Prince Harry will not be facing deportation under a Donald Trump presidency, according to an interview with the New York Post.
Harry’s U.S. immigration status has been under scrutiny due to his past admissions of illegal drug use, as detailed in his memoir Spare. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, is actively suing the Department of Homeland Security to obtain Harry’s visa records, arguing that he may have received special treatment.
Despite the controversy, Trump made it clear he has no intention of expelling the Duke of Sussex.
“I don’t want to do that,” Trump told the New York Post on Friday. “I’ll leave him alone. He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.”
The president has long been critical of Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, and her influence on Harry. Trump has previously called Harry “whipped” and suggested that he is being “led around by the nose.”
In contrast, Trump had nothing but praise for Harry’s older brother, Prince William. The two met privately in December in Paris during the reopening ceremony of Notre-Dame Cathedral.
“I think William is a great young man,” Trump said.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have openly criticized Trump in the past, with Meghan once labeling him “divisive” and “misogynistic.” The couple moved to California in 2020 after their dramatic exit from royal duties, widely known as “Megxit.”
The Heritage Foundation contends that Harry’s admitted drug use should have been a barrier to obtaining a U.S. visa. Nile Gardiner, director of Heritage’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, told the London Daily Telegraph that “anyone who applies to the United States has to be truthful on their application, and it is not clear that is the case with Prince Harry.”
However, with Trump dismissing the idea of deportation, it seems that Harry’s immigration battle will remain a legal matter rather than a political one.
