Donald Trump on Sunday danced around exactly how he would implement his immigration plan, eventually pinning it down to one word: Management.
“George, it’s called management,” the GOP presidential candidate told ABC host Stephanopoulos on “This Week.”
“First thing we have to do is secure the border — it’s called management,” Trump repeated.
This was the vague explanation given after being probed multiple times throughout the interview as to the ways in which Trump would execute the proposal he rolled out exactly one week ago.
Related: Donald Trump: Undocumented immigrants ‘have to go’
The immigration plan has three central parts — build a border wall, enforce laws, and ensure improved jobs, wages and security. To sum it up, Trump said in the proposal, “In short, the Mexican government has taken the United States to the cleaners. They are responsible for this problem, and they must help pay to clean it up.”
When asked about the hundreds of billions of dollars his plan is expected to cost, according to the American Action Forum, Trump became defensive.
“First of all they’re wrong,” he said, but wouldn’t give offer another number that he believed would be realistic.
“If you don’t think those numbers are right how much is it going to cost and where are you going to get the money?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“It’s costing us $130 billion a year and that’s peanuts compared to what the real cost is,” Trump replied, reiterating the need to build a border wall. A wall that Trump has said he will require Mexico to build.
“You have so many illegals, we don’t even know how many. I hear 11 million, I hear 30 million, the government has no idea. We have lost control of our country, lost control of our borders,” Trump added.
Pressed by Stephanopoulos to explain his plan further — like how he might round up the millions of undocumented immigrants he cites and how he’s going to get the money — Trump said the answer is “management.”
The specifics are “very simple,” Trump said.
“I’m going to get great people who know what they’re doing, not a bunch of political hacks that have no idea what they’re doing appointed by President Obama who doesn’t have a clue — I mean, he doesn’t have a clue … people are walking across the border right now.”
Another person who doesn’t have a clue: Jeb Bush, according to Trump.
“He has no clue, and he’s never going to be able to do anything,” Trump said of former Florida governor and fellow GOP presidential candidate. “The last thing we need is another Bush.”
Stepping back, Trump said, “I think he’s a nice person, he just doesn’t have the energy.”
With every week, Trump’s energy in the polls is certainly climbing. A recent Reuters poll found his party is only throwing more support behind the business mogul, with nearly 32% backing him — a jump from 24% the week prior. Bush in second place is standing at 16% in the Reuters poll released Friday.
