Read the transcript of Trump’s interview with “The Axios Show”

Axios' Marc Caputo:Mr. President, welcome to the Axios Show.President Trump:Thank you.Caputo:We wanted to make this more of a conversation than a typical interview where we're just going to hop around from topics to topic, and we wanted to do, Axios likes to do "1 big thing." And so the one big thing we want to talk about is power, and how you think about it and how you wield it. And so a decade ago, you first became president, and you've had loads of experience since then. In that span of time, what is the one big thing you've learned about wielding power?Trump:Well, I think you have to do it judiciously. I think that experience is good. I always say that potential is far more important. In other words, having ability is far more important than experience. But having both is very good. And I learned a lot during the first administration. And I was told just the other day, because you know we had a tremendous G7 and very dominant G7. We got what I wanted. And somebody said the other day that this is a far more powerful administration or term than the first one. And we had a good first term. You know we had the best economy. We had a lot of good things happening. Rebuilt the military. We did a good job. But I feel it's a more powerful term than the first one. Now that comes with experience. It also comes by having somebody precede you who was a disaster. The man was a disaster. And so when you compare to somebody like that, you look maybe better than you are. That's possible, but I feel that it's a very powerful administration right now.Caputo:But that's because you've applied lessons, you've done some things differently. What are some of those things you did differently, or better than you did before?Trump:Well, it's a terrible answer actually, but I don't think about it. I just do what I have to do. I want to get something done. I don't say, oh, I'm going to do it a little bit differently this time. I probably say that down deep, but I don't think about, like 'Gee, what can I do differently?' I just want to get the job done, and I've always gotten the job done. That's how I got elected the first time, and that's how I got elected the second time. But the second Trump administration is a more powerful. And it feels more to me. I may not be wrong. You would know maybe better than I would cause I don't give it a lot of thought, but I think it's a more powerful administration. And I think the first one was really good. You know, I rebuilt the military in the first one. I did Space Force. I did so many things. We had the best economy. We had a great economy. We had the best job numbers. We had everything. First administration was good. We got hit by COVID. That's not my fault. But at the end. But we had a great administration. But this one is I think better.Caputo:You've mentioned the G7. You saw a number of world leaders. You walked in and you said, I'm the boss. How many of them believe that?Trump:All of them. But I was just being funny. What happened is they're all sitting, and then I walked into the room and it was just sort of funny because there's a very long table, but there's only seven of them. The table was meant for like 30 people. So the whole end of the table looked like almost the perfect podium-type setup, right? And I saw them all sitting. They're all well-known figures. The heads of countries. We had a couple of others in there too, as you know. As an example, Modi of India, a great guy. A lot of people came. They're allowed to come if they want and sit. But I walked in there, these leaders, and I just looked at 'em. I said, I'm the boss, and you remember. And you know that was done as a joke. This thing I carried all over the world. I can't believe it. I was just being cute. Funny. I wasn't trying to be the boss.Caputo:You have experience, obviously, with the world leaders from your two terms. What's your definition of a great leader? How do you define?Trump:Well, you have so many different types of leaders. Yesterday as an example, I'll mention the name again because pretty great. You know, all my life I've watched India. They just kept changing, changing, changing. Somebody would be there for six months and then a year. And then all of a sudden, Prime Minister Modi ends up there. He's been there for more than 12 years, very solid. And he does it through, like, there's a great calmness, and yet he's not a calm person. He's a very tough guy. I know him very well. And you have such different leaders. I watched Brazil, the leader who I know a little bit. We have some — he's a very volatile person.Caputo:You're not a fan of Lula, if I'm not mistaken.Trump:I'm not a fan or not a fan. I don't think about him to be honest with you. I don't really think about him. I couldn't care less. But he's a different kind of a person now. Very volatile. I watched as he made a speech. It was a very volatile and it's fine. It's all different types. So when you say about leaders, when you say about, you know, what