The Dictatorship
Trump, in a new interview, says he doesn’t know if he backs due process rights

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump is circumspect about his duties to uphold due process rights laid out in the Constitution, saying in a new interview that he does not know whether U.S. citizens and noncitizens alike deserve that guarantee.
He also said he does not think military force will be needed to make Canada the “51st state” and played down the possibility he would look to run for a third term in the White House.
The comments in a wide-ranging, and at moments combative, interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” came as the Republican president’s efforts to quickly enact his agenda face sharper headwinds with Americans just as his second administration crossed the 100-day mark, according to a recent poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Trump, however, made clear that he is not backing away from a to-do list that he insists the American electorate broadly supported when they elected him in November.
Here are some of the highlights from the interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker that was taped Friday at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and aired Sunday.
Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia of Maryland, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, speaks during a news conference at CASA’s Multicultural Center in Hyattsville, Md., Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia of Maryland, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, speaks during a news conference at CASA’s Multicultural Center in Hyattsville, Md., Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Trump doesn’t commit to due process
Critics on the left have tried to make the case that 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 and imprisoned without communication.
Trump says Abrego Garcia is part of a violent transnational gang. The Republican president has sought to turn deportation into a test case for his campaign against illegal immigration despite a Supreme Court order saying the administration must work to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S.
Asked in the interview whether U.S. citizens and noncitizens both deserve due process as laid out in the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution, Trump was noncommittal.
“I don’t know. I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know,” Trump said when pressed by Welker.
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.”
Trump said he has “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 are getting in his way.
“I was elected to get them the hell out of here, and the courts are holding me from doing it,” Trump said.
President Donald Trump arrives to give a commencement address at the University of Alabama, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala.(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Donald Trump arrives to give a commencement address at the University of Alabama, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala.(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Military action against Canada is ‘highly unlikely’
The president has repeatedly threatened that he intends to make Canada the “51st state.”
Before his White House meeting on Tuesday with newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark CarneyTrump is not backing away from the rhetoric that has angered Canadians.
Trump, however, told NBC that it was “highly unlikely” that the U.S. would need to use military force to make Canada the 51st state.
He offered less certainty about whether his repeated calls for the U.S. to take over Greenland from NATO-ally Denmark can be achieved without military action.
“Something could happen with Greenland,” 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.”
President bristles at recession forecasts
Trump said the U.S. economy is in a “transition period” but he expects it to do “fantastically” despite the economic turmoil sparked by his tariffs.
He offered sharp pushback when Welker noted that some Wall Street analysts now say the chances of a recession are increasing.
“Well, you know, you say, some people on Wall Street say,” 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% decline in the U.S. 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,” referring to his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden.
Trump doubled down on his recent comments at a Cabinet meeting that children might have to have two dolls instead of 30, denying that is an acknowledgment his tariffs will 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.”
Vice President JD Vance departs after speaking during a tour at Nucor Steel Berkeley in Huger, S.C., Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance departs after speaking during a tour at Nucor Steel Berkeley in Huger, S.C., Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool Photo via AP)
Trump plays down third-term talk
The president has repeatedly suggested he could seek a third term in the White House even though the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution says that “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”
Trump told NBC there is considerable support for him to run for a third term.
“But this is not something I’m looking to do,” Trump 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.”
Trump’s previous comments about a third term sometimes seem more about provoking outrage on the political left. The Trump Organization is even selling red caps with the words “Trump 2028.”
But at moments, he has suggested he was seriously looking into a third term. In a late March phone interview with NBCTrump said, “I’m not joking. There are methods which you could do it.”
President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, look on. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, look on. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
So JD Vance in 2028? Marco Rubio? Not so fast.
Trump said in the interview that Vice President JD Vance is doing a “fantastic job” and is “brilliant.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whom Trump last week tasked to simultaneously serve as acting national security adviseris “great,” the president said.
But Trump said it is “far too early” to begin talking about his potential successor.
He is confident that his “Make America Great Again” movement will flourish beyond his time in the White House.
“You look at Marco, you look at JD Vance, who’s fantastic,” Trump said. “You look at — I could name 10, 15, 20 people right now just sitting here. No, I think we have a tremendous party. And you know what I can’t name? I can’t name one Democrat.”
National Security Advisor Mike Waltz speaks during a television interview at the White House, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
National Security Advisor Mike Waltz speaks during a television interview at the White House, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Hegseth is ‘totally safe’
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been under fire for his participation in Signal text chains in which sensitive information about military planning was shared. But Trump said he is not looking to replace his Pentagon chief.
“No. Not even a little bit. No. Pete’s going to be great,” Trump said. Hegseth’s job is “totally safe.”
The president also said his decision to nominate national security adviser Mike Waltz to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations was not punishment for starting the chain to which Waltz inadvertently added a reporter.
“No. I just think he’ll do a nice job in the new position,” Trump said. He said his decision to have Rubio take over Waltz’s duties will likely be temporary.
“Marco’s very busy doing other things, so he’s not going to keep it long term. We’re going to put somebody else in,” Trump said, adding that it would nonetheless be possible to do both jobs indefinitely. “You know, there’s a theory. Henry Kissinger did both. There’s a theory that you don’t need two people. But I think I have some really great people that could do a good job.”
One person he said he is not considering for the post? Top policy aide Stephen Miller.
“Well, I’d love to have Stephen there, but that would be a downgrade,” he said. “Stephen is much higher on the totem pole than that, in my opinion.”
Trump insists he’s not profiting from the presidency, plans to donate his salary once again
Trump denied he is profiting from the presidency, even as he continues to promote a series of business ventures, including cryptocurrency holdings.
“I’m not profiting from anything. All I’m doing is, I started this long before the election. I want crypto. I think crypto’s important because if we don’t do it, China’s going to. And it’s new, it’s very popular, it’s very hot,” Trump said, adding that he hasn’t even “even looked” at how much he’s made from the venture.
Just days before taking office, Trump launched his own meme coin, which surged in value after it announced that top holders would be invited to an exclusive dinner at the president’s Washington-area golf club later this month and a tour of the White House. He also helped launch World Liberty Financial, another cryptocurrency venture, last year.
That’s in addition to a long list of other business ventures, from Trump Media & Technology Group, which runs his Truth Social site, to branded sneakers, watches and colognes and perfumes.
“Being president probably cost me money if you really look,” Trump said. “In fact, I do something that no other president has done, they think maybe George Washington has done.”
He added: “I contribute my entire salary to the government, back to the government. And I’m doing it again.”
Another TikTok deal extension
Trump said he is open to extending the deadline for a deal on TikTok once again.
“I’d like to see it done,” he said. “I have a little warm spot in my heart for TikTok. TikTok is — it’s very interesting, but it’ll be protected.
He later added: “If it needs an extension, I would be willing to give it an extension, might not need it.”
Last month, Trump used executive action to keep TikTok running in the U.S. for another 75 days to give his administration more time to broker a deal to bring the social media platform under American ownership.
White House officials had believed they were close to a deal in which the app’s operations would have been spun off into a new company based in the U.S. and owned and operated by a majority of American investors. But Beijing hit the brakes after Trump slapped wide-ranging tariffs on nations across the globe.
“We actually have a deal. We have a group of purchasers, very substantial people. They’re going to pay a lot of money. It’s a good thing for us. It’s a good thing for China. It’s going to be, I think, very good,” he said. “But because of the fact that I’ve essentially cut off China right now with the tariffs that are so high that they’re not going to be able to do much business with the United States. But if we make a deal with China I’m sure that’ll be a subject, and it’ll be a very easy subject to solve.”
___
Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.
The Dictatorship
Trump’s plans for Americans’ data become clearer – and leave tech experts alarmed

Happy Tuesday. Here’s your Tuesday Tech Dropthe past week’s top stories from the intersection of technology and politics.
Trump’s data dreams
In recent months, there’s been widespread speculation over the Trump administration’s reported plans to work with controversial tech company Palantir to compile a massive database of Americans’ personal information. Now we have a bit of clarity on how some of that data could be used.
NPR reported Monday that the administration has developed a national citizenship data system that it wants states to use to crack down on noncitizen voters — a fascination of Donald Trump’s, despite the lack of evidence that such voters have affected the result of any U.S. election. One wonders whether and how this tool might be used to fuel Trump’s conspiracy theories.
Experts have raised concerns about the accuracy of the data being used, as well as whether this administration — which is currently trying to ramp up efforts to strip some Americans of their citizenship — can be trusted to deploy this tool ethically.
Read more at NPR.
Canada axes digital tax
Trump did the bidding of large tech companies when he said Friday that he was ending trade negotiations with Canada in response to the country’s digital services tax on tech companies — foreign and domestic — that was set to go into effect on the last day of June. Canada then rescinded the tax.
Read more at CNBC.
AI moratorium’s mortality
After a tentative deal appeared to have been reached between Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., it appears a 10-year ban on states instituting regulations around artificial intelligence has been dropped from Republicans’ budget bill. For now.
Read more at Time.
Musk’s ‘fixer’ reportedly no longer at Tesla
One of the top executives at Tesla — Omead Afshar, who has been called Elon Musk’s “fixer” by The Wall Street Journal — has reportedly left the company. Tesla has been mired in a sales slump and ongoing tumult, partially stemming from backlash over Musk’s role in crafting Trump’s policies.
Read more at Forbes.
Bezos’ outreach to Trump
The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has been cozying up to Trump, in an effort that the newspaper frames as an attempt to secure funding for Bezos’ aerospace company, Blue Origin, and capitalize on Trump’s rift with Musk.
Read more at The Wall Street Journal.
FTC puts its finger on the scale
Republicans have sought to crack the whip on companies that choose not to advertise on right-wing media platforms — in some cases, because said platforms have been known to promote hate speech. The Trump administration has made clear that it has no issue with holding up corporate mergers in order to extract political concessions, and that seems to have been the case last week when Trump’s handpicked FTC chairman announced that he was approving a merger of large advertising firms on the condition that the newly formed organization doesn’t take part in any ad boycotts based on political or ideological viewpoints.
Read more at Ars Technica.
Anti-ICE app
As Americans look for ways to navigate a country in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents — many of them masked — are seizing people off the streets and placing them in detention facilities, one developer has launched an app, ICEBlock, that tips people off as to where ICE agents have been sighted. The Trump administration, which has sought to crack down on reporting on ICE raids, clearly isn’t happy about this creation and responded — in dictatorial fashion — by threatening the app’s developer with DOJ scrutiny and even threatening CNN with prosecution for reporting on the app.
Read more at CNN.
The Dictatorship
The conservative wing of the Supreme Court just gave Democrats a potent weapon

In a string of cases Friday, the conservative justices on the Supreme Court handed the Republican Party win after win. The court restricted nationwide injunctions against President Donald Trump’s order on birthright citizenship, greatly hindering the powers of lower federal courts to constrain the president. It allowed parents to opt their kids out of public school education that offended their religious upbringing. And it let the state of Texas require age verification before anyone looks at online porn.
There is no question that each of these cases is a significant victory for conservatives in the short term. However, each also gives liberals an opening to try to accomplish their policy goals, but only if they are willing to be aggressive and break norms they’ve previously wanted to maintain.
Justice Sotomayor’s tit-for-tat warning was directed at the justices in the majority, but it could also be seen as an invitation to Democrats.
First, in the birthright citizenship case, the Supreme Court’s six Republican-appointed justices addressed a procedural question, not the issue of whether the president’s order rejecting the idea of birthright citizenship is unconstitutional (even though it clearly is under the Fourteenth Amendment and federal statutory law). On the procedural issue, the court held that lower federal court orders stopping the president’s unlawful actions could apply only to the people who brought those cases. In other words, even if a president issues a plainly unconstitutional order, all lower courts can do is provide relief to the individuals who had the foresight and resources to sue in federal court. The order cannot apply to everyone else in the country.
Yes, there are some exceptions. Cases can be brought as class actions, meaning a small number of people can bring the case on behalf of all other people in the country like them, but the court has spent the past two decades making such cases harder to bring. Also, states might be able to sue on behalf of their citizens and get nationwide relief under the theory that a citizen of, say, New Jersey, travels to other states and needs protection there. However, several justices have been skeptical of cases brought on behalf of others, so the future viability of such a strategy is unknown. Finally, never shy about giving itself more power, the Supreme Court said it can issue nationwide injunctions.
However, the court’s holding against universal injunctions from lower court judges is now the law of the land. And as a legal rule, in theory, this decision should apply in all cases regarding universal injunctions, not just cases brought against Republican policies. Justice Sonia Sotomayor recognized this in her dissenting opinion: “Today, the threat is to birthright citizenship. Tomorrow, a different administration may try to seize firearms from law-abiding citizens or prevent people of certain faiths from gathering to worship.”
Justice Sotomayor’s tit-for-tat warning was directed at the justices in the majority, but it could also be seen as an invitation to Democrats willing to push boundaries. The next Democrat in the Oval Office or even Democrats now in charge of state governments can look at the Supreme Court decision and take new actions knowing that lower courts shouldn’t have the power to issue nationwide or statewide injunctions stopping them.
A health care directive promoting reproductive freedom? An executive order forgiving student loans? A state initiative that restricts gun sales? A vaccination requirement that some religious people object to? An environmental directive that might infringe on some business’ claimed right? After Friday’s decision, even if these policies are challenged before very conservative federal judgesthose judges shouldn’t have the power to stop these Democratic actions beyond just the parties to the case, no matter how unlawful or unconstitutional these judges believe them to be.
Some or all of these actions might not survive the court’s eventual scrutiny.
Liberals can apply the same thinking to the Supreme Court’s ruling about LGBTQ+ books and religious exemptions. In that case, the conservative majority said that schools that teach books that burden parents’ religious beliefs violate the Constitution’s guarantee of free exercise of religion. In order to avoid this, schools must offer kids an opt-out so they aren’t forced to learn about gay marriage or trans people. Critics of the court’s decision worry that parents might cite their faith to push back against books that include depictions of interracial marriage, women in the workplace or evolution.
But liberals can have beliefs grounded in religion, too. Which means they, too, can throw a monkey wrench into the system on behalf of their liberal agenda. For instance, schools around the country are adopting “Baby Olivia” videos to promote anti-abortion views. A religious family who believes bodily autonomy and women’s rights are central to their religion can object and force the school to create an opt-out process.
Finally, there’s the age verification case involving online porn. In this case, the conservative justices said that while adults have the right to view pornography, minors don’t. Thus, Texas is allowed to put what the majority of the court viewed as a minimal burden on adults — the online age verification process — in order to stop minors from viewing porn, even though some adults viewed the process as violating their privacy.
Once again, liberals can play this game, as well. For instance, if Texas wants age verification for porn websites, California could require age verification for websites that sell or advertise guns.
Sure, some or all of these actions might not survive the court’s eventual scrutiny. Each of the doctrines at issue in these cases and hypotheticals have exceptions and complicated sub-rules. Moreover, if the Supreme Court doesn’t care about law and cares only about furthering a conservative ideological agenda, it will find a way to rule against liberal causes and politicians while ruling for conservatives.
But Democrats and liberals need to force the court’s hand by using these supposedly neutral rules to push their own agenda. The court may be tilted ideologically against them, but that doesn’t mean giving up ahead of time. Instead, they should use the tools given to them to accomplish their policy goals and dare the Supreme Court to display blatant hypocrisy by stopping them.
The Dictatorship
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