Trump Reaffirms Stance on Mass Deportations, While Emphasizing Support for Legal Immigration

While reiterating his campaign promise of deporting illegal migrants, US President-elect Donald Trump says he wants immigrants to come in legally.

"We obviously have to make the border strong and powerful and, and we have to -- at the same time, we want people to come into our country," he said in an interview with NBC, his first since his election to a second term.

"I'm not somebody that says, 'No, you can't come in.' We want people to come in," he said.

When the interviewers asked him about the cost of mass deportation of illegal migrants, he said, "It's not a question of a price tag."

"When people have killed and murdered, when drug lords have destroyed countries, … there is no price tag" for deportations, he added.

As he spoke exclusively to two journalists from the network, Trump said his mandate was to bring the country "common sense."
"You can't have defund the police, these kind of things. They don't want to give up and they don't work, and the people understand that," he added.

He said that "the Democrats are not in line with the thinking of the country," resulting in a political realignment with him making gains among Latinos, Asian Americans, women, and young voters compared to 2020.

Surveys bear out the claim and also show gains among Blacks.

He said calls with President Joe Biden and Harris were "very nice calls, very respectful both ways," adding, "I expect to have lunch with Biden."
Of the global leaders he has spoken with so far, Trump listed 70 -including Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky but not Russia's President Vladimir Putin.
Among them is Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Had a great conversation with my friend, President @realDonaldTrump. Congratulated him on his spectacular victory. Look forward to working closely together again to further strengthen India-US relations across technology, defense, energy, space and several other sectors," PM Modi said in a post on X.