Billionaire and potential GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump says countries take advantage of the United States, because some in the U.S. government are “either stupid, foolish, or very heavily lobbied.” In an interview Monday with Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren, Trump said although President Barack Obama is not stupid, “he could be foolish” and “he is certainly heavily lobbied.”
“You go to China, you see these cities rising out of nothing. Of course, it is worldwide money, but it is really this country's money [that] is rebuilding China,” Trump said. “We have either stupid, foolish, or very heavily lobbied people that allows China” to grow, while U.S. infrastructure is crumbling.
Van Susteren asked whether Obama was one of those “people” and is he any different than other presidents.
“He's not a stupid man. He could be a foolish man. And he certainly is heavily lobbied,” Trump replied. “Look, I was never a big fan of a lot of presidents. I've seen them come and go. I've seen a lot of them. The one I liked was Ronald Reagan – he didn't play games.
“When Iran had hostages, Jimmy Carter was defenseless – it was pathetic. It was a sad, bad time for this country. Ronald Reagan got in and said they won't be there for one day,” Trump added. “All of a sudden they were released, gone, and he got them back.”
When asked whether he was impressed by any of the potential GOP 2012 presidential candidates, Trump, who has said he will announce his presidential plans by June, replied: “Look, I know many of them. And they are nice people."
“But can they do the job? Perhaps not.”
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