When asked if he trusts the Russian leader, the president replied: "I don't trust almost anyone" Nobody.”

Trump gave the interview hours after announcing plans to send arms to Ukraine and warning of imposing severe tariffs on Russia if a cease-fire agreement is not reached within 50 days.

From the Oval Office, the president also expressed his support for NATO, after having called it obsolete, and reaffirmed his support for the organization’s principle of common defense.

The call with the BBC, which lasted 20 minutes, came after talks about a possible interview regarding his attack on a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a year ago.

When asked if surviving the assassination attempt had changed him, Trump said he liked to think as little as possible about it.

“I don’t like to think about whether it changed me,” he said. But upon reflection, he added: “It could be life-changing.”

Another View of NATO

After recently meeting with NATO chief Mark Rutte at the White House, the president spent much of the interview elaborating on his disappointment with the Russian leader.

Trump said he had considered a deal with Russia on four separate occasions.

Asked by the BBC if he was done with Putin, the president replied: “I’m disappointed in him, but I haven’t broken up with him. But I am disappointed in him.”

Regarding how he would get Putin to “stop the bloodshed,” the US president replied: “We’re working on it, Gary.”

“We’ll have a great conversation. I’ll say, ‘That’s good, I think we’re close to doing that,’ and then he’ll knock down a building in Kyiv.”

Russia has stepped up its drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, causing a record number of civilian casualties.

The conversation turned to NATO, which Trump had previously criticized as “obsolete.”

Asked if he still felt that way, he replied, “No. I think NATO is becoming the opposite of that,” because the alliance “pays its own bills.”

He added that he still believed in collective defense because it meant smaller countries could defend themselves against larger ones.

Trump said leaders of countries like Germany, France, and Spain had come to respect him and his decision-making, in part because world leaders believed there was “a lot of talent” after being elected president twice.

Deportations

Regarding the policies his administration has been implementing, the president noted that he had done a “great” job” when it comes to one of his key campaign promises: addressing illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border, which have fallen to historic lows in the first months of his second term.

“I’ve actually delivered more than I promised,” he said.

His administration has turned its attention to identifying, detaining, and deporting migrants across the country who are in the country without documents.

As for what level of deportations would represent success for him, Trump said he wouldn’t “put a number on it,” adding, “I want to expel criminals quickly, and we’re doing that.”

“We’re taking them to El Salvador and many other places,” he said, referring to the controversial agreement that allowed the deportation of people the White House designated as gang members to a prison in the Central American country.

Regarding action by some courts to halt aspects of his deportation policy, he said, “We’ve won all of these cases in appeals. We’ve had some judges who are radical left lunatics, and every single case has been overturned.”

The Trump administration has had some success in this regard, including a recent Supreme Court ruling allowing it to deport migrants to third countries.

The president also praised his tax and spending bill—“the big, beautiful bill”—which extends the 2017 tax cuts from his first term, creates new tax breaks on tips, and cuts sharply to Medicaid, the state-run health plan.

“We got the biggest tax cuts in history,” he said.

Asked what he thought would define his legacy as president, he replied: “Saving America.”

“I think America is a great country now, and it was a dead country a year ago.”

UK Visit

Asked if he thought world leaders were sometimes “obvious in their flattery,” Trump said he felt they were “just trying to be nice.”

Regarding Britain’s future internationally, he said he thought it was a “great place, you know, I own property there.”

Regarding Brexit, he said it had been “a bit messy, but I think it’s coming together.”

The president also commented on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer: “I like the prime minister very much, even though he’s a liberal,” and praised the UK-US trade deal.

He explained that he was looking forward to a second state visit to the UK, which is planned for September of this year.

Regarding what he wanted to achieve with the visit, The president said: "Have a good time and pay my respects to King Charles, because he is a great gentleman."