How Trump woke me up for surprise interview - and the key takeaways

BBC reporter Gary O'Donoghue received an unexpected phone call from President Donald Trump on Monday evening. O'Donoghue had been hoping for an interview to mark the anniversary of the assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, believing his previous reporting on that event might secure the rare opportunity. After a false alarm the previous night, he had given up and was asleep when the White House called.

Awoken by the call, O'Donoghue was connected to Trump via Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Despite initial technical difficulties where the line dropped, the call resumed, and O'Donoghue spoke with the president for nearly 20 minutes. Their conversation covered the Butler shooting, Trump's frustrations with Vladimir Putin, his views on NATO, and his opinion of the UK.

Key takeaways from the conversation included Trump sounding reflective and vulnerable when discussing the assassination attempt. He expressed discomfort talking about it, stating he tries not to dwell on it ("I don't like dwelling on it... I don't want it to have to be that") and prefers "the power of positive thinking, or the power of positive non-thinking." O'Donoghue noted moments of reflection and unusually long pauses before answers, contrasting Trump's typical unfiltered style. When asked if he trusted Putin, after a long pause, Trump replied, "I trust almost nobody to be honest with you."