Trump Outlines Plans for Early Actions, Including Deportations and Jan. 6 Pardons

President-elect Donald Trump disclosed that his administration's initial priorities will include pardoning individuals convicted for their roles in the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol events, ramping up deportations of undocumented immigrants, and boosting domestic oil production.

In an interview with Time magazine, Trump emphasized that pardons would be limited to those he described as “nonviolent” participants.

“We’re going to do it very quickly, and it’s going to start in the first hour that I get into office. A vast majority should not be in jail, and they’ve suffered gravely,” Trump said regarding the January 6 cases.

These remarks were part of an extensive conversation on November 25, conducted as part of Time’s selection of Trump as its “Person of the Year.”

On the international front, Trump criticized President Joe Biden's administration for permitting Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied weapons against certain Russian targets, describing it as an escalation of the conflict that began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He suggested that peace efforts might progress once he takes office.

“But I would imagine people are waiting until I get in before anything happens. I would imagine,” Trump said. “I think that would be very smart to do that.”

Turning to Middle East policy, Trump said, “I think that the Middle East is an easier problem to handle than what’s happening with Russia and Ukraine. OK, I just want to say that up front. The Middle East is going to get solved.” However, he acknowledged, “I think it’s more complicated than the Russia-Ukraine, but I think it’s, it’s, it’s easier to solve.”

When asked about Vice President Kamala Harris and her approach during the election, Trump called her decision to run “a mistake,” saying it’s vital for people to “know what you’re good at.”

“I think that when she wouldn’t talk to anybody, it shone a light on her,” he remarked. “In other words, if she would have gone out and just did interviews where they’re comparable to Steve, if there is anybody comparable, would say, could you do an interview here? An interview there? You know, she didn’t do anything.”

Trump continued, “And people said, is there something wrong with her? Why would they? I mean, I’m doing this interview with you. I did interviews with, if I had the time, anybody that would ask, I’d do interviews. I think the Joe Rogan interview, you know, that went on for almost three and a half hours.”

He further criticized Harris’s campaign for avoiding media outreach, even to favorable outlets. “They turned everybody down. They wouldn’t do the basic,” he said. “And people, including me, would start to say, is there something wrong with her? What’s wrong? Why wouldn’t you do some basic interviews?”

Trump suggested that the lack of media engagement compounded the impact of Harris’s less successful appearances. “In other words, if she did those same interviews, but she did another 15 interviews, you know, you wouldn’t have really noticed it that much,” he added.

In the same interview, Trump praised billionaire Elon Musk, expressing “no concerns” about his potential role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), citing Musk’s dedication to the country.

“I think that Elon puts the country long before his company,” Trump said. “I mean, he’s in a lot of companies, but he really is, and I’ve seen it. He considers this to be his most important project, and he wanted to do it. And, you know, I think, I think he’s one of the very few people that would have the credibility to do it, but he puts the country before, and I’ve seen it, before he puts his company.”

Trump argued that streamlining government operations and reducing spending is crucial for economic growth.

“Look, we have a country that is bloated with rules, regulations and with, frankly, people that are unnecessary,” he stated. “We are going to need a lot of people in a lot of other jobs. We’re looking to get people into private sector jobs where they can do better and be more productive. We’re going to see what happens. We have some interesting months coming up, at the beginning. We’re going to see what happens. But this country is bloated.”