Donald Trump is sticking to his campaign promises as he reiterated on Thursday that one of his first priorities after taking office in January is to make the border “strong” and proceed with mass deportations of immigrants.

In an interview with NBC News, Trump, when asked about his campaign promise of mass deportations, said his administration had “no choice” but to carry them out.

At the same time, the president-elect described his victory over vice president Kamala Harris as “sweeping”, which he takes as a mandate to “bring common sense” to the country.

“We obviously have to make the border strong, and at the same time, we want people to come into our country,” he said. “And you know, I’m not one to say, ‘No, you can’t come in.’ We want people to come in.”

As a candidate, Trump had repeatedly pledged to carry out the “largest deportation operation in American history.” Asked about the cost of his plan, he said, “It’s not about price. We really have no choice. When people have killed and murdered, when drug lords have destroyed countries, now they’re going back to these countries because they’re not going to stay here.

Trump scored record highs among Latino voters, who Democrats tried to reach by focusing on Trump’s rhetoric on immigrants and a pro-Trump comedian’s racist joke about Puerto Rico.

In a phone interview Thursday, he partially credited his message on immigration as the reason he won the election, saying his voters “want to have borders and they like people to come, but they have to come with love for the country , to enter legally”.

Rates from Latinos and women

Trump also touted the diverse coalition of voters he attracted, noting the percentages he has increased since 2020 among Latino voters, young voters, women and Asian Americans.

“I started to see that there could be an alignment because the Democrats don’t think about the country,” the president-elect said.

Trump also talked about his phone conversations with Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden after the election.
“Very nice calls, respectful on both sides,” Trump said, describing the talks, adding that Harris “talked about the transition and said she’d like it to be as smooth as possible, which of course I agree with.”

In her speech at Howard University on Wednesday, Harris said she told Trump, “We will assist him and his team in their transition and that we will participate in a peaceful transfer of power.”

Biden, addressing the nation in remarks from the White House on Thursday morning, urged voters to “accept the choice the country made” to re-elect Trump.

Trump also said he and Biden on the phone agreed to have lunch together “very soon.”

He also said he has spoken with about 70 world leaders since Wednesday morning, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a conversation the president-elect described as “very good.”

Trump also said he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but did not disclose details about that conversation.

He added that he has yet to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but noted that “I think we will.”

On the campaign trail, Trump promised to end Russia’s war with Ukraine if elected, saying in September that he would negotiate a deal “that’s good for both sides.”