NEW YORK – In a “60 Minutes” interview on Sunday, President-elect Donald Trump said he planned to immediately deport two to three million undocumented immigrants after his inauguration next January.
“What we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers, where a lot of these people, probably 2 million, it could be even 3 million, we are getting them out of our country or we are going to incarcerate,” Trump told “60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl. “But we’re getting them out of our country. They’re here illegally.”
Stahl had pressed Trump about his campaign pledge to deport “millions and millions of undocumented immigrants.” Trump told her that after securing the border, his administration would make a “determination” on the remaining undocumented immigrants in the country.
“After the border is secure and after everything gets normalized, we’re going to make a determination on the people that they’re talking about – who are terrific people. They’re terrific people, but we are gonna make a determination at that,” Trump said. “But before we make that determination ... it’s very important, we are going to secure our border.”
His comments echoed those he had made at the start of his campaign: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” Trump had said last June when he announced his candidacy. “They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
Trump’s campaign promises also included fully repealing the Affordable Care Act, forcing Mexico to pay for a border wall and banning Muslims from entering the U.S.
Since winning the election, Trump and his key advisers have been backing away from some of those promises, and Republican leaders who made the Sunday political-show circuit seemed to approach the issue of mass deportations more cautiously.
“I think it’s difficult to do,” Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday” earlier Sunday morning. “First thing you have to do is secure the border and then we’ll have discussions.”
McCarthy also hedged on the border wall, saying Republicans were focused on “securing the southern border” but with the aid of technology rather than necessarily a full-length brick-and-mortar wall.
House speaker Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday that securing the border was their top priority.
“We are not planning on erecting a deportation force,” Ryan said. “Donald Trump is not planning on that.”
Regarding his border wall plans, Trump told Stahl on “60 Minutes” that he would accept fencing along some of the border, as Republicans in Congress have proposed.
“For certain areas, I would. But for certain areas, a wall is more appropriate,” Trump said. “I’m very good at this. It’s called construction.”
On Thursday, former House speaker Newt Gingrich admitted that Trump would likely not focus on getting Mexico to pay for the wall, as the candidate had promised during his campaign, but that it had been “a great campaign device.”
Seated with his wife, Melania, and his four adult children, Trump spoke to Stahl about his seemingly shifting position on Obamacare, saying he would try to preserve key parts of the health care act, and also praised Hillary Clinton as “very strong and very smart.”
Trump told Stahl that Clinton’s phone call conceding the election was “lovely” and acknowledged that making the phone call was likely “tougher for her than it would have been for me,” according to previews of the interview released by CBS.
“She couldn’t have been nicer. She just said, ‘Congratulations, Donald, well done,’” Trump told Stahl. “And I said, ‘I want to thank you very much. You were a great competitor.’ She is very strong and very smart.”
Trump’s tone in the interview was in sharp contrast to his bitter attacks on the campaign trail, in which he nicknamed Clinton “Crooked Hillary” and encouraged chants of “Lock her up!” at his rallies. Among other insults, Trump also referred to his competitor as “the devil,” “a bigot” and – at the tail end of the final presidential debate – “such a nasty woman.”
Trump also told Stahl that former president Bill Clinton called him the following day and “couldn’t have been more gracious.”
“He said it was an amazing run – one of the most amazing he’s ever seen,” Trump said. “He was very, very, really, very nice.”
During the campaign, Trump had tried to use Bill Clinton’s infidelities as a way to attack and embarrass Hillary Clinton. For the second presidential debate, Trump had sought to intimidate his competitor by inviting women who had accused the former president of sexual abuse to sit in the Trump family box. Debate officials quashed the idea.
In the interview with Stahl, Trump did not rule out calling both of the Clintons for advice during his term.
“I mean, this is a very talented family,” he said. “Certainly, I would certainly think about that.”
Trump also reiterated on “60 Minutes” that he may keep portions of the Affordable Care Act, something he had mentioned he might do after meeting with President Barack Obama in the White House on Thursday.
When Stahl asked whether people with pre-existing conditions would still be covered after Trump repealed and replaced Obamacare, Trump said they would “because it happens to be one of the strongest assets.”
“Also, with the children living with their parents for an extended period, we’re going to ... very much try and keep that,” Trump added, referring to portions of the health care act that cover children under their parents’ insurance through age 26. “It adds cost, but it’s very much something we’re going to try and keep.”
When Stahl questioned whether there would be a gap between the repeal of Obamacare and the implementation of a new plan that could leave millions of people uninsured, Trump interrupted her.
“Nope. We’re going to do it simultaneously. It’ll be just fine. It’s what I do. I do a good job. You know, I mean, I know how to do this stuff,” Trump said. “We’re going to repeal and replace it. And we’re not going to have, like, a two-day period and we’re not going to have a two-year period where there’s nothing. It will be repealed and replaced. I mean, you’ll know. And it will be great health care for much less money.”
Immigrants and their advocates added their voices on Sunday to those who have been marching and protesting Trump’s presidential win.
Organizers said the protest in Manhattan was about speaking out against Trump’s support of deportation and other measures. Demonstrators carried signs in English and Spanish saying things like “Hate won’t make us great,” and chanted, “We are here to stay.”
It was the latest in days of demonstrations across the country. Other protests were in San Francisco, St. Louis Philadelphia, Denver and more. On Saturday, demonstrators gathered in big cities like New York and Los Angeles, as well as in smaller places like Worcester, Massachusetts, and Iowa City, Iowa.
In Los Angeles, an estimated 8,000 people marched Saturday to condemn what they saw as Trump’s hate speech about Muslims, pledge to deport people in the country illegally and crude comments about women.
Protests also were held in Detroit, Minneapolis and others. More than 200 people, carrying signs, gathered on the steps of the Washington state Capitol. The group chanted “not my president” and “no Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA.”
In Tennessee, Vanderbilt University students sang civil rights songs and marched through campus across a Nashville street, temporarily blocking traffic.
Demonstrations also took place internationally. A group of Mexicans at a statue representing independence in Mexico City expressed their concerns about a possible wave of deportations. One school teacher said it would add to the “unrest” that’s already in Mexico. About 300 people protested Trump’s election as the next American president outside the U.S. Embassy near the landmark Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
Mostly, the demonstrations were peaceful. However, in Portland, Oregon, a man was shot and wounded Saturday morning during a confrontation. Police arrested two teenagers in the shooting.
Protesters have gathered since Wednesday at Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. Police in the city arrested five people downtown during an anti-Trump protest that wound down early Sunday.
Four adults were cited for vandalism and a juvenile was arrested on suspicion of battery on an officer.
Trump has chosen Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus as his White House chief of staff and conservative media executive Stephen Bannon as his senior counselor.
Trump’s transition team announced the decisions Sunday. The moves are Trump’s first as he sets about putting together his administration.
In selecting Priebus, Trump is turning to a Washington veteran with deep ties to Republican leadership, particularly House Speaker Paul Ryan. Bannon ran the conservative website Breitbart before joining Trump’s presidential campaign during the general election. Neither has significant governing experience.
In a statement, Trump says Priebus and Bannon are “highly qualified leaders who worked well together on our campaign.”
A top adviser to Trump says it would be “unrealistic” to purge his children from his businesses and hand their control over to an independent trustee.
Appearing on televised interviews on Sunday, Rudy Giuliani initially said Trump should set up some kind of “blind trust.” When pressed, Giuliani told CNN’s “State of the Union” that Trump has an unusual situation and that creating a traditional blind trust would “basically put his children out of work.”
He says they then would have to “start a whole new business and that would set up ... new problems.”
Giuliani said Trump’s three children – Ivanka, Donald Jr. and Eric – who are involved in his businesses would not advise Trump once he becomes president in January. All three children are, however, are on the executive committee of Trump’s transition team.
Trump’s attorneys have filed a motion to delay until after the presidential inauguration a class-action fraud lawsuit involving the president-elect and his now-defunct Trump University.
In the motion filed Saturday in San Diego federal court, Trump’s lawyer Daniel Petrocelli argues that the extra months would give both sides time to possibly reach a settlement.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports Petrocelli wants to postpone the trial until sometime soon after the Jan. 20 inauguration to allow Trump to focus on the transition to the White House.
The motion also requests that Trump be allowed to be questioned in a videotaped deposition to be recorded before the trial.
The lawsuit alleging Trump University failed on its promise to teach success in real estate is scheduled to begin Nov. 28.
The war of words between Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and Trump is escalating, this time through their top aides.
Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, on Sunday said Reid should be careful in a “legal sense” about characterizing Trump as a sexual predator. When asked whether Trump was threatening to sue Reid, Conway said no. Also on Sunday, Trump took to Twitter to taunt The New York Times.
Adam Jentleson, Reid’s deputy chief of staff, said Trump is “hiding behind his Twitter account and sending his staff on TV to threaten his critics.”
Jentleson said Trump should instead “take action immediately to stop the acts of hate and threats of violence that are being committed in his name across the country.”
Trump’s decision to empower his running mate Mike Pence to steer the presidential transition gives the soon-to-be vice president an extraordinary hand in shaping the incoming government.
And it could foreshadow that he will play an outsized role in the White House.
Pence’s ascension is in line with a recent trend toward powerful vice presidents and appears similar to the last vice president who was handed the keys to a presidential transition: Dick Cheney.
Cheney helped build the government and was one of the most powerful vice presidents in recent memory.
Experts say that the choice of Pence sends a signal to Washington that he will have a key job. And it allows Pence to potentially stock key administration roles with allies.
Trump has been receiving congratulatory phone calls from a number of his former rivals, including Jeb Bush, John Kasich and Mitt Romney.
Conway told reporters in Trump Tower on Sunday about the calls and said the conversation the president-elect had with Bush was “incredibly gracious.”
And Trump later tweeted that he received calls from former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.
He later mentioned his conversation with Kasich, the governor of Ohio. But Trump reserved his praise for the “GREAT, GREAT, GREAT” state of Ohio, which helped to elect him. Trump tweeted: “The people of Ohio were incredible!”
Trump had angrily attacked all of those fellow Republicans during his bruising run through the GOP primaries. None of them endorsed Trump.
