On Thursday, President-elect Donald Trump told NBC News that one of his first priorities after taking office in January was to make the border “stronger and stronger.” When questioned about a campaign promise mass deportationsHe said the Trump administration would have “no choice” but to implement them.
Trump said he thinks his great victory it’s over Vice President Kamala Harris A mandate to “bring common sense” to the country this week.
“We obviously need to make the border strong and strong, and at the same time we want people to come to our country,” he said. “You know, I’m not one to say, ‘No, you can’t come in.’ We want people to come in.”
As a candidate, Trump repeatedly promised to fulfill this task “The largest attempted deportation in American history.” Asked about the cost of his plan, he said: “It’s not about the price tag. It’s not really our choice. When people kill and kill, when drug lords destroy countries and now they’re leaving. To go back to those countries because they’re not staying here.
It’s unclear how many undocumented immigrants are in the U.S., but ICE Acting Director Patrick J. Lechleitner This was reported by NBC News said in July that a mass deportation effort would be a major logistical and financial challenge. Two former Trump administration officials who worked on immigration in his first term told NBC News that the effort will require cooperation between several federal agencies, including the Justice Department and the Pentagon.
Trump’s victory included Record gains among Latino voters, Who did the Democrats try to capture by pointing? Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and a pro-Trump comedian Racist joke about Puerto Rico.
In a phone interview Thursday, he partially credited his message on immigration as the reason he won the race, saying, “They want to have borders and they like people to come, but they have to come into the country with love. They have to come legally.”
Trump also drew attention to the diverse coalition of voters he is appealing to is the profit he earns Among Latino voters, young voterswomen and Asian American voters from 2020.
“I’m starting to see that a realignment could happen because the Democrats are not in line with the thinking of the country,” the president-elect said. “The police, you can’t abolish this kind of thing. They don’t want to surrender and they don’t work and people understand that.”
Trump also talked about his phone conversations with Harris and President Joe Biden after the election.
“Very nice calls, very respectful on both sides,” Trump said, describing the talks, adding that Harris “talked about the transition and he wants it to be as smooth as possible, of course I agree.”
In the concession speech Wednesday at Howard UniversityHarris said he told Trump, “We will help him and his team with his transition and we will deal with a peaceful transfer of power.”
biden, appeal to the nation In a statement from the White House on Thursday morning, he urged voters to “accept the choice the country made” in re-electing Trump.
Trump also said he and Biden agreed to have dinner together “very shortly” on the phone.
He also said he had spoken to “probably” 70 world leaders since Wednesday morning, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which the president-elect described as a “very good conversation.”
Trump also said he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but did not provide further details about that conversation.
He added that he has not yet spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but “I think we will.”
During the election campaign, Trump promised to end Russia’s war with Ukraine if elected, saying he would make the deal in September.this is good for both parties.“
Laura Strickler, Didi Martinez, Chloe Atkins and Julia Ainsley contributed.