Trump lets it slip that he 'didn't win the election' during an interview with historians in which he also falsely claimed 'the election was rigged'

• Trump spoke about his presidency to a group of historians on a Zoom call in July 2021.
• He stated that he "didn't win the election" twice during the interview before saying that it was "rigged and lost."
• He has otherwise maintained that the 2020 election was illegitimate. He called it the "real insurrection."

Former President Donald Trump made a possible Freudian slip during a July 2021 Zoom interview with a group of historians.

Trump indicated that he "lost" the 2020 presidential election toward the end of a nearly 30-minute-long monologue that touched on what he views as his most notable accomplishments — the COVID-19 pandemic, NATO, trade relations with foreign countries, and the leaders of Russia, China and North Korea.

Trump's election-related comments began with a story of how he pressured the South Korean government, which hosts tens of thousands of US military personnel, to cover more of the costs of their defense.

"I said, what we'll do is we'll pay approximately 1.2 billion … and then, for next year, you'll pay $5 billion a year," Trump told the group of historians, according to the video, which The Atlantic published on Monday.

"'No, no, no,'" exclaimed Trump, impersonating South Korean President Moon Jae-In. "I said, 'yes you will,' and we just about had an agreement — and then the election came."

Trump then went on to state twice that he did not win the 2020 president election — despite his frequent, false claims to the contrary.

"By not winning the election, he was the happiest man — I would say in order, China was — no, Iran was the happiest," Trump said. "He was going to pay $5 billion, $5 billion a year. But when I didn't win the election, he had to be the happiest — I would rate, probably, South Korea third or fourth happiest."

After a brief digression during which Trump mentions Europe's now-cancelled Nord Stream 2 pipeline, he then again referred to the 2020 election, this time adding that it was "rigged."

"So, we had a deal, would have happened, all set," he said. "And then when the election was rigged and lost, what happened is that the deal went away."

Trump has consistently asserted, without evidence, that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, beginning when he declared that "frankly, we did win this election" in the early morning hours of November 4, 2020.

Trump's refusal to accept defeat prompted the "Stop the Steal" movement, culminating in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol and Trump's second impeachment — the Senate acquitted him — for incitement of an insurrection.

Trump has maintained since then that the 2020 election was illegitimate, declaring that the "real insurrection" happened on November 3, 2020, rather than January 6, 2021.

Trump for months has openly flirted with running for president again in 2024, although he has not officially declared himself a candidate.