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Trump Takes Questions Ahead Of Meeting With Turkish President; Trump Says "I Have No Idea" If Comey Will Be Charged, Up To DOJ; White House Threatens Mass Federal Firings If Govt. Shuts Down. Aired 12- 12:30p ET

Aired September 25, 2025 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[12:00:00]

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, I think President Erdogan is the one responsible for Syria, for the successful fight in ridding Syria of its past leader. And I think this man is responsible. He doesn't take the responsibility, but it's actually a great achievement. They've been trying to do it for 2000 years. I said, he doesn't, he did it.

I mean, there your surrogates. I think you should take the credit for it. I told him, take the credit. For 2000 years, you've been trying to take over Syria. He took over Syria, and he doesn't want to take the credit. You know, all of those people are his surrogates. But the leader of Syria, the new leader, as you know, I took sanctions off in order to let them breathe, because the sanctions were very strong.

But I think we should have a major announcement today. He was responsible for that victory. It was a victory for Turkey, because they've been fighting, as you know, for like 1000 years, and it never went, you know, it was back and forth. But he's responsible for that. So, he would have a lot to say with respect to Syria.

But at his request, I took -- and the request also of the king of Saudi Arabia, very interesting, and Qatar. They said, if you could take the sanctions, we had very strong sanctions. I don't -- they couldn't have lived with those sanctions. And I took them off to give them a chance to breathe. But the president was one of the people that was responsible for that. He asked me to do it.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, (inaudible) a very typical, when the government shuts down, why is the administration directing federal layoffs of federal workers this time around?

TRUMP: Well, this is all caused by the Democrats. They asked us to do something that's totally unreasonable. They never change. They want to give money away to illegals, illegally, people that entered our country illegally. They want to give them massive federal money. And we don't want to do that because it means everyone is going to just keep pouring back.

Right now, we have absolutely perfect borders like you haven't seen in many years, even better than the -- I had great borders during my four years. But these borders are stone cold flows. You can only come into our country legally now, but the Democrats want to give it all away. They want to also. They want to open up the borders. Take a look at that. Big thing.

They want to open borders again, after what we're going through now, getting rid of prisoners, getting rid of all of these people, dropped out from mental institutions, drug dealers, drug addicts, everything that -- they're putting everybody into our country. It's all ended now, but this is what Schumer wants. This is what the Democrats want. They want to have -- and they want to take our money. We're doing well because of tariffs, we're doing unbelievable. We're making more money than we ever have made.

And by the way, we're going to take some of that tariff money that we made, just to get off the subject for a second. We're going to take some of that tariff money that we made, we're going to give it to our farmers who are -- for a little while, going to be hurt until it kicks in, the tariffs kick into their benefit. So, we're going to make sure that our farmers are in great shape, because we're taking in a lot of money.

We're finding -- the other day, it was very interesting. They found $31 billion they said, sir, we found 31. I said, you mean positively, right? They said, yeah. 31 million more than we knew. And they said, we don't know where it came from. I said, check the tariff shelf. They came back the following morning. They said, you're right, sir. It came from the tariffs. We've never seen anything like this.

So, what we're going to be doing is we're going to be taking some money from all of the tariff money that we've taken, and we're going to distribute it to our farmers until the tariffs kick into their benefit, which ultimately the farmers are going to be making a fortune. But it's a process of, it has to kick in on. Maybe one more question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was another shooting at an ICE facility in Texas yesterday, detainees were killed. The FBI director posted on social media bullets that were engraved with the message, anti ICE. He just posted another thing on social media saying they recovered a handwritten note from the subject that read, hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror to think. Is there a sniper with AP rounds on that roof? Who do you hold responsible for the uptick in left wing violence in the country?

TRUMP: Radical left rhetoric. The radical left is causing the problem. If they're out of control, they're saying things and they're really dumb people. I mean, I look at Crockett. I look at some of these people, they're very low IQ people, actually. But the radical left is causing this problem, not the right, the radical left.

And it's going to get worse, and ultimately, it's going to go back on them. I mean, bad things happen when they play these games. And I'll give you a little clue, the right is a lot tougher than the left, but the right is not doing this. They're not doing it, and they better not get them energized because it won't be good for the left and I don't want to see that happen either.

I'm the president of all the people, but the radical left is causing this. Radical left Democrats are causing this problem. And it gets worse. It gets worse. And it'll be a point where other people won't take it anymore, and that will not be good for the radical left, and we don't want that. OK. Thank you.

[12:05:00]

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, it seems like an indictment of James Comey is intimate. Would this be the first step in accountability for pushing the hoax of Russia, Russia, Russia, along with Barack Obama involved as well?

TRUMP: Well, I can't tell you what's going to happen because I don't know. You have very professional people headed up by the Attorney General Todd Blanche, and Lindsey Halligan, who is very smart, good lawyer, very good lawyer. They're going to make a determination. I'm not making that determine.

I think I'd be allowed to get involved if it was, but I don't really choose to do so. I can only say that Comey is a bad person. He's a sick person. I think he's a sick guy, actually. He did terrible things at the FBI, and -- but I don't know, I have no idea what's going to happen. Thank you very much.

(CROSSTALK)

DANA BASH, CNN HOST, INSIDE POLITICS: OK. We have been watching a live meeting with the president of the United States and the head of Turkey, Erdogan, and they discussed a lot on foreign policy. But at the end, you heard the president of the United States asked about James Comey and the potential for an indictment of James Comey. He called him a sick and bad person.

We'll talk about that more in a second. And that is where we want to start this Inside Politics today on two big-related stories about the Trump administration going after political adversaries.

First, sources tell CNN that Attorney General Pam Bondi and top prosecutors are actually raising concerns internally about plans to charge ex FBI Director James Comey with lying to Congress. Despite those doubts, Comey could be indicted as soon as today. The president's former personal lawyer. You heard the president talking about her there. She was installed just on Monday as the top prosecutor in the office overseeing the Comey investigation.

Also, sources tell CNN that senior DOJ leaders want to charge another Trump critic, his former National Security Advisor John Bolton, this week. The charge would likely involve allegedly mishandling classified information. Now, investigators, you remember, raided Bolton's home last month, left with boxes full of records.

Let's dig into all of this with our terrific group of reporters here at the table. Katelyn, I want to start with you. What are you hearing from your sources about these two investigations?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the takeaway from the sources is that there is overt and then potentially internally pressure from Donald Trump or at least serving his interest for the Justice Department to try to indict, to charge political opponents, that Trump is making very clear, and that there are political officials around him that they want retaliation.

The president is very unhappy that he had faced charges himself, and internally at the Justice Department, they're the ones that have to decide. Trump said that just now in the Oval Office, but he's making quite clear what he wants from them. And our reporting at this time, we have a whole team of people talking to people.

Sources around this on the Comey case, the attorney general and others within the Justice Department, they do have concerns. There are prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia that wrote a memo about reservations they have about the case. We understand that Bondi has concerns but does believe it's possible to charge this case. And so, now we wait to see what happens. Do they take it to a grand jury and does a grand jury approve it?

BASH: Can I just stop you right there? I mean, that's incredible reporting. There's a memo that you and our colleagues have learned about from inside that U..S attorney's office saying that they have concerns about the potential to go forward with this Comey prosecution, which I just also want to say, it was noteworthy that the president in a very uncharacteristic moment, sort of said, why don't -- I don't know anything about it. I'm not sure about it. We know what he has said publicly many times before, which is including Saturday, which is Pam Bondi, please, prosecute.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yeah. It's not uncharacter. It's not just on characteristics. It's in direct contradiction with what he said in that Truth Social on Saturday night.

BASH: But my point is that he usually takes credit for something.

CHALIAN: No, no. I totally get the point. But like he -- he's just not being truthful right now, because he said quite clearly in his own words, on Truth Social, I fired him, and there is a great case like, so he does have an opinion about Comey. Like he's not hands off here as he's trying to portray himself now.

[12:10:00]

POLANTZ: And the Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, not a slouch in a courtroom. He is the type of person at the Justice Department who would know that when you get down to the nitty gritty, if Comey gets charged, they're going to be -- his defense team will be able to go after that potential memo. Look at all of the ways that there may have been pressure from Donald Trump to bring a case--

BASH: Not to mention that Truth Social post that will probably be exhibit a.

POLANTZ: Right, so they'll road test it if it is charged in court.

BASH: Yeah. OK. So, you mentioned what he said today about claiming to not know anything about it. Well, I definitely take your point about it, not being -- not comporting with the reality. Let's say that. But this notion of President Trump not liking James Comey is a refrain, and it has been for years and years and years. Our friends at AC360 put together kind of a greatest hits. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Comey and all this, you know, sleaze bags. Comey lied to everybody. We fired Comey, that fraud. That phony, crooked Comey. Comey should hang his head in disgrace. Comey is a dirty cop. Comey is a corrupt person. One of the best things is firing James Comey's -- out of there. He's a leaker. Comey, who's the worst. They lied to Congress many times, you know Comey and all those guys. Comey lies and leaks. He's a liar and he's a leaker. Is this guy being looked at? But we're going to straighten it out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Nice job by our friends at AC360. Shawn, you have obviously covered these issues for a long time. What's your takeaway of what we just heard and what we could see today?

SHAWN MCCREESH, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: That highlight reel is amazing. It gave me acid flashbacks to my time as a campaign reporter. And just to zoom out, when I look at the news this week, it just makes me think of the number of people I interviewed on the campaign trail at MAGA rallies, including some very prominent people who know the president personally, who said, oh, that's just rhetoric. It makes him feel good to say that, but when he gets back in, he's going to be focused on the future.

He's not going to go back and fight the battles of last term. It's unproductive, it's toxic, it's negative energy. And I just always thought that was sort of nuts and kind of, you know, wishful thinking. On behalf of a lot of people, it turns out that I am your retribution was not hypothetical. And you know, the central promise of his campaign was a threat, and so, I don't think anybody should be surprised that he's doing this, but it may turn out to be counterproductive for him.

BASH: Well, he's not your retribution. In this case, he's his own retribution.

MCCREESH: Right.

BASH: And that's what he's trying to do. I also just want to take a beat on Lisa Halligan. You heard the president talking about her. She's the person who he literally put in. On Monday after he fired a Republican, a Trump supporter, who was U.S. attorney, because that U.S. attorney did not follow through on doing the political prosecutions that he appointed -- that he appointed. Yeah.

Lisa Halligan is the interim U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, known as the rocket docket, had, excuse me, Lindsey Halligan had been serving as special assistant to the president. She, like Todd Blanche, was one of Trump's personal attorneys in the classified documents case and was a partner at an insurance firm in Fort Lauderdale. I don't think she has any prosecute -- prosecuting experience in the courtroom. Tell me if?

POLANTZ: I have never seen her in a courtroom, and I have had many of these hearings when she was on the Trump defense team. That isn't disqualifying necessarily for a U.S. attorney, but it is really striking that she's coming in as this deadline looms to potentially bring a case against Jim Comey in Virginia that the statute of limitations at five years. It's next Tuesday. That's it. That's all the time they have.

And we believe that Siebert, the previous U.S. attorney that Trump had appointed, that he was more opposed to this other case against another political opponent of Donald Trump, Letitia James, the New York Attorney General.

Just real quick. I just have to bring this up, because if you're a Democrat listening to him go on and on about Comey, you go, I'm sorry. Was it James Comey, the one who basically threw everything up in the air? I probably helped. Do Hillary Clinton in at the end of the 2020--

CHALIAN: Certainly, Hillary can't believe so, she wrote a book called, What Happened, dedicated a large portion to it in blaming Jim Comey. Of course, it was right after that that this investigation sent him the wrong way. Don't we have to just, don't we have to wait and see now if I like a Saturday Night Massacre.

If indeed, Pam Bondi has reservations, or if these prosecutors in Virginia have reservations, and there is still a follow-through of this order, you know, do we have to be on watch here for what kind of fallout happens inside the Justice Department?

[12:15:00]

BASH: All right. You know, what, you had an acid flashback, I'm having acid reflux. Everybody stand by. Coming up next. We've got new details on how the White House wants to use a shutdown to take the federal government down to the state. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:20:00]

BASH: The White House is threatening mass federal layoffs if the government shuts down next week, not just the typical temporary furloughs that we have seen with many shutdowns recently. They're talking about permanent layoffs. Another Trump backed purge of the federal workforce.

White House Budget Director Russ Vought sent a memo to agencies yesterday, ordering them to prepare and he preemptively blamed the Democrats. Quote, we remain hopeful that Democrats in Congress will not trigger a shutdown and the steps outlined above will not be necessary. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries hit back. He called vote a malignant political hack and said he would not be intimidated.

The Washington Post Marianna Sotomayor joins us at the table. Marianna, you spent a lot of time on Capitol Hill. Is there any hope that this will be averted at this time.

MARIANNA SOTOMAYOR, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: I mean, listen, we've seen so many times that we've gone right up to the hour, and then maybe there is a solution, maybe there's a negotiation. But as of right now, the stalemate absolutely continues, and Democrats are not budging, despite this threat. If anything, they're pointing out the fact that Republicans hold the White House, the Senate and the House and vote does not have to take this step at all.

I mean, like you said, past shutdowns, there have been furloughs. People have -- federal workers have had back pay, but this new threat to fire a number of federal workers, if anything has shown a number of Democrats, including Senate Democrats, who were kind of weighing whether to support this funding bill.

They were genuinely weighing and wanted to know if Republicans in the future would continue to cut already appropriated funds, which we've seen happen through DOGE, through other measures that have happened already this year. So, at this point in time, I really do not see Democrats, both in the House and the Senate moving on this. So, it's just an escalation.

BASH: And David, I just want to underscore how big a deal this would be, because, as I said, unfortunately, we have seen many government shutdowns of various lengths over the past several years. People don't get paid. They get furloughed, but then they tend to pass back pay, not always, but tend to pass back pay.

But the point is, it's temporary. This threat is that it's permanent. And that's what you hear from some Democrats, some quietly, some publicly about their concern about the potential for a shutdown because you're giving the Trump administration the keys to the kingdom, and say, OK, do what you want, and this is what they're saying, they'll do.

CHALIAN: Well, this was part of the argument. Remember, in the spring that Schumer, when he got so much heat from his party for not putting up a fight, one of the arguments being made at the time, because remember, that's when Elon Musk was still here. DOGE was still in effect. That there was a real concern among Democrats that in a shutdown, the executive would go as to a maximalist approach, as Donald Trump is doing.

So, that is a real concern. It was intriguing to hear the president in the Oval Office, right? The first thing out of his mouth when he was asked about the shutdown was, well, of course, this will be all the Democrats' fault. It seems both Republicans and Democrats are spending a lot more time right now, as the clock is ticking down, laying the groundwork for the political battle of who gets the blame, rather than actually trying to find an off ramp to fund the government.

BASH: Well, and there was a meeting planned at the White House with the president and Democratic leaders, and the Republican leaders in Congress, told the president, and it's not a good idea, because we don't want to give in on that. Here is, well, I just want to say on the Schumer of it all, I talked to him on Sunday, asked him that very question, and his argument was that was six months ago.

And now, what you're seeing at the -- in the administration is even more insistent on doing it their way anyway, meaning they're going to do it anyway. And so, what difference does it make? Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the House, was asked about the leverage that he might have. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If the government were to shut down, what leverage do Democrats have at that point?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Republicans control the House, the Senate and the presidency. The country has been lectured all year about how Republicans are in charge. If the government shuts down, it will shut down because Donald Trump and Republicans in the House and the Senate have made that decision to intentionally inflict pain on the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Shawn?

SHAWN MCCREESH: Yeah. The Democrats are in a tricky spot. I think that they are bruising for a fight their voters want it. I just don't know that the shutdown is going to be the thing that gives them their mojo back. But when I look at this, it reminds me of something Trump said the week he came back into town.

I was writing a piece about some prayer breakfast he was speaking at, and he said that, in the new era of Washington, it's going to be like the old days where Republicans and Democrats were going to go out to eat together, and everything was going to be so great, and he was going to invite them all over to the White House. And of course, he hasn't done that at all. And it's like a total go it alone approach from the Republicans and you can see that this week.

[12:25:00]

BASH: Before we go to break. I just want to read one thing. This is from Congressman Mike Lawler, Republican from New York. He's one of three Republican House members in districts that Joe Biden won in 2024. For years, Democrats have thundered from every podium, press conference and Sunday show that any government shutdown is reckless, destructive and indefensible. Now? Those same Democrats are suddenly just fine with plunging the American people into a shutdown because it suits their political agenda. And the question, if we do get to a shutdown is, which of those arguments is going to win.

All right, up next. Why a letter from RFK Jr. is fueling new concern about access to abortion medication. Plus, it's been a year since Hurricane Helene ripped through North Carolina, and for many, recovery is still a distant dream. States' governor will join us to talk about what his state needs.

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[12:30:00]