LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The Day 1 promises that President-elect Trump made during his campaign included new import tariffs, mass deportations and price cuts on things like eggs and gas. So how will he satisfy voters who chose him based on some of those pledges? Republican Congressman Byron Donalds of Florida spoke enthusiastically on the President-elect's behalf during the campaign, and he's on the line this morning. Good morning, congressman, and thanks for being on the program.
BYRON DONALDS: Good morning, guys. How are you?
FADEL: So the president promised to fortify the border, fix the economy and end the wars. And last night, he promised he'd solve every single crisis facing this country. These are big promises. What do you want to see him tackle first?
DONALDS: The No. 1 thing is going to be border security. This, in my view, was the core of the president's victory. Obviously, on the trail, he talked about that as well. So I think immediate closures of our border, reinstating Remain in Mexico and all of the policies that he instituted during his first administration, that's going to be job one. After that, you know, on Capitol Hill, we have a lot of work to do to provide him resources to extend tax policy, to bring the necessary energy reforms. It's going to be a major agenda, but a major agenda's necessary because we do have to unwind the country from really the recklessness of President Joe Biden.
FADEL: A lot of the promises will require Congress. As you point out, you're currently in the House. And as you know, Republicans have a very thin majority there. Can the conference - the Republican conference realistically stick together to pass legislation on these things?
DONALDS: Yes, we can. We've actually already started our work. We've been working together really since the end of the election back on November 5. And so right now we're putting together really the contours of the president's agenda to be able to move through both chambers of Congress. All of our conversations and work to this point has been very fruitful. We feel very strongly that we're going to be able to get the job done.
FADEL: Now, President-elect Trump is taking office at a time that the country's very divided. What is the one thing the president should do to pursue unity, including with Americans who are frankly afraid of his policies?
DONALDS: Listen, I think the president said it best, and I'll reiterate - success is the thing that's going to unify our country. When the American people see clearly the impacts of his policy and how successful the country is going to be compared to, quite frankly, the disasters of Joe Biden, then it's going to be crystal clear that the voters were correct. And it's going to give us more ability to not just continue the work that we're doing but to expand upon it.
FADEL: Now, you call Joe Biden's presidency a disaster. There are voters who saw Trump's first presidency as a disaster. I want to get to some news that just broke before you came on the air that President Biden issued preemptive pardons for Liz Cheney, retired Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci and others in an effort, as the Biden administration put it, to stave off revenge from the incoming Trump administration. And President-elect Trump did promise dozens of times on the campaign trail that his rivals, critics, even some private citizens should be investigated, prosecuted, put in jail or otherwise punished. Do these pardons and this peaceful transfer of power that's happening today put an end to talk of revenge in politics?
DONALDS: Look, I have real concerns about these preemptive pardons because that's something where we've never, frankly, seen anything like this before. And I think this - what this really demonstrates is the fact that they knew that they were doing things that were wrong. No. 1, you're not allowed to destroy evidence in a congressional hearing. That is against federal law. So by Joe Biden providing these pardons to those staffers and, frankly, the members of those committee, he once again is subverting the law. He once again - like, similar to the pardon he gave for his son, you know, he's trying to protect his political allies as opposed to making sure that the law is followed.
FADEL: I will say that Biden did say this is not an admission of wrongdoing. And so far, we have no evidence that...
DONALDS: It doesn't really matter what the president said.
FADEL: ...Anything was destroyed. This is...
DONALDS: And quite frankly, he doesn't say much of anything.
FADEL: I'm just sharing what he said.
DONALDS: The staff said that for him. It doesn't matter what he said. It's the reality.
FADEL: How will the new president make sure he holds the voters who turned to his coalition in the expectation that he'd hear their voices? And I'm thinking particularly of more Black and Latino voters and other minority communities who chose him over Vice President Harris.
DONALDS: The first thing is the president was very clear about what his agenda was going to be for the American people. There's never been any equivocation. So as long as we continue down that line and start foreign policy, domestic policy, everything will be OK.
FADEL: Republican Congressman Byron Donalds of Florida, thank you for your time.
DONALDS: All right. Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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