*By Conor White*
Piers Morgan may count Donald Trump among his friends, but that doesn't mean he believes everything the president tells him.
After the journalist sat down with President Trump aboard Air Force One for the commander-in-chief's only UK interview, Morgan admitted to Cheddar on Monday he took many of Trump's comments with a grain of skepticism.
"He's very self-aggrandizing, he wants everyone to feel he's doing a great job," Morgan explained. "Now that he's president, he's making America great again, everything is brilliant. You have to cut through the hyperbole and try to get to reality, and reality is often not as great as President Trump would have us believe."
During his interview, Morgan aired some of his grievances against the president, including Trump's repeated claims that the mediaーand CNN, in particularーare plotting against him.
"I worked at CNN for four years, they're not a fake news network. I think they make mistakes like other media organizations, and when they do he's perfectly entitled to call them out for itーbut you can't call whole networks 'fake news,' and I wish he wouldn't do that. I don't think it's right and I think it's dangerous to call any sanctions of the press 'enemies of the people'."
But Morgan also admitted there's plenty of blame to go around.
"There's a very toxic atmosphere and relationship between Donald Trump and the American mainstream media in particular, which no other president has been subjected to. And no other president has taunted the media in this way either. So, it seems like a bit of a mutually abusive relationship."
Policy disagreements aside, Morgan noted he's interviewed Trump more than 35 timesーand he sees no reason to stop now.
"I've known him a long time, I like him personally; I don't really agree with much of his politics, but he's a great, interesting guy to interview. He's the most powerful man on earth, and right now he's doing some very, very interesting stuff."
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/piers-morgan-discusses-relationship-with-potus)
U.S. and Chinese officials say a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is drawing closer. The sides have reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting Thursday in South Korea. Any agreement would be a relief to international markets. Trump's treasury secretary says discussions with China yielded preliminary agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the United States. Scott Bessent also says Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earth elements needed for advanced technologies.
A new poll finds most U.S. adults are worried about health care becoming more expensive.
The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
President Donald Trump says “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry. The Republican president suggested Friday he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves. Trump says one of the policies the U.S. is calculating is "a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States." A monthslong calm on Wall Street was shattered, with U.S. stocks falling on the news. The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn't responded to an Associated Press request for comment.
Most members of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate setting committee supported further reductions to its key interest rate this year, minutes from last month’s meeting showed.
From Wall Street trading floors to the Federal Reserve to economists sipping coffee in their home offices, the first Friday morning of the month typically brings a quiet hush around 8:30 a.m. eastern, as everyone awaits the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report.
