Sen. Maggie Hassan berates Trump for his 'disgusting' comments about New Hampshire
President Trump has never been the type to mince his words — and in transcripts of his early phone calls as president published by The Washington Post on Thursday, that habit made for some eye-popping quotes.
The transcripts acquired by the Post show Trump pushing back on a refugee deal with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull by telling Turnbull he is "the world's greatest person that does not want to let people into the country," before he announces he has "had it" with their conversation and abruptly hangs up the phone. In a separate call with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, the transcripts show Trump arguing with Peña Nieto over the border wall and drug trafficking — and deploying a bit of colorful language about the union's ninth state in the process:
[W]e have the drug lords in Mexico that are knocking the hell out of our country. They are sending drugs to Chicago, Los Angeles, and to New York. Up in New Hampshire — I won New Hampshire because New Hampshire is a drug-infested den — is coming from the southern border. [...] We are becoming a drug-addicted nation and most [of] the drugs are coming from Mexico or certainly from the southern border. [President Trump, via The Washington Post]
That didn't sit too well with New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan (D):
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Post notes that New Hampshire has been "particularly hard hit by heroin and prescription drug abuse" and has the "highest synthetic opioid death rate in the country." Trump captured New Hampshire in the Republican primary race, but lost it to Hillary Clinton in the general election.
Read the full transcripts of Trump's calls with Peña Nieto and Turnbull at The Washington Post.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
-
Russia’s ‘weird’ campaign to boost its birth rateUnder the Radar Demographic crisis spurs lawmakers to take increasingly desperate measures
-
Could smaller cars bring down vehicle prices?Today’s Big Question Trump seems to think so, but experts aren’t so sure
-
2025’s most notable new albumsThe Week Recommends These were some of the finest releases of the past year
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
-
House GOP revolt forces vote on ACA subsidiesSpeed Read The new health care bill would lower some costs but not extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies
-
Hegseth rejects release of full boat strike footageSpeed Read There are calls to release video of the military killing two survivors of a Sept. 2 missile strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat
-
Trump vows naval blockade of most Venezuelan oilSpeed Read The announcement further escalates pressure on President Nicolás Maduro
-
Kushner drops Trump hotel project in SerbiaSpeed Read Affinity Partners pulled out of a deal to finance a Trump-branded development in Belgrade
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
-
Indiana Senate rejects Trump’s gerrymander pushSpeed Read The proposed gerrymander would have likely flipped the state’s two Democratic-held US House seats
