President Donald Trump says he is enjoying his second presidency more than his first, claiming he’s now not only running the country but also “the world.”
In a recent interview with The Atlantic, Trump spoke at length about his current time in office, his mindset, and how he views his role on the global stage. “I’m having a lot of fun, considering what I do,” he told the magazine in a phone call. “You know, what I do is such serious stuff.”
Trump sat down with correspondents Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer, despite ongoing controversy involving Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg, who had accidentally been included in a war planning group chat — a situation that has created turbulence inside the administration. Still, Trump appeared willing to engage with the magazine, even dangling the possibility of future interviews.
“If he liked the story we wrote, he said, he might even speak with us again,” the reporters wrote. Trump himself added: “Tell the people at The Atlantic, if they’d write good stories and truthful stories, the magazine would be hot.”
People close to Trump say he seems more comfortable — and more dangerous — in his second term. Lobbyist and longtime Trump ally Brian Ballard told the magazine that the former president is leaning into the chaos.
“The first time, the first weeks, it was just, ‘Let’s blow this place up,’” Ballard said. “This time, he’s blowing it up with a twinkle in his eye.”
Trump didn’t disagree. “The first time, I had two things to do — run the country and survive,” he said. “I had all these crooked guys, and the second time, I run the country — and the world.”
The conversation also touched on a rumor that Trump had asked the Justice Department to investigate whether he could run for a third term — a constitutional limit. Trump denied the claim but didn’t dismiss the idea outright.
“That would be a big shattering, wouldn’t it?” he said, laughing. “Well, maybe I’m just trying to shatter [democratic norms].”
Trump said his supporters sometimes call for him to pursue a third term, but acknowledged the legal roadblocks. “It’s not something that I’m looking to do, and I think it would be a very hard thing to do,” he said.
Still, Trump’s message is unmistakable: he’s in charge, and he’s enjoying it.
