[quote] Trump details sweeping changes he’ll carry out on day one and beyond in an exclusive interview
President-elect Donald Trump vowed to make immediate and sweeping changes after he takes office on Jan. 20, such as pardons for those convicted in the attack on the U.S. Capitol, and said he wants to find a legislative solution to keep Dreamers in the country legally.
In an interview with Kristen Welker, moderator of NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” Trump also said he’ll work to extend the tax cuts passed in his first term. He said he will not seek 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 Jan. 6 rioters will happen on day one, arguing many have endured overly harsh treatment in prison.
“These people are living in hell,” he said.
Trump spoke for more than an hour about policy plans Americans can expect in his next term.
He said he would fulfill a campaign promise to levy tariffs on imports from America’s biggest trading partners, and he conceded uncertainty when Welker asked if he could “guarantee American families won’t pay more” as a result of his plan.
“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 and will not make cuts to them as part of spending reduction efforts led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Asked if “raising ages or any of that stuff” was “off the table,” Trump agreed, saying, “I won’t do it.”
Trump seemed heartened by the scope of his victory on Nov. 5. After winning the popular vote and capturing all seven of the key battleground states, he said with pride, “I’m getting called by everybody.”
“People like me now, you know?” he said, adding: “It’s different than the first — you know, when I won the first time, I wasn’t nearly as popular as this. And one thing that’s very important, in terms of the election, I love that I won the popular vote, and by a lot.”
When it comes to political retribution, Trump made clear he believes he’s been wronged, but he also sounded a conciliatory note, saying he will not appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Biden. “I’m not looking to go back into the past,” he said. “Retribution will be through success.”
Political opponents fear that he’ll use the government’s investigative machinery to exact vengeance, and Trump added that Pam Bondi (AG) and Kash Patel (FBI) would have autonomy in how they go about enforcing the law.
The interview covered a range of topics — during which he continued to keep some space between himself and the conservative “Project 2025” that was intended to be a blueprint for his administration to implement new policies. But while he once disavowed the policy guidebook, he embraced it more closely and agreed some of the drafters are now part of his incoming administration.
“Many of those things I happen to 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 will agree, it’s a very low number,” he said.
Trump’s didn’t flinch in saying he will carry out mass deportation of those who are living in the country illegally.
First will be convicted criminals, he said. Pressed on whether the targets would go beyond that group, Trump added: “Well, I think you have to do it, and it’s a hard — it’s a very tough thing to do. It’s — but you have to have, you know, you have rules, regulations, laws. They came in illegally.”
It’s also possible that American citizens will be caught up in the sweep and deported with family members who are here illegally, or could choose to go.
Asked about families with mixed immigration status, where some are in the U.S. legally and some illegally, Trump said, “I don’t want to be breaking up families, so the only way you don’t break up the family is you keep them together and you have to send them all back.”
