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Jesse Watters on Charlie Kirk's Legacy, Trump's Air Force One Secrets, and Finding Faith Through Tragedy

December 21, 2025

Jesse Watters shares personal stories from his career at Fox News, intimate encounters with President Trump aboard Air Force One, and the spiritual awakening that followed Charlie Kirk's death. From his early days in the Fox News basement to hosting primetime television, Watters reveals behind-the-scenes moments at the White House, Camp David, and Mar-a-Lago. He discusses forming an unlikely Bible study group with Harold Ford Jr. and Greg Gutfeld, explaining how Kirk's passing reconnected him with God and transformed his understanding that protecting what you love requires personal courage, not government intervention.

From the Basement to Primetime: The Jesse Watters Journey

Jesse Watters began his career at Fox News in the basement, making minimum wage with no health insurance, working the 2 p.m. to midnight shift. He sat next to a colleague named Candy who dotted her eye with a heart. When an opening appeared on The O'Reilly Factor, Watters seized the opportunity. During his interview with Bill O'Reilly, after an awkward silence, Watters mentioned he had just read O'Reilly's latest book. O'Reilly's response was simple: "You seem like a smart kid. You start Monday."

The beginning wasn't smooth. During pitch meetings where producers would circle around to suggest story ideas, O'Reilly would swat them down, calling them idiots. Watters bombed his first pitch, and a producer later told him that O'Reilly didn't think he was articulate enough to make it in television. He had two weeks to turn it around or face termination. Watters compared it to telling Jordan he couldn't dunk. He put his nose to the grindstone and got it together.

O'Reilly's solution was to send Watters out to the streets to bother people instead of bothering everyone in the office. The assignment was to find out how much young Americans knew about current events. The answer: very little. When asked who America fought in the Revolutionary War, one person answered "China." Another said France won the Civil War. When asked about the ship the Pilgrims sailed on, someone responded "The Nenina, the Pinta, and the Linta." One person couldn't name a state that borders Canada, answering "Philly." Watters asked one kid about Bernie Sanders, and the kid didn't know who he was. When Watters explained Sanders was the senator from Vermont, the kid asked, "What's Vermont?" His all-time favorite response came when asking about the Ebola virus, and someone said, "It's nice."

The Trump Phenomenon and Early Encounters

In the summer of 2015, Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush were expected to lead their respective parties. Then Donald Trump came down the escalator, and Watters initially thought he was selling hats. Trump connected emotionally with the American people on immigration, and his first big event was the Iowa State Fair. While regular politicians pressed the flesh and tried to act like regular people around fried food, Trump landed his helicopter in the middle of the fair, got out in a $5,000 suit, took a bite of a pork chop on a stick, and started giving kids rides in the helicopter.

The debates showcased Trump's unconventional style, with nicknames like "Little Marco" and "Lyin' Ted." Trump said Mitt Romney was poor and walked like a penguin. At Fox News, the team had never seen anything like this middle school ridicule, and it was working. Trump won the nomination and headed into the general election. At the first debate, Trump delivered his famous line: "If I were president, you'd be in jail."

On election day, Hillary Clinton fell asleep expecting to give a victory speech that night. She woke up to a nightmare as Trump won Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Watters knew he had to get an interview with the president. Hope Hicks set it up somewhere in Tennessee. O'Reilly made Watters work the rally beforehand, even before a presidential interview. When Trump walked into the holding area, he greeted Watters enthusiastically, went straight to the mirror, took a whole thing of hairspray, and just went to town.

After the interview wrapped, Trump invited Watters to ride on Air Force One back to DC. Watters tried not to steal anything, despite his sticky fingers, but he stuffed Air Force One M&Ms with the logo emblazed on them into his pockets. Hope Hicks told him the president was ready, and they brought the cameras back to the executive boardroom area of the jet. Watters joked, "Mr. President, now that you're president, they're going to have to rename this Hair Force One." Trump didn't think it was funny.

When they put the camera away and talked off the record, Watters asked why Trump was playing NSYNC at his rally. Trump defended the choice, saying NSYNC was amazing and Lance Bass was the man. Trump told a story about seeing a model leave a New York Giants linebacker to chase after Lance Bass at a Manhattan cocktail party, concluding that "Lance Bass gets tail." Watters informed the president that Lance Bass is gay. Trump's response: "He is?" Then he said he was going to talk to the failing New York Times.

The Five and Life at Fox News

Fox News changed the lineup, moving Watters from weekends to The Five. The best part about The Five, according to Watters, is the commercial break because Greg Gutfeld is crazy. Gutfeld once asked Watters if he wanted to know the best way to kill his wife: "Take her hiking." He also shared the cheapest way to have phone sex: "Call Victoria's Secret and ask them to go through the catalog with you." When Watters asked Gutfeld if he wanted to play golf, Gutfeld declined, explaining that the last time he golfed, he got injured by jabbing his golf club into his neck and rupturing his trachea while bending over to pick up his ball.

Judge Jeanine Pirro was another memorable colleague. Both Jessica Tarlov and Harold Ford Jr. went deaf in their right ears sitting next to her, though Watters notes it doesn't matter because they don't listen anyway. Pirro got her phone hacked, but the good news is now China is deaf too.

While on The Five, Trump called Watters saying he had just returned from five days in Asia, meeting after meeting. He said if Jeb Bush were president, he would have had to take a nap. Trump invited everyone from The Five to have dinner at the White House, and when Watters asked "Even Juan?" Trump paused and said, "What the hell? Bring Juan anyway." The actual dinner attendees were Watters, Sebastian Gorka, and Stuart Varney.

Inside the White House and Camp David

At the White House residence, Trump showed Watters the Lincoln Bedroom and the Gettysburg Address encased in glass. Trump said, "Some people say my Twitter account is the modern-day equivalent of the Gettysburg address." Watters asked, "Some people meaning you?" Trump showed him another private room with a painting, explaining it was a Monet that Jackie O brought and that he was thinking about taking it when he left. Watters advised against it. Trump responded, "Why not? Crooked took the silverware."

During dinner with Stephen Miller and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the First Lady Melania Trump walked into the room. Watters hadn't been briefed on the protocol for introducing himself to the First Lady. He went in for a kiss on one cheek, then got greedy and went for the other cheek and was denied. Embarrassed, he scurried back and changed the subject by asking about the Russia hoax.

At Camp David during the COVID-19 pandemic, when no one knew what the virus would do and there were no vaccines, everyone had to get tested with the Abbott test before entering. The test involved a long Q-tip shoved up the nostril to tickle the brain and make people cry, with a 15-minute wait for results. While waiting on the perimeter, a naval officer called Watters over and informed him he tested positive for COVID-19. Watters panicked, worried about losing his hair or growing a third nipple, and wondered how he would get home since he couldn't take the jet back. The naval officer then revealed that Pete Hegseth put him up to the prank.

The chaplain gave them a tour of Camp David on a golf cart, showing where Bush installed the horseshoe pit, where Eisenhower installed the par three chip and green, and where Bill Clinton installed the hot tub. During dinner, Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, gave a toast and sneezed near Trump. Trump jumped up, stiff-armed Kraft like Rob Gronkowski, and ran out of the room. When Trump returned, he grabbed the mic and took over the speech, saying he tried to set Ivanka up with Tom Brady while Ivanka and Jared Kushner were right there. Jared turned beat red as Trump said, "Jared can't throw a spiral to save his life, but boy can he get us those ventilators."

After dinner, Trump wanted to watch a movie. He went straight for the popcorn machine, filled it up, and sat down with a commercial-grade salt canister. He poured a steady stream of salt onto the popcorn for what seemed like forever. Watters thought, "This must be the diet of a very stable genius." As the lights dimmed, Trump leaned over to Watters' wife Emma and asked, "Do you sleep naked?" Watters didn't know what to do with Secret Service everywhere. Emma clarified that Trump had asked, "Is Sleepy Joe going to make it?"

Health Crisis and Career Changes

When Biden got into office, Fox changed the lineup again and put Watters at 7 p.m. He called people for advice. O'Reilly said, "Don't be boring." Bob Costas said, "Stay relaxed." Tucker Carlson said, "Don't lose your sense of humor." Anthony Scaramucci said, "Buy Bitcoin." Bret Hume said, "Don't sleep with your assistant." Watters responded that his assistant was a guy, adding "Not that there's anything wrong with that."

Watters was hustling hard with shows at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., off the weekends, waking up at 5 a.m., grinding, working out, getting to the office early, sitting, reading, and writing. One day while shaving in the bathroom, his back went out. He was in such agony that he crawled to hoist himself onto the bed and had to call 911. The emergency services team put him on a stretcher and wheeled him out of his Upper East Side apartment. He gave a thumbs up like an injured quarterback coming off the field.

In the ambulance, Watters made small talk with the EMT, asking if he saw crazy things on the job. The EMT revealed he was in the Jeffrey Epstein cell and was part of the first EMT team on the scene when Epstein killed himself. The EMT said it was really weird because when they got to the jail cell, there were about ten people in the cell touching things and moving the body around. Watters wanted to get up and go to the office to break this story live, but he was wheeled into the emergency room and didn't even get the EMT's number.

A couple of days later, the surgeon asked what happened to Watters' back. Watters joked that he'd been carrying The Five for years. The surgeon asked about his routine and requested a picture of his office chair. When Watters showed him the picture, the surgeon said the chair was crooked and had destroyed his back. Watters' assistant Johnny had assembled the chair. The surgeon explained that sitting is the new smoking and the human body wasn't designed to sit all day. Looking at the images, the surgeon said Watters was close to permanent nerve damage. After surgery, Watters recovered, changed his lifestyle, and was back to walking and stretching.

The Return of Trump and the 2024 Campaign

Fox changed the lineup again when Tucker Carlson left, bumping Watters up to 8 p.m. He called Tucker for advice, and Tucker told him to take a sauna every day to relax and not to read what the media writes about him. During this time, lawfare kicked in with the raid on Mar-a-Lago, where they rifled through Melania's underwear drawer. Trump was indicted in Washington, New York, and by Fani Willis in Georgia.

Watters saw the president on the golf course after the Fulton County mugshot. Watters told him his wife thought Trump looked fierce in the mugshot. Trump explained what happened: the photographer said "Click," Trump asked if he could see it, the photographer said no, Trump asked if they could do another, the photographer said no, and Trump thought "Uh oh." On the jet ride back, Trump's lawyer showed him the picture. The first thing Trump did was call Melania and say, "Baby, I know who's going to do our Christmas card. It's the Fulton County Jail photographer." Trump mentioned his interview on Tucker Carlson with Carlson got 100 million views, bigger than when Oprah interviewed Michael Jackson.

During this assault by lawyers, Trump's numbers were going up. His lead on Biden was bigger than ever. The Biden team had to do something different, so they challenged him to an early debate in June. Biden went to study at Camp David, but later reports suggested he just slept the whole week. When he walked onto the debate stage, he was white as a ghost. In the first 20 minutes, he said, "We finally beat Medicare." Watters and Johnny were watching at Fox, and their heads hit the ceiling.

Biden had to pass a big test at a NATO event on a Friday to survive politically. He came to the podium and said, "I'd now like to introduce Vladimir Putin. I mean Volodymyr Zelenskyy." The coup closed in with George Clooney coming in, sent by Barack Obama, and Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer twisting the knife. But Biden got the last laugh by endorsing Kamala Harris an hour after dropping out, sticking the party with her. Kamala didn't pick Pete Buttigieg for VP because he was too gay, so instead she picked Tim Walz.

Butler, Pennsylvania happened in the same week, where Trump almost died. They asked for a drone and were denied. They asked for more manpower and were denied. A shooter was running around with a rangefinder, and they were playing cat-and-mouse with him. They let Trump go on stage, which was crazy. The only reason he survived was God. Trump now had God on his side and JD Vance, which made a good ticket.

Trump rolled into the debate with Kamala Harris, and they were hitting each other pretty good. Kamala was holding her own, Trump was winning on points, and then he said, "These Haitians, they're eating the dogs. They're eating the cats." Watters was watching at Fox with Bret Baier and the hard news team, and they were shocked. People didn't get it at the time, but the next day, everyone was talking about illegal aliens and Haitians, and they made it a meme. Trump started celebrating before crossing the goal line, like a punt returner taking it to the house. He put on the McDonald's apron, put on the garbage man vest, and had fun. Then he won every swing state. Donald Trump had been part of the biggest upset victory of all time, the most controversial election of all time, and the greatest comeback of all time.

Inside DOGE and More Air Force One Adventures

The first thing Trump did was create DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency). Watters wanted to get an interview with the DOGE boys, so they went to the Eisenhower Building where Elon Musk was with about 40 guys eating pizza and listening to classic rock. Watters introduced himself to Elon and Vivek Ramaswamy. Elon grabbed a humongous box of Swiss chocolate and started offering it to Watters in a mysterious way, enticing him with the chocolates in a seductive manner. Watters thought, "Now I know why this guy's got so many baby mamas."

During the interview, Musk and Ramaswamy revealed spending details: $2 million on sex changes in Guatemala, $20 million on Iraqi Sesame Street, and $100,000 on a DEI opera in Ireland. Watters asked what American is watching that opera, answering "Only Rosie O'Donnell." Musk had a tiff with the president but they patched things up at the Arizona Memorial for Charlie Kirk, which Watters attributed to God again.

The president invited Watters and his wife on Air Force One again. Trump told Watters, "The guy that shot me had a perfect SAT score. The guy that shot Charlie had straight A's. Smart people hate me." Watters responded, "I must be an idiot because I love you." Dr. Mehmet Oz was there and explained that Air Force One was modeled after the Saudi Royal Jet with an operating room on board in case anyone needed surgery. Oz said, "From Arizona to DC, I could perform 16 vasectomies." Watters joked, "Only on Elon?"

Trump was excited to show off the jet, bringing Watters and his wife back to the private quarters, showing the bedroom area and bathroom. Watters asked if Trump ever slept in the bed. Trump said, "I've slept in thousands of beds in my life, but never that one." Watters asked if he and his wife could sleep in it, and Trump looked at him and said, "Do it passionately."

In the executive room over Mexican food, Trump showed Watters the rendition of the big beautiful ballroom he was planning. Watters noted the ballroom was four times the size of the White House. Trump said, "It's a monument. I'm building a monument to myself because no one else will."

Charlie Kirk's Medal of Freedom and a Spiritual Awakening

A couple of weeks later, Watters was at the White House for the Medal of Freedom ceremony for Charlie Kirk, where Erika Kirk received it gracefully. Watters saw O'Reilly and Tucker Carlson on opposite sides of the room and realized these were the three guys who had hosted the 8 p.m. slot. He wanted to get a picture. He told Tucker that Bill was over there, and Tucker agreed. Watters brought Tucker to the middle, then went to get Bill. Bill said, "You bring Tucker to me," bigfooting him. Tucker came over laughing, and they took a picture. Glenn Beck joined them for a photo of the legends and, as Watters put it, "a legend in his own mind."

Watters then realized that all these guys had been fired from Fox except him, and all these guys don't drink except him. He concluded, "The secret to my success is drinking." He noted that Greg Gutfeld doesn't drink, so he'll probably be gone next.

Watters only told Erika Kirk about the Bible study group he, Greg Gutfeld, and Harold Ford Jr. formed. He found it remarkable: Harold is a Black Democrat Baptist, Watters is a CE Christian who only goes to church on Christmas and Easter, and Gutfeld is either Jewish, an atheist, or Catholic—Watters doesn't know. But Charlie's death made Watters want to reconnect with God. Harold Ford gave them a book of Bible passages with a passage for each day. Every morning they all read the Bible passage and text each other about what they think of it. Watters called it the most beautiful thing in the world. The lawyers at Fox love that they're texting about Jesus instead of other stuff.

Watters is learning more about Jesus from these short passages. He asked the audience what the main message of Jesus is in one word, and someone answered "Love." Watters realized that the government will not protect what you love—you have to do it. You cannot rely on the government to protect what you love.

Watters concluded by asking everyone to stand up for what they love: spouse, country, heritage, people, faith, God, land, ideas, beliefs, and history. He emphasized that if you have the courage, like Charlie Kirk, to stand up and protect what you love, that's what matters. He closed by saying, "I'm Watters and this is my world."

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