President-elect Donald Trump spoke with Time magazine after being selected as Time’s 2024 Person of the Year, covering topics ranging from his plans to carry out mass deportations to his continued support for the Senate filibuster.
‘Maximum Level of What the Law Allows’ on Mass Deportations
Time asked Trump about his previous promise to use the military to carry out mass deportations of illegal immigrants by declaring a national emergency, citing the Posse Comitatus Act as prohibiting the use of the military for domestic law enforcement and what he would do if the armed forces refused to carry out his orders.Trump responded that it’s not a legal issue.
“[The act] doesn’t stop the military if it’s an invasion of our country, and I consider it an invasion of our country,” he said.
Will Not Abandon Ukraine in Negotiation to End War
While discussing the recent Iranian plot to assassinate him, Trump said “anything can happen” regarding the possibility of going to war with Iran during his next term. However, he said, what presents a more dangerous scenario is Ukraine’s decision to fire U.S.-made longer-range missiles into Russia after President Joe Biden reportedly gave Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy authorization to do so in November.
“Zelenskyy has decided, with the approval of, I assume, the president, to start shooting missiles into Russia,“ Trump said. ”I think that’s a major escalation. I think it’s a foolish decision. But I would imagine people are waiting until I get in before anything happens.”
Trump declined to say whether he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin since the election and suggested that reaching an agreement between Russia and Ukraine would require not abandoning Zelenskyy.
“I want to reach an agreement, and the only way you’re going to reach an agreement is not to abandon,” Trump said.
Trump also discussed recent conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and whether the leader had given him assurances about ending the war with Hamas.
“I don’t want to say that, but I think he feels confident that—I think he feels very confident in me, and I think he knows I want it to end,” he said.
‘We’re Going to Have a Big Discussion’ on Vaccines
Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in the past has criticized several early childhood vaccines, linking them to increased rates of autism in children.On whether Trump would sign off on ending certain childhood vaccination programs, the president-elect said: “We’re going to have a big discussion. The autism rate is at a level that nobody ever believed possible. If you look at things that are happening, there’s something causing it.”
Trump said he did not believe autism was linked to vaccines but that he’s “going to be listening to Bobby [Kennedy]” on vaccines and wants to “see the numbers” on the alleged links to autism.
‘Case-by-Case’ Pardons for Jan. 6 Defendants
Trump said he had made a decision to go “case-by-case” on pardoning the Jan. 6 defendants, suggesting that any nonviolent offenders have been “greatly punished.”“I’m going to look if there’s some that really were out of control,” Trump said. “We’re going to look at each individual case ... and it’s going to start in the first hour that I get into office.”
Trump said he believes that a vast majority of the defendants should not be in jail and that they have “suffered gravely.”
Limiting Access to Abortion Medication ‘Very Unlikely’
Before the election, Trump suggested that he would not rule out restricting access to mifepristone, one of two medications used in drug-assisted abortions.Time asked Trump whether he would vow that his administration’s U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would not do anything to limit access to medication abortions or the drugs used for them.
The president-elect said his administration would “take a look at all of that” and that “it’s unlikely, very unlikely” that those efforts would include limiting or restricting access. Trump maintained that he is “strongly against” the idea of the FDA moving in that direction.
“I’ve stated it very clearly, and I just stated it again very clearly. I think it would be highly unlikely,” Trump said. “I could say probably as close to ruling it out as possible, but I don’t want to.”
Has ‘Respect for the Filibuster,’ Wants to Keep It
Trump also discussed the topic of ending the filibuster in the Senate, which allows senators to attempt to delay or block a vote on a piece of legislation, effectively pushing the threshold for passing a bill from a majority of 51 votes to 60 to end floor debate.Many Democrats have criticized the filibuster. Former President Barack Obama called it a “Jim Crow relic” in July 2020 while speaking at the funeral of civil rights activist and longtime congressman John Lewis.
Trump suggested that the filibuster makes it “very difficult to overturn things” in the Senate, citing his concern that ending the practice could pave the way for Supreme Court expansion, a position that some Democratic lawmakers favor.
“I have respect for the filibuster,” Trump said.
