Trump, in a new interview, says he doesn’t know if he backs due process rights
By AAMER MADHANI WEST PALM BEACH Fla AP 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 mentioned he does not think military force will be needed to make Canada the st state and played down the possibility he would look to run for a third term in the White House The comments in a wide-ranging and at moments combative interview with NBC s Meet the Press came as the Republican president s efforts to promptly enact his agenda face sharper headwinds with Americans just as his second administration crossed the -day mark according to a latest poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Residents Affairs Research 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 certain 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 situation that Trump is chipping away at due process in the United States The bulk notably they cite the episode of Kilmar Abrego Garcia 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 occurrence for his campaign against illegal immigration despite a Supreme Court order saying the administration must work to return Abrego Garcia to the U S Questioned 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 I don t know I m not I m not a lawyer I don t know Trump revealed when pressed by Welker The Fifth Amendment provides due process of law meaning a person has certain rights when it comes to being prosecuted for a crime Also the th Amendment says no state can deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws Trump mentioned he has brilliant lawyers and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court explained He disclosed he was pushing to deport various of the worst the majority dangerous people on Earth but that courts are getting in his way I was elected to get them the hell out of here and the courts are holding me from doing it Trump explained Military action against Canada is highly unlikely The president has repeatedly threatened that he intends to make Canada the st state Before his White House meeting on Tuesday with newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney Trump is not backing away from the rhetoric that has angered Canadians Trump however communicated NBC that it was highly unlikely that the U S would need to use military force to make Canada the st 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 Something could happen with Greenland Trump disclosed I ll be honest we need that for national and international shield I don t see it with Canada I just don t see it I have to be honest with you President bristles at recession forecasts Trump declared the U S business sector is in a transition period but he expects it to do fantastically despite the economic turmoil sparked by his tariffs He offered sharp pushback when Welker noted that particular Wall Street analysts now say the chances of a recession are increasing Well you know you say specific people on Wall Street say Trump explained Well I tell you something else Particular people on Wall Street say that we re going to have the greatest economic activity in history He also deflected blame for the decline in the U S economic system in the first quarter He noted he was not responsible for it I think the good parts are the Trump financial market and the bad parts are the Biden market because he s done a terrible job referring to his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden Trump doubled down on his current comments at a Cabinet meeting that children might have to have two dolls instead of denying that is an acknowledgment his tariffs will lead to supply shortages I m just saying they don t need to have dolls They can have three They don t need to have pencils They can have five Trump plays down third-term talk The president has repeatedly suggested he could seek a third term in the White House even though the nd Amendment of the Constitution says that No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice Trump informed NBC there is considerable backing for him to run for a third term But this is not something I m looking to do Trump stated I m looking to have four great years and turn it over to somebody ideally a great Republican a great Republican to carry it forward 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 Trump But at moments he has suggested he was seriously looking into a third term In a late March phone interview with NBC Trump declared I m not joking There are methods which you could do it So JD Vance in Marco Rubio Not so fast Trump mentioned in the interview that Vice President JD Vance is doing a fantastic job and is brilliant Secretary of State Marco Rubio whom Trump last week tasked to simultaneously serve as acting national safeguard adviser is great the president revealed But Trump announced it is far too early to begin talking about his foreseen successor He is confident that his Make America Great Again movement will flourish beyond his time in the White House You look at Marco you look at JD Vance who s fantastic Trump revealed You look at I could name people right now just sitting here No I think we have a tremendous party And you know what I can t name I can t name one Democrat
