Eric Cortellessa, a Time staff writer who obviously dislikes Trump, nevertheless scored a long interview with him. Time published both Cortellessa’s summary and the interview transcript. Sometimes, they are two different things. Mostly, though, Cortellessa, listening to what Trump says, sees as foul the points Trump makes and cannot comprehend that normal Americans could agree. The disconnect is stark.

You can tell immediately that Cortellessa dislikes Trump because he says the interview occurred in Trump’s “fever-dream palace.” Right there you have the snide take one expects from the journalist class. And then there’s his claim that Trump plans an “imperial presidency,” which is not true (especially compared to Biden’s lawlessness regarding borders, student loans, etc.). Lastly, Cortellessa is one of the class of “journalists” whose compulsive verbal tic is to deny that the election was stolen.

It’s worth quoting in full Cortellessa’s summation because these are the key points that show the disconnect between the media and Trump:

What emerged in two interviews with Trump, and conversations with more than a dozen of his closest advisers and confidants, were the outlines of an imperial presidency that would reshape America and its role in the world. To carry out a deportation operation designed to remove more than 11 million people from the country, Trump told me, he would be willing to build migrant detention camps and deploy the U.S. military, both at the border and inland. He would let red states monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute those who violate abortion bans. He would, at his personal discretion, withhold funds appropriated by Congress, according to top advisers. He would be willing to fire a U.S. Attorney who doesn’t carry out his order to prosecute someone, breaking with a tradition of independent law enforcement that dates from America’s founding. He is weighing pardons for every one of his supporters accused of attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, more than 800 of whom have pleaded guilty or been convicted by a jury. He might not come to the aid of an attacked ally in Europe or Asia if he felt that country wasn’t paying enough for its own defense. He would gut the U.S. civil service, deploy the National Guard to American cities as he sees fit, close the White House pandemic-preparedness office, and staff his Administration with acolytes who back his false assertion that the 2020 election was stolen.

I cannot compress Trump’s two-hour interview into a post, but I’ll sum up what Trump actually said and how Americans might view his points, without Cortellessa’s hostile filter in the way.

Trump on immigration. Trump says he intends to deport 15-20 million illegal aliens. He points to Dwight Eisenhower’s efforts for support. (Maybe he read my post.) Ordinary Americans will agree with Trump’s points about the rule of law and the destruction the illegal aliens bring with them.

When Trump says he’ll rely on states and the National Guard but will use the military if absolutely necessary, Cortellessa frames the latter possibility as a posse comitatus violation. However, Trump correctly counters that he wouldn’t be executing laws against Americans but would repel a huge invasion of around 20 million people, many of whom are fighting-age males from hostile countries.

Trump also rejects the resurrection of the Obama attack that he’d build “detention camps,” saying that one doesn’t need them if one deports illegal aliens. Regarding locales that want to be sanctuaries, he says that they can do it but kiss goodbye to federal funds—an appropriate response to lawlessness.

Finally, Trump emphasizes that he’s going to get that wall built and will follow Supreme Court rulings.

Trump on abortion. Trump says rightly that abortion is not a federal issue. Nor does he worry that he’ll have to veto a federal abortion bill because it’ll never happen. Trump refuses to say anything about mifepristone, the abortion pill, saying that he’ll have an official statement ready soon.

Trump also refuses to be baited into commenting on what states do to enforce their abortion laws. “It’s irrelevant whether I’m comfortable or not. It’s totally irrelevant because the states are going to make those decisions.” In other words, to the extent Cortellessa implied that Trump was encouraging state police to monitor women’s pregnancies, that’s a serious misrepresentation.

My guess is that most non-radical Americans support Trump’s position—it’s a state’s rights matter—which also aligns with the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision.

Trump on withholding funds appropriated by Congress. I can’t quite tell, but I think that this refers to Trump’s insistence that, as President, he has the constitutional mandate to guide foreign policy…and that means using allocated funds in the way that best effectuates goals that benefit America. This is probably constitutionally correct, and most people would agree with his insistence that America must come first.

Trump on controlling the U.S. Attorney. Trump says he would fire a rogue U.S. Attorney, and again, he’s correct. To the extent the FBI is under the control of the Justice Department, we’ve seen incredible abuses of power thanks to the US Attorney’s policies and procedures. When a U.S. Attorney engages in hyper-partisan political warfare, not on behalf of the Constitution and the law and regulations of the United States, but to use his office to achieve political goals, he needs to be brought to heel or ousted.

Trump on the January 6, 2021, protesters. Trump says he’d consider pardoning every one of them. That’s a good reason on its own to elect him. As Trump correctly says, we’re looking at a “two-tier system,” which is “sad,” I say it’s (a) unconstitutional and (b) the death of the rule of law in America. Moreover, as there’s increasing evidence that January 6 was a set-up followed by a cover-up, it’s even more outrageous that people’s lives are being destroyed for walking peacefully between the ropes through Congress.

Trump on withholding defenses from deadbeat European and Asian countries. Leftists hate America, but they love Europe, so much so that they believe America must defend Europe’s borders while abandoning its own. Trump rightly holds, and his supporters will agree, that America has no obligation to spend its treasure and blood for Europe when European countries can’t even be bothered to cough up their own money for their defense.

As for Asia—which is Taiwan—Trump was cagey and drowned Cortellessa in meaningless double talk.

Trump on gutting the U.S. Civil Service. The U.S. Civil Service is too big, too expensive, too inefficient, and way too partisan. This partisanship infects just about every agency except for the Border Patrol. From the FBI to the CIA to the National Park Service to the IRS, they all need to be trimmed, and most should be relocated to flyover country to break the D.C. Swamp’s hold on them. Again, while Cortellessa is shocked, most normal Americans would agree with Trump.

Trump on using the National Guard to protect American cities. Yes, of course. It’s eminently reasonable for a modern president to do the same when Antifa, BLM, and Hamas rioters (and whatever else the left cooks up) are destroying American cities, and leftist governors and university administrators refuse to call out their National Guard. (That’s why Eisenhower called the Guard to protect blacks in Alabama—the governor refused to act.)

Trump on closing the White House pandemic-preparedness office. Trump rightly points out that this is “giving out pork.” He adds that, with what COVID taught, the administration now knows how to mobilize the resources it needs if necessary. Correct.

Trump on who would staff his administration. As noted, Cortellessa gives away his leftist creds with his reflexive claim that the 2020 election, which has proven to be riddled with fraud, was totally honest. When asked whether he could staff his administration with people who deny election interference, Trump says that he “wouldn’t feel good about it” because it’s so obvious that it happened. In other words, people who deny the obvious are too stupid to work for him.

I strongly suggest you look at the whole interview, which covers many more topics than the ten above. I addressed only those ten because Cortellessa seemingly thought they’d be the most harmful to Trump.