In my interview with Donald Trump last week, the president-elect said he would deport millions of undocumented immigrants, reiterated his desire to pardon those convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, and said he'll work to extend the tax cuts passed during his first term.
But Trump told me some other revealing things during our 80-minute conversation that didn't end up airing on our hour-long "Meet the Press" program last Sunday. And I wanted to highlight those newsy tidbits before Trump takes office next month.
1. He told his children and family not to work in his administration – unlike in his first term. "I'll tell you what, I'll miss them, and they are really competent. But I say, 'Just go have fun, do your business, do whatever you want to do. But don't come in.' Because no matter what they did, they did such a great job. Although I have to say, [daughter-in-law] Lara [Trump] did a phenomenal job as the head of the Republican National Committee, along with Michael [Whatley]."
2. He said he wouldn't – or couldn't – divest from his companies, like the parent company of his social media site Truth Social. "Well I don't know how I can divest? What does that mean? I'm not allowed to open it and use it? I mean, all I do is — I — I don't openly look at the — the company. I'm not even on the board of the company. I didn't want to be on the board. I have other people, and they run it, and they run it very well because Truth has become a very, very successful platform."
3. He responded to a federal court's ruling that could result in TikTok being banned. "And I used TikTok, so I can't really, you know, I can't totally hate it. It was very effective. But I will say this, if you do do that, something else is going to come along and take its place. And maybe that's not fair. And really, what the judge actually said was that you can't have Chinese companies. In other words, they have the right to ban it if you can prove that Chinese companies own it. That's what the judge actually said."
When I pressed Trump if he would intervene to protect TikTok, he responded, "I'm going to try and make it so that other companies don't become an even bigger monopoly."
4. And he said he'd consider raising the federal minimum wage, which currently stands at $7.25 an hour. "It's a very low number. I will agree, it's a very low number. Let me give you the down side, though. In California they raised it up to a very high number. And your restaurants are going out of business all over the place. The population is shrinking. It's had a very negative impact. But there is a level at which you could do it, absolutely."
How will Democrats and progressives react to Trump's willingness to raise the federal minimum wage? Tune into "Meet the Press" this Sunday, when I interview Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as well as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
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