can do that through any one of a number. I think I'd rather give it to Marco Rubio over at the State Department. Let him take care of the few good ones. So I don't know if it's kickbacks or what's going on. But the people look, I ran on this and the people want me to find it. And I've had a great help with Elon Musk, who's been terrific. Bottom line, you say you trust him. Trust Elon? Oh, he's not gaining anything. In fact, I wonder how he can devote the time to it. He's so into it. But I told him do that. Then I'm going to tell him very soon, like maybe in 24 hours, to go check the Department of Education. He's going to find the same thing. Then I'm going to go go to the military. Let's check the military. We're going to find billions, hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud and abuse. But I campaigned on this, Brett. You announced tariffs on Canada and Mexico. You immediately got action from both of them on border security and drug interdiction. A lot of action. Is that good enough? No, it's not good enough. So more needed in 30 days. Something has to happen. It's not sustainable. And I'm changing it. You know, the prime minister said this weekend to a group of Canadian businessmen, he was a private meeting. He said that your wish for Canada to be the 51st state is a, quote, real thing. Is it a real thing? Yeah, it is. I think Canada would be much better off being a 51st state because we lose 200 billion dollars a year with Canada. And I'm not going to let that happen. It's too much. Why are we paying 200 billion dollars a year essentially in subsidy to Canada? Now, if they're a 51st state, I don't mind doing it. You said the tariff is a beautiful word. There are some signs in the markets, consumer confidence, that they're a little jittery. So if all goes to plan, when do you think families will be able to feel prices going down, groceries, energy? Or are you kind of saying to them, hang on, inflation may get worse until it gets better? No, I think we're going to become a rich. Look, we're not that rich right now. We owe 36 trillion dollars. That's because we let all these nations take advantage of us. Same thing, like 200 billion with Canada, we owe 300. We have a deficit with Mexico of 350 billion dollars. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to let that happen. Sports has always been something that Americans rally around and come together. They really do. You won the popular vote. You won all the swing states. Have you thought about how to try to bring the country together to reach out or to find common ground? Have you thought about that or how that might go? I'd love to do it. But I would say this. We have to come together. But to come together, there's only one thing that's going to do it. And that's massive success. Success will bring the country together, but it's hard. And I say it's hard. I just signed a bill allowing for women not to have to be punished by men in sports. In other words, men are not going to be allowed to play in sports against women. It's ridiculous. You're a sports guy. You're a football fan. Size up these two teams. I'm a big fan of both teams. They're sort of different. In Philadelphia, you have one of the greatest running back, Saquon. You know, Saquon had an uncle who was a great fighter, great fighter. And I ran Barkley, his name was. So you have a great running back. You really have a great quarterback. The other team, the quarterback really knows how to win. He's a great, great quarterback. So game prediction? I hate to do it. I just say that I've watched this great quarterback who has, by the way, a phenomenal wife, OK? She's a Trump fan. She's a mega fan. So I happen to love her, OK? But she's a great person. I watched her being interviewed. I said, boy, that's pretty good. But she's great. And he's great. I guess you have to say that when a quarterback wins as much as he's won, I have to go with Kansas City. I have to go with Kansas City. At the same time, Philadelphia has a fantastic game. It's going to be just a great game. Finally, listen, you are the most recognized person in the world, likely the most imitated person in the world. Every comedian has a Donald Trump imitation, everyone. But now you have UFC fighters winning fights, NFL players doing the Trump dance. Did you ever think that was going to be a thing? No, I didn't. I mean, we do these rallies. They've always been great, but they got really great. And it's just, I don't know what it is. I try and walk off sometimes without dancing, and I can't. I have to dance because it's just got something special about it. Mr. President, thanks for the time. Thank you very much. Enjoy the game. You can see the rest of the interview on a host of other topics on Special Report Monday on Fox News Channel. In the meantime, we'll send it back to our Fox team in New Orleans after a short break to the kickoff of Super Bowl 59.