It’s literally in the oath of office he has sworn twice
#Trump says, ‘I don’t know,’ when asked if he’s required to uphold #Constitution
Trump, asked during an interview on NBC News’s “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker,” whether he believes that he needs to uphold the Constitution during his presidency, responded, “I don’t know.”
#law #FactCheck #TrumpLies
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/05/04/trump-nbc-interview-constitution-economy/
The oath is in Article II, §1, Clause 8, of the #US #Constitution, & a new #president must take it before exercising or carrying out any official powers or duties:
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation— "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, & will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect & defend the Constitution of the United States."
The comment came as #Trump remained adamant that he wanted to ship undocumented #immigrants out of the country & said it was inconceivable to hear millions of cases in #court, insisting he needed the #power to quickly remove people he claimed were murderers & drug dealers.
“I was elected to get them the hell out of here, & the courts are holding me from doing it,” he said.
#law #Constitution #FactCheck #TrumpLies #immigration #DueProcess #judiciary #SeparationOfPowers #ImpeachTrumpNow
Pressed on whether he still needs to abide by the #Constitution, #Trump said, “I don’t know.”
“I have brilliant lawyers that work for me, & they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said,” he said. [except he hasn’t]
In the wide-ranging interview airing Sunday, he also did not rule out the use of #military force to take #Greenland, while saying it’s “highly unlikely” he would do so w/ #Canada. He complimented #JDVance & Secy of #State #MarcoRubio as potential successors.
He reiterated his criticism of #FederalReserve Chair #JeromePowell for not lowering interest rates & suggested that it was due to personal animus — “He just doesn’t like me because I think he’s a total stiff,” he said — but also said that he would not remove him before his term is up in 2026.
#Trump downplayed concerns about the potential for a #recession, saying, “Everything’s okay. What we are. I said, this is a transition period. I think we’re going to do fantastically.”
#Trump said he was not worried about the #economy contracting under his watch but did not rule it out.
“Anything can happen…But I think we're going to have the greatest economy in the history of our country. I think we're going have the greatest economic boom in history.”
Last week, new data showed that the #USeconomy shrank in the first 3 months of the year, a stark reversal after nearly 3 yrs of solid growth. Part of the reason for the dip was attributed to Trump’s #tariffs.
[Despite the #economy consistently growing during #Biden’s term & immediately failing once #Trump took office, he swiftly blamed his predecessor for the #shrinkage.]
He continued to say Joe Biden was responsible for aspects of the economy, while conceding that it is “partially” the Trump economy going forward.
“I think the good parts are the Trump economy & the bad parts are the Biden economy because he’s done a terrible job,” he said. “He did a terrible job on everything.”
Pressed on whether he took responsibility for the impact his #tariff plans were having on the #economy, “Ultimately, I take responsibility for everything.” [yeah, right.]
“The #tariffs have just started kicking in. And we're doing really well. Psychologically, I mean, the fake news was giving me such press on the tariffs. The tariffs are going to make us rich. We're going to be a very rich country.”
Asked about providing relief for #SmallBusinesses, #Trump said, “They’re not going to need it.”
…#Trump was criticized last week for suggesting…#consumers would see price increases & may have to do more w/less, making the striking comment that “children will have 2 dolls instead of 30 dolls.”
In the NBC interview he said, “I don’t think that a beautiful baby girl needs—that’s 11 yrs old—needs to have 30 dolls. I think they can have 3 dolls or 4 dolls because what we were doing w/China was just unbelievable. We had a trade deficit of hundreds of billions of dollars w/China.”
#Trump rejected any notion of empty store shelves or increased #prices, but still maintained that #consumers may be affected.
“I’m just saying they don’t need to have 30 dolls. They can have 3,” he repeated on NBC. “They don’t need to have 250 pencils. They can have 5.” [wtf?]
He also focused on certain aspects of the #economy—including #energy prices—& was dismissive of cost increases in other sectors.
#OutOfTouch #tariffs #inflation #recession
“When you say strollers are going up, what kind of a thing? I’m saying that gasoline is going down. Gasoline is thousands of times more important than a stroller,” #Trump said in the NBC interview.
[2 days ago he said #gas was $1.88/gal. He is way off. As of this minute the avg #price of #gasoline in the United States is $3.17. If you live in California it’s $4.78, Illinois $3.38, New York $3.10, the lowest price is Mississippi at $2.66]
#Trump, who is to meet w/ #Canada’s new PM, #MarkCarney, said he would not stop talking about it as a #51stState, saying “it would be a cherished state” while dismissing its importance as a #trade ally even though it is one of the US’ largest trading partners.
“We don't need their cars, we don't need their lumber, we don't need their energy. We don't need anything. We do very little business w/Canada. They do all of their business practically w/us. They need us. We don't need them.”
@Nonilex When he talks about "cherishing" Canada I think of how he "cherishes" women
