analysis
“Time” interview
Donald Trump’s plans for a second term are radical, but not new. They are unlikely to do him any harm
Donald Trump plans mass deportations of immigrants if he is re-elected
© Jeenah Moon / DPA
If Donald Trump makes it back to the White House, he wants to put Joe Biden on trial, deport millions of immigrants and allow pregnancy monitoring. The outcry is huge – but a lot has long been known.
“If Trump wins” is written on the cover, the ex-president looks resolutely into the camera. In two long interviews, Trump explained what he plans to do if he is re-elected. He wants to deport eleven million immigrants with the help of the police and military. Pointing to a law banning the use of the military against civilians, Trump said: “Well, those aren’t civilians.” New detention camps are also to be built, but they will not be needed because almost everyone will be deported.
In the interview, Trump also says that he wants to put Joe Biden on trial with the help of a special prosecutor and fire many government employees in Washington, much more than usual. Trump believes a nationwide ban on abortion is unrealistic; he wants to let the states decide individually. Asked whether states should monitor women’s pregnancies to check whether they have abortions, Trump said: “I think they could do that.”
Donald Trump wants to sabotage the rule of law
The interview is more than a questioning by a journalist, it is a kind of anticipated government statement. Now the horror is great, a terror is spreading. Above all, the interview shows that there appears to be a kind of collective amnesia regarding Donald Trump. Because most of the points are not new.
Example deportations: Trump had already planned mass deportations in his first presidency. The so-called entry ban for Muslims was only a first step to ensure that fewer people came into the country. The plan was largely developed by Stephen Miller, who has been one of Trump’s closest advisors since 2016. Miller is being considered for the role of chief of staff if Trump wins the next election. A few weeks ago, Miller was a guest at the annual CPAC conference, a meeting of ultra-conservatives and right-wing extremists, and openly chatted about the fact that the deportation plans have been on the back burner since his first term in office. Only the pandemic thwarted their plans at the time.
Example Biden indictment: Donald Trump first threatened in June last year that he would appoint a special prosecutor to indict Joe Biden. Occasionally the objection comes up about what’s so bad about it, after all there is a special investigator, Jack Smith, who is indicting Trump. That’s right, but Smith was not appointed by Joe Biden, but by Attorney General Merrick Garland. Traditionally, American attorney generals have a great deal of independence. Trump announced that he wanted to revoke this independence, which is not constitutionally protected. In the future, the Department of Justice would receive instructions directly from the White House.
A possible Biden indictment would not only be a political persecution of a competitor, but also an attack on the rule of law. This has been discussed in the USA for months, including this one star had reported about it.
Example of deep state: At the end of his first term, Trump issued an executive order that put the so-called “Schedule F” into effect. This should enable him to fire many more federal civil servants than usual. In this way, Trump wants to fight the so-called “deep state”. This refers to officials who were never elected but are responsible for many regulations.
When a new president comes into office, around 4,000 positions are typically filled. Under Schedule F rules, it could be 50,000 positions. Critics of the project believe that the middle staff of the ministries and federal authorities will be politicized. Not only top jobs would be filled, but also positions of department heads.
What is actually new in the interview is the aspect that Trump considers the surveillance of pregnancies to be legitimate. Although the Republican is considered the darling of the religious base, he believes a national ban on abortion is unrealistic. Trump also rejects Florida’s plan to ban abortions after six weeks. His commitment to possible surveillance of pregnancies in order to be able to punish abortions is all the more remarkable.
There is a great outcry about the plans, understandably so. But Donald Trump’s supporters do not vote for him despite his plans, but precisely because of them. At his rallies, the ex-president often speaks for minutes about various aspects, which he also discusses in interviews. In this respect, there is no reason to assume that the reporting could harm him.