Trump's phone interview w/ Maria Bartiromo was so bizarre she cut it short

Trump's presidency is showing visible signs of collapse. A bizarre phone interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox News had to be cut short after Trump couldn't stay on topic, couldn't answer direct questions, and rambled about naming the Gulf of Mexico after himself in the middle of discussing the Iran war. Hours earlier, his entrance at UFC 327 in Miami drew a muted, mixed reaction from a crowd that used to be his strongest base. And in Hungary, Viktor Orban, the authoritarian leader Trump personally backed, lost in a historic landslide with the highest voter turnout since the fall of Communism.

The Breakdown:

Trump confirmed a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz during a phone interview with Maria Bartiromo that had to be cut short because he could not stop talking or stay on topic

He rambled about "computerized bullets," lasers that melt drones, and a submarine called the Salamani before admitting gas prices could go "a little bit higher" while Fox displayed $4.12 per gallon on screen

Trump detoured into wanting to rename the Gulf of Mexico "the Gulf of Trump" in the middle of a conversation about blockading a critical waterway

He called the 2020 election "rigged" on the network that paid $787.5 million to Dominion Voting Systems for spreading those exact lies, and Bartiromo responded "Yup"

At a late-night tarmac appearance at Joint Base Andrews, Trump said Iran's "whole navy is underwater," attacked Pope Leo, called NATO allies disappointing, and suggested decades of guarding against Russia was "a little ridiculous"

Trump invoked Neville Chamberlain against the UK for not supporting his Iran war despite being the president who pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal and spent years praising Putin, exchanging "love letters" with Kim Jong Un, and calling Orban "a fantastic man"

His entrance at UFC 327 in Miami drew a muted reaction compared to the electric crowd at the same venue in 2025, with witnesses describing booing and Trump looking "like he had been crying"

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban lost the election in a historic landslide after 16 years in power, with 77 percent voter turnout and the opposition winning a supermajority of 138 out of 199 seats

The full weight of the American government had backed Orban, with Trump offering "the full economic might of the United States" and JD Vance standing on Orban's stage days before the vote

Peter Magyar's Tisza party won with a mandate to rewrite the constitution, telling supporters "Together we replaced the Orban regime, together we liberated Hungary"

Trump called the free press "almost treasonous," naming CNN, ABC, and NBC directly, continuing the authoritarian playbook of discrediting, delegitimizing, and dismantling independent media

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

I'm Heather Tlaney Reese, and you're listening to Hope for America, where every day I bring you the truth about our politics, our country, and the forces trying to destroy them. Together, we cut through the noise, expose the lies, and stay focused on what really matters, fighting for the survival of our country. Shortly after 9 p.m. last night, the President of the United States carefully gripped the handrail of the stairs of Air Force One as he made his way down onto the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews before walking straight over to the waiting press. With eyes so swollen they were reduced to slivers beneath his bright red USA baseball cap, he didn't stay long to answer questions. He spent most of the six minutes awkwardly trying to convince anyone listening that, and I quote, a lot of very good things are happening with regard to the Strait of Humus, followed shortly by declaring that a blockade of the Strait of Humus would begin at 10 a.m. Monday morning. He then pivoted to attacking the Pope before turning his rage to NATO, lashing out at allies before abruptly ending the exchange altogether by walking away. In those six minutes, while standing on a tarmac in the dark, Donald J. Trump said that Iran's whole Navy is underwater, and I don't care if they come back or not. If they don't come back, I'm fine, when asked how long he was willing to wait for Iran to come back to the negotiating table. And when a reporter asked him why he attacked Pope Leo on True Social, Trump didn't hesitate. I don't think he's doing a very good job, he said. He likes crime, I guess. He called the Pope a very liberal person who doesn't believe in stopping crime, before adding he says it's okay to have a nuclear weapon, and that I'm not a big fan of Pope Leo. And then when asked about NATO, the alliance that has held the Western world together for over 75 years, Trump said he was very disappointed that Allies weren't there for us, and then delivered a truly reckless comment. We spent trillions guarding against Russia. I've long thought it was a little ridiculous. That's going to be under very serious examination. And that's when he turned and started walking away. What we saw this weekend was a presidency in the early stages of collapse. He is now on the other side of his own downfall. That doesn't mean this is over. And it doesn't mean the damage stops here. There are still people protecting him, systems bending around him, and still real consequences for us in the meantime. But something has shifted. Yesterday morning, Donald Trump called into Sunday morning futures with Maria Bartorromo on Fox News for a 35-minute phone interview. And what followed was one of the more telling stretches of airtime we've seen from him in a while. Not because he said anything new, but because he couldn't stop talking. He couldn't stay on topic, and he couldn't answer a direct question. And eventually he had to be cut off. Even as a loyalist like Maria tried to redirect him multiple times. He opened by confirming the naval blockade of the Strait of Harmuz, saying, We're going to be blockading and that it would take a little while, but it'll be pretty effective pretty soon. And what came after that was where the interview started to unravel. He described Iran's negotiators as having came in like they had the cards, but they don't have the cards, and then launched into a long, looping monologue about destroying ships and mind droppers and obliterating radar and a submarine called the Salomani and computerized bullets and lasers that melt drones. And then Barta Romo asked about oil and gas prices, the question that matters most to the Americans who are paying more at the pump every week because of a war they didn't ask for. She asked whether prices would come down before the midterms. And Trump started talking about the stock market hitting 50,000, about how great the economy was before he started the war, about how even if prices went up, he had to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. And then he said, So I just have the greatest economy ever. Bardo Romo, for her credit, asked the question again, so do you believe the price of gas and oil will be lower before the midterm elections? And this was his answer. I hope so. I mean I think so. It could be, it could be, or the same, or maybe a bit higher. While he said those words, Fox displayed a graphic showing crude oil at$96.57 per barrel and the average gas price at$4.125 a gallon, up nearly 53 cents from just one month ago. Barterromo's eyes widened and she blinked hard multiple times at his admission. He also took time in the middle of a discussion about a current war to talk about the Gulf of America, or as he likes to call it the Gulf of America. He went on a tangent about how he really wanted to rename it the Gulf of Trump before deciding against it, saying, I think maybe it was a wise, I think that one maybe wouldn't have worked out, he said, as Barterromo tried to sear him back by suggesting he was being facetious, that he was joking, but it's doubtful that he was joking. And it tells us everything about where his head is that in the middle of a conversation about blockading a critical waterway and threatening to destroy a nation's water supply, the president of the United States detoured into whether a body of water should be named after him. And then between the infrastructure threats and the Gulf of Trump tangent, he said something that should never be treated as normal. No matter how many times he says it, he called the 2020 election rigged. He said, You know that. I know that. Everybody knows that. And it'll all come out and it's coming out. And Ria Barterromo, sitting on the set of the network that paid$787.5 million to the Dominion voter systems for spreading those exact lies, responded, Yep. Toward the end of the interview, Trump launched into a rant attacking NATO and our allies, singling out the United Kingdom and Germany for not supporting the war in Iran. He mocked UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer for offering to send equipment after the war is over, comparing it to a Neville Chamberlain type statement. Neville Chamberlain, you know, the Prime Minister, you know, the British Prime Minister remembered for handing a piece of a sovereign nation over to Adolf Hitler in 1938 and calling it peace, the man whose name has been shorthand for nearly 90 years for the catastrophic failure of appeasing an aggressor while the world burns. And Donald Trump is the president who has spent years praising Vladimir Putin, who said he exchanged what he called love letters with Kim Jon-un, who invited the Taliban to Camp David, who called Viktor Orban a fantastic man on speakerphone just five days ago. He is also the president who pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal, the agreement that was actually constraining Iran's nuclear program, the decision that set off a chain of events that led us directly to this war. And now he is invoking Chamberlain against a democratic ally. Because that ally won't help him clean up what he broke. He spent four years in his first term appeasing every strong man on the planet and calling it deal making. And now having started a war that his own decisions made inevitable, he is invoking the defining failure of 20th century European democracy as a weapon. He is aiming it at the very nations that lived through the consequences of that failure. Nations whose cities were bombed, whose people were killed, and whose continent was shattered because appeasement didn't work. He went on to attack Germany for saying we didn't start this. And then he started talking about Venezuela, boasting that the country is making more money than they've ever made before. After his administration's kidnapping of its leader in January, and that's when Barderomo stepped in. Mr. President, we want to respect your time. She said, I know how busy you are this morning, and I know that we will have part two of this interview this week at the White House. She pulled the plug on the interview because he just could not stop. And in the middle of that, tucked between the threats of civilizational destruction and attacks on NATO, he called the free press almost treasonous. He named CNN, ABC, and NBC directly. He said their reporting on the war was so sad and almost treasonous, actually, if you want to really know that. Every single time he does this, I am going to call it out. Every single time. Because when a sitting president labels truthful reporting as treasonous, he is laying the groundwork for suppression. That is the playbook. Direct, discredit the press, delegitimize the press, and then dismantle the press. It's what Orban did in Hungary, it's what Putin did in Russia, and it is what every authoritarian does before the lights go out on a free society. And the fact that he says it so casually, like it's a throwaway line in a phone interview, does not make it less dangerous. It makes it more dangerous because it means he's normalizing it. And this is why we have to continue supporting independent media. Every time he attacks the media, we need to push forward and support those who are holding the line with paid memberships. Not just to mine, but to all of your favorite voices. If you have the means, please identify a handful of people who are putting themselves on the line by sharing what is really happening and support them. Share their work, lift them up. This is how we make sure that the truth is still reaching the American people, especially as we get closer to the midterm elections. And we have to wonder if Trump's erotic phone interview with Maria Barteromo has anything to do with the lackluster reaction he received the night before in Miami for UFC 327. With Kid Rock blaring over the speakers, Trump walked in with Dana White at his side, Ivanka behind him, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio nearby. This was supposed to be his room. UFC crowds have been his people since day one. In 2025, at UFC 314 in the same building, the arena erupted when he walked in. The energy was electric. It was the kind of moment his team turns into campaign footage. A viral video comparing the two entrances is now circulating and the contrast is devastating for him. This time, the reaction was mixed at best. Subdued, muted, some witnesses described booing even. Multiple observations noted that Trump looked deflated, depressed, and the word people kept using was that he looked like he had been crying. The swagger that is defined his public appearances for a decade was gone. People in the crowd weren't making eye contact with his entourage. They were visibly distancing themselves. His people had to look around for someone to shake hands with. This was his first appearance at a sporting event since he started the Iran War. And you could feel the shift in the room. Something has changed. And everyone in that arena knew it. And it wasn't just Trump having a bad night. It was a bad night for authoritarians because we received the results of the election. I have been watching with a knot in my stomach for months. The Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, who had ruled for 16 years, lost the election and quickly conceded defeat earlier yesterday. And the next prime minister of Hungary, Petr Magyar's Tisa Party, also won a supermajority, securing 138 seats in the 199-seat parliament. Turnout was over 77%, the highest in any Hungarian election since the end of communist rule. In his victory speech, delivered to tens of thousands of supporters, gathered along the Danube River in Budapest, he said, Together we replaced the Orban regime, together we liberated Hungary. We took our country back. He said the victory was so large it was visible from the moon and every window in Hungary. He pledged to reintegrate Hungary into the European Union's judicial system. He said nobody is labeled for thinking differently than the majority, and that those who betrayed the country will be held accountable. And the crowd chanted one word, Europe. This is a meaningful victory for Hungary, and just as important for Europe and the entire world because of what Orban represented. Steve Bannon, one of the original architects of the MAGA movement, once called Orban Trump before Trump. He meant it as a praise. Orban was the model. Consolidate the media, weaken the courts, demonize immigrants, cozy up to Russia, call it liberal democracy, and dare anyone to stop you. The Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, held its conference in Budapest. Trump called Orban a fantastic man on speakerphone five days ago. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Budapest in February and told Orban that Trump is deeply committed to your success. Trump offered the full economic might of the United States to strengthen Hungary's economy if Orban won. The vice president of the United States stood on Orban's stage and begged Hungarian voters to re-elect him just days ago. The full weight of the American government was thrown behind keeping this man in power. And yesterday, the Hungarian people said no in record numbers. Authoritarians have always found each other. It is one of the defining patterns of the past authoritarian alliances of the 20th century. In the 1930s, the alignment that formed between Hungary, Mussolini, and Imperial Japan was not built on shared ideology. Hitler was a racial supremacist. Mussolini was a nationalist strongman who consolidated media and courts. Imperial Japan was driven by expansionism. What bound them together was not a common vision for the world, but a common enemy, liberal democracy. They aligned because democratic nations shunned them, because decent countries refused to treat them as legitimate partners, and because they needed each other to survive the isolation that came with their own behavior. And the lessons of the pacts these strong men formed, written or not, are that authoritarian alliances are not bound by principles. They are about power and convenience. And they will align with anyone, even their supposed ideological opposites, if it serves their interests in the moment. Now look at the modern alignment. Trump, Orban Putin, Netanyahu, Bolsonaro before his fall, Miley. They don't share a coherent ideology. What they share is contempt for democratic institutions, hostility towards a free press, and willingness to use state power against political opponents, and a mutual dependence born on the fact that democratic leaders increasingly refuse to treat them as legitimate partners on the world stage. They find each other because the democratic world of today shuns them too. But here is what the 1930s also teach us, and it is the most important lesson of all. Authoritarian alliances are inherently brittle. Mussolini fell first, then Hitler. The access did not collapse only because of external military pressure. It collapsed because the internal contradictions of authoritarian rule, the corruption, the overreach, the economic rot, and the isolation from the international community eventually became unsustainable. The people, when given a real choice, choose differently. And that is what happened yesterday in Hungary. And maybe the message of what happened would be best received by our Congress, who are still in the Trump wagon. You are on a sinking ship. Viktor Orbon had 16 years of consolidated power. He had captured the media. He had gerrymandered electoral systems built to favor his party. He had the endorsement of the president of the United States. He had the vice president standing on his stage days ago. And 77% of Hungarians still showed up and threw him out in a landslide so decisive that the opposition is projected to rewrite the constitution. This should alarm every Republican in Congress who thinks they can ride this out by staying quiet or by nodding along and by choosing loyalty to one man over loyalty to the country they swore to serve. But the midterms are coming, and Hakeem Jeffries put it plainly last night. Far right authoritarian Victor Orban has lost the election. Trump's sickle fants and MAGA extremists in Congress are up next in November. Winter is coming. Chuck Schumer was just as direct. Wannabe dictators, wear out their welcome. November 2026 can't come soon enough. After seeing Victor Orban fall today, I felt something I haven't in a long time. Peace. Knowing that Orban's time is coming to an end, not through a revolution or a coup, but through a democratic election with the highest turnout in the country's post-communist history, means something real. The Hungarian people showed up and they voted and they chose democracy. And if the Hungarian people can do it after 16 years of authoritarian rule, after the courts were weakened and the media was captured, and the maps were drawn to favor the incumbent, and the president of the United States personally intervened to keep the strong man in power, then we can do it too. The midterms are coming. The writing is on the wall. And that is why I still have hope for America. And you should too. And remember, no matter how dark the days get, I will be here every single day. And together we will always find hope for America. I'll see you tomorrow.