Matt Viser, Washington Post
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – President Donald Trump, asked during an interview on NBC News’s “Meet the Press” whether he believes that he needs to uphold the Constitution during his presidency, responded, “I don’t know.”
The comment came as Trump remained adamant that he wanted to ship undocumented immigrants out of the country and said it was inconceivable to hear millions of cases in court, insisting he needed the power to quickly remove people he said were murderers and drug dealers.
“I was elected to get them the hell out of here, and the courts are holding me from doing it,” he said.
Pressed by host Kristen Welker on whether he still needs to abide by the Constitution, he said, “I don’t know.”
“I have brilliant lawyers that work for me, and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said,” he said, appearing to downplay the oath of office that includes a commitment to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.”
In the wide-ranging interview that aired Sunday, Trump was dismissive of his higher tariffs’ economic consequences for consumers, saying Americans would simply have to make do with fewer dolls and pencils, and higher costs for strollers. And he brushed aside the spiraling effects that a recession could bring.
He also did not rule out the use of military force to take Greenland, while saying it’s “highly unlikely” he would use force against Canada. He complimented Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as potential successors, and he said he planned to foot the bill for adding a ballroom to the White House that would be more in line with his Mar-a-Lago estate.
The interview was remarkable at times, such as when a president elected on a pledge to lower costs and fight inflation minimized concerns about the potential for a recession and suggested that having an economic hit in the short term would be worth it if he can achieve his long-term goals.
“Everything’s okay,” he said. “I said this is a transition period. I think we’re going to do fantastically.”
He said he was not worried about the economy contracting under his watch but did not rule it out.
“Anything can happen,” he said. “But I think we’re going to have the greatest economy in the history of our country. I think we’re going have the greatest economic boom in history.”
Last week, new data showed that the U.S. economy shrank in the first three months of the year, a stark reversal after nearly three years of solid growth amid tariff-related uncertainty.
Trump swiftly blamed his predecessor, and he continued to say in the interview that former president Joe Biden was responsible for aspects of the economy, while conceding that it is “partially” the Trump economy going forward.
“I think the good parts are the Trump economy and the bad parts are the Biden economy because he’s done a terrible job,” he said. “He did a terrible job on everything.”
Pressed further on whether he took responsibility for the impact his tariff plans were having on the economy, he said, “Ultimately, I take responsibility for everything.”
“The tariffs have just started kicking in. And we’re doing really well. Psychologically, I mean, the fake news was giving me such press on the tariffs. The tariffs are going to make us rich. We’re going to be a very rich country.”
Asked about providing relief for small businesses, he said, “They’re not going to need it.”
He raised the possibility that the tariffs could be permanent, although part of that seemed to be a negotiating tactic.
“I wouldn’t do that because if somebody thought they were going to come off the table, why would they build in the United States?” he said.
Trump was criticized last week for suggesting during a Cabinet meeting that consumers would see price increases and may have to do more with less, making the comment that “children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls.”
“I don’t think that a beautiful baby girl needs – that’s 11 years old – needs to have 30 dolls,” he said in the NBC interview. “I think they can have three dolls or four dolls because what we were doing with China was just unbelievable. We had a trade deficit of hundreds of billions of dollars with China.”
He rejected any notion of empty store shelves or increased prices, but maintained that consumers may be affected.
“I’m just saying they don’t need to have 30 dolls. They can have three,” he said on NBC. “They don’t need to have 250 pencils. They can have five.”
He also focused on certain aspects of the economy – including energy prices – and was dismissive of cost increases in other sectors.
“When you say strollers are going up, what kind of a thing?” he said. “I’m saying that gasoline is going down. Gasoline is thousands of times more important than a stroller.”
The president also reiterated his criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell for not lowering interest rates and suggested that it was due to personal animus – “He just doesn’t like me because I think he’s a total stiff,” he said – but Trump also said he would not attempt to remove him before Powell’s term is up in 2026.
Trump also said he would again extend the deadline for a nationwide ban on the popular social media app TikTok if a deal is not done in time. Congress last year voted overwhelmingly to force ByteDance, the app’s Chinese-based parent company, to sell TikTok or face a ban in the United States. A deal was imminent last month, but fell apart amid protests from the Chinese government over Trump’s tariff policies.
“Perhaps I shouldn’t say this, but I have a little warm spot in my heart for TikTok,” Trump said in the interview. “TikTok is – it’s very interesting, but it’ll be protected. It’ll be very strongly protected. But if it needs an extension, I would be willing to give it an extension. Might not need it.”
Trump also soft-pedaled his previous comments suggesting the idea of running for a third term. “This is not something I’m looking to do,” he said in the NBC interview. While he said others have encouraged him, “It’s something that, to the best of my knowledge, you’re not allowed to do.”
“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,” he said. “But I think we’re going to have four years, and I think four years is plenty of time to do something really spectacular.”
He declined to name whom he views as his successor but said that “JD’s doing a fantastic job” and that his vice president “would have an advantage.” But he also brought up Rubio, calling him “great.” Rubio has had a remarkable rise within Trump’s orbit, coming to be seen as a vital conduit to the president. Last week, Rubio was tapped to replace ousted national security adviser Michael Waltz in addition to serving as the nation’s top diplomat.
“I think the other people would all stay in unbelievably high positions. But you know, it could be that he’d be challenged by somebody,” Trump said, referring to Vance. “We have a lot of good people in this party.”
Trump, who is soon supposed to meet the new Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, said he would not cease talking about Canada as a 51st state, suggesting that “it would be a cherished state” while dismissing its importance as a trade ally even though it is one of the U.S.’s largest trading partners.
“We don’t need their cars, we don’t need their lumber, we don’t need their energy. We don’t need anything,” he said. “We do very little business with Canada. They do all of their business practically with us. They need us. We don’t need them.”
When asked about military force to take over Greenland, he said “it’s highly unlikely” but added that “I don’t rule it out.”
“I don’t say I’m going to do it, but I don’t rule out anything. No, not there,” he said. “We need Greenland very badly. Greenland is a very small amount of people, which we’ll take care of, and we’ll cherish them, and all of that. But we need that for international security.”
He rebuffed suggestions that he is taking the country down an authoritarian path, saying that anyone who disagrees with him “had their chance at the election, and they lost big.”
“Many people love Trump. I won the election,” he said. “They didn’t win the election. I got a lot more votes than they did. I won the popular vote. I won all seven swing states by a lot. A lot of people were surprised.”
He also made a baseless claim that the election contained some improprieties.
“Actually, I think there was a lot of hanky-panky going on, but it was too big to rig,” he said. “That’s the good news. It’s too big to rig.”
Asked whether people should be able to criticize him without fear of reprisal, Trump responded, “Absolutely. Yeah, I do. That I do.”
“It’s a part of democracy. It is. You’re always going to have dissent,” he said. “There’s nothing you’re going to do about that. Am I going to get 100 percent unified? It would be a strange place. I can’t even imagine it.”
