President-elect Donald Trump said mass deportations will begin “very quickly” after taking office, one of a number of plans he discussed in a phone interview with NBC News on Saturday.
As Trump prepares to be sworn in Monday, the president-elect also told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker that he will “most likely” delay the US’ impending ban on TikTok, that he will “probably” visit Los Angeles next week to tour wildfire damage, and that he plans to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “fairly shortly.”
The president-elect also pledged to sign a “record-setting number” of executive actions on his first day in office. When asked whether he will sign “more than 100” actions, Trump replied the number will be “at least in that category.”
Mass deportations
Trump said his administration is planning on executing mass deportations on undocumented immigrants “very quickly” after he takes office, reiterating his desire to “get the criminals out of our country.”
“It’ll begin very early, very quickly,” he told NBC News. “I can’t say which cities because things are evolving.”
“We have to get the criminals out of our country,” he added.
Trump has long previewed plans for mass deportations of immigrants. CNN previously reported the incoming Trump administration will focus at first on deporting undocumented immigrants with criminal backgrounds in major metropolitan areas such as Chicago, Denver and Washington, DC.
TikTok ban
Trump said he will “most likely” delay a ban on TikTok for 90 days after he takes office but noted he has not made a final decision.
Trump said it would be “appropriate” to approve an extension for the Chinese-owned social media platform, which is required to sell to American buyers by Sunday or face a ban in the US. The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the controversial ban to stand, and the popular video app said it would turn off more than 170 million Americans’ access on Sunday, unless President Joe Biden intervenes.
“I think that would be, certainly, an option that we look at. The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate,” Trump said in the interview.
“If I decide to do that, I’ll probably announce it on Monday,” he added.
The law passed last year allows the president to delay the ban by 90 days but requires evidence that parties working to arrange a sale of TikTok to a US-owned company have made significant progress.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew has met with the president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida in recent weeks and is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration Monday.
Los Angeles fires
The president-elect said he is “probably” going to visit the Los Angeles area next week to survey damage after devastating wildfires ripped through the region.
Trump told NBC News he may travel to California “at the end of the week,” saying he wanted to go Friday but decided to wait until he had been inaugurated.
“I was going to go, actually yesterday, but I thought it would be better if I went as president. It’s a little bit more appropriate, I suspect,” he said in the Saturday interview.
Trump said he has not spoken to California Gov. Gavin Newsom since the outbreak of the wildfires. The president-elect has slammed the governor and other Democratic officials over their efforts to tame the fires, ripping them as “incompetent” witnesses to “one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country.”
Israel-Hamas ceasefire
Trump said he told Netanyahu to “keep doing what has to be done” while emphasizing his desire to see the war between Israel and Hamas end. He again warned that “all hell will break out” if the two sides do not uphold the recently negotiated ceasefire-hostage agreement, which is set to begin Sunday.
Trump told NBC News he plans to meet with Netanyahu “fairly shortly” but declined to share more details.
“‘Just keep doing what you have to do,’” Trump recalled telling the Israeli leader. “‘You have to have — this has to end. We want it to end, but to keep doing what has to be done.’”
Trump added the US will demand “respect” to ensure the agreement will be upheld and warned of the consequences if it doesn’t hold.
“The United States has to get respected again, and it has to get respected fast. But respect is the primary word that I use,” he said. “If they respect us, it will hold. If they don’t respect us, all hell will break out.”
The Trump and Biden teams worked together on the deal, a rare intersection of interests between bitter rivals who both saw an opening following Trump’s election victory.
Brett McGurk, the longtime Middle East negotiator for Biden, had been planted in the Qatari capital for weeks in the hopes of a final agreement. He was joined in Qatar in recent days by Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, for the final push.
Inauguration
The president-elect spoke about his decision to move his Monday inauguration ceremony indoors amid dangerously cold temperatures projected in DC. He said he believes he made “the right decision” and promised the ceremony is “going to be beautiful, actually.”
“The weather was really looking bad in terms of the coldness, and I think it would have been dangerous for a lot of people, the crowds and everything else. So I think we made the right decision. We’ll be very comfortable now,” he said.
“It’ll be an indoor, more or less indoor parade, and it’ll be beautiful,” he continued.
Monday’s ceremony is now set to take place in the Capitol Rotunda, and the Capitol One Arena will stream the event live.
“Unity and strength, and also the word fairness,” Trump told NBC News would be the themes of his inauguration speech. “Because you have to be treating people fairly. … You know, we went through hell for four years with these people. And so, you know, something has to be done about it.”
