Palm Beach, Florida - Donald Trump said Sunday he favors a national abortion ban after a certain number of weeks, with exceptions, but refused to put a number on the hot-button issue.

The former president said that he would "soon" issue a proposal on the number of weeks at which a ban should be implemented, as he spoke to Fox News' MediaBuzz on Sunday.

The presumptive Republican nominee for November's presidential election was asked about a New York Times article from February that said he had told advisers he liked the idea of a 16-week national abortion ban – with exceptions for rape, incest, or threats to the mother's health.

Trump reportedly hesitant to address it publicly, for fear of alienating far-right conservative supporters.

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He did not specify to Fox at what point in a pregnancy he believed abortions should be banned, saying that "in a number of weeks I'll be coming out with a recommendation."

"I think the recommendation will be accepted," Trump said, adding he was proud that his three Supreme Court nominations had shifted the court's balance rightward, allowing it in 2022 to end federally guaranteed abortion rights.

The Supreme Court's shock ruling left it to states to establish their own abortion laws. Some have enacted near-total bans, Others, like Maryland, passed laws to enshrine abortion rights.

Biden and Democrats have been leaning strongly into the issue, regularly pointing out that polls show most Americans oppose a federal ban, and Trump indicated Sunday that he was aware of the political risks involved.

"I think you have to have the three exceptions," he said.

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"You have to go with your heart. But beyond that, you also have to get elected, okay. And if you don't have the three exceptions, I think it's very, very hard to get elected."

He noted that in the 2022 midterm elections in the state of Pennsylvania, where exit polls showed abortion to be the leading issue, a Republican candidate for governor who strongly opposed abortion rights was defeated.

Republican losses in other off-year elections, even in normally conservative states like Kansas, have been linked to the abortion issue.

Trump noted bans on abortion after a certain number of weeks do exist elsewhere, notably in France and other European countries.