At a Republican event Saturday in Iowa, the business mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump revealed who he thinks best belongs in the White House. Christian Science Monitor
At a high-profile Republican event held Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa, the business mogul announced that he might once more make a bid for chief of state, this time in 2016.
"I am seriously thinking of running for president," Mr. Trump said as he took the stage at the Iowa Freedom Summit. "We have a presidential election coming up. We have some good people – nobody like Trump, of course."
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To an audience of about 1,200, Trump dismissed Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush as potential candidates. Both men have expressed interest in exploring White House campaigns and are considered frontrunners for the GOP.
“It can’t be Mitt, because he ran and failed,” Trump said to an applauding crowd. “He choked.”
And as for Mr. Bush? Trump denounced the former Florida governor for his support for the Common Core education standards and his moderate stance on illegal immigration. Trump also criticized Bush’s brother, former president George W. Bush, for being the man who “gave us Obama,” according to the LA Times.
“The last thing we need is another Bush,” he said.
What may be most telling is that this audience seemed to agree with Trump, especially of his assessment of Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney.
Nor did Trump stop at criticizing the competition; he slammed Republicans in Congress as well, saying, “I'm very disappointed by our Republican politicians, because they let the president get away with absolute murder.”
Trump, a multimillion-dollar magnate known for his real estate investments and his role in the reality television show “The Apprentice,” has toyed with running for president six times since 1988. Why would 2016 be any different?
He told ABC News that this time he is “in a great position from every standpoint. My children are in executive positions. And from every standpoint I'm in a great position.” Trump adds that that if elected, he would build a US-Mexico border fence and would not cut Social Security.
In an interview with the Des Moines Register, Trump also said that had he taken his 2012 bid seriously, he could have easily beaten President Obama.
“I was leading in every poll... I regret that I didn't stay in," he told the Register. "I would've won the race against Obama. He would've been easy.”
Other speakers at the summit included Republican hopefuls such as former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former Alaska governor. Sarah Palin, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who received a warm welcome.
Neither Bush nor Mr. Romney were in attendance.
[JimB]
According to Albert Einstein, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. No where does that definition have more validity than it does in the American political system. Neither party is capable of delivering on their political promises because both ideologies are rife with fraud and deception.94-3
[munk]
Folks this circus is booked and vans are packed and ready to roll! Trump, Palin, Carson, Rubio, Santorum, Romney, Bush, Huckabee and the list goes on. Seems we are in for a great election season. Based on an article I read on Rubio, they each need at least $50 million dollars to mount a serious campaign. I can not believe that the American people are crazy enough to spend that type of money on a candidate that they know has no chance of winning. If they want to give money away, I own some beach property in Arizona and it is for sale. Stock up on your pop corn, you will need an ample supply.96-13
FOR THOSE WHO THINK TRUMP IS A GREAT AMERICAN SUCCESS...Trump's wealthy father set him up with a job when he got out of college. He gave Trump a $6M property in Ohio which junior sold 10 years later for $7M. A million dollar profit sounds great huh? Except that if he had simply invested it in an average mutual fund over the same period of time he would have doubled his money. He then moved to NYC where he took advantage of government handouts in the form of tax-abatements to buy up and develop properties. The crown jewel of his "achievements" was the Javits Center which he promised the city he would revive for $110 million... it ended up costing the city $430 million. Trump was financial advisor to [BANKRUPT] Mike Tyson. Trump began his gambling enterprises with the Taj Mahal. During this period he threatened to sue an industry analyst who wrote about what a bad job Trump was doing managing the Taj. Not only did he drive the Taj into BANKRUPTCY in 1990... Trump also ended up having to pay the analyst $2million to settle defamation charges. Then, in 1991 Trump's business went BANKRUPT losing HUNDREDS of millions of investor's money. In 1992 Trump Plaza went ...BANKRUPT... again losing hundreds of millions for investors who booted him off his own board. By 1994 Trump had amassed nearly $4 BILLION [with a "B"] in debt. In 1995 Trump was elected to the "Gaming Hall of Fame" which actually makes sense when you think about it... his Hotel & Casino company had amassed $3 Billion of debt and was struggling just to pay the principal. In 2002 the SEC had caught up with him charging him with misleading investors and by 2004 Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts was... you guessed it... in BANKRUPTCY. In 2009, Trump Entertainment Resorts went... wait for it... BANKRUPT and Trump was forced to resign from the board. He stars on several reality TV shows and is a fan of professional wrestling. Trump, who claims to support "family values" is on his third wife. He had an extra-marital affair with Marla Maples who he later married.88-11
RootieKazootie Thanks for the truth. My father was a real estate developer in NY and knew Trump's father quite well. I think he (Trump Sr.) may even have been at my Bar Mitzvah--- I can't quite remember. Everything you say is true--- Trump Sr. knew what he was doing, Trump Jr. is an idiot who has been conning the even bigger idiots.