Getty ImagesPresident-elect Donald Trump said he would consider pardoning those involved in the 2021 US Capitol riots on his first day back in office next month.
“These people are living in hell,” Trump said in an interview with NBC in his first interview on the broadcast network since his victory in the November election.
The Republican also pledged to end automatic citizenship for anyone born in the country, but has offered to work with Democrats to help some illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.
In the large-scale sit-in, which was recorded on Friday, Trump promised to issue “a lot” of executive orders, including on immigration, energy and the economy, after his inauguration on January 20.
While he indicated he would not seek a Justice Department investigation into Joe Biden, he said some of his political opponents, including lawmakers who investigated the Capitol riot, should be jailed.
Trump was asked whether he would seek pardons for hundreds of people convicted of involvement in those riots, when his supporters stormed Congress three months after his defeat in the 2020 elections.
He added: “We will look into independent cases.” “Yes, but I will act very quickly.”
“First day,” he added.
“You know, by the way, they've been there for years, and they're in a dirty, disgusting place that shouldn't even be allowed to open,” Trump continued.
The president-elect made other news in the interview broadcast on NBC on Sunday:
- He offered a warning about whether he would keep the United States in NATO (NATO): “If they pay their bills, if I think they're doing a fair job, they're treating us fairly, then the answer is absolutely, I'll stay with NATO.”
- Trump said he would not seek to impose restrictions on this Abortion pillsAlthough when asked to provide a guarantee, he added: “Well, I'm committed. I mean… things change.”
- The Republican said Ukraine He should “probably” expect less aid when he returns to the White House
- Trump said he believes “someone has to find out” if there is a link between the two matters unite And childhood vaccines – an idea that has been ruled out by multiple studies around the world. Trump suggested that his nominee for health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic, should look into the matter
- The president-elect reiterated his promise that he would not seek a reduction Social securityNor did he raise the eligibility age, although he said it would make it “more efficient,” without providing further details
- He pressed on whether his plan was to impose Definitions He said a ban on imports from major US trading partners would raise consumer prices for Americans: “I can't guarantee anything. I can't guarantee tomorrow.”
Regarding the issue of immigration, Trump told NBC that he will seek, through executive actions, to end so-called birthright citizenship, which gives anyone born in the United States an American passport, even if his or her parents were born elsewhere.
Birthright citizenship stems from the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states that “all persons born” in the United States “are citizens of the United States.”
“We're going to have to change it,” Trump said. “Maybe we'll have to go back to the people. But we have to get this over with.”
Trump also said he would follow through on his campaign pledge to deport illegal immigrants, including those with family members who are U.S. citizens.
“I don't want to break up families, so the only way to not break up families is to keep them together and you have to bring them all back,” he said.
Trump also said he wants to work with Congress to help so-called Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who were protected under the Obama-era program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which Trump once tried to repeal.
“I will work with Democrats to develop a plan,” he said, adding that some of these immigrants have found good jobs and started businesses.
Trump appears to be giving mixed signals about whether he will follow through on his repeated pledges to seek revenge on his political opponents.
This week, outgoing US President Joe Biden issued a comprehensive pardon to his criminally convicted son, Hunter. The Democrat is reportedly considering issuing another blanket pardon to his political allies before he leaves office next month.
Trump appears to indicate that he will not seek a private investigation into Biden and his family, as he once pledged.
He added: “I'm not looking to return to the past.” “I look forward to making our country successful. Retribution will be through success.”
But he also said members of the Democratic-led House committee that investigated him “should go to prison.”
One of the panelists, former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney, responded to Trump on Sunday.
She said that his comment that the committee members should be imprisoned is “a continuation of his assault on the rule of law and the foundations of our republic.”
In his interview with NBC, Trump also said he would not direct the FBI to continue investigations against his opponents.
But he also told the network: “If they're deviants, if they've done something wrong, if they've broken the law, probably.
“They chased me. They chased me, and I didn't do anything wrong.”
