Assad is always a priority. That is not an issue. He is a war crime. He has done terrible things to his own people. He has used chemical weapons on his own people. He continues to be a hindrance to peace in Syria. And that is something the Trump administration strongly believes.

I don't feel like President Trump doesn't listen to me on Russia. If he had a problem with what I'm saying, he would say something. And he hasn't.

For a bill to become law, it truly has to be the will of the people, and for a president to stop the will of the people and stop what you're trying to do in your state is not the role of Washington.

I assume I'm being taped everywhere, so I never worry about that.

South Carolinians are strong, independently-minded people. At the end of the day, they make their own decisions. And I respect them for that. And I welcome that. And I told him that from the very beginning.

I talk with countries, whether it's the Arab states or in the Middle East, and they talk about how they're glad to see us fighting against Iran. I talk with different countries in reference to Syria, and we talk about how we can get the Iranian influence out. We're talking about North Korea and what we need to do and the pressure we need to put on China. They're happy that we're finally beating up on Russia for what they've done in the Ukraine.

What Donald Trump is trying to do is find his own team, figure out how he's going to do it. But we have to remember, he can hire and fire anybody else that he wants to do.