Will deport migrants with criminal records, may exit NATO’: Trump outlines agenda ahead of taking oath

Liz Cheney and other political opponents could face jail time.

“I think you have to do it,” Trump told NBC News in an interview when asked if he plans to deport everyone who is here illegally over the next four years. “You have to have, rules, regulations, laws. They came in illegally. People that have been treated very unfairly are the people that have been online for 10 years to come into the country. We are going to make it very easy for people to come in terms of they have to pass the test. They have to be able to tell you what the Statue of Liberty is. They have to tell you a little bit about our country. They have to love our country,” Trump said.deport migrants

“They can’t come out of prisons. We don’t want people that are in for murder. So, we had 11,000 and 13,000 different estimates, 13,099 murderers released into our country over the last three years. They’re walking down the streets. They’re walking next to you and your family. They’re very dangerous. You don’t want those people in this country,” he said. “I’m saying this. We have to get the criminals out of our country. We have to get people that were taken out of mental institutions and put them back into their mental institution, no matter what country it is,” Trump said, adding that his top priority on the deportation list is going to be such criminals. “Number one, we’re doing criminals and we’re going to do them rapidly. We’re getting the worst gang probably with MS-13 and the Venezuelan gangs are the worst in the world. They’re vicious, violent people,” he said.

Trump said he’s open to working with Democrats to preserve the legal status of “Dreamers” – an often-used term for immigrants who were brought to the US as children – even as he stood by campaign pledges of mass deportations and ending birthright citizenship.

“We have to do something about the Dreamers, because these are people that have been brought here at a very young age, and many of these are middle-aged people now. They don’t even speak the language of their country. And yes, we’re going to do something about that,” Trump said in a “Meet the Press” interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker that taped Friday, his first broadcast sit-down since he was elected.deport migrants

“I will work with the Democrats on a plan, and if we can come up with a plan – but the Democrats have made it very, very difficult to do anything. Republicans are very open to the Dreamers,” he added.

Trump had previously expressed some support for protecting Dreamers during his first term, although his administration tried to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama-era program that protects them from deportation. That attempt was blocked by the Supreme Court in 2020.

Trump also doubled down on his campaign promise to end birthright citizenship, which is protected by the 14th Amendment, and suggested he may attempt to overturn the right through executive action.

“We’re gonna have to get it changed, or maybe I would go back to the people, but we have to end it. We’re the only country that has it,” he said, echoing a false statement he’s made in the past. “If we can, through executive action. I was going to do it through executive action, but then we had to fix Covid first, to be honest with you.”As CNN has reported, about three dozen countries provide automatic citizenship to people born on their soil.deport migrants

Investigations and pardons

Trump said he would not seek “retribution” against President Joe Biden and against his political enemies, but he repeatedly left room for his appointees to decide whether to go after specific people. He suggested members of Congress who led the investigations into his conduct during the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol should be put in jail and that he’ll look on his first day at issuing pardons to supporters involved in the riot.

“These people have been there, how long is it? Three or four years? You know, by the way, they’ve been in there for years, and they’re in a filthy, disgusting place that shouldn’t even be allowed to be open,” he said. Nearly 1,200 people either have pleaded guilty or were found guilty at trial for crimes connected to the January 6 attack, according to the Justice Department. More than 645 defendants were ordered to serve some jail time.

Trump said he would not direct his Justice Department to investigate members of Congress and Biden administration officials who led the investigations into his role in January 6, but continued to suggest his DOJ would be justified in deciding to launch investigations without his input.

When asked about the possibility of investigating special counsel Jack Smith, who brought the two since-dropped federal cases against him, Trump said he wants his pick for attorney general, Pam Bondi, to “do what she wants to do.””She’s very experienced. I want her to do what she wants to do. I’m not going to instruct her to do it,” he said.

Trump was more direct when speaking about the members of Congress who led the January 6 committee, telling Welker that the co-chairs of the committee – Republican Cheney, who has since left Congress, and Democrat Bennie Thompson – should “go to jail.”

“Cheney was behind it. So is Bennie Thompson and everybody on that committee,” he said. “For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail.”

Trump also suggested that committee members might do well to receive preemptive pardons from Biden to protect themselves from criminal prosecution. CNN reported last week that Biden White House aides, administration officials and prominent defense attorneys in Washington were discussing potential preemptive pardons or legal aid for people who might be targeted by Trump.

“Biden can give them a pardon if he wants to,” Trump said. “And maybe he should.”

In a statement later Sunday, Cheney said, “Donald Trump’s suggestion that members of Congress who later investigated his illegal and unconstitutional actions should be jailed is a continuation of his assault on the rule of law and the foundations of our republic.”Republican former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who served on the committee, told CNN’s Manu Raju on Sunday he’s “not worried” about the Trump administration investigating him or his fellow committee members.

The Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause protects lawmakers from certain law enforcement actions targeted at their legislative duties.Pressed whether he’d direct Bondi or Kash Patel, his pick to lead the FBI, to send them to jail, Trump said, “No, not at all,” before adding, “I think they’ll have to look at that.”

On whether he plans to follow up on his frequent campaign promise to investigate Biden – whom he repeatedly labeled as “corrupt” and a “criminal” on the campaign trail – Trump said he doesn’t want to “go back into the past.””I’m really looking to make our country successful. I’m not looking to go back into the past,” he said, adding, “Retribution will be through success.”

When asked about previously saying he would direct his Justice Department to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Biden, Trump said he would not do that but left the door open for top DOJ officials to make their own determinations.

“No, I’m not doing that unless I find something that I think is reasonable,” he said. “But that’s not going to be my decision. That’s going to be Pam Bondi’s decision, and, to a different extent, Kash Patel, assuming they’re both there, and I think they’re both going to get approved.” Trump has tapped Patel to lead the FBI, despite the current director, Trump appointee Christopher Wray, still having several years left in his 10-year term.

He said he plans to make unity a central theme of his inauguration address and expressed confidence that his administration will achieve a level of success that will bring the country together.

But Trump invoked similar calls for unity at various points throughout his campaign – including in the wake of the first assassination attempt against him – before often reverting to bitter, divisive rhetoric and personal attacks. During the NBC interview, Trump again refused to concede that he lost the 2020 presidential election.

‘Can’t guarantee’ tariffs won’t raise prices

In the interview, Trump further previewed his plan to levy additional tariffs on three of the nation’s largest trading partners – Mexico, Canada and China. He again argued the US is “subsidizing” those countries and said tariff hikes will create a more equitable economy for the US and its allies. But Trump said he “can’t guarantee” tariffs won’t lead to increased prices on goods for Americans, as economists have suggested.deport migrantsKerala Lottery Results 9.12.2024: Win Win W-799 Winners Soon; First Prize Rs 75 Lakh!

When asked about NATO, Trump said he “absolutely would consider exiting the alliance.