Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution

President Donald Trump talks to reporters — Due process for migrants would require 'a million or two million or three million trials,' and 'I was elected to get them the hell out of here,' Trump said

(Image credit: Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images)

What happened

President Donald Trump said on Sunday's "Meet the Press" that he was not sure if he had to follow the Constitution. He also said a U.S. invasion of Canada was "highly unlikely" though "something could happen with Greenland," a big military parade planned for his 79th birthday will be "worth it" and he's not "looking to" run for an unconstitutional third term. Trump said on social media Sunday night he would order the federal government to reopen Alcatraz as a prison and place 100% tariffs on movies filmed overseas.

Who said what

Trump's "revealing" equivocation about upholding the Constitution capped an interview, taped Friday, that "roamed over broad territory," The New York Times said. "I don't know," Trump told NBC News' Kirsten Welker when she asked if he agreed that U.S. citizens and noncitizens were entitled to due process. The Fifth Amendment "might say that," he said, but affording migrants due process rights would require "a million or two million or three million trials," and "I was elected to get them the hell out of here."

Trump answered "I don't know" again when Welker asked, "Don’t you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president?" When he took the oath of office on Jan. 20, The Wall Street Journal noted, Trump swore "in part, to 'preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.'"

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Former Vice President Mike Pence, awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award Sunday night for certifying Trump's 2020 loss, said in his acceptance speech that "whatever differences we may have as Americans, the Constitution is the common ground on which we stand. It’s what binds us across time and generations," and "what makes us one people."

What next?

Transforming Alcatraz from a popular tourist attraction back to a working prison would be an "expensive and challenging proposition," The Associated Press said. Trump's June 14 parade will cost an estimated $45 million, but that's "peanuts compared to the value of doing it," he said. "We have the greatest weapons in the world. And we're going to celebrate it."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.