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18 May 2025 9:56
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  •   Home > News > International

    Donald Trump raises doubt over Americans' right to due process

    In a wideranging interview covering his plans for Canada, the economy and a possible third term, US President Donald Trump says he does not know whether Americans have a right to due process as laid out in the country's constitution.


    Donald Trump says he does not know whether US citizens and non-citizens have a right to due process as laid out in the country's constitution.

    The US president made the comments in a wideranging interview with NBC's Meet the Press.

    Mr Trump also said he did not think military force would be needed to make Canada the "51st state" and played down the possibility he would run for a third term in the White House.

    Here are some of the highlights from the interview with NBC's Kristen Welker, which was taped Mar-a-Lago on Friday, local time, and aired on Sunday.

    On the constitution and due process

    Asked in the interview whether US citizens and non-citizens both deserved due process, as laid out in the fifth amendment of the constitution, Mr Trump was noncommittal.

    "I don't know. I'm not, I'm not a lawyer. I don't know," Mr Trump said.

    Critics have tried to make the case that Mr Trump is chipping away at due process in the United States.

    Most notably, they cite the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man who was living in Maryland when he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador.

    Mr Trump said Mr Abrego Garcia was part of a violent transnational gang.

    However, a Supreme Court order says the administration must work to return Mr Abrego Garcia to the US.

    The fifth amendment provides "due process of law", meaning a person has certain rights when it comes to being prosecuted for a crime.

    Also, the 14th amendment says no state can "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws".

    Mr Trump said he had "brilliant lawyers … and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said".

    He said he was pushing to deport "some of the worst, most dangerous people on Earth", but that courts were getting in his way.

    "I was elected to get them the hell out of here, and the courts are holding me from doing it," Mr Trump said.

    On making Canada the 51st state

    The US president has repeatedly threatened to make Canada the "51st state".

    Before his White House meeting with newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday, Mr Trump was not backing away from the rhetoric, which has angered Canadians.

    Mr Trump, however, told NBC that it was "highly unlikely" the US would need to use military force to make Canada its 51st state.

    He offered less certainty about whether his repeated calls for the US to take over Greenland from NATO-ally Denmark could be achieved without military action.

    "Something could happen with Greenland," Mr Trump said.

    "I'll be honest, we need that for national and international security. … I don't see it with Canada. I just don't see it, I have to be honest with you."

    On a third term

    The president has repeatedly suggested he could seek a third term in the White House even though the 22nd amendment of the constitution says: "No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice."

    Mr Trump told the NBC there was considerable support for him to run for a third term.

    "But this is not something I'm looking to do," he said.

    "I'm looking to have four great years and turn it over to somebody, ideally a great Republican, a great Republican to carry it forward."

    Mr Trump's previous comments about a third term have sometimes seemed more about provoking outrage on the political left.

    The Trump Organization is selling red caps marked with "Trump 2028".

    But at moments, he has suggested he is seriously looking into a third term.

    In a late March phone interview with NBC, Mr Trump said: "I'm not joking. There are methods [through] which you could do it."

    On the economy

    Mr Trump said the US economy was in a "transition period" but he expected it to do "fantastically" despite the economic turmoil sparked by his tariffs.

    He pushed back when journalist Kristen Welker noted some Wall Street analysts were saying the chances of a recession were increasing.

    "Well, you know, you say, some people on Wall Street say," Mr Trump said.

    "Well, I tell you something else. Some people on Wall Street say that we're going to have the greatest economy in history."

    He also deflected blame for the 0.3 per cent decline in the US economy in the first quarter.

    He said he was not responsible for it.

    "I think the good parts are the Trump economy and the bad parts are the Biden economy because he's done a terrible job," he said, referring to his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden.

    Mr Trump doubled down on his recent comments at a cabinet meeting that children might have to have three dolls instead of 30, denying that was a concession his tariffs would lead to supply shortages.

    "I'm just saying they don't need to have 30 dolls. They can have three. They don't need to have 250 pencils. They can have five."

    On peace in Ukraine

    Mr Trump flagged the prospect of the US walking away from Ukraine-Russia peace talks.

    "I do believe we're closer with one party and maybe not as close with the other," he said. 

    "I'd like to not say which one we're closer to."

    Asked how long it could be before the US walked away from the negotiations, Mr Trump said: "There'll be a time when I will say, 'OK, keep going, keep being stupid.'"

    Mr Trump said there was "tremendous hatred between these two men [Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy]" but he still expressed confidence in reaching a peace agreement.

    "We have a very good chance of doing it," he said.

    Ukraine and Russia are at odds over competing ceasefire proposals.

    A recent wave of attacks came after the US and Ukraine signed an agreement granting Washington access to Ukraine's vast mineral resources.

    ABC/wires


    ABC




    © 2025 ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved

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