Former President Donald Trump has said there is “definite anti-white feeling” sweeping the US — and warned “that can’t be allowed.”
Trump, 77, was asked during a wide-ranging interview with Time magazine published Tuesday about polls showing most of his supporters think “anti-white racism now represents a greater problem in the country than anti-black racism.”
“Oh, I think that there is a lot to be said about that,” the 45th president responded. “If you look at the Biden administration, they’re sort of against anybody depending on certain views.
“They’re against Catholics. They’re against a lot of different people,” Trump continued. “They actually don’t even know what they’re against, but they’re against a lot. But no, I think there is a definite anti-white feeling in this country and that can’t be allowed either.”
When asked how he would “address” that, the presumptive Republican nominee answered: “I don’t think it would be a very tough thing to address, frankly. But I think the laws are very unfair right now. And education is being very unfair, and it’s being stifled. But I don’t think it’s going to be a big problem at all.
“But if you look right now, there’s absolutely a bias against white and that’s a problem.”
Trump to Biden: Fire people
Ahead of the November election, President Biden and his allies have highlighted Trump administration alumni who say they will not back the 45th president this time around.
“Age is the only thing we have in common,” Biden, 81, needled his rival during Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, adding: “My vice president actually endorses me.”
However, Trump told Time that loyalty is the current commander-in-chief’s major problem.
“Biden’s a very different kind of a guy than me,” he contended. “He keeps bad people. For instance, when you had Afghanistan, he kept [then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark] Milley. Milley should have been fired immediately … I did fire people, I fired a lot of people. Now I let them quit because, you know, I have a heart. I don’t want to embarrass anybody. But almost every one of those people were fired by me.”
“Working for Biden is very easy,” Trump mused at another point. “He never fires anybody. He should fire everybody having to do with Afghanistan. He should fire everybody having to do with the border. I would have fired everybody and it would have been a big story.”
Border crackdown
Trump also elaborated on his plan to embark on a mass deportation campaign against illegal immigrants, telling Time that “we have no choice.”
“I don’t believe this is sustainable for a country, what’s happening to us, with probably 15 million and maybe as many as 20 million by the time Biden’s out,” he said. “Twenty million people, many of them from jails, many of them from prisons, many of them from mental institutions. I mean, you see what’s going on in Venezuela and other countries. They’re becoming a lot safer.”
The former president cited deportation efforts that took place under the Eisenhower administration as a model and stressed that much of the endeavor would rely on local law enforcement.
When asked about the possibility that state and local jurisdictions will balk at being asked to take part, Trump acknowledged it and said if that happens, “they won’t partake in the riches,” referring to federal funding.
“We have to do this,” he added. “This is not a sustainable problem for our country.”
Asked about the possibility of using regular military forces to conduct a roundup, Trump did not rule the possibility out.
“When we talk military, generally speaking, I talk National Guard … But if I thought things were getting out of control, I would have no problem using the military, per se,” Trump added.
The presumptive Republican nominee also expressed openness to erecting new migrant detention camps if needed.
“We wouldn’t have to do very much of that. Because we’ll be bringing them out of the country,” Trump said. “We’re not leaving them in the country. We’re bringing them out. It’s been done before … I would not rule out anything. But there wouldn’t be that much of a need for them, because of the fact that we’re going to be moving them out.”
‘Should have immunity’
Looming over the 2024 presidential showdown is the unprecedented slate of criminal charges against Trump. Last year, Trump vowed to name a special prosecutor to investigate the Biden family — only to distance himself from that commitment in the Time interview.
“It depends [on] what happens with the Supreme Court. Look, a president should have immunity. That includes Biden,” he argued.
“If they’ve ruled that they don’t have immunity, Biden, probably nothing to do with me, he would be prosecuted for 20 different acts.”
Back during the 2016 election cycle, Trump similarly declared that he would sic a special prosecutor on Hillary Clinton, but ultimately declined to do so.
In his campaign, Biden has warned of the possibility of political violence by his rival’s supporters, an idea Trump shrugged off in his interview.
“I don’t think you’ll have political violence,” he told Time. “I think we’re gonna have a big victory. And I think there will be no violence.”
In a later exchange, however, Trump backtracked on his confidence.
“I don’t think we’re going to have that,” he said. “I think we’re going to win. And if we don’t win, you know, it depends. It always depends on the fairness of an election.”
Foreign policy
Trump has long championed an “America First” approach to foreign policy. But Republicans in Congress have splintered over how to implement that philosophy, especially with respect to the war in Ukraine.
The former president has sent mixed signals on the war in Ukraine on the campaign trail, voicing skepticism about additional aid, musing that he could end the war in 24 hours, and even backing a loan to Kyiv.
“I’m going to try and help Ukraine, but Europe has to get there also and do their job. They’re not doing their job. Europe is not paying their fair share,” Trump said.
The Republican also faulted Biden for the war, contending the president was weak in his dealings with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“I think Biden has dealt with Putin very poorly. Putin should never have gone into Ukraine. And he didn’t go in for four years with me. I get along very well with Putin,” Trump said.
During his first term, Trump pursued peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, which he described as the “ultimate deal.”
However, he told Time he has become pessimistic about the idea of a two-state solution.
“There was a time when I thought two states could work. Now I think two states is going to be very, very tough,” he said, adding: “You had a lot of people that liked the idea four years ago. Today, you have far fewer people that like that idea.”
The Post contacted the Biden campaign for comment.
