Incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz said Sunday on CBS’s “State of the Union” that President-elect Donald Trump was “going to go after” paramilitary gangs operating at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Partial transcript as follows:
MARGARET BRENNAN: There’s a lot to get to. So I want to ask you what we should expect in terms of executive actions in these early days from Mr. Trump?
WALTZ: Oh, well, look, we’re going to have his campaign promises that he promised to the American people right out there on the table, in terms of border, in terms of energy, in terms of taking on this kind of DEI woke culture that has infected so many parts of our federal government, including our military. Returning us to a meritocracy. He’s got a lot in front of them. I’m excited to be a part of it. I can’t emphasize enough though, Margaret, on the border, the American people gave him a clear mandate. Lock down our border, deport the worst of the worst, take on the cartels. We cannot have a situation where we have paramilitary gangs that are shooting down aircraft with heavy weapons, controlling 30% of our neighbor, Mexico, and controlling whole swaths of our border.
BRENNAN: You’re talking about perhaps an executive order designating cartels as a terrorist group? Or designating in some way–
WALTZ: — I don’t want to get ahead of the announcements, but we have to- we have to deal with them with what they are–
BRENNAN: –okay.
WALTZ: These are- these are paramilitary organizations with billions at their disposal, with armored vehicles, heavy machine guns, that are fighting the Mexican army. Not police, army, to a standstill. President Trump was clear on the campaign trail that we’re going to take them on and then we’re going to use every resource that we need to defend the American people.
BRENNAN: We are seeing in our polling that there is a lot of approval for the president elect’s plan to deport immigrants who are here illegally. But understanding how that works is something I want to ask you. Can you tell us anything about the scope and scale of the roundups that we should expect in these first few days?
WALTZ: Well, I think they’re going to be- they’re going to be quite aggressive. Number one. Number two, they’re going to go after these criminal gangs that are terrorizing our cities, particularly MS-13, and particularly Tren De Aragua, our communities are asking for it. Our neighbors are asking for it–
BRENNAN: — One of those Tren De Aragua-, excuse me- Tren De Aragua is Venezuelan. You can’t deport to Venezuela. So where are you going to send those?
WALTZ: Well, we’re in a number of conversations with a number of countries that will agree to take them.
BRENNAN: Okay, so that’s a big diplomatic initiative you’re a part of.
WALTZ: That’s right. That’s right.
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