Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump hit all his major campaign points with characteristic bombast, telling CNN’s Jake Tapper Sunday he would force Mexico to build a wall on the border, negotiate a better deal with China and Iran, and stop the Islamic State.
Trump claimed that the United States’ current free-trade deals, like the North American Free Trade Agreement and the under-negotiation Trans-Pacific Partnership “are bad” because the U.S. doesn’t have great negotiators. He argued he could do a much better job.
“The problem with free trade is you need smart people representing you,” said the author of The Art of the Deal. “We have the greatest negotiators in the world, but we don’t use them. We use political hacks and diplomats. We use the wrong people.” He argued China and Mexico end up ahead because they use better negotiators.
Trump made the same argument on the Iran nuclear deal, saying that the U.S. is losing on the deal because Secretary of State John Kerry and President Obama are bad negotiators.
On the crisis in Iraq, Trump said Iran is being allowed to “take over Iraq.” He said he would handle the Islamic State by taking their oil fields because that is how they make their money. Tapper rebutted that most of the Islamic State’s oil fields are in Syria, but Trump stood by his statement.
Past donations to top Democratic leaders Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., show that he is a businessman that makes savvy deals, Trump said, and the presence of Hillary Clinton at his wedding shows that he is able to work with both sides of the aisle.
On his policy flip-flops, Trump was unapologetic. Asked about his support for a Canadian-style single-payer healthcare solution in 2000, Trump said: “I’ve evolved on that issue. I’ve evolved on numerous issues.”
Tapper attempted to question Trump on social issues, which led to an awkward moment on abortion.
“I know you’re pro-life,” began Tapper.
“I’m pro-choice,” replied Trump.
Tapper: “You’re pro-choice or pro-life?”
Trump: “I’m pro-life. I’m sorry…”
Despite three marriages, Trump said he is for “traditional marriage” though opinions are “changing rapidly.”
Earlier this week, Trump caused a fracas when he called some of the Mexicans crossing the border into the U.S. “rapists” and “killers,” remarks that Mexico called prejudicial and absurd. When Tapper questioned him on the topic, Trump said “I love the Mexican people, I do business with Mexico.”
But Trump pointed to lawlessness south of the border in his defense of the comments. “But you have people coming through the border who are from all over and they’re bad, they’re really bad … I don’t think it’s a small percentage, it’s a lot,” he said. “But it’s not [just] Mexicans necessarily. They’re coming from all over.”
As he has often done, Trump called for a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and claimed he would make Mexico build it. When Tapper pressed him on how he could force Mexico to pay for it, Trump said: “I would force them because we give them a fortune. Mexico makes a fortune because of us. A wall is a tiny little peanut compared to that.”
“I would do something very severe unless they contributed or gave us the money to build the wall,” said Trump. “I would build it. I’m very good at building things,” he said, a not-so-subtle nod to the many buildings he owns.
There were many times in the conversation that Trump referred to his vast wealth. In an effort to show the sincerity of his presidential run, Trump said he’s giving up a prime-time show and “millions of dollars” of earnings in order to run. No one should view his candidacy as purely self-promotional, he said.
