Trump reacts to report about off-the-record immigration comments
By
Rebecca Shabad
/ CBS News
Republican front-runner Donald Trump has dominated Super Tuesday polls, giving him an opportunity to extend his lead over his rivals, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio
Buzzfeed reported Monday that audio and a transcript of the conversation exist and suggested that Trump took a less aggressive stance on immigration than he has publicly.
"Everything's negotiable," he said when Fox News' Sean Hannity asked Trump to respond to the report. "Everything. By the way, it is negotiable. Things are negotiable. I'll be honest with you. You know, I'll make the wall two feet shorter or something."
But Trump said it's "not negotiable" about his plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
"We need a border. We need a wall. We need a wall," he said.
Trump, who insists that Mexico will pay for it, reiterated that the wall will cost $10 billion to build and will span 1,000 miles.
Asked if his plan to deport 11 million people living in the U.S. illegally is negotiable, Trump said he would create a fair system that would allow certain people to return.
"Look, I've always said we have some good people over here, and they're going to go out, but we will work out some system that's fair. But we either have a country or we don't," he said.
Trump's GOP rivals on Monday called on Trump to release audio of his meeting with the Times.
"That tape can clear it up and the voters deserve to know if he says something different when he's talking to the New York Times than when he is talking to the voters, and we deserve to know before Super Tuesday," Cruz told reporters in San Antonio.
And the 2012 Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, seconded that with a tweet:
Trump reacts to report about off-the-record immigration comments
By Rebecca Shabad
/ CBS News
Donald Trump on Monday night did not deny a report that said the presidential frontrunner had a different tone on immigration in an off-the-record meeting with the New York Times' editorial board.
Buzzfeed reported Monday that audio and a transcript of the conversation exist and suggested that Trump took a less aggressive stance on immigration than he has publicly.
"Everything's negotiable," he said when Fox News' Sean Hannity asked Trump to respond to the report. "Everything. By the way, it is negotiable. Things are negotiable. I'll be honest with you. You know, I'll make the wall two feet shorter or something."
But Trump said it's "not negotiable" about his plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
"We need a border. We need a wall. We need a wall," he said.
Trump, who insists that Mexico will pay for it, reiterated that the wall will cost $10 billion to build and will span 1,000 miles.
Asked if his plan to deport 11 million people living in the U.S. illegally is negotiable, Trump said he would create a fair system that would allow certain people to return.
"Look, I've always said we have some good people over here, and they're going to go out, but we will work out some system that's fair. But we either have a country or we don't," he said.
Trump's GOP rivals on Monday called on Trump to release audio of his meeting with the Times.
"That tape can clear it up and the voters deserve to know if he says something different when he's talking to the New York Times than when he is talking to the voters, and we deserve to know before Super Tuesday," Cruz told reporters in San Antonio.
And the 2012 Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, seconded that with a tweet:
In:- Ted Cruz
- Super Tuesday
- Donald Trump
- Mitt Romney
Rebecca Shabad is a video reporter for CBS News Digital.
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