What Trump’s TIME Interview Revealed About His Lofty Ambitions

After being named TIME Magazine’s 2024 Person of the Year, President-elect Donald Trump sat with them for an extensive interview to discuss his campaign, different aspects of his presidential transition, and his plans for the future.

Trump opened up about the last stretch of his “flawless” campaign that he dubbed the “72 Days of Fury.” “There were no days off. There were no timeouts,” said Trump. On his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump remarked that her biggest mistake in the campaign was “taking the assignment … because you have to know what you're good at.”

When it came to Democrats in general, he said the opposing party did not get “the feel of the country,” highlighting their allowance of mass illegal migration. Trump said “the border” was the biggest factor in his victory, which spurred his call for a mass deportation operation.

He was then asked about some of his cabinet appointees, including Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) for attorney general, who was forced to withdraw after it became apparent the Senate would not confirm him. Trump claimed he had the votes for Gaetz if he really wanted them, but implied that it was not worth spending the political capital.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s positions on vaccines and their possible links to autism also came up. Trump said that his administration will look at all “the numbers” before making any decisions to ban certain vaccines “if they are not beneficial.”

On foreign policy, Trump revealed that he believes allowing Ukraine to fire missiles directly into Russia is “a major escalation” and called it “a foolish decision.”

Regarding both the Russo-Ukrainian war and the wars between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah, Trump is ambitiously aiming to resolve these conflicts, even if all parties must make concessions. He added that there “are some very productive things happening” at present.

Trump sidestepped the transgender issue when asked about the recent Capitol Hill bathroom debate, saying, “I don’t want to get into the bathroom issue. Because it's a very small number of people we're talking about.”

However, earlier in the interview, Trump criticized Democrats for not realizing Americans do not want men in women’s sports. The issue has become a major sticking point for Trump’s core supporters, and some — like Megyn Kelly — have lambasted the president-elect for signaling a newfound softness.

Donald Trump is setting a high bar for himself. His goals — to broker peace in multiple war-torn regions, complete a mass deportation operation, bring down the price of food and gas, and push for sweeping overhauls to the administrative state — are ambitious.

What was made abundantly clear from his interview, however, is that Trump wants to be a president for every American. He has some core issues — such as immigration — on which he will likely not bend. On others, like transgender issues, he may end up compromising more than some conservatives would like.