Donald Trump says he won’t debate trans bathroom use affecting ‘very small number of people’

After launching cruel attacks on transgender people toward the end of his 2024 presidential campaign and spending tens of millions of dollars to demonize them, President-elect Donald Trump now says that he doesn’t want to focus on which bathroom transgender people can use.

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In a wide-ranging interview with Time, Trump, who was named the magazine’s Person of the Year on Thursday, addressed the growing political discourse around transgender rights by signaling his reluctance to engage deeply in debates over public bathroom access. When asked about the topic, Trump brushed it off as a minor issue, asserting that it has created disproportionate division in the country.

Related: Donald Trump unleashes torrent of transphobic ads in last leg of 2024 election

“I don’t want to get into the bathroom issue,” Trump told the magazine. “Because it’s a very small number of people we’re talking about, and it’s ripped apart our country, so they’ll have to settle whatever the law finally agrees.”

Trump’s remarks come amid heightened tensions on LGBTQ+ rights, including Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson’s recent rule banning transgender people from using restrooms aligned with their gender identity in House-controlled facilities. Johnson’s move, announced on Transgender Day of Remembrance, sparked outrage from LGBTQ+ advocates, Democratic lawmakers, and human rights organizations. Delaware U.S. Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, who is set to become the first out trans member of Congress when she is sworn in on January 3, criticized the policy but emphasized her focus on broader priorities.

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“I’m not here to fight about bathrooms. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families,” McBride said in a statement after South Carolina Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace targeted McBride by pushing for the bathroom policy. McBride dismissed the issue as something the American people are not focused on.

“I do agree with that. On that—absolutely,” Trump said. “As I was saying, it’s a small number of people.”

Some members of the trans community toldThe Advocate they felt betrayed by McBride when she agreed to follow Johnson’s directive without fighting it, while others said they understood her predicament.

Related: Trans U.S. Rep-elect Sarah McBride on Mike Johnson’s Capitol bigotry: 'Not here to fight about bathrooms'

In 2016, Trump said that transgender people should “use whatever bathroom they feel is appropriate,” a stance he has since seemingly moved away from as the Republican Party increasingly campaigns on issues involving LGBTQ+ policies. Despite Trump’s efforts to downplay the subject, his campaign invested significantly in advertisements that invoked culture-war rhetoric, including one ad contrasting him with his opponent by declaring, “Trump is for us, and Harris is for they/them.”

When asked about the ad’s messaging, Trump defended it, saying, “It’s true. Trump is for us. Trump is definitely for us, okay? And ‘us’ is the vast, vast majority of people in this country.”

The future of transgender protections, particularly those enacted during the Biden administration, remains uncertain under Trump’s incoming administration. Biden’s restoration of Title IX protections for transgender students could face reversal, though Trump refrained from making firm commitments during the interview, saying, “We’re going to look at everything. Look, the country is torn apart. We’re gonna look at everything.”

Trump has previously said that he plans to reinstate a ban on transgender people serving in the United States military.