Trump comments on GOP search for House speaker as his New York fraud trial adjourns

(24 Oct 2023) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: SOUNDBITE SEPARATED BY BLACK FRAME ASSOCIATED PRESS New York – 24 October 2023 1. Former Trump attorney and fixer Michael Cohen leaves courtroom 2. Cohen exiting courthouse 3. Former US President Donald Trump and his team, including his son Eric, exiting courtroom 4. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, Former U.S. President: JOURNALIST: “Mr. President, Tom Emmers dropped his bid as Speaker just hours after your criticism of him. Do you believe you had an impact there, and who would you like to see as Speaker?” TRUMP: “Absolutely, it must have had an impact because as soon as I did the un-endorsement, and it was never an endorsement – I was never treated particularly well by him, as you probably have heard. And he wasn’t MAGA – most people are MAGA in the Republican Party, they want to see our country be great again. So, I disagreed with him on a lot of things over the years, and I assumed it had a big impact. I wrote a note, I wrote an addition called An Endorsement of Maybe Anybody Else, and I haven’t made a determination on who else, but we have some very good people; we have some really great people. And we don’t have to go through the list right now, but we do have some great people.” JOURNALIST: “Would you support (Congressman) Byron Donalds?” TRUMP: “I like Byron very much. I like just about all of them very much, I was not happy with the one that seemed to be gaining speed – I disagreed with him very much on globalism and on many other things. And that’s the way it turned out. I’m for America First; America First is very important to me. I don’t think he was for American First. And so, it looks like he dropped out. Did he just drop out?” JOURNALIST: “He just dropped off, sir.” TRUMP: “Well, that’s good.” BLACK FRAMES 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, Former U.S. President: “We have some great people and one of them will be chosen. And when they’re chosen, I think they’ll be a great Speaker. We have four or five that wanted: they’re warriors, they’re smart and they love our country. As far as this proceeding today, this is, again, this is a trial that should have never been brought. This is a case that shouldn’t have been brought. They have no case. The witness is totally discredited already, and they haven’t even started, and he’s totally discredited. He’s their only witness.“ 6. Trump and his team walking away 7. New York Attorney General Letitia James exiting courtroom STORYLINE: Michael Cohen, who once proclaimed he’d “take a bullet” for Donald Trump, departed at a Manhattan courthouse Tuesday after serving as a key witness on his former boss’s civil fraud trial. The trial threatens to upend Trump’s real estate empire and wealthy image. On Tuesday, Cohen testified that he worked to boost Trump’s asset values on paper to whatever number Trump wanted. Cohen is a key witness in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit alleging that Trump and his company duped banks, insurers, and others by giving them financial statements that inflated his wealth. Trump denies James’ allegations. Outside court, Trump dismissed Cohen’s account as the words of “a felon” who pleaded guilty to tax evasion, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations. “They have no case. The witness is totally discredited already, and they haven’t even started,“ Trump said upon exiting the courtroom. Asked by reporters to comment on Republican Tom Emmer dropping his bid for House speaker, Trump said he sent a memo objecting to his nomination. On the trial, he said James had no case. Find out more about AP Archive: Twitter: Facebook: ​​ Instagram: You can license this story through AP Archive: