Trump promises to make JFK files public, warns of cutting California assistance in initial official interview

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US President Donald Trump sat down with Fox News’ Sean Hannity in his first formal interview since returning to the Oval Office.

Hannity, a longtime friend and ally, began by saying Trump was “back where he belongs”.

Our country would have been lost forever

Donald Trump

Trump opened the interview by reflecting on the high stakes of his election victory before framing his return to office as a critical moment for the nation.

“If we didn’t win this race, our country would have been lost forever,” Trump said.

He also doubled down on his belief that America’s challenges are solvable, and positioned himself as the necessary leader to guide the country through turbulent times.

“But I think it goes to show we got here just in the nick of time.”

Immigration a key issue

Immigration remains a cornerstone of Trump’s agenda, and during the interview, he repeated his claim that countries were emptying out their prisons into the US, without citing any evidence to support the claim.

“There are murderers in our country by the tens of thousands … they’re walking around and they came out of jails from other countries,” Trump said.

Highlighting what he sees as foreign nations exploiting US immigration policies, Trump vowed to “take care of it”.

Criticising California’s wildfire response

Trump also directed sharp criticism at California, specifically targeting Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom’s .

He accused the state of mismanaging resources, tying the disaster to California’s water policies and threatening to withhold federal aid unless it changed course.

Trump then claimed that Newsom prioritised the conservation of the endangered delta smelt fish over resource allocation, exacerbating wildfire conditions.

“I don’t think we should give California anything until they let water flow down,” Trump said.

Promise to release JFK files

Trump also addressed the remaining classified FBI files on the 1963 assassination of former US president John F Kennedy.

During Trump’s previous term, he had partially declassified the documents but didn’t release all information due to advice from officials, including former secretary of state Mike Pompeo.

“I did it with Kennedy, to an extent,” Trump said.

“But I was asked by some of our government officials not to, and, you know, you have to respect them.”

Now, he has pledged to fully release the files following a review, a step that could help answer one of the nation’s long-standing mysteries.

Pardons and investigations

, Trump implied that outgoing US president Joe Biden should face an investigation, even suggesting that Biden should have pardoned himself when leaving office, despite not elaborating on any specific allegations.

“I was always against that [investigating presidents],” Trump said.

“Joe Biden had very bad advisers … on almost everything.”

Trump also said he was “given the option” of pre-emptively pardoning himself before he left office during his first term.

“I said ‘I’m not going to pardon anybody. We didn’t do anything wrong.'”