--- title: Donald Trump: Most Revealing Comments From TIME Cover Story description: In a new interview, Donald Trump discussed his oft-criticized temperament and the reasons behind his swift political rise canonical: https://time.com/4406184/donald-trump-interview-time-cover/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-14T15:40:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-14T23:34:59.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump's 6 Most Revealing Quotes From TIME's New Cover Story og:description: "I’m the exact opposite of a fast trigger" og:url: https://time.com/4406184/donald-trump-interview-time-cover/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb76bd4e8c60d576c/69889bee5f570f1ab9b21b36/donald-trump-rnc-speaker-list.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Indiana og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump's 6 Most Revealing Quotes From TIME's New Cover Story twitter:description: "I’m the exact opposite of a fast trigger" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb76bd4e8c60d576c/69889bee5f570f1ab9b21b36/donald-trump-rnc-speaker-list.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump's 6 Most Revealing Quotes From TIME's New Cover Story > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Donald Trump Introduces Mike Pence as Vice President Pick [Watch (HLS stream): Donald Trump Introduces Mike Pence as Vice President Pick](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/82efLGQr.m3u8) (0:58)  _Published 2016-07-16. Donald Trump formally announced Mike Pence as his Vice President pick Saturday in a messy event following a drama-filled rollout of the selection._  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Updated: Dec 14, 2023 11:34 PM UTCPublished: Jul 14, 2016 3:40 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the Grand Park Events Center on July 12, 2016 in Westfield, Indiana. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the Grand Park Events Center on July 12, 2016 in Westfield, Indiana. Aaron P. Bernstein—Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Updated: Dec 14, 2023 11:34 PM UTCPublished: Jul 14, 2016 3:40 PM UTC In a [new interview](http://time.com/4405822/what-a-president-needs-to-know/) featured in TIME’s [latest issue](http://time.com/4405866/in-the-latest-issue-77/), presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump discussed his [oft-criticized temperament](http://time.com/4355791/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-temperament/), the reasons behind his swift political rise and the historical events that have stuck with him most. Here are six of his most interesting and revealing comments from Trump’s interview with Jon Meacham: **On how he makes policy decisions:** “Off the cuff,” Trump said, describing how he had previously responded to a question from CNN’s Wolf Blitzer about his position on NATO. “I’m an intuitive person. I didn’t read books on NATO—you do—and yet I was asked the question.” **On the value of talent over experience:**“I’ve always rated experience far less than capability,” he said. “When people ask me would you rather have experience or talent, I’ll take talent every time. That’s not to knock experience, and I think I have both.” **On what he’s learned from golf:**“It’s like, why is it that Jack Nicklaus won so many golf tournaments? Right? Why is it that Babe Ruth could hit more home runs than all the teams in the American League? Right? They said to him, ‘Babe, how do you hit the long ball?’ And he said, ‘I don’t know, man, I just swing at it.’ Which is sort of cool,” Trump said, before mentioning young golfer Lydia Ko. “On the Golf Channel, they said to her, ‘When you bring the club up, how do you bring it down? What’s your thought?’ She said, ‘I don’t know. I don’t really have a thought.’ It’s just something special.” **Read more:** [I’ve Photographed Donald Trump More Than Anyone Else](http://time.com/4404431/harry-benson-donald-trump/) **On the Civil War and why the South lost:**“I’ll tell you what does stick with me: the Civil War. Lee and Lincoln and Davis. These are unbelievable historical figures. I think that anything having to do with the Civil War has always been very interesting to me, much more so than even the founding of the country.” “I think they could have settled without going to war,” he said. “I always felt that the South overplayed their hand.” **On his temperament:**“I’m a very stable person,” he said. “I’m so stable you wouldn’t believe it.” “I’m not a fast trigger,” he added. “I’m the exact opposite of a fast trigger, but nobody’s going to push us around.” **On his greatest strength:**“I think temperament is my strength, my greatest strength,” Trump said. “We need a strong tone and a compassionate tone, and I can do both, plus what’s up here,” he added, pointing to his temple. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4406184/donald-trump-interview-time-cover/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4406184/donald-trump-interview-time-cover/"},"headline":"Donald Trump's 6 Most Revealing Quotes From TIME's New Cover Story","datePublished":"2016-07-14T15:40:21.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-14T23:34:59.000Z","description":"\"I’m the exact opposite of a fast trigger\"","url":"https://time.com/4406184/donald-trump-interview-time-cover/","keywords":["Donald Trump","2016 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb76bd4e8c60d576c/69889bee5f570f1ab9b21b36/donald-trump-rnc-speaker-list.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb76bd4e8c60d576c/69889bee5f570f1ab9b21b36/donald-trump-rnc-speaker-list.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Indiana","caption":"Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the Grand Park Events Center on July 12, 2016 in Westfield, Indiana.","creditText":"Aaron P. 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