Donald Trump said at the Conservative Political Action Conference Friday that he is “very seriously” considering running for the Republican nomination for president in 2016.
“I want to do it so badly,” he said of running for president, giving his White House bid a 75-to-80-percent chance of actually happening.
Trump emphasized the need for the next president to make America “rich.”
“I’m the only Republican that is going to say this,” he explained. “We’ve got to make this country rich again.”
Trump described Washington as “totally broken,” expressing his disappointment with all politicians — Republicans in particular — for being “all talk, no action.”
“I’m not a politician, thank goodness,” Trump said. “Politicians are all talk, no action.”
Trump specifically expressed his disappointment in 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, adding that the former Massachusetts governor “really let us down.”
“That was an easy election to win … probably easier than the one coming up,” Trump speculated.
The business mogul spent a large portion of his speech hitting “incompetent” President Obama for his lack of strong leadership on ISIS, saying, “If I decide to run and win, nobody would be tougher than Donald Trump.”
“I would hit them so hard and so fast that they wouldn’t know what hit them,” Trump said of ISIS.
When questioned later on about his hypothetical strategy to combat the terror group, Trump said he wouldn’t rule out putting boots on the ground in the Middle East.
“You may have to have some boots on the ground for a period of time until you get rid of the Cancer,” explained the businessman.
He defined the “theme” of his possible presidential run as “make America great again,” explaining that the next commander-in-chief needs to “think like a winner.”
“To be a winner, you have to think like a winner,” Trump said. “Our country hasn’t been thinking like a winner. We’re totally on the defense. We’re being laughed at all over the world for our stupidity.”
Though the crowd seemed positively receptive to many of his declarations, Trump received a round of “boos” when he admitted his stance on marijuana.
He labeled pot “bad” and heard negative groans from the audience, immediately after which he stressed that he is in favor of medical marijuana.
Of his potential competitor in the GOP presidential field Jeb Bush, Trump waxed unimpressed.
“He’s in favor of common core,” said “The Apprentice” star. “He’s weak on immigration.”
