Footage filmed almost two decades before Donald Trump first became president shows him talking about how he was ‘strongly for choice’ when it came to the subject of abortion.
The video, which was originally filmed in 1999, has come to light again after Trump was sworn in for a second time on January 20 after winning the 2024 election.
The 78-year-old has already made a whole host of changes in his first few days in office, and while he has not yet officially addressed the subject of abortion, the president does have a history of pushing anti-abortion policies.
His more recent views mark a stark change from those he presented in 1999, though Trump did make clear even back then that he did not like the idea of abortion.
What did Trump say about abortion in 1999?
Before the turn of the century, Trump was working in real estate and his company, the Trump Organization, had started building and buying golf courses.
He wasn’t yet the star of The Apprentice or anywhere close to being in the White House, but the businessman was still sharing his thoughts on wider issues, which is how he came to comment on abortion when he appeared on the NBC show Meet The Press in 1999.
During the interview, Trump presented a view that, looking through a 2025 lens, seems very surprising.
He said: “I’m very pro-choice.”
Trump clarified that he ‘hate[d] the concept of abortion’, adding: “I hate it, I hate everything it stands for. I cringe when I hear people debating the subject.”
However, he said: “I just believe in choice. I am strongly for choice and yet I hate the concept of abortion.”
When asked whether he would ‘ban’ abortion, Trump responded: “No.”
What were Trump’s thoughts on abortion during his first term?
Fast-forward to Trump’s first term, which began at his 2017 inauguration, and Trump took on a much stronger anti-abortion stance.
During his time in office, he appointed Supreme Court justices who opposed reproductive rights, ultimately leading to the overturning of Roe v. Wade – the landmark 1973 decision which had established a federal right to abortion.
By 2024, anti-abortion politicians in 17 states had banned abortion.
Trump also attended the March for Life, the nation’s biggest anti-abortion gathering.
What has Trump said about his abortion for his second term?
As he prepared to go up agains the Democrats in the 2024 election, Trump claimed that the overturning of Roe v. Wade meant that the US now had ‘abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint’.
In a video shared online, he said: “The states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land.”
During his debate against Kamala Harris in September 2024, Trump was accused by Harris of planning to ‘sign a national abortion ban’.
He refuted this claim, saying there was ‘no reason to sign a ban’.
However, when asked by debate moderator Linsey Davis whether he’d veto a ban if it were passed by Congress, Trump refused to give a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer.
Davis said: “But if I could just get a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ because your running mate, JD Vance, has said that you would veto if it did come to your desk.”
In response, Trump said: “I didn’t discuss it with JD, in all fairness.”
