Former President Donald Trump suggested in an interview Tuesday that Prince Harry could be deported in light of concerns about his visa eligibility given his past drug use.
Following Prince Harry's admissions of past illegal drug use in his memoir, "Spare," the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation sued the Department of Homeland Security for access to his immigration records. Those applying for U.S. visas are required to disclose whether they have histories of drug use, which can affect their applications. A judge ruled this month that the relevant documents must be turned over to the court for review.
In an interview on Britain’s GB News, Trump was asked whether Harry would receive any "special privileges" if he were found to have lied on his application. He replied: "No. We’ll have to see if they know something about the drugs, and if he lied they’ll have to take appropriate action."
Pressed about what "appropriate action" would entail and whether it would include deportation, Trump replied: "Oh, I don’t know. You’ll have to tell me. You just have to tell me. You would have thought they would have known this a long time ago."
The interview was conducted by Nigel Farage, the former leader of the far-right U.K. Independence Party and a personal friend of Trump’s who has appeared at many of his rallies.
Harry, who has recently expressed interest in American citizenship, has been the target of several Trump attacks. In an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan in 2022, he said the prince was "whipped like no person he had ever seen."
Trump has also been critical of Harry's wife, Meghan Markle. In a 2016 interview with Larry Wilmore, Meghan described Trump as "divisive" and "misogynistic." Ahead of his visit to the U.K. in 2018, he was quoted in the British tabloid The Sun referring to the incident, calling Markle "nasty." He later posted that the quote was "made up," even though audio recordings released by the publication showed otherwise.
The couple moved to the U.S. in 2020, during the Trump administration.
Referring to Queen Elizabeth II, Trump said the Sussexes’ departure from the royal family "broke her heart." Trump met the queen twice during his presidency. Both visits to the U.K. were met with large protests.
Trump also discussed the recent controversy surrounding Kate Middleton, the wife of his brother, Prince William, whose absence from public duty brought widespread speculation. Trump defended Kate’s use of Photoshop on a photo of her family, saying "that shouldn't be a big deal because everyone doctors" images and that "it was a very minor doctoring."
