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.

Donald Trump has already made a number of changes in office (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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.

Trump attended the March for Life while in office (OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

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.”

Some people on the internet have come to the conclusion as to what the employment act revoked by Donald Trump actually means for workers.

President Trump only took office on Monday (January 20) and he certainly hasn’t wasted any time in getting his feet under the table.

Just hours after returning to The White House, Trump signed off on 25 executive orders, which included halting the ban of TikTok, changing laws on immigration, and declaring that there are ‘only two genders’.

And undoubtedly among his most controversial moves was the signing on Tuesday (January 21) of a proposal which would bring an end to ‘radical and wasteful government diversity, equity and inclusion’ (DEI) programs.

The president is accelerating his plan to dismantle DEI plans, having revoked the Executive Order 11246 (1965) and sending the message that government employees responsible in the Department of Labor will see their DEI programs removed ‘immediately’ while they face paid leave, The New Republic reports.

Donald Trump has signed off a number of executive orders (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The law was designed to protect workers from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.

Advocates for it have long argued it presents a level playing field for underrepresented minorities such as LGBTQ+ people.

But now, Trump’s order to remove aims to stop companies hiring candidates on the basis of race and sex.

The order states: “As a part of this plan, each agency shall identify up to nine potential civil compliance investigations of publicly traded corporations, large non-profit corporations or associations, foundations with assets of 500 million dollars or more, State and local bar and medical associations, and institutions of higher education with endowments over 1 billion dollars.”

The order has certainly received a lot of criticism online, with one person saying of it on Twitter: “Good for straight white males. Bad for everyone else.”

There has even been a public outcry for the order to not go ahead.

Trump’s order has received some criticism online (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Basil Smikle Jr, a political strategist and policy advisor, commented: “There’s this clear effort to hinder, if not erode, the political and economic power of people of color and women.

“What it does is opens up the door for more cronyism.”

Not everyone is against the changes being made by Trump however, with Louisiana Senator John Kennedy (Republican) telling USA Today reporters: “The best way to stop discriminating against people on the basis of race of gender is to stop discriminating against people on the basis of race and gender.

“The truth is the American people don’t think about race or gender merely as much as some folks in Washington want to pretend.”

President Donald Trump has explained why he believes a ‘sad’ decision made by Joe Biden should have been different.

After accusing former President Biden of corruption this week, Trump has opened up about why he thinks the Democrat made a ‘mistake’ before leaving office.

In his first TV interview since making his return to the White House after being inaugurated on January 20, Trump appeared to draw parallels between his tax and corruption lawsuits and Biden’s choice to pardon his family members.

“It’s really hard to say that they shouldn’t have to go through it all,” he told Fox News host Sean Hannity.

Donald Trump spoke about the ‘sad’ choice Joe Biden made (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The 78-year-old claimed that Biden, 82, received ‘very bad advice’ minutes before leaving office.

Trump said he was given the option to pardon himself in 2021 but declined as he didn’t think he had done anything wrong.

“I was given the option. They said, ‘Sir, would you like to pardon everybody, including yourself?’ I said, ‘I’m not going to pardon anybody. We didn’t do anything wrong’,” the president explained.

However, he believes that Biden should have taken a different path when pardoning others.

Biden pardoned several of his family members in one of his last acts as President of the United States and in a statement issued before Trump was sworn into office, the White House shared a message on Biden’s behalf.

It read: “My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me – the worst kind of partisan politics. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end.

“I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families.

Joe Biden didn’t pardon himself (Pool / Getty)

“Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances.”

As for Biden’s choice to pardon others and not himself, Trump was stumped.

“This guy went around giving everybody pardons,” he said. “And you know, the funny thing, maybe the sad thing, is he didn’t give himself a pardon. And if you look at it, it all had to do with him.”

Trump continued: “I went through four years of hell by this scum that we had to deal with.

“I spent millions of dollars in legal fees, and I won, but I did it the hard way. It’s really hard to say that they shouldn’t have to go through it all. So it’s very hard to say that.”

“Remember this,” he added. “Joe Biden got very bad advice…

“Joe Biden has very bad advisers. Somebody advised Joe Biden to give pardons to everybody but him.”

Trump then told Hannity he would defer to Congress as to whether they should investigate Biden and his pardons.

One of President Trump’s recently-signed executive orders has raised questions about the future of transgender women in prison.

On his first day back in office this week, Trump signed what’s titled the ‘Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government’ executive order, along with several others.

The order alleges that people having been trying to ‘eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety, and well-being’.

With this in mind, Trump’s controversial order has been created to ‘defend women’s rights and protect freedom of conscience by using clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male’.

There are several key parts of the order, one being that the Trump Administration will only accept that there are two genders — male and female.

“These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality,” it adds.

Because of this, transgender women who are still seen as male (as per Trump’s new executive order) will no longer be able to be housed in female prisons.

President Trump signed a series of executive orders when returned to office (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

A clause of the order that looks at ‘Privacy in Intimate Spaces’ explains: “The Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security shall ensure that males are not detained in women’s prisons or housed in women’s detention center.”

While some people have applauded the change, others have expressed their concerns for the LGBTQ+ community.

Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, told the New York Times: “There will be rapes and physical assaults because of this policy.

“It’s also terrible for prison officials, who right now have the authority to use discretion about what makes the most sense for the safety and security of the facility.”

Some have expressed concerns about trans prisoners in light of the change (Getty Stock Image)

On the other hand, the Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF) have hailed the order as a ‘victory’.

“WoLF has been fighting to get men out of women’s prisons for years, and we are thrilled to see the specific inclusion of women’s prisons in this order,” the organization penned in a statement shared to its website.

“The order directs the Attorney General to oversee the amendment of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) regulations to ensure men are not housed in women’s prisons. This is a major victory since PREA anticipates the housing of men in women’s facilities under certain circumstances, and this has presented a major issue for advocates of single-sex prisons.”

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT national hotline at 888-843-4564, available Monday to Friday 4pm-12am ET and 12pm-5pm ET on Saturdays.