Billionaire Donald Trump is relentless. And when it comes to opposing President Barack Obama and his policies, he's even more relentless.
Monday marks the release of Trump's new book,
“Time to Get Tough: Making America No. 1 Again.” In an interview with Newsmax.TV, Trump explains what's on the line: an Obama second term in the White House would be “devastating for the United States as we know it,” adding ominously that the country would find it “very hard to ever recover.”
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Trump, who is scheduled to moderate a Dec. 27 GOP debate in Iowa sponsored by Newsmax and ION Television, was asked in the interview to identify the top threat facing America.
“Unfortunately we have many threats,” he said. “I think the biggest threat might be bad leadership if you want to know the truth.”
Trump believes that stopping Obama is crucial, but the Republicans must offer real solutions. He outlines them in "Time to Get Tough."
For example, Trump argues that dealing with OPEC's "illegal cartel" and lowering oil prices is key to turning around the U.S. and global economy.
Editor's Note: Get Donald Trump's new book, "Time to Get Tough: Making America #1 Again" — Go Here Now.
Trump says he would slap a 25 percent tax on all U.S. imports from OPEC nations.
He thinks other foreign powers are pushing the United States around. A prime example is China, which is manipulating and devaluing their currency to give themselves a competitive trade advantage.
No more of this nonsense, Trump writes. He'll hit China with a 25 percent tariff on all their goods imported to the United States.
He also advocates a 20 percent tax on all domestic companies that outsource their jobs overseas.
“You know, it’s wonderful to talk about free trade,” said Trump. “I love free trade. I went to the Wharton School of Finance. Nobody loves free trade more than me. But free trade is no good if you don’t have smart people making deals for you with other countries. And unfortunately, we don’t have smart people making those deals.”
Obama and Trump share one thing in common, however: Both are critical of banks reluctant to loan money in the aftermath of the TARP -- Troubled Asset Relief Program -- bailout.
“If you want to buy an apartment, if you want to buy a house and you go to the banks, they’re probably not going to give you the money,” Trump told Newsmax. “You know, with all of the money and all of the help they’ve been given by the government, they’re not loaning the money out. They have not done a good service to this country — at all. And it’s a big problem. But we could very well be headed for at least another fairly decent recession.”
Trump’s book presents the policies that he says would reverse America’s slide and restore its status as a “shining city on a hill.” Primarily focused on finding cures for the nation’s ills, the thoughtful and wide-ranging book also includes 16 pages of personal and family images, as well as pictures of his far-flung real estate empire.
When Trump was seriously pondering a presidential run, he had his accountants prepare his financial statements for any federal disclosure he might have to make. Trump didn't run, but he's decided to release in the book his personal financial statement, which values his net worth over $7 billion.
"Time to Get Tough" offers Trump’s platform to restore America:
Reduce the Debt by Growing the Economy — Trump says in his book that the Great Society programs of the 1960s were meant to provide a safety net — not a hammock. He has been a staunch critic of GOP proposals to cut Medicare and Social Security, calling them “a death wish.”
Says Trump: “I want to save Social Security, I want to save Medicare and Medicaid. And you can do that by creating a strong economy, by creating a strong country. You know, if we have a good economy again, we won’t have a problem saving our plans that really people are entitled to — and they deserve.”
Tax Reform — Trump favors eliminating the death tax, which he calls “immoral” and “a proven jobs killer.” He wants to lower taxes on capital gains and dividends, and reduce the U.S. corporate tax rate from 39 percent to zero to encourage domestic business growth, and he would levy a 20 percent tax on all companies that outsource jobs overseas. He also wants to broaden and flatten the U.S. tax code, a proposal he calls “the 1-5-10-15 income tax plan.” Those earning up to $30,000 would pay 1 percent in taxes, those earning from $30,000 to $100,000 would pay 5 percent, those making $100,000 to $1 million would pay 10 percent, and anyone making over $1 million would pay 15 percent.
Obamacare — Trump contends that Congress should throw out the president’s Affordable Care Act and start over. “It can’t be reformed, salvaged, or fixed,” he writes in his book. “It’s that bad.” He contends the 2,700-page bill is hurting job creation and actually driving premiums up, rather than lowering them as promised.
Illegal Immigration — Trump calls living in America “the greatest blessing a person could ever receive,” and wants a serious border fence. He supports tough enforcement when illegals are arrested, and staunchly opposes efforts to grant in-state tuition to undocumented workers.
In his exclusive Newsmax interview, Trump says he wants to remain a player in the presidential race because he's fighting for common sense and American values.
Other highlights from Trump’s exclusive Newsmax.TV interview:
- He predicted the battle under way between GOP front-runners Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich would be “very competitive.” He added: “I know them both very well, and it really will be very competitive. I think Newt is coming up to see me Monday, and Mitt has been here before, and I think they’re both very good people. I give a lot of credit to Mitt for being solid and staying in there. Unlike everybody else, he hasn’t been going up and down and all over the place. And I give a lot of credit to Newt for what he’s done, I mean it’s amazing, he’s like a rocket ship, he came from nowhere and you look at how well he’s doing now. So I give them both a tremendous amount of credit.”
- Speaking prior to Atlanta businessman Herman Cain’s announcement on whether he would stay in the presidential race, Trump said Cain was “going through hell.” He added: “It’s unfortunate because I got to know him quite well. He came up to Trump Tower a couple of times. And he’s a great guy, he’s a wonderful guy. But he’s under tremendous pressure right now. It will be interesting to see what he does. And it’s very unfortunate, it’s very unfortunate. I hate to see what’s happening. But he’s under a great deal of pressure.”
- He described Ron Paul as “a very interesting guy” although says some of his ideas are “a little bit far out.”
- He called Texas Gov. Rick Perry “a terrific guy,” adding, “He’s been a great governor. I really like him a lot, he just hasn’t resonated, I think the debates have really hurt him badly.”
- He predicted the Obama campaign will be “brutal” in criticizing the eventual GOP nominee during its bid to win a return engagement to the White House. “It will be hard for them, and I think it’s going to be very hard for [Obama] also,” he said. “I think he’s going to go through a lot also. It’s not like he’s got a stellar record, it’s probably just the opposite. So it will be hard for Obama. But it will certainly be very, very hard on the Republican candidate, there’s no question about it.
- He said again that he offered to build a grand ballroom for the Obama White House, so that presidents would no longer have to rely on erecting tents to entertain major dignitaries. He says the project would have cost him $50 million to $100 million, but no one from the administration ever got back to him on his proposal. “And that’s the problem with the country, nobody gets back to anybody. And that’s why we have a country that’s in freefall,” he said.
Editor's Note: Get Donald Trump's new book, "Time to Get Tough: Making America #1 Again" — Go Here Now.
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