US President Donald Trump expressed strong support for legal immigration on Monday, highlighting its importance as manufacturing in the country expands due to his tariff policies.
“I’m fine with legal immigration. I like it. We need people, and I’m absolutely fine with it. We want to have it,” Trump said during his first news conference as president.
The news conference was held while Trump signed several executive orders in the Oval Office, which he had just entered.
As Trump signed measures aimed at curbing illegal migration and tightening visa protocols to prevent terrorists from entering, he reassured the public that legal immigration would remain a priority.
“We need it (legal immigration) because we’re going to have a lot of companies coming in to avoid tariffs,” he explained. “If you don’t want tariffs, all you have to do is build your plant in the US. So we’re going to have a lot of workers coming in. We have to have legal immigration.”
Trump also declared a national emergency at the US southern border, enabling the deployment of the National Guard and other forces. This move will expedite the construction of the border wall and require asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico.
As part of his executive orders, Trump also introduced measures that would prevent certain categories of children born in the US from automatically receiving citizenship.
Another order designates drug cartels as terrorist organizations, which could allow the military to target them within Mexico.
Trump issued a warning to the BRICS nations, threatening 100 percent tariffs if they develop an alternative currency to the US dollar. India’s External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, has already dismissed the idea of a BRICS currency. India is the second-largest economy in the BRICS group, which includes Brazil, Russia, China, and South Africa, as well as five newer members.
In response to questions about his previous claims that he would end the Ukraine war on his first day in office, Trump joked that only half a day had passed. He stated that while Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky was eager to make a deal, Russian President Vladimir Putin was not ready.
“I have to speak to President Putin,” Trump said. “He’s destroying Russia by not making a deal. I think Russia’s gonna be in big trouble.”
Trump also revealed that he had received an invitation to visit China, with the potential for the trip to take place this year.
Regarding US trade policy, Trump suggested considering a blanket 10 percent tariff on all imports due to the country’s ongoing trade deficits with all but two nations, claiming that the US had been taken advantage of.
Trump confirmed that the 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, intended to address issues of illegal migration and drug trafficking, would go into effect on February 1.
