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President Donald Trump’s newly released interview with TIME magazine was one for the history books. The president-elect unsurprisingly dominated the interaction, while also effortlessly communicating plans for his second term in the White House.
Three of the most interesting and important topics to the American people were his approach to vaccine studies, border policies and the Department of Education.
While discussing the Senate’s response to his Cabinet nominees, the interviewer asked Trump about his opinion regarding the link between vaccines and autism.
His nominee to head up the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has been targeted by the media as an anti-vaxxer and his views are often intentionally misconstrued by outlets whose biggest sponsors are pharmaceutical companies.
The interviewer asked Trump of Kennedy, “If he moves to end childhood vaccination programs, would you sign off on that?”
Trump told the interviewer, “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 defended RFK Jr.’s vaccine stance, remarking, “He does not disagree with vaccinations, all vaccinations, but acknowledged that he disagreed with some. He made clear that he and Kennedy were “going to do what’s good for the country.”
He told the interviewer that it could mean getting rid of some vaccinations if they are found to be dangerous or unbeneficial but said that he believed those decisions would be non-controversial.
He noted that his administration would conduct studies and know “for sure what’s good and what’s not good.”
Trump also discussed his plans to deport millions of illegal migrants that have poured into the United States over the last four years, including with the assistance of the military.
The interviewer incorrectly quipped that United States law does not allow military use for domestic law enforcement, and Trump was quick to correct the error.
“Well, it doesn’t, it doesn’t stop the military if it’s an invasion of our country, and I consider it an invasion of our country.”
He made clear that he would operate within the legal bounds of the law with the use of the National Guard and other service members. “We’ll get National Guard, and we’ll go as far as I’m allowed to go, according to the laws of our country,” Trump stated.
At one point during the discussion, the interviewer referred to the Obama-era family separation policy as a Trump policy when asking if he would “restore” it.
“I don’t think—I won’t have to, because, first of all, it wasn’t my policy. It was Obama’s policy. If you look at the 2014—,” when the interviewer interrupted, claiming to not “want to litigate the past.”
Trump immediately retorted, “Well you said, your policy. This was a policy of the country. I don’t believe we’ll have to, because we will send the whole family back to the country.”
Trump blasted the Democrats for the 325,000 missing children during the Biden-Harris administration, many of whom have been sold into human and sex trafficking.
During their discussion over deregulation and cutting federal spending, Trump brought up the quality of education in the United States and the endless increase in federal spending with little to no improvements.
He told the interviewer that there would be “A virtual closure of Department of Education in Washington,” and added that he would send the power back to individual states.
Trump was pressed on the “virtual closure” remark, to which he explained that there would be some federal oversight but that states should be in control of their own educational programs. He complimented Iowa and Indiana for their well-run education and compared it to Norway’s.
He told the interviewer that he believed the move would allow the United States to “compete with Norway and Denmark and Finland and other countries.” He also pointed out that China was at the “top of the list too” regarding education.