Trump says he can’t guarantee tariffs won’t raise U.S. prices and won’t rule out retaliatory lawsuits

WASHINGTON– WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump said he could not guarantee that his promised prices on the main trading partners of the United States increase prices for American consumers and he suggested once again that some political rivals and federal officials who took legal action against him should be imprisoned.

The president-elect, in a lengthy interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” broadcast Sunday, also discussed monetary policy, immigration, abortion and health care, as well as state involvement -United in Ukraine, Israel and elsewhere.

Trump often mixed declarative statements with caveats, at one point warning that “things are changing.”

An overview of some of the questions discussed:

Trump threatened heavy trade sanctions, but said he didn’t believe in them. economists’ predictions that additional costs on these imported products for U.S. businesses would result in higher domestic prices for consumers. He did not promise that American households would not pay more for their purchases.

“I can’t guarantee anything. I can’t guarantee tomorrow,” Trump said, seeming to open the door to accepting the reality of how levies on imports typically work when goods hit the retail market.

It’s a different approach from Trump’s typical speeches throughout the 2024 campaign, when he presented his election as a sure way to curb inflation.

In the interview, Trump defended the tariffs in general, saying they “are going to make us rich.”

He promised that, on his first day in office in January, he would impose 25 percent tariffs on all goods imported from Mexico and Canada unless those countries satisfactorily put an end to illegal immigration and the flow of illegal drugs such as fentanyl into the United States. He also threatened to impose tariffs on China to force that country to crack down on fentanyl production.

“All I want is to have a level playing field, fast but fair,” Trump said.

He has made conflicting statements about how he would approach the justice system after winning the election, despite being convicted of 34 crimes in a New York state court and indicted in other cases for his handling of national security secrets and his efforts to overturn his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe. Biden.

“Honestly, they should go to jail,” Trump said of members of Congress who investigated the Capitol riots led by his supporters who wanted him to stay in power.

The president-elect stressed he could use the justice system against others, including special prosecutor Jack Smith, who led the case into Trump’s role in the siege on January 6, 2021. Trump confirmed his intention to pardon the supporters who were found guilty. for their role in the riot, saying he would take this action on his first day in office.

As for the idea of ​​revenge motivating possible prosecution, Trump said: “I have the absolute right. I am the head of law enforcement, you know that. I am the president. But that doesn’t interest me.”

At the same time, Trump pointed the finger at lawmakers on a special House committee that investigated the insurrection, citing Rep. Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Miss., and former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. .

“Cheney was behind this…and so was Bennie Thompson and everyone on this committee,” Trump said.

When asked specifically whether he would direct his administration to pursue prosecutions, he said “no” and suggested he did not expect the FBI to quickly begin investigations into his political enemies .

But at another point, Trump said he would defer to Pam Bondi, his pick for attorney general. “I want her to do what she wants,” he said.

Such threats, regardless of Trump’s inconsistencies, were taken seriously enough by many leading Democrats that Biden considered issuing blanket coverage, preventive pardons to protect key members of his outgoing administration.

Trump seemingly backed away from his campaign rhetoric calling for an investigation into Biden, saying, “I’m not looking to go back to the past.”

Trump has repeatedly mentioned his promises to seal the U.S.-Mexico border and deport millions of people who are in the U.S. illegally through a mass expulsion program.

“I think you have to do it,” he said.

He suggested he would try to use executive action to end “birthright” citizenship under which people born in the United States are considered citizens — although such protections are spelled out in the Constitution.

Asked specifically about the future of people who were brought to the country illegally as children and who have been protected from deportation in recent years, Trump responded, “I want to find a solution,” indicating that he could seek a solution with Congress.

But Trump also said he doesn’t “want to break up families” with mixed legal status, “so the only way to not break up the family is to keep them together and send them all back.”

Long time one criticism of NATO For not spending more on their own defense, Trump said he would “absolutely” stay in the alliance “if they paid their bills.”

Pressed on whether he would withdraw if he was unhappy with his allies’ commitments, Trump said he wanted the United States to be treated “fairly” on trade and defense.

He wavered on NATO’s priority of containing Russia and President Vladimir Putin.

Trump suggested Ukraine should prepare for less U.S. aid to defend against Putin’s invasion. ” Maybe. Yeah, probably. Of course,” Trump said of Washington’s aid cut to Ukraine. Furthermore, Trump has called for an immediate ceasefire.

Asked about Putin, Trump initially said he hadn’t spoken to the Russian leader since Election Day last month, but then replied, “I haven’t spoken to him recently.” Trump said when asked, adding that he did not want to “hinder the negotiations.”

The president-elect said he has no plans, at least for now, to ask Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to resign before Powell’s term ends in 2028. Trump said during the campaign that presidents should have no more say in Fed policyincluding interest rates.

Trump offered no job guarantee for FBI Director Christopher Wray, whose term is set to end in 2027.

Asked about Wray, Trump responded, “Well, I mean, it would seem pretty obvious” that if the Senate confirms Kash Patel as Trump’s president, chosen for the head of the FBI, then “he’s going to take someone’s place, right?” This is someone you’re talking about.

Trump promised that government efficiency efforts led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would not threaten Social Security. “We’re not touching Social Security, except we’re making it more efficient,” he said. He added that “we’re not raising the age or anything like that.”

He hasn’t been as specific on abortion or the long-promised overhaul of the Affordable Care Act.

On abortion, Trump continued its inconsistencies and said he would “probably” not decide to restrict access to abortion pills that now account for the majority of terminations of pregnancies, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights. But pressed on whether he would commit to that position, Trump responded: “Well, I’ll commit.” I mean, are things changing. I think they are changing.

Taking up a sentence from his Debate of September 10 against Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump again said he had “ideas” about a plan to replace the Affordable Care Act of 2010, which he called “bad health care.”

He added a promise that any Trump version would maintain insurance protections for Americans with pre-existing health conditions. He did not explain how such a design would be different from the status quo or how he could realize his desire for “better health care at lower costs.”

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Barrow reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Adriana Gomez Licon in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Jill Colvin and Michelle L. Price in New York contributed to this report.