‘Very corrupt’: Trump promises wild move on ‘day one’

Donald Trump has said he will fulfil a wild promise on his first day back in the White House during his first formal TV interview since the election.

Donald Trump has doubled down on his promise to pardon his supporters involved in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol – vowing to do so on his first day back in the White House.

In his first formal television interview since his November election win, the president-elect told NBC he’s “going to be acting very quickly” to address those arrested over the attack which aimed to overturn the 2020 election result.

“First day … Yeah, I’m looking for these pardons,” Mr Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker on Meet the Press, in an interview which aired on Sunday US time.

“I know the system,” he said. “The system’s a very corrupt system. They say to a guy, ‘You’re going to go to jail for two years or for 30 years.’ And these guys are looking, their whole lives have been destroyed.

“For two years, they’ve been destroyed. But the system is a very nasty system.”

Trump said he will fulfil a wild promise on 'day one'. Picture: NBC

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The Republican, who is six weeks out from his January inauguration, said there may be some exceptions if the individuals involved acted “radical” or “crazy”.

“I’m going to look at everything. We’re going to look at individual cases,” he said.

When asked about the rioters who have pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers, Mr Trump claimed: “they had no choice.”

More than 1500 people have been arrested or charged in connection with the January 6 riots, almost 900 of whom pleading guilty.

Mr Trump, who was impeached by Congress and criminally charged over his historic attempt to overturn the 2020 result has previously said he will pardon rioters involved in the attack.

“Absolutely, I would,” he told journalists in Chicago in July. “If they’re innocent, I would pardon them.”

During his interview with NBC, Mr Trump once again refused to admit he lost the 2020 vote.

“No, why would I do that?” he said.

He also said that members of Congress who investigated him over the insurrection by his supporters “should go to jail”.

While stressing that he would not personally order law enforcement bodies to prosecute his political enemies, he said officials could take the decision to do so themselves.

Mr Trump addressed the riots in his first formal television interview since the election. Picture: NBC

When asked whether his pick to head the FBI, Kash Patel, should go through with his frequent threats to go after political opponents, Mr Trump answered: “If they think that somebody was dishonest or crooked or a corrupt politician, I think he probably has an obligation to do it.”

Mr Trump said he will have “the absolute right” to prosecute domestic opponents because as president “I’m the chief law enforcement officer”.

However, he said he was “not interested in that” and would instead work for economic growth and an end to illegal immigration, so that his “retribution will be through success”.

Mr Trump’s interview was taped on Friday but aired on Sunday, following his meetings with the presidents of France and Ukraine over the weekend – his first foreign trip since winning the November election against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump threatens to leave NATO

Elsewhere in the interview, Mr Trump reiterated his familiar threat to leave NATO, the cornerstone of security in Europe since World War II, saying that US allies do not pay enough for their defence.
“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.

But there is also “absolutely” the possibility of America’s departure, he said.

The president elect also stressed that his campaign promises of huge tariffs – including against top US trading partners Canada, Mexico and China – will be enacted.

“We’re subsidising Mexico and we’re subsidising Canada and we’re subsidising many countries all over the world,” he said.

Vowing that “properly used” tariffs are “a very powerful tool,” Mr Trump added that he would not only wield them economically, “but also for getting other things outside of economics.”

As to whether Americans would see higher prices as a result of those tariffs, he said: “I can’t guarantee anything.”

Mr Trump also reiterated his familiar threat to leave NATO. Picture: Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool/AFP

Mass deportations

Mr Trump also said he would go ahead with what economists say could be the hugely disruptive mass deportation of undocumented immigrants in the US.

“I think you have to do it, and it’s a hard – it’s a very tough thing to do,” he said.

He also said he would try to end the “ridiculous” constitutionally protected right to US citizenship for anyone born in the country.

The president-elect offered a small olive branch to advocates for allowing some undocumented migrants – a key source of labour for much of the US economy – to stay.

He said “I will work with the Democrats” on the so-called “dreamers” – people who have grown up in the United States after entering the country illegally as young children.

However Mr Trump suggested that even US citizens could be deported if they have family members who are in the country illegally – a legally dubious move and major escalation of current policy if carried out.

“The only way you don’t break up the family is you keep them together and you have to send them all back,” he said.