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Former President Trump claimed Tuesday that his potential future administration would reach a deal on abortion that "the whole country" would be okay with.
"Now DeSantis, or Ron DeSanctimonious as I call him, he came out with the six weeks. Other people agree with it. And a lot of people don't," Trump said in an interview with Newsmax. "We're in a position now – and I'm going to be leading the charge – we're in the position now where we can get something that the whole country can agree with, and that's only because I got us out of the Roe v. Wade where the pro-life people had absolutely nothing to say."
When pressed further, the GOP presidential candidate asserted that he is in a "very powerful negotiating position" following the reversal of Roe v. Wade, echoing previous statements when asked about his beliefs.
"But on pro-life, I will tell you what I did on Roe v. Wade, nobody else, for 50 years they've been trying to do it. I got it done. And now we're in a position to make a really great deal, and a deal that people want," Trump concluded.
DESANTIS, PRO-LIFE ACTIVISTS HIT BACK AT TRUMP OVER ABORTION BILL CRITICISM
Former President Trump speaks at a campaign rally on April 27, 2023, in Manchester, New Hampshire. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
This comes after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – a rumored 2024 challenger – hit at Trump on Tuesday during a press conference and bill signing.
"Protecting an unborn child when there’s a detectable heartbeat is something that almost 99% of pro-lifers support," he told reporters. "It’s something that other states like Iowa, under Gov. Kim Reynolds, have enacted."
"As a Florida resident, you know, he didn’t give an answer about, ‘Would you have signed the heartbeat bill that Florida did, that had all the exceptions that people talk about?’" DeSantis pointed out.
Trump attacked DeSantis on the topic just a day earlier, suggesting that the Sunshine State's six-week restriction is "too harsh."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Family Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, on Saturday, May 13, 2023. (Photo by Rebecca S. Gratz for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
"He has to do what he has to do," he reportedly told The Messenger on Monday. "If you look at what DeSantis did, a lot of people don't even know if he knew what he was doing. But he signed six weeks, and many people within the pro-life movement feel that that was too harsh."
When asked about whether he would support restrictions on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, Trump replied, "I'm looking at all options."
DeSantis's abortion bill, signed in mid-April, bans most abortions beyond six weeks but includes exceptions for rape and incest. Existing state exceptions for the life of the mother also remain in place.
Republican presidential candidate and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks at a town hall event in New Hampshire on April 26, 2023, in Bedford, New Hampshire. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
How exactly Trump would reach a resolution "the whole country" could agree with was not made clear.
On Monday, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley told CBS News she would not pledge to push for federal rules on abortion because it is an "unrealistic" goal for the next president and that promising progress with Congress on this controversial issue is not being "honest" with the American people.
"For a national standard, I think we have to tell the American people the truth," she said. "In order to do a national standard, you'd have to have a majority of the House, 60 Senate votes, and a president. We haven't had 60 pro-life senators in 100 years," she said.
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A national poll of registered voters released in the summer of last year found 61% were against the demise of Roe, and 35% of voters supported the reversal.
Fox News' Victoria Balara, Brianna Herlihy, Anders Hagstrom and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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