Trump interview: Does he worry about jail? Would he pardon himself? Was the election rigged?

Former president Donald Trump sat down with Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker at his New Jersey estate to discuss a wide range of topics – including criminal charges against him, whether he would pardon himself, and the impeachment inquiry into president Biden.

Here are snippets from that interview.

KRISTEN WELKER: Speaker McCarthy announced that he was launching an impeachment inquiry this week into President Biden. Do you see this as a part of the retribution that you seek?

FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP: No, not at all. I think, look, you look at the terrible things that have been happening with respect to Biden. Look at everything: Jamie Comer, Jim Jordan, who are fantastic people and very legitimate people. I watched Jamie Comer just a little while ago talking about a lot of different facets of what's going on, and he was the one that said, "I guess there were - there were 12 things where it looks like it's stone-cold guilty, and the gun charge is only one of the 12." He said, "This is the only one that doesn't implicate Joe Biden."

KRISTEN WELKER: So, but my question for you: Did you talk to Speaker McCarthy about this House impeachment inquiry?

FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP: No, no. I don't talk to him like that.

KRISTEN WELKER: Did you tell him that he should open a House impeachment inquiry?

FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP: No, no. I don't do that. I don't think he'd do that. I mean, he wouldn't do it based on me, no.

KRISTEN WELKER: Did you talk to your Republican allies on Capitol Hill and say, "You should support this impeachment inquiry"?

FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP: No, I don't have to talk - they're more proactive than I am. They think it's terrible.

Does Trump worry about going to jail?

KRISTEN WELKER: I want to know what's in your head. When you go to bed at night, do you worry about going to jail?

FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP: No, I don't really. I don't even think about it. I'm built a little differently I guess, because I have had people come up to me and say, "How do you do it, sir? How do you do it?" I don't even think about it. These are corrupt people that I'm dealing with. They're destroying our country. I don't even think about it. All I think about is making the country great, making America great. Look, these are political, these are banana republic indictments. These are third-world indictments. The president of the United States sees how we're doing. We have a movement the likes of which has never happened in this country before. And you see it with the polls. I mean, I'm up on these people by 60 points and 59 points. And, I don't mean I'm at 59, I'm leading them by 59. You almost say, like, "Why are they campaigning?" Asa Hutchinson, he's at zero. Christie's at two. Other ones are at one. DeSanctimonious is at nine. I just see a poll come - I mean, I'm leading him by 60 points.

Does Trump listen to advice of counsel?

KRISTEN WELKER: You called some of your outside lawyers - you said they had crazy theories. Why were you listening to them? Were you listening to them because they were telling you what you wanted to hear?

FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP: You know who I listen to? Myself. I saw what happened. I watched that election, and I thought the election was over at 10 o'clock in the evening.

KRISTEN WELKER: You were listening to your instincts?

FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP: My instincts are a big part of it. That's been the thing that's gotten me to where I am, my instincts. But I also listen to people. There are many lawyers. I could give you many books. There are books that are written on how the election was rigged. There are numerous books that were written on how the election was rigged.

KRISTEN WELKER: Just to be clear, were you listening to your lawyers' advice, or were you listening to your own instincts?

FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP: I was listening to different people. And when I added it all up, the election was rigged. There are books that are written --

KRISTEN WELKER: Were you calling the shots though?

FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP: In fact, Mollie Hemingway wrote a great book -- called 'Rigged.'

KRISTEN WELKER: But were you calling the shots ultimately?

FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP: Excuse me. Mollie Hemingway, who's highly respected and great, she wrote a book, a best-selling book called Rigged.

KRISTEN WELKER: Were you calling the shots, though, Mr. President, ultimately?

FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP: As to whether or not I believed it was rigged? Oh, sure.

KRISTEN WELKER: Okay.

FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP: It was my decision. But I listened to some people. Some people said that. Like, guys like Bill Barr, who was a stiff, but he wasn't there at the time. But he didn't do his job because he was afraid. You know what he was afraid of? He was afraid of being impeached. He was petrified to be impeached. And he - how do you not get impeached? Don't do anything.

Would Trump pardon himself?

KRISTEN WELKER: Mr. President, if you were re-elected, would you pardon yourself?

FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP: I could've pardoned myself. Do you know what? I was given an option to pardon myself. I could've pardoned myself when I left. People said, "Would you like to pardon yourself?" I had a couple of attorneys that said, "You can do it if you want." I had some people that said, "It would look bad, if you do." Because I think it would look terrible. I said, "Here's the story. These people are thugs, horrible people, fascists, Marxists, sick people.

They've been after me from the day I came down the escalator with Melania. And I did a great job as president." People are - great economy, great jobs, great this, great that, rebuilt the military, Space Force, everything. We - I could go on forever. Let me just tell you. I said, The last thing I'd ever do is give myself a pardon." I could've given myself a pardon. Don't ask me about what I would do. I could've. The last day, I could've had a pardon done that would've saved me all of these lawyers, and all of these fake charges, these Biden indictments. They're all Biden indictments, political. They indicted - they want to arrest their political opponents. Only third-world countries do that, banana republics.

So, ready? I never said this to anybody. I was given the option. I could've done a pardon of myself. You know what I said? "I have no interest in even thinking about it." I never even wanted to think about it. And I could've done it. And all of these questions you're asking me about, the fake charges, you wouldn't be asking me because it's a very powerful, it's a very powerful thing for a president. I was told by some people that these are sick lunatics that I'm dealing with. "Give yourself a pardon. Your life will be a lot easier." I said, "I would never give myself a pardon."

KRISTEN WELKER: Even if you were re-elected in this moment?

FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP: Oh, I think it's very unlikely. What - what did I do wrong? I didn't do anything wrong.