Flying High! OutKick's Clay Travis Goes 1-On-1 With President Donald Trump On Air Force One

OutKick founder Clay Travis has had a cooler weekend than you (and me, for that matter). 

That's because he spent Friday and Saturday as a member of the White House Press Pool and flew aboard Air Force One to New Jersey on Friday night, and then to Philadelphia for the NCAA Wrestling Tournament.

This meant that OutKick made history as the first sports website to ever be a part of the Press Pool.

On top of that, Clay was given the privilege of interviewing the President of the United States, Donald Trump, aboard Air Force One in his private quarters.

Clay got the ball rolling by asking President Trump for his take on why he saw a surge in popularity among young men and boys in America.

"Well, I guess it's a lot of factors — some I can't say because I'm just better off not saying — but part of it is because it's working and they're all coming together," he said, before rattling off figures related to new investments in US business and touting success in securing the border.

They then pivoted into what might be next for the president's rival in the 2024 election, former Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been rumored to have an interest in running to become the Governor of California. Clay asked President Trump if he'd have any political advice for her.

"Let her run," he said, before saying that he really didn't want to be giving out political advice.

However, he did touch on something that many would consider to be the Achilles heel of the Harris/Walz campaign.

"One thing she's going to do, she's got to start doing interviews," he said.

President Trump Talks Teams Visiting The White House

Next, they touched on the Philadelphia Eagles making a visit to the White House and how sports fans seem to be showing support in the president's second term, as evidenced by big ovations at the Super Bowl, college football games, UFC events, the Daytona 500 and more.

"I know you're a big sports fan," Clay said. "What did it mean that you were cheered at the Super Bowl? What does it reflect that sports fans seem to be coming together for you and that the Eagles are coming to the White House this time — they didn't want to come the last time — how have things changed?"

President Trump said that in reality, after the Eagles' Super Bowl LII win in 2018, some members of the team wanted to visit the White House.

"Well, actually, (the Eagles) did want to come," he said. "A lot of people wanted to come, including the coach (Doug Pederson) — terrific guy, by the way — but the coach wanted to come. The general manager (Howie Roseman) wanted to come. The owner (Jeffrey Lurie) wanted to come. A lot of people wanted to come. Some of the players wanted to come. And I just said, Just forget it, right?

"I also had the problem with the San Francisco basketball team."

The president explained why he scrapped an invite to the Golden State Warriors to the White House after an NBA Championship.

They said, 'Well, we'll think about it.' I said, 'You don't have to think; you're uninvited," he recalled, before mentioning that it's sometimes forgotten that MLB teams and NHL teams all visited the White House after winning titles during his first term.

The president noted that not only would the Eagles be coming to the White House. the Kansas City Chiefs team that won Super Bowl LIV back in 2020 will also be making a visit.

"I look forward to having the Eagles, and one other thing, we're going to have the Kansas City Chiefs after that because they missed their turn because of COVID," Trump explained.

The President Discusses The First Months Of His Second Term

Clay and the president also discussed his first two months back in office and touched on some of the major focuses for him moving forward.

"We had a great opening month," Trump said. "We had a great second month, you know, now it's two months already, and the second month was equally as good as the first. 

"I'd like to see if we could stop the soldiers being killed — even though they're not American soldiers — although it could — a thing like that, could lead to World War III," he said. "I think it's somewhat under control. I have a good relationship with President Putin and, actually, a good relationship with President Zelenskyy too. It'd be a great thing to be able to stop it. And I will say this, nobody else would have been able to."

This led Clay to ask the president if he thought he'd become a Nobel Peace Prize front-runner if he was able to facilitate an end to the war in Ukraine.

"Wouldn't they give it to a Democrat if you got it done?" Clay asked.

I think Norway, it was Norway —They're the ones that actually (award the Peace Prize)," he said. "You know, nobody really knows what that's all about. I know Obama got it for no reason — and he didn't even know. He won the race, and they gave him the Nobel Prize. He didn't do anything. 

"So it's obviously a very liberal situation. But if they want, if they want credibility, they will. You know, we thought we're going to get it for three or four different things," the president noted, before adding that one of those things was the Abraham Accords.

Tough Guy Tim Walz, Protecting Women's Sports, And The President's Relationship With Jeff Bezos

After that, they touched on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and his comments about how he thought he could beat up most conservatives.

"Did you see Caitlyn Jenner said that she thought she would be able to take him, Clay asked. "Who would you take in a battle?"

"Oh, Caitlyn Jenner all day long," the president said, before bringing up a challenge from Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, better known as WWE Hall of Famer, Kane.

After that, the two discussed the ongoing battle to keep men out of women's sports.

"I think it's a 90/10 issue — maybe more —but I do notice that it's a 90/10 when the voter booths closed," the President said. "It's such a simple thing. It's so basic."

The president also talked about Jeff Bezos and his efforts to make The Washington Post — which he owns — more neutral.

 "I think it's great," Trump said. "I talked to him about it. He's a good guy. I didn't really know him the first time. Yeah? I mean, it's such a difference between now and the first term."

He then noted that Bezos himself has even been the target of his own newspaper for trying to bring it to a more neutral place.

"He's really trying to be more fair," Trump said. "They actually did a couple of bad articles on him. He said, ‘This is crazy. I lose a fortune running this thing.’ And they, you know, they're out of control. These people are crazy. They're crazy people. They're out of control. And he's actually a very good guy."

He also pointed to the differences between his first term and the early days of his second.

"If you look at the inauguration — look at the people that were there — it was a who's who of a world that was totally against me the first time," he said. "So, a much different presidency. I have much more support."

Trump Talks The JFK Assassination And The Shooting In Butler 

Clay then asked a question about something that has been in the news a lot over the last week.

"You released the JFK file. So do you think Oswald killed JFK?" he asked.

"I do. And I always felt that, but, of course, was he helped," Trump said, before noting that 88,000 files had recently been released.

"I think the papers have turned out to be somewhat unspectacular," he said. "And maybe that's a good thing."

Clay then followed this up by asking the president if he thought the gunman who shot him during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania last summer acted alone.

"I really can't be sure," he said. "Because it bothers me that he had three apps (on his phone), and two of them were foreign, and maybe it was more apps. And it bothered me that the other guy (who was arrested for attempting to assassinate him in Florida) had like, 18 phones. I thought it was six, but it was 18." 

"And the FBI has been very straight with me, I believe," he continued. "I think they weren't at the beginning, but now I think they were. They told me a lot about the case."

"I think maybe it won't be able to be determined, but I don't believe it's, you know, it'd something sinister by the FBI, the FBI is doing a good job, and (FBI Director) Kash (Patel) is going to do a great job."

Putin And Stopping The War In Ukraine

Next, Clay asked about Trump's relationship with Putin, something he alluded to a bit earlier.

"So, I know him very well," he said. "It's amazing that we didn't get into any major skirmishes because of the ‘Russia, Russia, Russia’ hoax." 

"He didn't invade Ukraine when you were president," Clay pointed out. 

"He didn't invade anything when I was president," Trump said, before noting that Russian military action in Georgia and Crimea took place under President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama, respectively, while the Invasion of Ukraine, of course, occurred while President Joe Biden was in office.

"I don't think there's anybody in the world that going to stop (Putin), except me, and I think I'm going to be able to stop him," he said. "We've had some very rational discussions, and I just want to see the people stop getting killed. They're losing 2,500 young kids a week, and they're Russian and they're Ukrainian."

It's not a long flight to Philadelphia from New Jersey, so before long Clay, the president, some other guests, and even Elon Musk were arriving at the Wells Fargo Center for the NCAA Wrestling Championship.

As is typically the case when he attends a sporting event, President Trump walked out and greeted the crowd as "USA!" chants broke out.

• Be sure to keep an eye out for more articles from Clay Travis' historic interview with United States President Donald Trump, right here at OutKick.com.