While at this point in time it remains unclear if business magnate Donald Trump may or may not run for president in 2016, he told Breitbart News his friends are encouraging him to consider it.
“Well it’s very, very early,” Trump said in a phone interview when asked to respond to rumors that he may run. “I have so many different friends and people that want me to do it. But it’s really too early. But it’s something that somebody is going to have to do because our country is in serious, serious trouble.”
Trump argues that leadership in the country is lacking, and people in both parties bear responsibility for it. For instance, he points to a New York Times article from Monday that detailed how China has gotten access to oil in Iraq.
“Today, I read with great interest – if you remember, I predicted what was going to go on with Iran and with Iraq and with China,” Trump said. “But China is taking virtually all of the oil out of Iraq. They got the oil and all we got was lots of deaths, military deaths, and lots of bills to the tune of $1.5 trillion for Iraq and China is now absolutely taking the oil.”
“I even suggested during the war when I said this is a war we should not be in because we have to make America great again–the money that we spent was $1.5 trillion–and I said that between Iran, China, others they will all take advantage of our spending,” he explained. “It used to be ‘to the victor belong the spoils.’ Now it’s ‘to the smart people belong the spoils.’ And the smart people in this case are China and it will be Iran also.”
Trump argued this is happening because of “a leadership problem” in Washington.
“Then, in Afghanistan, which is mineral-rich not oil-rich, China is going over and doing that too,” Trump added. “It’s an amazing situation to me, and that’s all leadership.”
Trump said the triumvirate of scandals–the IRS targeting of Tea Party groups, the Department of Justice’s targeting of reporters, and Benghazi–hitting all at once is unprecedented. “We’ve got a lot of problems in this country,” Trump said. “We’ve never had three major scandals simultaneously like this.”
Trump did not specifically back calls for Attorney General Eric Holder to resign over the scandal, but did say that decision is in the hands of President Barack Obama.
“That will be President Obama and Eric Holder having to make that decision [whether Holder should resign],” Trump said. “That’s going to be up to them. I think the president has remained very loyal to him, and I can understand that also. But that will really be a decision between Eric Holder and the president.”
Trump added “it doesn’t look like” Congress will effectively get to the bottom of all the scandals hitting the administration right now. “They’ve got to be pinpointed but certainly at this point it’s not looking like it to me,” Trump said.
Trump said he thinks that President Obama is only part of the leadership problem in the country. He thinks Republicans have drifted too far from their core conservative beliefs. “I think they have to be more true to themselves. They’re getting away from their own principles,” Trump said. And whether it’s borders or whether it’s any one of so many different issues, they better get back to being themselves.”
He warned Republicans that passing the Senate “Gang of Eight” legislation would be their “death wish,” as he thinks all the illegal immigrants who would be granted citizenship would ultimately vote for Democrats.
Last election cycle, Trump notes that while he is personally fond of Mitt Romney, the base was not excited enough and did not show up in droves at the polls. “Don’t forget a lot of people didn’t come out and vote,” Trump said. “I like Mitt Romney, but a lot of people didn’t vote for him because they didn’t believe in what he was saying–a lot of Republicans didn’t vote for him.”
“A lot of Republicans didn’t vote. Everyone is saying ‘oh, gee, the vote, the vote.’ The fact is a lot of people didn’t get up and vote because they weren’t believers,” Trump explained. “If we could get a believer in there they would get out and vote. There are plenty of people that would vote for that.”
Trump thinks Republicans are victims of political correctness. “They want to be politically correct,” Trump said. “This political correctness has been absolutely killing our country because everyone is afraid to say anything and they’re afraid to say the truth.”
Moving forward, if Republicans want to win back the White House next time around, Trump warns that the GOP needs to get aggressive and learn how to connect with voters on a personal level. He said that is especially true since it is likely they will face off against Hillary Clinton, a voracious left-wing campaigner who Trump says should not be underestimated.
“I think the Republicans are going to have to really be careful because most likely they’ll be running against Hillary [in 2016],” Trump said. “Now, it’s again, very early, and if they don’t pick the right candidate, they are just not going to have even a little chance.”
“They better be true to themselves, and to the country, because if they’re not true to themselves and the country, it’s going to be a very, very embarrassing election in 2016.”
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