US President-elect Donald Trump was seen in the Salon Jaune room at the UK Ambassadors residence in Paris on December 7, 2024. — AFP
On Sunday, Donald Trump reaffirmed his hard-line campaign promises to implement trade tariffs and conduct mass deportations, while also hinting at the possibility of the United States withdrawing from NATO. In his first formal television interview, just six weeks before his inauguration, Trump indicated that US support for Ukraine would likely be scaled back, stating he would "probably" reduce the aid assisting Kyiv in repelling the Russian invasion. Trump also mentioned he would "very quickly" consider pardons for supporters imprisoned for storming the US Capitol following his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.
The interview with Kristen Welker on NBC's Meet the Press was recorded on Friday but aired on Sunday, following Trump's meetings with the presidents of France and Ukraine over the weekend—his first foreign trip since winning the November election against Biden. Trump repeated his familiar threat to leave NATO, the cornerstone of European security since World War II, arguing that US allies do not contribute enough to their defense. "If they're paying their bills, and if I think they're treating us fairly, the answer is absolutely I'd stay with NATO," he said. However, he also acknowledged the "absolutely" possibility of America's departure.
Trump emphasized that his campaign promises of imposing significant tariffs—including against major US trading partners like Canada, Mexico, and China—would be enacted. "We're subsidising Mexico and we're subsidising Canada and we're subsidising many countries all over the world," he stated. Asserting that "properly used" tariffs are "a very powerful tool," Trump added that he would not only use them economically but also "for getting other things outside of economics." When asked if Americans would face higher prices due to these tariffs, Trump responded, "I can't guarantee anything. I can't guarantee tomorrow."
Trump has a history of challenging the independence of the US Federal Reserve, but he promised not to replace Chairman Jerome Powell. However, he reiterated his intention to proceed with what economists warn could be the highly disruptive mass deportation of undocumented immigrants in the United States. "I think you have to do it, and it's a hard—it's a very tough thing to do. But you have to have rules, regulations, laws. They came in illegally," he said. Trump also expressed his desire to end the constitutionally protected right to US citizenship for anyone born in the country, calling it "ridiculous." Although it is unclear how he would achieve this, he suggested it might be possible "through executive action." "We're going to have to get it changed. We'll maybe have to go back to the people. But we have to end it," Trump concluded.
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