President-elect Donald Trump's promise to "drain the swamp" is not at the top of his priorities, considering all the issues he's facing coming into the White House, former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said Thursday.
"'Drain the swamp' is somewhere down the bottom . . . making sure middle class people have more jobs, making sure we are renegotiating our bad trade deals," said Lewandowski on Fox News' "Fox & Friends."
"'Draining the swamp' is a larger narrative, but it is also [about] putting people back to work. We can't think we are going to be a global powerhouse anymore."
Lewandowski announced earlier this week he will not be part of the Trump administration, but instead will start a political consulting firm, Avenue Strategies, to be located about a block from the White House.
After leading Trump's campaign early on, he was fired after clashing with members of the president-elect's family. However, he has remained close with Trump, and said he considered "multiple opportunities within the administration."
Lewandowski denied Thursday he formed his consulting firm as a "plan B" after not being named to the Trump administration.
"It's been a privilege to be part of his team for a long time," Lewandowski said. "If I want to go inside I have the opportunity to do that. For me, and what I think is best for his opportunity to be successful in Washington, and how I can be part of that, my opportunity is on the outside."
Lewandowski said he will be working to coordinate outside interest groups, make sure Trump's nominees to the Supreme Court and his Cabinet selections are approved, make sure his planned tax cuts go through, and "make sure Congress is understanding people out in the American public voted so because they want wholesale change."
Trump is already taking action, Lewandowski said, pointing to his meeting Wednesday with Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida concerning costs for the next Air Force One fleet. The CEO is now saying he can bring in the project at much less than had been expected.
"He is not even the president yet, and he is already negotiating our deals," said Lewandowski. "That's what the people elected him to do. That's what he is going to do."
Lewandowski also said this week's terrorist attacks in Germany prove Trump was right about the dangers of refugees coming in from countries affected by terrorism.
"We will have a thorough process to make sure we know what their intentions are," Lewandowski said. "I think that his role is to make sure his people are protected internationally.
"He has been proving right in this regard. We don't know what their intentions are. We need to do a better job of protecting our people."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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