With less than three weeks left for the general election, former US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (October 15, 2024) dodged a question on whether he would peacefully accept the results. in an interview with bloombergSpeaking to John Micklethwait at the Economic Club of Chicago – where he largely commanded topics – Mr Trump declined to say whether he had been in touch with Russian President Vladimir Putin since leaving the Oval Office. The former President said that India is strict in matters of international trade. He also said the American press needed to “straighten up”, emphasized import tariffs as his economic policy of choice, and said he would welcome legal immigrants.
“Well, you had a peaceful transfer of power,” Mr Trump said, when asked, in reference to January 6, 2021, attack on US CapitolIf he encourages a peaceful transfer of power after the November 5 elections.
When pressed by Mr Micklethwait, who said the transfer was peaceful “compared to Venezuela”, Mr Trump said he had considered whether to sit for it. bloomberg Interview because he felt Mr Micklethwait had been critical of him.
“We had the words ‘peaceful and patriotic,’” Mr Trump said, referring to a phrase he used when telling his supporters to march to the US Capitol.
However, in 2021 Mr Trump also told his supporters that “Fight like hell” In the same speech minutes before the riots. A court filing by special counsel Jack Smith in early October contained more serious evidence that Mr Trump knew he was making false claims about the outcome of the previous election and, during the January 6 riots, he was aware of it. Didn’t care. Security of then Vice President Mike Pence.
Mr Trump questioned its outcome 2020 elections During an interview on Tuesday (October 15, 2024).
“You think the last election was honest?”, he asked, rejecting the suggestion that several of his legal challenges to the results had been unsuccessful. He also pointed out that people had protested against the 2016 elections in which Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College vote and the presidency to Mr Trump.
Mr Trump also dodged a question about whether he had been in touch with Mr Putin since he left the White House in 2021.
“I don’t comment on that, but I would tell you that if I did that, it’s a smart thing to do,” Mr. Trump said, adding that it’s a good thing to have relationships.
“If I have a relationship, I don’t talk about it,” he said, later adding that he has good relations with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Mr Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Asked whether China was emulating its recent naval blockade of Taiwan, and whether he, as president, would send troops to defend Taiwan if China invaded it, Mr. Trump said, “Look they would Are doing.” [the naval exercise] Now, because they’re not going to do it later.”
Mr Trump said Jens Stoltenberg, the former head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military alliance, appreciated the fact that he had pressured NATO members to meet defense spending commitments of 2% of GDP.
He talked at length about how he would impose import tariffs on companies that do not make their products in the US.
The former president, who once called India the ‘tariff king’, talked at length about how he would use tariffs if elected.
“To me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariff, and it’s my favorite word.” Citing the example of the car industry, he suggested he would also impose a 2,000% tariff.
In terms of trade, he described India as ‘tough’ along with other countries.
For example, India is a very strict country. It is not just China. I would say, China is probably the toughest,” Mr Trump said.
“But you know there are a lot of difficulties in it, it is very difficult. The European Union…they treat us very badly, we have a deficit,” he said.
He proposed using tariffs to finance the tax cuts. “You will have a surplus even without growth,” he said.
On immigration, Mr. Trump said he supported legal immigration but largely continued to equate illegal immigrants with criminals. He claimed that countries such as Venezuela were illegally sending prisoners and individuals to “lunatic asylums” to the US.
In response to a question on the economic contribution of immigrants and the need for workers, Mr. Trump said, “I want a lot of people to come to our country, but I want them to come legally.” He said he wants employers to have “choice”, but also for legal immigrants to have choices.
‘The press has to be straightened’
“We have to straighten out our press, because we have a corrupt press,” Mr. Trump said. His first presidential term included sustained attacks on the media and sharp confrontations with specific journalists and organizations. Mr Trump was responding to a question about whether Google should be broken up. He said he credited the company for becoming powerful and suggested it needed to be made “more fair” without breaking it.
“They treat me very badly,” he said.
Mr Trump confirmed to the billionaire entrepreneur and SpaceX and media site that he had negotiated to lower the price of two Air Force One planes as president, citing it as an example of cost cutting. Boeing had said in 2022 that it should not have signed the $3.8 billion deal.
He said the Republican Party is the party of “common sense”, again implying on unproven grounds that the elections were unfair.
“Forget about conservatives, liberals. We’re, let’s say, conservative, but we’re really a party… We need boundaries, we need fair elections, we don’t want men playing women’s games. We don’t want transgender operations without parental consent,” he said.
During the interview, Mr Trump continued to use former US President Barack Obama’s middle name, “Hussein”, which is a Muslim name, a tactic he has previously used in line with the nativist part of his Make America Great Again (MAGA) platform Is.
published – October 16, 2024 09:52 PM IST