Read The Atlantic’s Interview With Donald Trump

Ashley and Michael had been seeking an Oval Office meeting for some time. It had been scheduled, then angrily unscheduled, then followed by an impromptu interview from the president’s cellphone, and then by an apparent pocket dial from the president one night at 1:28 a.m., and then by a promise, again, for a sit-down, this time with a specific request from Trump that I accompany Ashley and Michael. This invitation was followed by a Truth Social posting from the president that read, in part, “Later today I will be meeting with, of all people, Jeffrey Goldberg, the Editor of The Atlantic, and the person responsible for many fictional stories about me.” Not entirely fictional in the president’s eyes, apparently, was the Signalgate controversy, which he said I was “somewhat more ‘successful’ with.”

We found the president—in an Oval Office redecorated in what I would call the Louis XIV Overripe Casino style—in an upbeat and friendly mood. Our numberless transgressions were, if not forgiven, then mainly ignored. Joining the president were his chief of staff, Susie Wiles; his communications director, Steven Cheung; the press secretary, Karoline Leavitt; and numerous other staff members.