Does he need to uphold constitution as prez? Trump says, 'I don't know'

President Donald Trump said in an interview that aired on Sunday that he did not know whether every person on American soil was entitled to due process, despite constitutional guarantees, and complained that adhering to that principle would result in an unmanageable slowdown of his mass deportation programme.
The revealing exchange, on NBC's "Meet the Press," was prompted by the interviewer Kristen Welker asking Trump if he agreed with secretary of state Marco Rubio that citizens and noncitizens in the US were entitled to due process. "I don't know," Trump replied. "I'm not, I'm not a lawyer. I don't know." Welker reminded the president that the

Fifth Amendment

says as much. "I don't know," Trump said again. "It seems - it might say that, but if you're talking about that, then we'd have to have a million or two million or three million trials." Left unmentioned was how anyone could be sure these people were undocumented immigrants, let alone criminals, without hearings.
Trump responded "I don't know" one more time and referred to his "brilliant lawyers" when Welker asked whether, as president, he needed to "uphold the Constitution of the United States."
The comments came amid the many legal challenges to the administration's agenda, especially Trump's aggressive deportation campaign, and as top administration officials have begun to question the president's obligation to provide due process. Trump has attacked judges, called for their impeachment and ignored a Supreme Court ruling directing his administration to facilitate the return of a migrant, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly sent to a prison for terrorists in El Salvador.

Trump was asked about his repeated statements about considering an unconstitutional third term in office. In the interview, he went further than he had previously in saying he did not intend to run again, despite the fact that the Trump Organization's online store is selling

Trump 2028

hats. "There are many people selling the 2028 hat," the president said, "but this is not something I'm looking to do. 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." Then he mentioned two Republicans who might fit the bill as his successor: Rubio and V-P JD Vance.