President-elect Donald Trump sat down with Lesley Stahl from CBS’ 60 Minutes on Sunday evening for his first on-camera interview since winning the U.S. election.
Sitting face-to-face in his opulent New York City penthouse in the Trump Tower, Stahl pressed Trump on a number of issues including his positions on immigration, abortion, social media and even his presidential salary. The president-elect appeared to be more open to future negotiations on his proposed policies than he had been during the campaign.
In case you missed it, here are nine important takeaways from the future president’s interview.
1. The wall
Stahl directly asked Trump if he’s going to follow through on his campaign promise to build a wall along the U.S. and Mexico border to keep illegal immigrants from entering the country. Trump replied that he still has every intention on building one but appeared to waver on what that wall may look like. Stahl followed up by asking the president-elect if he would be okay with more of a fence than a wall, an idea being floated by a number of Republicans. Trump responded that he would accept a fence for “certain areas.”
“I’m very good at this,” Trump said. “It’s called construction.”
2. Deporting immigrants
Trump reaffirmed his position on deporting undocumented immigrants during the interview. He told Stahl that his government will immediately deport illegal immigrants engaged in criminal activity, which he estimates to be around two or three million.
“We are getting them out of this country or we’re going to incarcerate them,” he said.
As for immigrants without criminal records who are residing in the U.S. illegally, many of whom are likely “terrific people,” Trump said he will make a future determination on that once the border is secure.
3. Gay marriage
When Stahl brought up the topic of marriage equality, Trump said that he has no intention of overturning the Supreme Court’s decision legalizing gay marriage.
“It’s irrelevant because it’s already settled,” Trump said. “It’s law. It was settled in the Supreme Court. I mean it’s done.”
Trump told Stahl that he was “fine” with same-sex marriage and that he wouldn’t appoint any new judges with the intention to overturn the ruling.
4. Abortion rights
Stahl asked Trump whether he plans to appoint a new Supreme Court justice that would overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion in the country. Trump replied that he would select an anti-abortion justice and that legalization would return to individual states to decide. When Stahl countered that that would mean some women wouldn’t be able to receive an abortion in their state, Trump replied that “they’ll have to go to another state.”
5. His Twitter account
Stahl asked Trump whether he plans to continue tweeting regularly once he becomes president. Trump responded by saying that he believes the social media platform is a “great form of communication.” He told her that he’s not saying he loves Twitter but that it’s useful for getting his message across to millions of Americans. Trump said he would be very restrained with his Twitter usage if he uses it at all. Trump also suggested that his popular Twitter account helped him win the election without having to resort to spending money on expensive advertisements like some of his opponents did.
6. Prosecuting Hillary Clinton
During the campaign Trump pledged to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate his democratic rival Hillary Clinton about her emails when she was secretary of state. Stahl asked him if he still planned to hire that special prosecutor and put Clinton in jail.
“I’m going to think about it,” Trump replied.
He said he has other priorities, such as jobs, immigration and health care, that he would like to focus on when he reaches the White House. When Stahl pressured him about Clinton further, Trump seemed to backpedal on his plan to go after her.
“I don’t want to hurt them (the Clintons),” he clarified. “They’re good people. I don’t want to hurt them.”
7. Working with lobbyists
Throughout the campaign Trump railed against lobbyists and special interests groups in Washington. He pledged to “drain the swamp” and clean up the system. Stahl confronted Trump about the lobbyists he has already appointed to his transition team during the interview. In response, Trump told her that he “didn’t like it.” Trump explained that he didn’t have any other options because “everybody’s a lobbyist down there.” He said he stills plans to clean up the system eventually, but that he needs to work with them at first.
“They (lobbyists) know the system right now,” Trump said. “But we’re going to phase that out.”
8. His supporters
Trump told Stahl he was surprised to hear that some of his supporters have harassed minorities such as Muslims and Latinos and have disseminated racist slogans since the election last week.
“I hate to hear that,” Trump said. “I’m so saddened to hear that.”
The future president also directed a message to his supporters engaged in racially motivated activities.
“Don’t do it. That’s terrible,” he said. “I’ll say it right to the camera, stop it.”
9. His salary
Trump vowed to forgo the USD$400,000-a-year salary that comes with being president. He even claimed he didn’t know how much money the president made and asked Stahl to tell him the amount.
“I think I have to by law take $1, so I’ll take $1 a year,” Trump said. “I’m not going to take the salary. I’m not taking it.”
