President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to make immediate and sweeping changes after taking office on January 20, such as pardoning those convicted of the attack on the US Capitol, and said he wants to find a legislative solution to to keep dreamers in the country. legal.
In an interview with Kristen Welker, moderator of NBC News' “Meet the Press,” Trump also said he will work to extend the tax cuts he passed in his first term. He said he will not try to impose restrictions on abortion pills. He plans to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and try to end birthright citizenship. And he said the pardons for the Jan. 6 rioters will come on day one, arguing that many in prison have suffered too harsh treatment.
“These people live in hell,” he said.
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Trump's first post-election television interview took place Friday at Trump Tower in Manhattan, where he spoke for more than an hour about the policy plans Americans can expect in his next term.
Trump said he would follow through on a campaign promise to impose tariffs on imports from America's biggest trading partners. In one notable moment, he admitted he was unsure when Welker asked if he could “guarantee that American families will not pay more” as a result of his plan.
President-elect Donald Trumps sits down for an interview with Kristen Welker on “Meet The Press” on December 6, 2024.
“I can't guarantee anything,” Trump said. “I can't guarantee tomorrow.”
Trump also said he will not raise the age for government programs like Social Security and Medicare or cut them as part of spending-cutting efforts led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. When asked if “raising the age or something like that” was “off the table,” Trump agreed and said, “I won't do it.”
Trump spoke in a calm, measured tone and sometimes sparred with Welker as she fact-checked him. He seemed encouraged by the magnitude of his victory on November 5. After winning the popular vote and capturing all seven major battleground states, he proudly said, “I'm getting calls from everyone.”
He heard from Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post: “We're going to eat,” he said.
“People like me now, you know?” he said, adding, “It's different from the first one – you know, when I won the first time, I wasn't nearly as popular as this. And one thing is very important: in terms of the election, I think it's great that I won the popular vote, and by and large.”
“Maybe he should.”
Trump fell into familiar grievances. He did not want to admit that he had lost the 2020 election. Asked how, in his view, Democrats stole that election but not this one, even though they control the White House, Trump said: “Because I think this one was too big to rig.”
He blamed President Joe Biden for the country's political divisions and insulted perceived enemies. Adam Schiff, the new Democratic senator from California, is “a real lowlife,” he said.
But he delivered a somewhat mixed message when it comes to political retaliation. Trump made it clear that he believes he has been wronged, but he also sounded a conciliatory tone and said he will not appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Biden. “I don't want to go back to the past,” he said. “Retribution will come through success.”
One fear among Trump's political opponents is that he will use the government's fearsome investigative apparatus to retaliate. He has chosen two allies for the top law enforcement positions: Pam Bondi as attorney general and Kash Patel as FBI director. If confirmed, Trump suggested, they would have autonomy in how they enforce the law.
Yet he has also singled out people he believes crossed the line in investigating his actions, calling special prosecutor Jack Smith “highly corrupt.”
Members of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol were “political criminals and, you know, creeps” who committed violations in the course of their jobs, he said.
“For what they did, quite frankly, they should go to jail,” Trump said.
Asked whether he would order the Justice Department and FBI to punish them, Trump replied: “No, not at all. I think they should look at that, but I'm not going to do that – I'm going to focus on drilling, baby, drilling” – a reference to tapping into more oil reserves.
If Biden wants to do it, he can pardon the committee members, Trump said, “and maybe he should.”
Minimum wage, immigration and Obamacare
The interview covered a range of topics – maintaining some space between himself and the conservative 'Project 2025', which was intended as a blueprint for his government to implement new policies. But while he once disavowed the policy manual, he embraced it even more closely, agreeing that some of its drafters are now part of his new administration.
“A lot of those things I agree with,” Trump said.
He said he would consider raising the federal minimum wage, which has been $7.25 an hour since 2009, but would like to consult with the nation's governors. “I agree it is a very low number,” he said.
He said he will release his full medical records. Trump will be 82 by the time his term ends in 2029 – the same age Biden is now. He said he has no plans to divest Truth Social, the multibillion-dollar platform he launched after leaving office. “I don't know what to get rid of,” he said. “All I do is send messages.” And he said he will not seek to replace Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, whom he has criticized in the past.
He said his children will not join him as White House aides, a departure from his last term, when daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner both served as senior advisers in West Wing offices. “I'll miss them,” he said. He did not elaborate on what role his wife, Melania Trump, will play in the new term, although he described the future first lady as both “very elegant” and “very popular.”
Immigration has been the focus of Trump's campaign, and he has not shied away from saying he will carry out mass deportations of those in the country illegally.
First will be convicted criminals, he said. Asked whether the targeting would go beyond that group, Trump added: “Well, I think you have to do it, and it's hard — it's very hard to do. It's – but you have to, you know, you have rules, regulations, laws. They entered illegally.”
It is also possible that American citizens could become involved in the fighting and be deported with family members who are here illegally, or could choose to go.
Asked about families with mixed immigration status, some in the US legally and some illegally, Trump said: “I don't want to break up families, so the only way you don't break up the family is to keep them. together and you have to send them all back.
The cost and logistical complexity of deporting millions of people hasn't deterred him, he said.
“You have no choice,” he said. 'First of all, they're costing us a fortune. But we start with the criminals, and we have to do it. And then we'll start with the others and see how it goes.”
An exception could be the 'Dreamers': people who were brought to the US illegally as children and have lived here for years. He expressed his openness to a legislative solution that would allow them to remain in the country.
“I will work with Democrats on a plan,” he said, praising “Dreamers” who have gotten good jobs, started businesses and become successful residents. “We're going to have to do something with them,” he said.
He also said he plans to abolish birthright citizenship, the protections enshrined in the 14th Amendment that guarantee citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil, regardless of their parents. Asked about the likelihood that unilateral action would face legal opposition, Trump said he would consider amending the Constitution.
“Maybe we should go back to the people,” Trump said. “But we have to put an end to it.”
During Trump's only debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, he was criticized for saying he had “concepts for a plan” to replace the Affordable Care Act, the health care law signed by President Barack Obama.
It is not clear that Trump's ideas have evolved further.
“Obamacare stinks,” he said. “If we come up with a better answer, I would take that answer to the Democrats and everyone else and do something about it.”
When will he have a detailed plan? “Well, I don't know if you'll even see it,” Trump said, adding that health care experts are studying possible alternatives.
Foreign policy
Later Friday after the interview, Trump flew to Paris for a ceremony marking the reopening of Notre Dame, which was destroyed by fire.
After arriving, he met privately with French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who posted on social media that the trio discussed reaching “a just peace” in his country's war with Russia. Zelenskyy was present for about the last 10 minutes of the meeting, a Trump transition official said.
In the interview with “Meet the Press,” Trump said he is actively trying to end the war “if I can,” adding that Ukraine can “potentially” expect not to receive as much military aid from the U.S. once he returns . in the office.
He would not commit to keeping the U.S. in NATO, the European military alliance that has been a bulwark against Russia since World War II. “If they pay their bills, absolutely,” he would maintain America's role in the alliance, he said.
On another foreign policy front, Trump expressed doubt that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will be able to remain in power.
“It's amazing because he stayed under for years, you would think the conditions were much less favorable, and all of a sudden there are just rebels going there and taking over large swathes of territory,” Trump said. “People have been betting against him for a long time, and so far it hasn't worked. But this seems to be different.”
'Not an American massacre'
One phrase that emerged from Trump's first inaugural address in 2017: “American carnage.” It was reminiscent of a nation ravaged by crime and saddled with rusting factories.
This time, Trump said the conclusions from his inaugural address will be different.
“We come with a message,” he said. “It makes you happy: unity. It becomes a message of unity.”
“And no American massacre?” Welker asked.
“Not an American massacre, no,” said the 45th and soon to be 47th president.
Asked about his message to the Americans who didn't vote for him, Trump compared them to his most strident supporters — a change from his campaign rhetoric.
“I'm going to treat you just as well,” he said, “as I treated the biggest MAGA supporters.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
