Time Magazine’s Person of the Year Donald Trump boasts of ‘America’s next political dynasty’
Donald Trump tells Time Magazine his ‘superstar’ family’s political talent could carry on the MAGA movement, while his campaign’s ‘72 days of fury’ gave him an electoral edge on November 5.
Donald Trump has attributed his victory to the “72 days of fury” during which he campaigned to reclaim the White House, arguing it “hit the nerve of the country” and tapped the anger of Americans upset at out of control immigration.
In an interview with Time Magazine, which has named him Person of the Year for a second time, Mr Trump also said his family could form a political dynasty to carry on the MAGA movement he created.
He warned the Democrats didn’t “get the feel of the country” during the campaign, identified Kamala Harris’ first mistake as “taking the assignment” and elevated the border with Mexico as the top issue, which cemented his victory.
He said he called his campaign “72 Days of fury” adding: “There were no days off.”
“There were no time-outs. If you made a mistake, it would be magnified at levels that nobody’s ever seen before. So you couldn’t make a mistake,” he said.
“It started 72 days out. For some reason, it just seemed to be it … We said things that were on the minds of the country. I think the Democrats didn’t get it. They just kept going back to the same old nonsense.”
Pressed on the future of the MAGA movement, the President-elect held out the prospect of the emergence of Trump family dynasty by arguing that his eldest son Donald Trump Jr would do “very well” in politics while his second son Eric – and Eric’s wife Lara Trump – were both “very capable.” He said his second child, Ivanka, had the potential to be a “superstar in politics” but was orientated towards her family.
“I have some very competent members of my family. My kids are very competent,” he says. “I don’t know that they’re going to choose to go through this. They’ve been treated very badly.”
In the wide-ranging interview, Mr Trump sketched out his belief that he can use the military to prevent an invasion of America by illegal migrants, but clarified that he would “only do what the law allows”.
“I will go up to the maximum level of what the law allows. And I think in many cases, the sheriffs and law enforcement is going to need help,” he said in the interview with four of the magazine’s top journalists. “We’ll also get National Guard. We’ll get National Guard, and we’ll go as far as I’m allowed to go, according to the laws of our country.”
Time Magazine also gave the President-elect the title of Person of the Year in 2016, saying it had given him the accolade again: “For marshalling a comeback of historic proportions, for driving a once-in-a-generation political realignment, for reshaping the American presidency and altering America’s role in the world.”
The President-elect told the magazine he won the election because “the country was angry” because of open border policies, transgender people participating in women’s sports and the state of the US economy.
In the full interview published on Thursday (Friday AEDT), Mr Trump said his priorities after the January 20 inauguration will be securing the border, extending his tax cuts, drilling for oil and pardoning participants in the January 6 2021 Capitol Building riots.
He said he would start accessing pardons for the January 6 rioters pardons in “maybe the first nine minutes” of his second term, saying he would look at them on a “case-by-case” basis.
Mr Trump also outlined his intentions to secure a deal to end the conflict with Russia, clarifying that the only way to “reach an agreement is not to abandon (Ukraine),” and declaring that “the Middle East is going to get solved.”
However, he criticised the decision by the Biden administration to authorise the use by Ukraine of US-supplied long-range missiles – Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) – warning: “We’re just escalating this war and making it worse.”
“That should not have been allowed to be done. Now they’re doing not only missiles, but they’re doing other types of weapons. And I think that’s a very big mistake, very big mistake,” Mr Trump said.
The Middle East was an “easier problem to handle than what’s happening with Russia and Ukraine,” he added, saying there were “very productive things happening.”
With no commitment to a two-state solution being provided, Mr Trump said he would support “whatever solution we can do to get peace.”
“I want a long lasting peace, a peace where we don’t have an October 7 in another three years,” he says. “And there are numerous ways you can do it. You can do it (with a) two state (solution), but there are numerous ways it can be done.”
Mr Trump said the assassination attempt on him was a “very big moment” and that “a lot of people changed … I think a lot of people became much more religious in that moment.”
“It was a horrible moment in our country. But I think … it did change a lot of minds.”
Mr Trump also defended his key cabinet picks, including his first choice for attorney-general Matt Gaetz who withdrew from contention, as well as Robert Kennedy Jnr as his top health official and Tulsi Gabbard as national intelligence director.
Mr Trump said there would be “very serious testing” to examine any connection between autism and vaccines – a link which Mr Kennedy has promoted but which medical experts have discredited. The President-elect said: “We’re going all out. We’re going to know what’s good and what’s not good.”
He also expressed surprise at concerns foreign intelligence officials working for allies of the US would be concerned about working with Ms Gabbard given her past comments on Syria and Russia.
He said he didn’t see any need to impose a loyalty pledge on his cabinet appointments. If they did not follow his orders, Mr Trump said he would “fire them” if he thought it was appropriate.
Pressed on whether the world’s richest man Elon Musk had a conflict of interest after being appointed to head up the Department of Government Efficiency, Mr Trump said the business man “puts the country long before his company.”
“He considers this to be his most important project, and he wanted to do it. And, you know, I think, I think he’s one of the very few people that would have the credibility to do it.”
He said education would be a key target of the DOGE, arguing that “we want to move the schools back to the states,” adding there would be a “virtual closure of Department of Education in Washington.”
Reflecting on cost of living pressures for Americans, Mr Trump also conceded bringing down grocery prices could be “very hard.” But he argued that lower energy prices would be a major factor in reducing costs.
Mr Trump said the economy was “a big factor” in his election victory – especially “the real economy, which is the economy of going out and buying groceries or buying a car or buying a house.”
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