Donald Trump sat with Time magazine earlier this week for a wide-ranging interview on the first 100 days of his second administration. The hourlong discussion touched on a variety of hot-button issues, including the president’s deportation efforts, his administration’s controversial cuts to federal agencies, and his compliance — or possibly lack thereof — with court orders.
Here are five key moments from the interview.
‘I’m not defying the Supreme Court. I never defy the Supreme Court. I wouldn’t do that.’
When asked whether he would commit to complying with court orders, Trump told Time multiple times that he would.
“Sure, I believe in the court system,” the president said.
But Trump balked when confronted about his administration’s refusal to follow a Supreme Court order instructing the government to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the U.S. after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador last month.
“Well, that’s not what my people told me,” he said when asked whether he was disobeying the justices, adding: “I leave that to my lawyers. I give them no instructions. They feel that the order said something very much different from what you’re saying. But I leave that to my lawyers.”
Asked if he would be violating his oath of office if he defied the Supreme Court, Trump said: “I’m not defying the Supreme Court. I never defy the Supreme Court. I wouldn’t do that. I’m a big believer in the Supreme Court, and have a lot of respect for the justices.”
‘I said that figuratively.’
Trump apparently expects his voters to know when he’s being serious and when he’s just speaking “figuratively,” as he claims he was when he vowed repeatedly during his 2024 campaign to end the Russia-Ukraine war on Day 1 of his second term.
“Well, I said that figuratively, and I said that as an exaggeration, because to make a point, and you know, it gets, of course, by the fake news [unintelligible],” Trump told Time when asked about the campaign promise. “Obviously, people know that when I said that, it was said in jest, but it was also said that it will be ended.”
He seemed to hedge his bets on when and how the brutal war would come to an end in his subsequent comments: “The war has been raging for three years. I just got here, and you say, what’s taken so long?”
‘I don’t believe in loopholes.’
Trump has hinted at a potential run for a third term for several months — even though the Constitution forbids it. When asked what methods he’s considering in attempting to pursue such a bid, Trump said: “I’d rather not discuss that now, but as you know, there are some loopholes that have been discussed that are well known. But I don’t believe in loopholes. I don’t believe in using loopholes.”
Some have floated the possibility of Trump joining the 2028 ticket as JD Vance’s running mate, so Vance could resign if they won and Trump could become president for a third time. But Trump told Time, “I don’t know anything about” that possibility.
Meanwhile, the Trump Organization appears to be full steam ahead on a possible third Trump term.
‘I would love to do that if it were permissible by law. We’re looking into that.’
Despite the backlash to and illegality of such a fantasy, Trump doubled down on his wish to send some criminals who are U.S. citizens to foreign prisons, telling Time that his administration is “looking into that.”
“I would love to do that if it were permissible by law,” Trump said, adding: “We’re talking about career criminals that are horrible people that we house and we have to take care of for 50 years while they suffer because they killed people. If you ask me whether or not I would do that, I would, but totally, and I think you have to leave this part of the sentence totally subject to it being allowed under law. And people are looking to see if it would be allowed under law.”
It’s not legal to deport U.S. citizens. Period.
‘There’s never been a group of people that’s been treated so horribly as the J6 people.’
Trump defended his decision to grant sweeping clemency to all rioters involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, suggesting they’ve been persecuted more than any other group of people.
His decision to pardon roughly 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants — including some who assaulted police officers and threatened to kill his vice president at the time — drew bipartisan backlash. But Trump is still feeling good about it.
“People do heinous acts, far more serious than what took place on Jan. 6,” he told Time. “And nothing happened to these people. Nothing. … There’s never been a group of people, maybe with one exception, I won’t even go into it, one exception as a group. But there’s never been a group of people that’s been treated so horribly as the J6 people.”
It’s unclear which possible “exception” he was referring to, but it’s fair to say many other groups have been treated far worse.