Trump touts Trump to Fox News
President Donald Trump sat down with Fox News for an interview that aired Sunday and discussed a wide variety of issues. Some highlights:
Abolish ICE
Trump said ongoing attacks on Immigration and Customs Enforcement would lead to Democratic losses in the November midterm elections. Progressives and some prominent Democrats have called for getting rid of the agency.
“Well I hope they keep thinking about it,” Trump said. “Because they’re going to get beaten so badly. You know ICE; these are the guys that go in and take MS-13, and they take them out. Because they’re much tougher than MS-13, like by a factor of 10.”
The comments build off a claim by the president that ICE has “liberated” towns from MS-13. But the agency has a broader mission.
Tax reform
The president touted the tax overhaul he signed back in December, his only legislative victory to date. He said there would be a “part two” rolled out in the coming months.
“We’re doing a phase two,” Trump said. “We’ll be doing it probably in October, maybe a little sooner than that, and it’ll be more of a middle class – we did a lot for the middle class, but this will be even more aimed at the middle class. One of the things we’re thinking about is bringing the 21 percent down to 20, and for the most part, the rest of it will go right to the middle class.”
The president was referring to bringing the corporate tax rate down from 21 to 20 percent.
Trade deals
“The big thing I’m focused on now is trade,” he said. “I have to straighten out trade deals . ... We have some of the worst trade deals in the world.
“We lose money with everybody. When someone walks up and says how much do we lose with this country? We lose with everybody. We’re going to make it reciprocal. We’re going to make them fair, and I will tell you that you don’t know about this, but every country is calling every day saying, ‘Let’s make a deal, let’s make a deal.’ It’s going to all work out.”
He also said he would wait until after the midterms before he signs a new North American Free Trade Agreement. “NAFTA, I could sign it tomorrow, but I’m not happy with it,” he said. “I want to make it more fair, OK?”
Harley-Davidson
When asked whether it was fair for him to call out a specific company, Trump defended his remarks about Harley-Davidson – and declared that the company’s customer base had all voted for him.
“I guarantee you everybody that ever bought a Harley-Davidson voted for Trump,” Trump said. “I don’t know if you know that. I would have to – they call them bikers for Trump. There’s hundreds.”