President Donald Trump sat down with NBC’s “Meet the Press” for his first sit-down interview since winning the election interview and outlined his plans for his second term. Here are five important things you need to know from this interview.
On December 9, President Trump met with moderator Kristen Welker to discuss his plans for his first day in office and the major changes he will make.
1. A major overhaul of immigration is on the way
Trump is keeping his promise of securing the country and ending the overwhelming immigration crisis. During the interview, he told Welker his mass deportation program would begin with the immigrants who are in the country illegally.
U.S. News reported that he explained, “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. You know, the people that have been treated very unfairly are the people that have been in line for 10 years to come into the country.”
He addressed concerns about splitting families and admitted he doesn’t want that to happen, so the only way to avoid that is to send them all back together.
2. His thoughts on retribution
During the interview, the topic of whether Trump would seek retribution for political foes was broached, and whether he would prosecute figures like special counsel Jack Smith, who was relentless in his attacks against President Trump. He explained that he would leave those decisions up to FBI Director nominee Kash Patel. He also said he would not go after President Joe Biden.
According to The Hill, he told Welker he was not “looking to go back into the past. I’m looking to make our country successful.”
3. Incoming import tariffs
Trump also doubled down on his promise to impose import tariffs from the country’s biggest trading partner, China.
4. What to expect on his first day in office
In the interview, Trump indicated that he plans to pardon the handful of Jan. 6 rioters in prison in Washington, D.C. According to U.S. News, he told Welker, “I’m going to be acting very quickly – first day. They’ve been in there for years, and they’re in a filthy, disgusting place that shouldn’t even be allowed to be open.”
5. Robert F. Kennedy Jr investigates vaccines
Trump also explained that Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who he picked for his head of the Health and Human Services Department, would investigate the previously discredited link between childhood vaccines and autism.
While President Trump is unsure if the two are linked, he does find the higher occurrences of autism concerning and something that needs to be looked into.
