President-elect Donald Trump said he’s planning to sign a “record-setting” number of executive actions when he takes office, and that mass deportations and a trip to Los Angeles to visit the wildfire damage will be on the agenda in his first week in office.
Trump talked about his inauguration and early administration plans in a wide-ranging phone interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker on Saturday, just two days before he’s set to become president.
Trump said the theme of his inauguration speech will be “unity and strength, and also the word ‘fairness.’”
“Because you have to be treating people fairly. You can’t just say, ‘Oh, everything’s going to be wonderful.’ You know, we went through hell for four years with these people. And so, you know, something has to be done about it. … You can’t have that happen, and we shouldn’t have that happen.”
On Friday, Trump decided to move his inauguration ceremony indoors, to the U.S. Capitol, due to a dangerously cold weather forecast. It will be the first time the inauguration will be held indoors since 1985.
Here’s more from Trump’s interview with NBC News:
Moving the inauguration indoors
Trump said he feels “great” about the decision not to hold the inauguration ceremony outdoors, with a high of roughly 20 degrees and bitter winds in the weather forecast.
“I think we made the right decision,” he said. “The weather was really looking bad in terms of the coldness, and I think it would have been dangerous for a lot of people, the crowds and everything else. So I think we made the right decision. We’ll be very comfortable now.”
Trump announced on social media Friday that his supporters would be able to watch the inauguration ceremony inside Capitol One Arena, which is also where he will be holding a rally Sunday afternoon.
Trump also told NBC News that his parade is “going to be beautiful, actually.”
“It’ll be an indoor, more or less indoor parade, and it’ll be beautiful,” he added.
During the phone interview, Trump’s youngest child, Barron, walked in. Trump praised his son, saying he was instrumental in his online outreach.
“He was very good,” Trump said, adding that his son had introduced him to people he had never heard of before. “It’s the new wave. And he was very helpful.”
Mass deportations
Trump reiterated that mass deportations of undocumented immigrants would be a top priority for him. He didn’t give an exact date or city where they’ll start, but he said they would begin soon.
“It’ll begin very early, very quickly,” he said, adding: “I can’t say which cities because things are evolving. And I don’t think we want to say what city. You’ll see it firsthand.”
“We have to get the criminals out of our country. And I think you would agree with that. I don’t know how anyone could not agree.”
Executive actions
Trump said he still hasn’t determined how many executive actions he’ll be signing after taking office, but that he believes it will be a “record-setting” number.
When asked whether it would be “more than 100,” Trump replied, “Well, at least in that category.”
“We have a record-setting number of documents that I’ll be signing right after this [inauguration] speech,” he added.
TikTok
A ban on the popular video app is set to go into effect Sunday after the Supreme Court upheld a bipartisan law banning TikTok in the United States unless its Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, sells it to a buyer not located in China.
President Joe Biden’s administration has signaled it would not enforce the ban and would leave implementation to Trump, who is set to take office the next day.
Trump told NBC News he was considering a 90-day extension.
“I think that would be, certainly, an option that we look at,” he said. “The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate. You know, it’s appropriate. We have to look at it carefully. It’s a very big situation.”
“If I decide to do that, I’ll probably announce it on Monday,” he added.
Los Angeles wildfires
Trump said he will likely visit Los Angeles next week to address the wildfire damage.
He said his team will be looking at it from different “standpoints,” adding, “We’re going to be demanding that the water be released from the north into the lower parts of California.”
Trump said he will “probably” be going out there “at the end of the week.”
“I was going to go, actually yesterday, but I thought it would be better if I went as president. It’s a little bit more appropriate, I suspect,” he added.
He said he has not yet spoken with California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The two men have sparred since the wildfires began, with Trump blaming the fires on the potential 2028 presidential candidate, and Newsom going after Trump for spreading misinformation.
Middle East peace deal
Early Saturday, the Israeli government approved a ceasefire and hostage-release deal. Thirty-three Israeli hostages held in Gaza are set to be released in exchange for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
When asked by NBC News how confident he was that the hostages would be released, Trump replied, “Well, we’re going to see very soon, and it better hold.”
He also said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “Just keep doing what you have to do. You have to have — this has to end. We want it to end, but to keep doing what has to be done.”
Trump said he’ll be meeting with Netanyahu “fairly shortly” but would not give more details about it.
Trump also talked about how his administration will make sure the ceasefire holds, saying it will be by “good government.”
“Respect. The United States has to get respected again, and it has to get respected fast. But respect is the primary word that I use,” he said. “If they respect us, it will hold. If they don’t respect us, all hell will break out.”
