The phone rang in the middle of the night, Trump woke him up: These are 5 key messages from conversation

Five days earlier, he had believed he had the chance to interview Donald Trump, on the anniversary of the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

As he explains, his coverage of the event had been globally noted, which gave him hope.

On Sunday night, he says, he was informed that he was “minutes away” from the call, the team was ready, but the call had not come.

By Monday night, he had given up. He fell asleep exhausted, after weeks in the field without a day off.

Then the phone rang.

“I answered sleepily, and Caroline Leavitt’s voice echoed over the loudspeaker: Hi Gary, I’m here with the president, please come,” the BBC journalist describes.

The connection was cut, he thought everything had failed – but they called again.

For the next twenty minutes, he spoke with the US president about the assassination, Putin, NATO and relations with Great Britain.

According to O'Donoghue, these are the five key messages from that impromptu conversation...

1. Reflective and vulnerable while talking about the assassination

O'Donoghue writes that Trump seemed more vulnerable than usual, clearly uncomfortable talking about the assassination attempt.

Asked if the experience had changed him, he said: "I don't like to think about it because it could change my life. I don't want that to happen."

He added that he believes in "the power of positive thinking - or positive non-thinking."

Asked whether he trusts Vladimir Putin, he said after a long silence: "Honestly, I don't trust almost anyone."

2. No data on deportations

Asked about the mass deportation plan, Trump said his administration was "doing a great job," particularly noting the decline in migration at the southern border.

He declined to say how successful he considered the deportations: "I'm not going to give numbers, but I want to get the criminals out quickly - and we're doing that, you know. We're sending them back to El Salvador and other places."

• "I'm sending 'patriots'"

 

3. Growing frustration with Putin

A day after threatening secondary sanctions on Russia, Trump told the BBC that he was increasingly frustrated with Putin's actions.

"I think we've had a deal four times, and then I come home and they just attacked a nursing home in Kyiv. I'm like, 'What is this?'"

When asked if he was "done with Putin," he said, "I'm not done with him, but I'm disappointed."

4. A new tone on NATO

Trump, according to O'Donoghue, has softened his earlier views on NATO.

While he once said the alliance was outdated, he now says the opposite has become true.

"It was very unfair because the US was paying for almost everything, but now everyone is paying their share and it's much better. We've changed NATO."

Before the interview with the journalist, he received NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, with whom he announced the sale of American weapons that NATO will provide to Ukraine.

• Trump, are you serious?

 

5. Respect for Starmer and Britain

Trump praised British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, despite their political differences: "I really like the prime minister, even though he's a liberal."

He said the relationship between the United States and Great Britain remains "special" and expressed confidence that Britain would stand by the United States in the event of war.

He called King Charles a "great gentleman," and when speaking in Canada, which was interpreted as a sign of resistance to Trump, he just laughed.

At the end of the conversation, O'Donoghue recalls, Trump added a joke: "You have more names than anyone. England, Great Britain, Britain, United Kingdom... I don't think any country has that many names."