Former assistant secretary of defense Richard Perle tells
Newsmax TV that America's allies would feel "very apprehensive" if Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump captures the GOP nomination.
"I think they will, first of all, say what's happened here? They're quite unaccustomed to anyone like Donald Trump who certainly is not in the conventional mode," Perle said Friday on "The Steve Malzberg Show."
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"I think they will be very apprehensive, but it will reflect partly what Americans think and say. Of course, the allies have no choice but to work with whoever the American people and their wisdom choose to be their president. So of course they will work with Donald Trump."
Perle, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who chaired the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board, also appeared ambivalent about the roster of GOP candidates.
"I'm not enormously impressed with the field. Some of those who could be commander-in-chief have other issues," he told Malzberg. "I think [Sen.] Ted Cruz could be commander-in-chief but I think there are other issues with Ted Cruz."
He said he was also impressed by Sen. Marco Rubio, whose "public expressions seem to me quite thoughtful and intelligent." But, Perle added, Rubio is "young and lacks experience, which is unfortunate."
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