Trump Says 'I Run The Country And The World,' Yet Polls Plummet

The Atlantic published an in-depth interview with President Donald Trump on Monday, marking the first 100 days of his second term in the White House. 

What To Know: The president sat down in the Oval Office with journalists Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer from The Atlantic and the publication's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. 

The interview followed a period of public tension after Goldberg had been accidentally added to a Signal group chat involving senior Trump officials and classified discussions and then publicly revealed the security breach in a published article. 

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In the weeks before the interview, Trump posted several disparaging messages to The Atlantic and its journalists on his Truth social platform. 

One such post read: 

"Ashley Parker is not capable of doing a fair and unbiased interview. She is a Radical Left Lunatic, and has been as terrible as is possible for as long as I have known her … Likewise, Michael Scherer has never written a fair story about me, only negative, and virtually always LIES. The Atlantic is doing terribly, losing a fortune, and will hopefully fold up and be gone in the not too distant future. It has absolutely no credibility, and would be far better off, in terms of "journalism," to cease publication," Trump wrote. 

The Interview: Surprisingly, The Atlantic writers reported Trump was "calm, engaged, and eager to persuade" during the interview despite his public hostility toward them.  

Trump said that he had thrown public insults toward the writers and publication before the interview to "up the pressure" and help them "sell subscriptions." 

Trump also projected a powerful and authoritarian persona, according to The Atlantic. 

"I run the country and the world," Trump said, contrasting his first term which he described as a fight to "survive" amidst opposition from the "crooked guys." 

The Figures: Though Trump projected a powerful and confident image in the interview, voters overwhelmingly disapprove of the president's first 100 days in office. 

The latest CNN/SSRS poll showed a 41% approval rating, the lowest for any president at this stage since at least Eisenhower. Only 22% strongly approve of Trump, while 45% strongly disapprove. 

Markets have also reacted negatively during the first 100 days of Trump's second term in office. The S&P 500, tracked by the SPDR S&P 500 ETF SPY, is down 7.9% since Trump was sworn into office on Jan. 20, marking the second-worst first 100-day performance going back to President Richard Nixon's second term, according to CFRA Research. 

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