He didn’t want to stumble.

When former President Donald Trump was asked about his opinion on psychedelics, he chuckled slightly as he described the idea of ​​Congress taking mushrooms to improve their performance.

Podcaster Lex Fridman, during an interview with Trump, when asked about his opinion on the issue, said that “we would probably have a better world if everyone in Congress took some mushrooms.”

“So we issued a statement the other day,” Trump replied, referring to his recent Truth Social post in which he spoke favorably about a marijuana vote in Florida.

“We’ll probably put another one next week to be more specific,” Trump continued. “But it’s coming, and we’ll see how it goes. I would say it was very hard to beat. If you look at the numbers, it was very hard to beat… But you want to do it in a safe way.”

Trump, 78, avoided making direct comments about psychedelics during his conversation with Fridman, who was on an ayahuasca retreat himself and spoke to guests about their spiritual experiences with drugs.

The 45th president attempted to find middle ground on the marijuana issue last week on Truth Social, arguing that there is no need to “ruin lives” by arresting adults who have weed on their person.

At the same time, he stressed that there are safety concerns about “fentanyl-laced marijuana” and that it is in the public interest to ensure that “we do not smell the smell of marijuana everywhere we go, as is the case in many Democrat-run cities.”

“Medical marijuana is incredible. I’ve had friends and others and doctors tell me it’s absolutely incredible – medical marijuana,” Fridman told him.

“We can live with marijuana… it really has to be done in a concerted way.”

Trump praised Florida’s approach – apparently in reference to the ballot proposal Amendment 3 – as “very good” and stressed that there must be restrictions, for example regarding age.

The Republican presidential candidate had previously stated that he had not drunk a single glass of alcohol and strongly advised people not to start taking drugs.

His late older brother Fred Trump Jr. died in the early 1980s of a heart attack related to his alcoholism.

“It has to be done in a good way. It has to be done in a clean way. When you go to some of these places, like New York, it smells like marijuana,” Trump complained on the podcast about marijuana legalization.

“You have to have a system where there is control.”

At the start of his 2024 election campaign, Trump considered using the death penalty against drug dealers.

“We will demand that anyone who sells drugs or is caught doing so receives the death penalty for their heinous acts,” he said in his November 2022 speech. “Because that is the only way.”

During his 2024 candidacy, Trump has at times displayed a sort of libertarian flair compared to his last two campaigns in 2016 and 2020.

For example, he has spoken out against any possible ban on TikTok, even though Republican major donor Jeff Yass is lobbying for it and Congress is currently passing a bill that would force parent company ByteDance to divest from the popular video-sharing platform or face a ban.

Recently, Trump has riled up pro-lifers by claiming that Florida’s six-week abortion ban is “too short.” He also opposes a nationwide abortion ban, instead leaving the decision up to the states.

Trump attended the 2024 Libertarian Party convention in May and braved boos as he asked for their support.

In his speech he declared: “If I wasn’t a libertarian before, I certainly am now.”

However, some of his other positions, such as support for high tariffs and his stance on immigration, typically face opposition from libertarians.