Tears, dictators and Gavin Newsom: Here's what Trump talked about in first interview since arrest

In his first interview since being arrested, former President Donald Trump gave his account of what it was like while also veering off topic to praise dictators – and Gavin Newsom.

Trump claimed during a sit-down interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson that Manhattan court workers cried during his arrest and apologized to him.

"They were incredible," Trump said in the interview that aired Tuesday. "When I went to the courthouse which is also a prison in a sense, they signed me in and I’ll tell you people were crying."

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Trump said New York court workers cried at his arrest, arraignment

Manhattan court workers "have no problems putting in murderers," but they cried at Trump's arrest and arraignment last week, according to the former president.

"It’s tough, tough place and they were crying. They were actually crying. They said I’m sorry," Trump told Carlson in a sit-down interview at Mar-a-Lago.

The former president turned himself in last Tuesday and was arraigned on 34 counts of falsifying business records stemming from hush money payments made to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal.

Trump pleaded not guilty and maintained his innocence during the Carlson interview.

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Trump praised dictators

In a repeat of the some of the comments he made as president, Trump described Chinese President Xi Jinping as "brilliant" and Russian President Vladimir Putin as "very smart."

Trump also implied he kept both leaders from invading neighboring territories while he was in office.

He said he could see Putin "loved" Ukraine. "He considers it to be a part of Russia. I said, 'Not when I'm president,'" Trump said, adding that he threatened something "really nasty" if Russia invaded Ukraine.

Trump said he spoke in a similar way to Xi about Taiwan. "I told him you can't go into Taiwan. You can't. You can't do it," he said, adding that he promised a "very tough" response.

Meanwhile, Trump said he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un still "get along great."

Trump said Gavin Newsom was 'always very nice'

But it's not just dictators. Trump told Carlson he also got along great with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat in a reliably blue state.

"I used to get along great with him, you know, when I was president," Trump said. "Got along really good. He was always very nice to me. Said the greatest things. He would say things like, 'He’s doing a great job.'"

Trump claimed that kindness from Newsom was "why I could never hit him because he was so nice to me."

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Candy Woodall is a Congress reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at cwoodall@usatoday.com or on Twitter at @candynotcandace.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump said New York court workers cried at his arrest, arraignment