WASHIGTON ― President Donald Trump wouldn’t take responsibility for the shrinking economy, expressed uncertainty whether he must uphold the Constitution to carry out his deportation agenda and said he’s not looking at running for a third White House term during a wide-ranging interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Trump’s interview with host Kristen Welker comes as he marked his first 100 days of office of his second term with a media blitz.
While the president has touted his work on central 2024 campaign promises – including sweeping tariffs and a nationwide immigration crackdown – he’s been pressed on rising economic anxieties as his approval ratings reach new lows.
Here are five takeaways from the interview as Trump looks to the rest of his second term.
Trump says he’s not looking at running again in 2028
Trump during the interview that aired May 4 said he’s not looking at running for a third term for president in 2028 and acknowledged he’s not allowed to do so ‒ after repeatedly floating the idea since returning to the White House.
“I’m not looking at that,” Trump said, even as the Trump Organization recently started selling “Trump 2028” hats on Trump’s online store.
“I will say this. So many people want me to do it. I have never had requests so strong as that,” Trump said. “But it’s something that, to the best of my knowledge, you’re not allowed to do. I don’t know if that’s constitutional that they’re not allowing you to do it or anything else.”
More: Trump’s online store begins selling ‘Trump 2028’ hats as he keeps floating a third term
Serving a third presidential term is explicitly barred by the 22nd Amendment, which states, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”
Trump added that he’s “looking to have four great years and turn it over to somebody, ideally a great Republican, a great Republican to carry it forward.”
‘You never know’: Stephen A. Smith glad to hear Trump would ‘love to see him run’ for president
Trump says he’s responsible for only ‘good parts’ of economy
Trump again refused to take responsibility for the state of the economy and blamed his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, after the U.S. gross domestic product shrank at an 0.3% annual rate in the first three months of the year.
“It partially is right now,” Trump said when asked when the economy becomes his. “And I really mean this. I think the good parts are the Trump economy and the bad parts are the Biden economy because he’s done a terrible job.”
Trump said he’s been able to “get down the costs,” although economists warn his tariffs could end up causing consumer prices to increases.
More: ‘That’s Biden:’ Trump blames predecessor for economy slowing and touts his tariffs
The first quarter GPD covers the first three months of the year, the first three weeks of which were helmed by Biden, whose last full day in office was Jan. 19.
Amid stock market turbulence, Trump last week declared, “This is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s,” even though Wall Street’s volatility has widely been caused by his tariff polices. But after stocks surged over the past week, Trump touted the recent turnaround.
“Ultimately, I take responsibility for everything,” Trump said. “But I’ve only just been here for a little more than three months. But the stock market, look at what’s happened in the last short period of time. Didn’t it have nine or ten days in a row, or 11 days, where it’s gone up? And the tariffs have just started kicking in. And we’re doing really well.”
Trump says he doesn’t know whether he must uphold Constitution
Trump said he does not know whether he’s required to uphold the Constitution as he defended his administration’s actions to remove people who are in the country illegally.
Trump’s comments follow the Supreme Court last month saying his administration must “facilitate” the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland sheet metal worker and father of three who was wrongfully deported to an El Salvador prison without receiving a trial.
“I don’t know,” Trump said when asked whether he needs to uphold the Constitution. “I have to respond by saying, again, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me, and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said.”
The Trump administration has said it doesn’t need to even request Abrego Garcia’s release from El Salvador, where he’s from originally, because of how the court worded its decision. Democrats and other critics have argued such statements show the administration is refusing to obey the nation’s highest court.
More: Who is Kilmar Abrego Garcia? The answer is found on the streets where he lived and worked
Pressed whether he agrees that everyone deserves due process under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution ‒ which says no person “shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,” ‒ Trump said he wasn’t sure.
“I don’t know. It seems – it might say that, but if you’re talking about that, then we’d have to have a million or 2 million or 3 million trials,” he said.
Trump officials have accused Abrego Garcia of being a member of the MS-13 gang and said if he were returned to the United States he would be deported back to El Salvador because of his immigration status. Abrego Garcia has denied he was a member of MS-13 or any other gang.
Trump doubles down on kids getting fewer dolls
Trump said little girls in America don’t need to own so many dolls, doubling down on an example he gave last week to defend his universal tariffs on imports that could spike the prices of many goods, particularly imports from China.
“I don’t think that a beautiful baby girl needs – that’s 11 years old – needs to have 30 dolls,” Trump told Welker. “I think they can have three dolls or four dolls because what we were doing with China was just unbelievable. We had a trade deficit of hundreds of billions of dollars with China.”
More: ‘Two dolls instead of 30’: Trump acknowledges prices will force consumers to cut back
The Trump administration has imposed tariffs totaling 145% on imports from China while he’s paused reciprocal tariffs on goods from other nations for three months. Trump’s baseline 10% tariffs on other countries remains in effect.
Nonetheless, Trump said his doll scenario is not an acknowledgement that prices for Americans are going to increase or that store shelves could become empty under his economic agenda.
“No. I think tariffs are going to be great for us because it’s going to make us rich,” said Trump, who has argued his steep tariffs are needed to rejuvenate domestic manufacturing in the U.S. “No, I’m not saying that,” he said of empty store shelves in the future. “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.”
A growing number of experts have told USA TODAY that they foresee a recession by the second half of the year, spurred by tariffs as well as Trump’s sweeping federal layoffs, removal of migrants and other actions.
Trump says it will be ‘OK’ if US economy falls into recession
Trump downplayed economic anxieties cause by his tariffs, saying that everything would be “OK” even if the U.S. enters a recession in the short-term.
“Everything’s OK,” Trump said, arguing the United States is in a “transition period” following the implementation of his steep new tariffs last month.
Asked whether he is concerned about an economic recession, Trump said he’s not. “No, I think we’re going to have the greatest economic … ,” he said, but added that he can’t rule it out.
More: Will there be a recession in 2025? Forecasters are split – see reasons why.
As the Trump administration negotiates trade deals with more than 170 countries, Trump did not rule out the possibility that some of the tariffs could be permanent.
“No, I wouldn’t do that because if somebody thought they were going to come off the table, why would they build in the United States?” Trump said.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: President Trump says he’s not allowed to run for a third term in 2028
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