LAS VEGAS — T-Mobile CEO John Legere took to the stage at CES today to unveil the company’s latest Un-carrier initiatives, but he also addressed reporter’s questions. So naturally some of them focused on the incoming Trump administration, given the importance of FCC oversight and other regulatory issues for the Bellevue, Wash., based company. And there’s also the matter of the past Twitter feud between Legere and Trump.
Watch Legere’s responses above, and continue reading for excerpts.
On the potential for regulatory changes: “It’s hard not to be excited as a carrier on the potential items associated with a regulatory environment that’s going to be less restrictive and more open, whether it’s on industry structure or on some of the areas where we’ve been pushing. Of course, we don’t know that, we don’t know who the regime is going to be, but clearly we feel quite positive and our planning for 2017 is being boosted by anticipation of a good economy and a regulatory environment that’s conducive to us significantly expanding our business.”
On his feelings about Trump, responding to a question from Roger Cheng of CNet: “Let’s be clear. It was way before President-elect Trump was running that he and I had a Twitter interaction that is not atypical of him or I on Twitter. It was a long time ago. We certainly got way past it, and I think so far, all I can say is, as the CEO of a wireless carrier, I’m highly optimistic as to what the environment is going to provide. I actually look forward to spending some time, if I get the opportunity to meet the president-elect, to talk about, by the way, one of the fastest-growing companies in America. So that’s all. …”
“Remember, I am one of the kings of mean on Twitter. I’ve been replaced in that role. This guy’s got game on Twitter. It’s a whole different scale. Thanks for bringing that up Roger, anyways, you prick.”
