OXON HILL, Md. — Donald Trump thinks he is the only potential Republican candidate for president who can win a general election against Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee.
“I think it’s going to be very hard with the candidates we have right now,” Trump told the Washington Examiner. “I think I’m the only one who can beat her.”
When asked why, Trump responded, “Because I think I can beat her.”
“I know what I’m doing, I understand the game,” Trump added. “I’ve been in politics all my life, although not on this side of the ledger.”
This side of the ledger, Trump insists, is the candidate side. In a suite at the Gaylord National Resort overlooking the Potomac River, Trump was preparing Friday to speak to the Conservative Political Action Conference, where nearly every would-be Republican candidate for president has taken or will take the stage.
This week, Trump told the Washington Post that he is considering a presidential bid.
“Everybody feels I’m doing this just to have fun or because it’s good for the brand,” Trump said. “Well, it’s not fun. I’m not doing this for enjoyment. I’m doing this because the country is in serious trouble.”
But why should anyone take Trump seriously? Trump flirted with running for president for a few months in 2011, traveling to New Hampshire and voicing his doubts about the President Obama’s place of birth. In May 2011, Trump announced, at an NBC network event, that he would not run and would instead continue with his show “Celebrity Apprentice.”
He insists this time is different, although he “really looked at it very seriously last time.”
“I’m just in a very good position right now to do what I want to do,” Trump said. “I have great executives, and my children are old enough that they can carry on” his business empire.
Trump has made some of the moves that a presidential candidate would make. He traveled to Iowa last month for a speech at the Freedom Summit, where he took on Jeb Bush.
“The last thing we need is another Bush,” Trump said during that speech.
And Trump has hired operatives in New Hampshire and Iowa.
But he also met recently in New York with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who asked for the meeting. Trump told Walker during that meeting that he was considering a bid for president, Trump said, although Walker did not confirm he is running.
“I like what he did in the state, I agreed with him, I supported him,” Trump said of Walker. “In fact, he just sent me a plaque, a beautiful plaque.”
But even Walker might not be up to the challenge of taking on Clinton, Trump said.
“I’ve known her for a long time, and they play golf at my clubs,” Trump said of Bill and Hillary Clinton. “They know me, and I know them. I know their strengths and their weaknesses.”
