Do you think they should hold off, sir? Do you think they should hold off on lowering interest rates until after the election?
Unless they cut other costs commensurate with interest, interest is a very big cost. So it’s hard. But yeah, there is: I have a plan to make up for that with energy cutting. Energy. We can cut energy way down. You know, I always say we have more liquid gold under our feet, which is true. We have more liquid gold than anybody. If we could get energy—energy is such a big cost and interest is such a big cost. But you know, the interest is sort of self-defeating because we have to pay bonds. The bonds are just, it’s eating us alive, the interest payments. I used to say when we had 1% bonds or things and less, I used to say: “Can you imagine if we were paying” and you know, at 1%, it sort of works.
Speaking of that, your gentleman on the cover [Trump is talking about a copy of the July 2024 issue of Businessweek, featuring on the cover Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, which is on a nearby coffee table], who’s an incredible guy, a friend of mine, I think, I don’t know if you asked him that question?
I did not.
But he is a friend of mine. He is great. And his son is great, too. But he bought Tiffany. And I said, what interest rate? Oh, well, they actually paid me. So he was one of the few private individuals that was able to get—he bought Tiffany for whatever he paid. And then he renegotiated the price. But he was, he said, well, my deal was so good. I mean, they loaned me the money and they actually pay me for that.
I’m gonna get you guys a Coke. Would you please come in? Who wants something to drink? Anybody? A little Coke? Cokes and Diet Cokes. One thing I’ll say about a Diet Coke, I have never seen anyone thin have a Diet Coke. No, it’s always Diet Coke. And I say it sort of in a friendly way. But people drink a Diet Coke, I have never seen a thin person drink it. I’ve just never seen it. These guys come in and they order regular Cokes and they’re thin. So, I don’t know what’s going on with it? So go ahead.
