Trump warns of possible impeachment push, defends tariffs

Washington: US President Donald Trump said Democrats would “probably try and impeach me” if they regain control of Congress, even as he defended tariffs, immigration enforcement, and crime-fighting measures as pillars of what he called a record-setting year in office.

In an interview with Fox News host Will Cain, Trump said history showed that presidents often lose congressional seats in midterm elections, regardless of performance. “Even presidents, whether it’s Republican or Democrat, when they win, it doesn’t make any difference; they seem to lose the midterms,” he said, adding, “that’s the only thing I worry about.”

Asked what would happen if Democrats took the House or Senate, Trump replied, “Well, they’ll probably try and impeach me,” saying they would “find something,” as they had in the past. “They impeached me twice,” he said, adding, “I won the impeachments very easily and quickly.”

Trump argued that his administration’s policies had produced strong results, pointing to what he described as historic gains in investment and public safety. He said the US had secured “$18 trillion coming into the country,” driving new factories and business expansion. “There’s never been any country that has done what we’ve done,” he said.

On crime, Trump repeated claims he has made publicly, saying the US now has “the lowest crime numbers in the history of our country.” He singled out Minnesota, Washington, DC, Memphis, and New Orleans as places where he said crime had dropped after federal action. “We took thousands of hardened criminals out,” he said, arguing that enforcement was the main reason crime had fallen.

Trump said immigration enforcement remained his administration’s most difficult challenge, even after closing the border. “Inflation we’ve solved — it’s done,” he said. “The hardest thing to solve is when you have people brought into the country, and you have to take those people out.” He again blamed what he called the “open border policy of Sleepy Joe Biden” for allowing criminals into the US.

Responding to questions about Minnesota, Trump said he believed recent tensions there were “easily resolved” and rejected suggestions of a retreat by federal authorities. He said he had spoken to state and local leaders and described the conversations as constructive. “It couldn’t have been a nicer conversation,” he said of a call with the governor, adding that the governor wanted “to get this thing over with.”

Trump defended the role of immigration enforcement officials, including Tom Homan, whom he described as “fantastic” and effective in working with governors and mayors. He also voiced confidence in Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, saying, “Who closed up the border? She did with Tom Homan.”

On tariffs, Trump said they were “indispensable towards success,” noting, “We’ve taken in $600 billion in tariffs.” He said the revenue allowed him to provide aid to farmers, including “$12 billion” in recent assistance. “We’re taking in so much money from the tariffs that we can do that,” he said.

Asked what he would do if the Supreme Court ruled against his tariff policy, Trump said, “We’ll have to find another way,” adding, “it won’t be as easy,” but insisted the administration would pursue a similar outcome. He argued tariffs had forced foreign companies to build plants in the US rather than abroad. “The only way they can do that is to build the plants here,” he said.

Trump acknowledged farmers’ concerns about tariffs but said the benefits would become clear over time. “It’s going to take a little while to kick in,” he said, adding that farmers would ultimately be “the biggest beneficiary.” He recalled earlier assistance to farmers, saying, “We gave you $28 billion then,” and now “$12 billion” more.

The president also claimed progress on fraud investigations, particularly in Minnesota, saying accountability was coming. “There’s got to be,” he said when asked if there would be consequences, adding that investigators were finding “fraud on top of fraud on top of fraud.”

In response to a question, Trump praised his foreign policy team and said his administration had “ended eight wars” and was trying to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He also expressed confidence in Secretary of State Marco Rubio, saying, “He’s doing a fantastic job,” and predicted he would be remembered as “the best secretary of state we’ve ever had.”

IANS