WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) 鈥 President Donald Trump is circumspect about his duties to uphold due process rights laid out in the Constitution, saying in a new interview that he does not know whether U.S. citizens and noncitizens alike deserve that guarantee.
He also said he does not think military force will be needed to and played down the possibility he would look to in the White House.
The comments in a wide-ranging, and at moments combative, interview with NBC鈥檚 鈥淢eet the Press” came as the Republican president’s efforts to quickly enact his agenda face with Americans just as his second administration crossed the 100-day mark, according to a recent poll by .
Trump, however, made clear that he is not backing away from a to-do list that he insists the American electorate broadly supported when they elected him in November.
Here are some of the highlights from the interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker that was taped Friday at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and aired Sunday.
Trump doesn’t commit to due process
Critics on the left have tried to make the case that Trump is chipping away at due process in the United States. Most notably, they cite the case of a Salvadoran man who was living in Maryland when he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador and imprisoned without communication.
Trump says Abrego Garcia is part of a violent transnational gang. The Republican president has sought to turn deportation into a test case for his campaign against illegal immigration despite a Supreme Court order saying the administration must work to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S.
Asked in the interview whether U.S. citizens and noncitizens both deserve due process as laid out in the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution, Trump was noncommittal.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know. I鈥檓 not, I鈥檓 not a lawyer. I don鈥檛 know,鈥 Trump said when pressed by Welker.
The Fifth Amendment provides 鈥渄ue process of law,鈥 meaning a person has certain rights when it comes to being prosecuted for a crime. Also, the 14th Amendment says no state can 鈥渄eny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.鈥
Trump said he has 鈥渂rilliant lawyers ... and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said.鈥
He said he was pushing to deport 鈥渟ome of the worst, most dangerous people on Earth,鈥 but that courts are getting in his way.
鈥淚 was elected to get them the hell out of here, and the courts are holding me from doing it,鈥 Trump said.
Military action against Canada is 鈥榟ighly unlikely鈥
The president has repeatedly threatened that he intends to make Canada the 鈥51st state.鈥
on Tuesday with Canadian Prime Minister , Trump is not backing away from the rhetoric that has angered Canadians.
Trump, however, told NBC that it was 鈥渉ighly unlikely鈥 that the U.S. would need to use military force to make Canada the 51st state.
He offered less certainty about whether his repeated calls for the U.S. to take over Greenland from NATO-ally Denmark can be achieved without military action.
鈥淪omething could happen with Greenland,鈥 Trump said. 鈥淚鈥檒l be honest, we need that for national and international security. ... I don鈥檛 see it with Canada. I just don鈥檛 see it, I have to be honest with you.鈥
President bristles at recession forecasts
Trump said the U.S. economy is in a 鈥渢ransition period鈥 but he expects it to do 鈥渇antastically鈥 despite the economic turmoil sparked by his tariffs.
He offered sharp pushback when Welker noted that some Wall Street analysts now say the chances of a recession are increasing.
鈥淲ell, you know, you say, some people on Wall Street say,鈥 Trump said. 鈥淲ell, I tell you something else. Some people on Wall Street say that we鈥檙e going to have the greatest economy in history.鈥
He also deflected blame for the 0.3% decline in the U.S. economy in the first quarter. He said he was not responsible for it.
鈥淚 think the good parts are the Trump economy and the bad parts are the Biden economy because he鈥檚 done a terrible job,鈥 referring to his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden.
Trump doubled down on his at a Cabinet meeting that children might have to have two dolls instead of 30, denying that is an acknowledgment his tariffs will lead to supply shortages.
鈥淚鈥檓 just saying they don鈥檛 need to have 30 dolls. They can have three. They don鈥檛 need to have 250 pencils. They can have five.鈥
Trump plays down third-term talk
The president has repeatedly suggested in the White House even though the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution says that 鈥淣o person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.鈥
Trump told NBC there is considerable support for him to run for a third term.
鈥淏ut this is not something I鈥檓 looking to do,鈥 Trump said. 鈥淚鈥檓 looking to have four great years and turn it over to somebody, ideally a great Republican, a great Republican to carry it forward.鈥
Trump’s previous comments about a third term sometimes seem more about provoking outrage on the political left. The Trump Organization is even selling red caps with the words 鈥淭rump 2028.鈥
But at moments, he has suggested he was seriously looking into a third term. In a , Trump said, 鈥淚鈥檓 not joking. There are methods which you could do it.鈥
So JD Vance in 2028? Marco Rubio? Not so fast.
Trump said in the interview that Vice President JD Vance is doing a 鈥渇antastic job鈥 and is 鈥渂rilliant.鈥 Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whom Trump last week tasked to , is 鈥済reat,鈥 the president said.
But Trump said it is 鈥渇ar too early鈥 to begin talking about his potential successor.
He is confident that his “Make America Great Again” movement will flourish beyond his time in the White House.
鈥淵ou look at Marco, you look at JD Vance, who鈥檚 fantastic,鈥 Trump said. 鈥淵ou look at 鈥 I could name 10, 15, 20 people right now just sitting here. No, I think we have a tremendous party. And you know what I can鈥檛 name? I can鈥檛 name one Democrat.鈥
