First interview: Donald Trump confirms plans to deport millions of immigrants

In his first televised interview since winning the US election, set to air on CBS’s 60 Minutes this morning Australia time, the President-elect declared that he is going to “secure our border” and then “make a determination” on millions of undocumented immigrants.

“What about the pledge to deport millions and millions of undocumented immigrants?” journalist Lesley Stahl asked Mr Trump in an excerpt released by 60 Minutes.

“What we are going to do is get the people that are criminals and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers,” President-elect Trump said in the clip.

“We have a lot of these people, probably two million — it could be even three million — we are getting them out of the country or we are going to incarcerate. But we are getting them out of our country, they are here illegally.

“After the border is secured and after everything gets normalised we’re going to make a determination on the people that you’re talking about who are terrific people, they’re terrific people but we are going to make a determination at that,” he added.

“But before we make that determination ... it’s very important, we are going to secure our border.”

When asked by Stahl if he actually intends to build the wall along the southern border — a proposal that was a central part of his campaign message — Mr Trump simply replied, “Yes.”

Asked if he would accept a fence instead of a wall, President-elect Trump said: “For certain areas I would, but certain areas, a wall is more appropriate. I’m very good at this, it’s called construction.” He added that “there could be some fencing.”

His comments about mass deportations are at odds with a statement made by House Speaker Paul Ryan on Sunday morning.

“We are not planning on erecting a deportation force. Donald Trump’s not planning on that,” Mr Ryan told CNN.

“I think we should put people’s minds at ease, that is not what our focus is. That is not what we’re focused on. We’re focused on securing the border,” he added.

“We think that’s first and foremost, before we get into any other immigration issue, we’ve got to know who’s coming and going into the country — we’ve got to secure the border.”

Stahl sat down with the Trump family, including Melania, Ivanka, Tiffany, Eric and Donald Jr., on Friday at Mr Trump’s Fifth Avenue residence in New York City.

.@LesleyRStahl's interview with President-elect Donald Trump and his family will air tonight on #60Minutes: https://t.co/z9JR1LjMTj pic.twitter.com/pYIuKwrsK6

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) November 13, 2016

On the topic of social media, he told Stahl: “I’m going to be very restrained, if I use it at all, I’m going to be very restrained.”

President-elect Trump also said he believed his social media presence had helped him reach millions of Americans while campaigning, and put his own spin on things.

“It’s a great form of communication. Now do I say I’ll give it up entirely? I’m not saying I love it but it does get the word out.”

Mr Trump will also discuss his plans for Obamacare during the televised interview, as well as the phone calls he received from Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton to congratulate him.

Millions of protesters hit the streets in major cities across America after last Tuesday’s election night. In Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Las Vegas, chants of “not my president” and “dump Trump” rang out as thousands carried signs in protest of the result. In Portland, a man was shot and police fired tear gas during a mass protest over the weekend.

The widespread protests come as Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said Mr Trump was considering a tour of some states in coming weeks to thank his supporters.

President-elect Trump’s first post-election television interview will air Sunday night in the US on CBS’s 60 Minutes.

I will be interviewed on @60Minutes tonight after the NFL game - 7:00 P.M. Enjoy!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2016