Trump Says He Thought Being President 'Would Be Easier'

President Trump has been the most powerful person in the world for almost 100 days, and he seems to be finding it kind of a drag, according to a Reuters interview. "I loved my previous life. I had so many things going," Trump said in what Reuters describes as a "wistful" look back at his pre-White House days. "This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier," he said. Trump—who gave the interviewers copies of what he said was the latest 2016 electoral map—said he misses driving and is struggling to get used to having 24-hour Secret Service protection. "You're really into your own little cocoon, because you have such massive protection that you really can't go anywhere," he lamented. More from the interview:

• On America's trade deal with South Korea: "It's unacceptable. It's a horrible deal made by Hillary. It's a horrible deal," Trump said. "And we're going to renegotiate that deal, or terminate it." He also said South Korea should be the one paying the bill for the "phenomenal" THAAD missile defense system.

• On a government shutdown: "If there's closure, there's closure. We'll see what happens," he said. "If there's a shutdown, it's the Democrats' fault. Not our fault."
• On peace in the Middle East: Trump said he was considering visiting both Saudi Arabia and Israel. "I want to see peace with Israel and the Palestinians," he said. "There is no reason there's not peace between Israel and the Palestinians—none whatsoever."
• On whether there will be an end to the "war with Islamic extremism": Trump called this the "toughest question." "It has to be humiliation. There is an end. Otherwise it's really tough," he said. "But there is an end. We are really eradicating some very bad people. When you take a look at what's going on with the cutting off of the heads—we haven't seen that since medieval times. Right?"

• In another interview Thursday, Trump told the Washington Post that he had been planning to mark his 100th day in office Saturday by announcing that he was taking the US out of NAFTA. "I was all set to terminate," Trump said. "I looked forward to terminating. I was going to do it." He said he decided to renegotiate the trade pact instead after conversations with advisers and the leaders of Canada and Mexico. "They called me up, they said, 'Could we try negotiating?' I said, 'Absolutely, yes,'" Trump said. "If we can't come to a satisfactory conclusion, we'll terminate NAFTA."

(Here's more on Trump's first 100 days.)