Republican Trump, who will face Democrat Joe Biden in November’s election, vowed to target “insiders” when he returned to the White House and did not rule out political violence if he failed.
The Time interview with Trump, 77, took place at his home in Florida in early April and then over the phone.
“I believe that the internal enemy is in many cases much more dangerous to the country than the external enemies – China, Russia and many others,” Trump said when asked if he was ready to abolish part of the US constitution to deal with his opponents.
At a time when a record number of people are illegally crossing the US southern border with Mexico, the issue of immigration has become central in the presidential election.
Trump claims he would have no choice but to begin mass deportations.
It would be primarily handled by the US National Guard, “but if I felt the situation was getting out of control, I would have no problem using the armed forces,” Trump said in the interview.
When the Time interviewer pointed out that U.S. law prohibits the use of military force on U.S. soil against civilians, Trump responded, “These are not civilians. These are people who are not in our country legally. This is an invasion.”
Regarding abortion, which has also become a hot election issue, Trump repeated his earlier position. Namely, he will leave it up to the states to prosecute those who violate the ban.
The conservative-leaning US Supreme Court, made up of three justices appointed by Trump, struck down the federal abortion law in 2022, prompting several Republican-led states to enact full or partial bans.
Asked if states should monitor women’s pregnancies to see if they have had abortions in violation of the ban, Trump says:
“Guess they might do it.”
Trump, whose supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, did not rule out riots if he loses in November.
