Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush would lose to Democrat Hillary Clinton in a presidential contest, Republican candidate and billionaire businessman Donald Trump told
Newsmax TV on Tuesday.
"I don't think Bush will beat her," Trump told J.D. Hayworth in an exclusive interview for a special edition of "Newsmax Prime" to be aired Tuesday at 8 p.m. Eastern. "She will beat him just like the last time a Clinton beat a Bush. It'll happen all over again, it's going to be a replay.
"So, I don't think that will happen," he added. "If Bush gets the nomination, Hillary will do very well against him."
Story continues below video.
Watch Newsmax TV on DirecTV Ch. 349, DISH Ch. 223 and Verizon FiOS Ch. 115. Get Newsmax TV on your cable system — Click Here Now
In a wide-ranging interview with Hayworth, Trump, 69, slammed Clinton, longtime Republican strategist Karl Rove, and expanded on his controversial statements about Mexico that he made when he announced his candidacy on June 16.
He thinks the former secretary of state is "very beatable."
"She's got tremendous skeletons all over the place, between the emails and all of the problems that she's got and that's developed over the years. She's very, very beatable."
Trump bashed Clinton's comments about the recent shootings of nine African Americans at a church in Charleston by Dylann Storm Roof, 21, who is white. He has been charged with murder and weapons possession and is being held on $1 million bond.
Clinton last week told the Hispanic officials in Las Vegas that Americans must face "hard truths about race, violence, guns and division."
"How many innocent people in our country — from little children, to church members to movie theater attendees — how many people do we need to see cut down before we act?" she asked.
"I don't think she even knows what she was saying," Trump said of Clinton's remarks. "I guess, she's talking about the Second Amendment. I'm a very big Second Amendment person — and I believe you have to go strongly on the Second Amendment.
"I am very big for Second Amendment and Hillary isn't — and that's OK," he reiterated to Hayworth. "Different viewpoint, but I'm very strong on Second Amendment."
Regarding Rove, Trump cited the losing presidential campaigns the strategist and his political action committee, Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, have invested in over the years in attacking his record.
Shortly after Trump announced his candidacy,
Rove dismissed him as "not a serious candidate," adding, "Ignore him. Look, he's completely off the base."
"I don't respect Karl Rove," Trump retorted. "He spent $430 million on different races and he didn't win one. He wasted money.
"I'm not a fan of Karl Rove and he knows that — so what's he going to say? Now, the polls are coming out where I'm essentially in first and second place all over — and he's sort of changing his tune, but he'll change his tune. But Karl Rove is somebody that I don't even think he should be on television."
Trump spoke on his recent statements about Mexico, and the resulting squabbles with both Univision, the nation's largest Spanish-language channel, and NBC.
The networks have canceled contracts with the Miss Universe Organization. NBC/Universal and Trump co-own the rights to the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants.
Trump has threatened to sue Univision for terminating its five-year $13.5 million agreement.
"They don't want me to talk badly about Mexico — and I don’t speak badly about Mexico," Trump said, referring to Univision. "I love Mexico. I love Mexico. It's great.
"Their leaders are much smarter than our leaders. That's the problem. They have negotiators who are killing us. They kill us at the negotiating table. They're killing us on the southern border — and I have to talk about it.
"It'd be a lot easier not to bother, but I have to talk about it — and that's one of the reasons that I'm resonating."
He added that he is not surprised that his message is gaining ground with many Americans.
"I don't think I'm that surprised because I get the biggest audiences. I get by far the biggest crowds. I get the most standing ovations — and I talk about trade and I talk about how our military has to be rebuilt because our military is terrible.
"Our military has to be rebuilt," Trump told Hayworth. "Our vets have to be taken care of. Our health insurance has to be dealt with properly, because people have horrible, horrible plans — including the fact that they don't have their doctor.
"Lots of things have to be done. So, I'm not that surprised because essentially that's my message," Trump said.
"We have to make our country great — and that's really the message."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.