Many of Donald Trump's critics complain that he's making many promises about what he'll do once he's in the White House without offering specific plans, but he said Tuesday that he's leaving many of his plans open because he wants to remain "flexible."
"We are in a very formative part of the campaign," the Republican front-runner told
CNN's "New Day" host Chris Cuomo. "I'm also forming. You don't understand, to be a successful person and a business person, you have to be flexible. You know, they say you have to go with punches."
He added that, while it's tough to be flexible, you can't go in and be "boom, boom, hard and fast."
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Trump told Cuomo that a friend of his wants him to come up with a "10-point plan, a 14-point plan, a 20-point plan," but it "doesn't necessarily work that way."
He said that when he bought Trump National Doral Miami, "everybody wanted it, and I didn't sit down and say 'let's do a 14-point plan,' I went in and got it. I took it away from so many people."
Instead, Trump said, his technique is to "go in and have a meeting, and the next day, I'll go in and make an offer."
On many policy issues, Trump contended, "You don't want to hear about the plans; you've go to get in and get it done."
That means remaining flexible, said Trump.
"I know policy better than anybody," he said. "I know politics as well as anybody. I've been doing it all my life. I've been doing it from the other side, which in a certain way gives you a better perspective. A lot of positive things are going to happen."
But sometimes getting what you want may upset some people, Trump admitted.
In Monday's New York Post, an
op-ed by Rich Lowry calls for Americans to proclaim Trump the "most fabulous whiner in the world" because of his response to a "series of tough questions" at last week's GOP debate. Trump, responding to the article, told Cuomo that he is "the most fabulous whiner because I want to win."
"I'll keep whining and whining until I win," Trump said. "I'm going to win for the country and make our country great again. Right now we are a debtor nation. We have bridges that are coming down and unsafe. Sixty percent of the bridges in this country need work and they're unsafe."
Trump also discussed women's issues on the show in the wake of his arguments and statements regarding Fox News debate moderator Megyn Kelly, who drew his ire after asking him about past statements about women.
The controversy deepened after Trump made comments that some construed to be an insult to Kelly, a Fox News star, that some took to be based on her hormones, but Trump has insisted that he did not get to finish his statement, and he doesn't know how his words could have been misconstrued.
He doesn't believe he owes Kelly, or women in general, an apology, but instead believes Jeb Bush does, after making a "terrible statement" about women's healthcare, which Trump believes will be
Bush's "47 percent" moment that could cost him the nomination.
"When Jeb Bush made the statement on women's health issues, [that] you wouldn't need the kind of money we are talking about, [$500 million], you wouldn't need to spend that kind of money, when that is peanuts compared to money spent on lots of other things, I think that was a terrible mistake he made," said Trump. "He's the one that has to apologize to women.
"I will say this, he has gone back, he said I misspoke. He said he misspoke. Well, that's an awfully big issue to misspeak."
Trump, in comparison, promised that he "will be so good to women. I cherish women. I will work hard to protect women. I tell you what, work hard to protect everybody."
And that includes believing that abortions should be allowed in exceptional cases, like that of rape and incest or when the life of the mother is at risk, he told Cuomo. He added that he still is "strongly about pro-life" but disagrees with fellow candidate and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who is against abortion for any reason.
"I absolutely am for the exceptions, so was Ronald Reagan," Trump said. "There's nothing wrong with that. You have to do it, in my opinion."
But that doesn't mean he thinks the government should fund abortion through Planned Parenthood, which he called "an abortion factory."
Still, he said he'd look at the "good aspects" of Planned Parenthood and its programs for women's health, as he is sure "they do some things properly" and "we absolutely have to take care of women."
On the issue of women's rights, Trump said he is looking strongly into equal pay and will have a position on it in the "not-too-distant" future."
But part of the worry, he said, is that government rules could affect free enterprise, although "the concept of it is good. It's a very complicated, the whole issue is a very complicated issue."
In his own companies, though, Trump said he has many female executives, and he always has, and also has had women in charge of major developments, including the construction of Trump Tower, and he pays women the same as men.
"In many cases I have women that get paid more," said Trump, who calls women "incredible executives."
"I have gotten a lot of credit over the years especially within the construction industry," said Trump. "You didn't have women at the construction industry at high levels. I think I was the first to do it, in charge of major developments."
Also during the lengthy interview, Trump also promised that he will have the power as president to make other countries listen and do what he wishes.
Cuomo asked him if that included telling negotiating partners in the Iran deal that he was doubling sanctions, only to see the allies leave the table.
"They won't leave if I'm president," said Trump. "They are going to respect our country and respect me. They are going to do what I tell them to do. We have a lot of power over those countries. They will do the sanctions."
Trump also told Cuomo that he thinks he has found success, even though he hasn't outlined all his plans, because "people are finding our leadership is incompetent and they know that I am far from that. They know I get things done. And I want things done properly. I made a lot of money. I don't want money. I don't want people giving me money. I want to make our country great again."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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