\nThe voters have spoken.<\/p>\n
In convincing fashion, Republican voters seem to be selecting Donald Trump as their nominee. And in a democracy, victory has legitimacy to it. Voters are rarely wise but are usually sensible. They understand their own problems. And so deference is generally paid to the candidate who wins.<\/p>\n
And deference is being paid. Gov. Rick Scott of Florida is urging Republicans to coalesce around Trump. Pundits are coming out with their \u201cWhat We Can Learn\u201d commentaries. Those commentaries are built on a hidden respect for the outcome, that this is a rejection of a Republicanism that wasn\u2019t working and it points in some better direction.<\/p>\n
The question is: Should deference be paid to this victor? Should we bow down to the judgment of these voters?<\/p>\n
Well, some respect is in order. Trump voters are a coalition of the dispossessed. They have suffered lost jobs, lost wages, lost dreams. The American system is not working for them, so naturally they are looking for something else.<\/p>\n
Moreover, many in the media, especially me, did not understand how they would express their alienation. We expected Trump to fizzle because we were not socially intermingled with his supporters and did not listen carefully enough. For me, it\u2019s a lesson that I have to change the way I do my job if I\u2019m going to report accurately on this country.<\/p>\n
And yet reality is reality.<\/p>\n
Donald Trump is epically unprepared to be president. He has no realistic policies, no advisers, no capacity to learn. His vast narcissism makes him a closed fortress. He doesn\u2019t know what he doesn\u2019t know and he\u2019s uninterested in finding out. He insults the office Abraham Lincoln once occupied by running for it with less preparation than most of us would undertake to buy a sofa.<\/p>\n
Trump is perhaps the most dishonest person to run for high office in our lifetimes. All politicians stretch the truth, but Trump has a steady obliviousness to accuracy.<\/p>\n
This week, the Politico reporters Daniel Lippman, Darren Samuelsohn and Isaac Arnsdorf fact-checked 4.6 hours of Trump speeches and press conferences. They found more than five dozen untrue statements, or one every five minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis remarks represent an extraordinary mix of inaccurate claims about domestic and foreign policy and personal and professional boasts that rarely measure up when checked against primary sources,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n
He is a childish man running for a job that requires maturity. He is an insecure boasting little boy whose desires were somehow arrested at age 12. He surrounds himself with sycophants. \u201cYou can always tell when the king is here,\u201d Trump\u2019s butler told Jason Horowitz in a recent Times profile. He brags incessantly about his alleged prowess, like how far he can hit a golf ball. \u201cDo I hit it long? Is Trump strong?\u201d he asks.<\/p>\n
In some rare cases, political victors do not deserve our respect. George Wallace won elections, but to endorse those outcomes would be a moral failure.<\/p>\n
And so it is with Trump.<\/p>\n
History is a long record of men like him temporarily rising, stretching back to biblical times. Psalm 73 describes them: \u201cTherefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence. \u2026 They scoff, and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression. Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth. Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance.\u201d<\/p>\n
And yet their success is fragile: \u201cSurely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly they are destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The psalmist reminds us that the proper thing to do in the face of demagogy is to go the other way \u2014 to make an extra effort to put on decency, graciousness, patience and humility, to seek a purity of heart that is stable and everlasting.<\/p>\n
The Republicans who coalesce around Trump are making a political error. They are selling their integrity for a candidate who will probably lose. About 60 percent of Americans disapprove of him, and that number has been steady since he began his campaign.<\/p>\n
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\nEvery weekday, get thought-provoking commentary from Op-Ed columnists, The Times editorial board and contributing writers from around the world.<\/p>\n
\nWorse, there are certain standards more important than one year\u2019s election. There are certain codes that if you betray them, you suffer something much worse than a political defeat.<\/p>\n
Donald Trump is an affront to basic standards of honesty, virtue and citizenship. He pollutes the atmosphere in which our children are raised. He has already shredded the unspoken rules of political civility that make conversation possible. In his savage regime, public life is just a dog-eat-dog war of all against all.<\/p>\n
As the founders would have understood, he is a threat to the long and glorious experiment of American self-government. He is precisely the kind of scapegoating, promise-making, fear-driving and deceiving demagogue they feared.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s supporters deserve respect. They are left out of this economy. But Trump himself? No, not Trump, not ever.<\/p>\n
Here is how Trump responded to the Brook’s Column<\/strong><\/p>\n\n \nA Day later I find this support for Brook’s concerns in an interview Trump gave to Maureen Dowd<\/strong><\/p>\n WASHINGTON \u2014 MOST people would be upset to be at the center of an agitated national debate about whether they were more like Hitler, Mussolini, Idi Amin, George Wallace or a Marvel villain.<\/p>\n Not Donald Trump.<\/p>\n He doesn\u2019t like invidious comparisons but he\u2019s cool with being called an authoritarian.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need strength in this country,\u201d he told me Friday morning, speaking from his Fifth Avenue office. \u201cWe have weak leadership. Hillary is pathetically weak.<\/p>\n \u201cShe got us into Libya and she got us into Benghazi and she\u2019s probably got 40 eggheads sitting around a table telling her what to do, and then she was sleeping when the phone call came in from the ambassador begging for help. You know, the 3 a.m. phone call?\u201d<\/p>\n I asked the brand baron if he\u2019s concerned that his brand has gone from fun to scary, from glittery New York celebrity to \u201cS.N.L.\u201d skits about him featuring allusions to the K.K.K. and Hitler. He blamed a \u201cdisgustingly dishonest\u201d press.<\/p>\n I wondered about ex-wife Ivana telling her lawyer, according to Vanity Fair, that Trump kept a book of Hitler\u2019s speeches by his bed. Or the talk in New York that in the \u201990s he was reading \u201cMein Kampf.\u201d Nein, he said. \u201cI never had the book,\u201d he said. \u201cI never read the book. I don\u2019t care about the book.\u201d<\/p>\n All over town, even in the building where I\u2019m writing this column, freaked-out Republicans are plotting how to rip the nomination from Trump\u2019s hot little hands.<\/p>\n How does it feel to be labeled a menace, misogynist, bigot and xenophobe by your own party? \u201cHonestly,\u201d he replied, \u201cI\u2019m with the people. The people like Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n Since he prefers to rely on himself for policy advice, is he seeking out expert help on the abstruse delegate rules? \u201cYeah,\u201d he said, \u201cI have people, very good people, the best people.\u201d No details, as usual.<\/p>\n Won\u2019t a contested convention require more of a campaign than apr\u00e8s moi, le d\u00e9luge? \u201cI have an organization but it\u2019s largely myself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n More heavyweights are jumping in to stomp Trump, including Elizabeth Warren. Asked about her jabs, he pounced: \u201cI think it\u2019s wonderful because the Indians can now partake in the future of the country. She\u2019s got about as much Indian blood as I have. Her whole life was based on a fraud. She got into Harvard and all that because she said she was a minority.\u201d<\/p>\n Told that President Obama was mocking his wine as $5 wine marked up to $50, Trump shot back, \u201cMy wine has gone through the roof.\u201d<\/p>\n What about Mitt Romney, who\u2019s pushing for an open convention? \u201cHe\u2019s a jealous fool and not a bright person,\u201d Trump said. \u201cHe\u2019s good looking. Other than that, he\u2019s got nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n Paul Ryan, who will be leading the G.O.P. convention in Cleveland, says there could be a floor fight. But he protested that he would, no, no, never take it himself, just as he once said about the speakership.<\/p>\n Ryan snickered at the idea that Mexico would pay for the wall and chided Trump for warning that there would be riots at the convention if the Gasping Old Party tried to snatch the nomination. Was the speaker interested in seizing the crown himself?<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think so,\u201d Trump said, noting that he liked Ryan and that they\u2019d talked. \u201cAll that matters is the votes. I see people making statements about me that are harsh and yet they are calling me on the other line saying, \u2018Hey, when can we get together?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Mitch McConnell also urged Trump to ratchet down the ferocity. Trump insisted that \u201cthe violence is not caused by me. It\u2019s caused by agitators.\u201d He added that \u201cHillary is the one disrupting my rallies. It\u2019s more Hillary than Sanders, I found out.\u201d The Clinton campaign called this \u201cpatently false.\u201d<\/p>\n But shouldn\u2019t parents be able to bring children to rallies without worrying about obscenities, sucker punches, brawls and bullying? \u201cThe rallies are the safest places a child could be,\u201d Trump replied primly.<\/p>\n Didn\u2019t the man rushing the stage give him pause? \u201cI got credit for that because it looked like I was moving toward him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Trump said that when the \u201cagitators\u201d scream and the crowd screams back, \u201cFrankly, it adds a little excitement.\u201d But there must be a safer, saner way to get some oomph.<\/p>\n I wondered if he realized that, in riling up angry whites, he has pulled the scab off racism. \u201cObama, who is African-American, has done nothing for African Americans,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n He said he would soon unleash the moniker that he thought would diminish Hillary, the way \u201cLittle Marco\u201d and \u201cLyin\u2019 Ted\u201d torched his Republican rivals; \u201cI want to get rid of the leftovers first.\u201d<\/p>\n When he mocks Hillary, as he does in a new ad that shows her barking, it may backfire. Due to his inability to let go of his chew toy Megyn Kelly, Trump drew a remarkable rebuke Friday night from Fox News after he called for a boycott of her show and tweeted that she was \u201ccrazy\u201d and \u201csick.\u201d Fox painted Trump as a stalker, saying he had an \u201cextreme, sick obsession\u201d with the anchor. Unable to resist, even though he knows I respect Kelly, he also described her to me as a \u201ctotal whack job\u201d with \u201cno talent.\u201d<\/p>\n He has a history of crude remarks about women from his visits to Howard Stern\u2019s show that could be used in Hillary ads. A conservative anti-Trump \u201csuper PAC\u201d is running an ad with women repeating his coarse remarks.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of these politicians have said far worse than that,\u201d Trump said, \u201cdrunk, standing in a corner.\u201d<\/p>\n Sign Up for the Opinion Today Newsletter \nJoe Scarborough said that just as F.D.R. was the master of radio and J.F.K. of television, D.J.T. is the titan of Twitter. The titan agreed, gloating about how his tweets to his seven million followers, sometimes penned in his jammies, become cable news bulletins. \u201cYeah,\u201d he said, \u201cI\u2019ll do them sometimes lying in bed.\u201d<\/p>\n Not exactly a fireside chat. But it sure started a fire.<\/p>\n \nPolitical Substance Abuse: Donald Trump\u2019s Washington Press Conference<\/strong> This installment of Political Substance Abuse is set in the \u201cOld Post Office,\u201d in Washington, D.C., a historic building that The Trump Organization is converting into a hotel. Donald Trump held a press conference there on Monday as part of a day trip to the nation\u2019s capital that many media commentators called \u201ctrying to look presidential.\u201d Mr. Trump met with legislators on Capitol Hill and visited the editorial board of the Washington Post, where he revealed that rather than solely advising himself on foreign affairs, he sometimes relies on a collection of mostly-unknown advisers, who help him advise himself. He sat down to an on-camera, in-person interview on CNN, instead of phoning it in, as he usually does, then capped his day by speaking at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee\u2019s conference. Mr. Trump had an actual speech written for his AIPAC appearance, and he used a teleprompter, despite saying, in Florida last week, verbatim: \u201cNo teleprompters. Do you notice? I\u2019m not reading speeches. No reading speeches. No reading speeches. Speak from the heart, and from the head. But speak from the heart. We gotta do it. We gotta do it. We speak from the heart. And from the head! You know? Let\u2019s not forget that. But we\u2019ve gotta do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Below is the transcript from Mr. Trump\u2019s hour-long press conference, uncut and uncensored. Here\u2019s hoping that when the luxury hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue is completed, it\u2019s as close as Mr. Trump ever gets to sleeping in the White House.<\/p>\n DONALD TRUMP: Hello everybody. Great to see you. We thought we\u2019d do this, we\u2019re getting so many questions on the building itself, how it\u2019s coming, and ah\u2014this is a great speaker system, boy. It\u2019s unbelievable. Ah, and I just ah, want to thank everybody for\u2014for coming. We have had so many inquiries as to how we\u2019re doing ah, at The Old Post Office, what was formerly The Old Post Office. And ah, upstairs is almost complete, the rooms are almost complete. We have close to 300 rooms, super luxury, and it\u2019s gonna be amazing. We\u2019re gonna apply\u2014we\u2019re gonna employ ah, substantially more than I would say 500 people\u2014yeah, at least 500 people. And we\u2019re getting them largely from the area, and they\u2019re terrific, already in training. Ah, our chefs have been employed, our service staff has been fully employed. So we have a tremendous group of people, the hotel is going to be incredible. Much of what you\u2019re sitting on was just, that was open space that was going down into a basement area, that\u2019s a brand new floor. Ah, in about a week it gets covered with marble, beautiful marble from different parts of the world. Ah, much of what you\u2019re seeing here gets the final ah, touches on it. This was considered one of the great buildings of Washington, one of the great buildings in the country. And it\u2019s been restored to the highest level, ah, well beyond from when it was built. And it\u2019s gonna be something really special. I think when it\u2019s completed, it will be truly one of the great hotels of the world. And that\u2019s what we\u2019re looking forward to.<\/p>\n As you know, ah, GSA, this was the GSA and that was one of the most heavily bid projects in the history of GSA. Tremendous numbers of people wanted it. They brought it down to ten finalists, and we got it, I think because of the strength of our financial statement and because of the fact\u2014they wanted to make sure it got built. And because of the fact that we had something that\u2019s very special in terms of the concept. Where you are now is going to be part of the hotel lobby, you\u2019ll see that in about ah, three months. And ah, behind me are restaurants and stores and shops, and everything above the second floor is ah, is rooms, suites, luxury suites. And what we have really that\u2019s very exciting is we\u2019re building one of the biggest ballrooms in Washington and by far the most luxurious ballroom. It\u2019s actually the largest luxury ballroom in Washington and even in the Washington area. So it\u2019s going to be a very very special job. We\u2019re very proud of it.<\/p>\n We\u2019re two years ahead of schedule. We\u2019re going to be opening in September. So that\u2019s much ah, in advance of what it was suppose to be. It was supposed to be September two years from now. Ah, we\u2019re right on budget. Ah, we have\u2014and we\u2019ve really increased the scope of the work quite a bit, we\u2019re still on budget. Ah, we\u2019ve gone to a very much higher degree of finishes and ah, marbles and fixtures and bathroom fixtures, windows, etc. So we are ah\u2014really we want to make this one of the great hotels of the world. I think it\u2019s coming out that way. And I think when it\u2019s completed you\u2019ll be very proud of it. It\u2019s a great thing for the country. It\u2019s a great thing for Washington.<\/p>\n As you know, the building was sitting fallow for many many decades actually, but it was for many years, ah, it was a magnificent building. There were tremendous fights as to whether or not it would stay up. And groups got together and they just would not allow the government to take it down. And it sat, and then they went out to bid and something happened where it didn\u2019t work out, and it\u2019s been many many years. So ah, we started it, ah, about a year and a half ago, and we\u2019ll have it finished way ahead of schedule, we\u2019re very proud of it. I think again, you will\u2014you will be very proud of it, as people that love this country, I think you\u2019re gonna be very proud of it.<\/p>\n Ah, these are just some of the staff that we have, some of the construction workers. We\u2019ll have probably really close to a thousand construction workers on the site, including off-site work. For instance, ah, the windows, which are landmark, much of the building is landmark, this area is all landmarked. Ah, the walls going up are landmark. The struts over your head right now are land\u2014you know, it\u2019s all very strong landmark situation. Ah, we worked with the various landmarking groups who were terrific, really really professional people. And ah, they are\u2014they love this building, I can tell you.<\/p>\n The exterior of the building is all granite, and in some cases it\u2019s four and five feet thick, and they don\u2019t build them like that anymore, that I can tell you. They don\u2019t build them like that anymore. So with that all being said, if you have any questions, please ah, raise your hand.<\/p>\n Yes.<\/p>\n QUESTION: Would you tell us a little bit more about this meeting at Jones Day earlier today?<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Meeting at Jones Day. Oh. That has nothing to do with this, but that\u2019s okay. We met with ah\u2014ah, Senator Sessions and some of the great people in Washington. And you pretty much know who was there I would imagine. And we had a great meeting, we had a really good meeting.<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Yeah, well I don\u2019t have a list now but we had various\u2014various senators, yeah. Various senators and congressmen. We can provide a list for you if you\u2019d like, okay?<\/p>\n QUESTION: Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan didn\u2019t know about the meeting and they said they weren\u2019t invited. Was that on purpose?<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: No, not at all. No, not at all. We\u2019re very inclusive. And ah, frankly ah, Jeff and some of the other people just invited a small group. And you know, we\u2019re doing very well. It looks like we\u2019re doing very well in Arizona and very well pretty much every place else. And I think we\u2019re gonna maybe easily make that number of the 1237. Ah, we should make it pretty easily based on what I\u2019m seeing. So we won\u2019t have to worry about fighting at a convention. Yes, Mark?<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible] general election, [inaudible] for voters, how would you differentiate yourself on those issues and on\u2014<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Well I think I\u2019m very different than Hillary Clinton, to put it mildly. Ah, I think we have a very different style. I don\u2019t think she\u2019ll be one that\u2019s going to do much with our trade agreements which are killing our country. People have no idea how important that is. The money that is being drained out of our country is enormous. And that\u2019s not her thing. It\u2019s totally my thing. I think she\u2019ll be very very weak on the military, I think she\u2019ll be very weak with other\u2014frankly with other countries and the amount of money we subsidize them with our military, which nobody even talks about. So you know, we have to make our country solvent, and we have to make our country, frankly, rich if we\u2019re going to save all of these things. And we have to rebuild our military. It\u2019s in very bad shape. It\u2019s been decimated, just been decimated over a period of years. And we\u2019ve got to get the right equipment, not the wrong equipment. We\u2019ve got to get equipment that isn\u2019t there because of political experience and political know-how. We want to get the equipment they really want, not the equipment they\u2019re getting because politicians have access to certain companies. And we\u2019re gonna rebuild our military, and I think that\u2019s gonna be a big difference also.<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Well, she doesn\u2019t know anything about my policy. I mean, she wouldn\u2019t know anything about it. Ah, her policies obviously didn\u2019t work. All you have to do is look at Libya, look at anything you want to look at, and they haven\u2019t worked. And I think if you look back at my projects and ah, my prognostications, they turned out to be very very accurate. Sarah?<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Well I\u2019m gonna make a speech in about two hours, so\u2014<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Well no I also said\u2014 No I\u2014 Yeah I said\u2014 What I said, if you remember, I said that I want to look into it, I want to speak to governmental people in Israel and here. I want to speak to various senators and various people, including Senator Jeff Sessions who is highly\u2014Jeff is highly respected. And ah, actually Ted Cruz I think respected him more than any senator, and he thought he was gonna get endorsed by Jeff Sessions and he didn\u2019t. Jeff Sessions endorsed me, which was a very big endorsement. And ah, Ted Cruz still doesn\u2019t believe what happened. He couldn\u2019t believe it. Because they worked together. And you know, it doesn\u2019t say much about somebody when you have almost no senate endorsements, you have Lee, but you have almost no Senate endorsements, and you work with the people all the time. So ah, we worked very very closely with ah, many people, but Jeff Sessions. We worked closely with top people from Israel. And I\u2019m gonna be making a speech about it in a little while.<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Say it again?<\/p>\n QUESTION: Can we expect you to say your views on this have evolved?<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Not so much evolved. I said, I want to make\u2014you know, before\u2014I was asked certain questions. I said, I want to make a decision, I\u2019ll announce it in the not to distant future, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m gonna do today at about 5:00. Okay? Yes, go ahead.<\/p>\n QUESTION: Mr. Trump, you mentioned [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Go ahead.<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible] I love the policy that you have for military.<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Thank you.<\/p>\n QUESTION: I would like to know if Trump Towers will be part of that veteran job\u2014<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Are you talking about here? We\u2014 We are doing some of that actually already. We have been very much involved\u2014 Why? What are you looking for? What kind of a position? Come up here. Come here. Since you\u2019re so smart and good. Do you mind if I do a job interview right now? We need good people. How are you? So what\u2019s your experience in front of the world?<\/p>\n [Woman comes to the stage] Ah, well I design, I do wreaths, I do ah, all types of decorations.<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: And you like this building?<\/p>\n WOMAN: Yes, I do.<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Okay. So here\u2019s what I\u2019m going to do. There\u2019s the man. Stand right over here. If we can make a good deal on the salary, she\u2019s gonna probably have a job, okay? All right. Good. Have a good time. Thank you, sweetie, thank you. Okay. Thank you. So nice. Really nice. Yes, go ahead. Sure.<\/p>\n QUESTION: I have two questions for you. Firstly, can you talk about what was the theme, what was the goal of the meeting this morning at Jones Day?<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Ah, just to start getting together with some of the people that I\u2019ve known over the years, ah, politicians. In just about all cases they were senators or congressmen. Ah, Jim DeMint was there, who I have great respect for. And ah, some others. And we just had a really good meeting. Just a meeting. And they\u2014they can\u2019t believe how far we\u2019ve come, because you know, I think a lot of people maybe wouldn\u2019t have predicted that. I think people that know me did predict that. But some people would not have. And it was really just a meeting\u2014it\u2019s a beginning meeting. But it was a very good one with a lot of the most respected people in Washington.<\/p>\n QUESTION: Let me ask you, we\u2019ve heard a little bit about Hillary Clinton this morning, in her comments to AIPAC, also Elizabeth Warren today on social media went after you, calling you a loser. How can you\u2014<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Who is that, the Indian? You mean the Indian?<\/p>\n QUESTION: How do you prepare to deal with that kind of sustained attack from both sides?<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Ah, look. Look. It is very simple. I have more votes than anybody. And if you take away the fact that I had 17 people, we had 17 people that I was going against, and add some of that back, you know. Hillary essentially had one. Ah, we started off with 17, I had more votes than anybody, more votes have come in the primaries to me than anybody else. And you know, the problem with the country right now, it\u2019s so divided, and people like Elizabeth Warren really have to get their act together, because it\u2019s gonna stay divided. And that includes Hillary. And probably includes me, includes everybody. This country has to get together, because we\u2019re in serious trouble. We\u2019re sitting on a big fat financial bubble. We owe $19 trillion and it\u2019s going up rapidly to 21 trillion because of the budget. And we have a military that needs money. We have everything that needs money. And we have to\u2014we have healthcare that doesn\u2019t work. Obamacare is not working. Nothing works. Our educational system, we\u2019re ranked last in many cases. Ah, so everybody has to get together and get it solved. If they don\u2019t get together, we\u2019re not gonna have much of a country, so.<\/p>\n QUESTION: Mr. Trump, at the rally in North Carolina, Pastor Mark Burns was on stage and he told the audience that Bernie Sanders doesn\u2019t like Jesus, that he was [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: That was Pastor Burns. Yeah, I didn\u2019t hear this. When did he say this?<\/p>\n QUESTION: Ah, last week in\u2014<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: I didn\u2019t hear anything about it, no, I\u2019m sorry. Well, let me find out about it. I\u2014I don\u2019t know anything about his religious beliefs honestly, but I will find out, okay? I know the pastor. And he\u2019s, you know, a very respected person. Yes, hi Tom.<\/p>\n QUESTION: What we just witnessed here was pretty remarkable. I mean this is a complete stranger who just came up and you offered her a job. What\u2014what inside your gut gave you the feeling that\u2014<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: I felt good about her. I tell you what. I looked at her, I said, she\u2014 You know, I have gut instinct, okay? And we\u2019re allowed to have that. And I looked at her, and she asked a question, and it was a very positive question. She looks like she\u2019s got a great look. And she\u2019s\u2014look at that, with the tears. How nice. She\u2019s just a good\u2014she just seemed like a good person to me. Just seemed like a good person to me. Now maybe she won\u2019t qualify because you have to qualify for\u2014but I think she will. I think she, to me, looked like a good person. I have instincts about people. For instance, I had an instinct about you originally that you\u2019re a very fine reporter, and I was right. Okay? Now I\u2014 She made an immediate impression. And while I agree it\u2019s a big audience, she\u2019s gonna become a superstar. Tomorrow she\u2019ll move out to Hollywood. Look at her. Don\u2019t leave me. Okay, go ahead, yes.<\/p>\n QUESTION: Mr. Trump, before South Carolina, you said that [inaudible] And that hasn\u2019t happened and there are still two people in this race\u2014<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Well I\u2019ve done a lot of winning. I mean, give me a break. On ah, Super Tuesday I won four out five and did really well in Ohio. And if I would have had two more days in Ohio, I would have won it.<\/p>\n QUESTION: So have you changed anything to try to run the table for the rest of the primaries?<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: All we\u2019re doing is our thing. We have a lot of people calling. We have so many people calling. And in terms of delegates, a lot of the delegates that you\u2019re hearing about want to come with us. They want to come with us. I think we\u2019re gonna get a lot of delegates. And people see, you know\u2014some people are saying we\u2019re gonna be at 1450. Quite a bit higher. We\u2019ll see. I mean look, hey\u2014the worst that happens, I go back to this which isn\u2019t so bad, you know? Not so bad. But I think we\u2019re doing very very well, and I think we will ah, qualify over that number. And then a decision is gonna have to\u2014 I mean, if we\u2019re 30 short or 50 short, nobody else is gonna be close. I mean, Ted Cruz won\u2019t even be close. And if we\u2019re a little bit short, people are gonna have to decide. Are you going to go with somebody\u2014 And remember this, I think this is important. When I was putting my delegates together, I had\u2014 I guess we started, that must have been 12 or 14 people in the race. It wasn\u2019t like I was running against one or two people. Because that\u2019s easy to put together, you know, the 1237 delegates. But I had senators, I had a great doctor, I had ah, Carly, and I had many many other people running. So I was doing well, I was leading the pack in almost all cases. But you had other people getting 5 percent and 10 percent and 14 percent. We had a massive field. So to get 50 percent in a way is a little bit unfair, when you have a group of people that started off at around 12. It was 17, but I think by the time we got to the elections, it was\u2014you know, the primaries, it was around 12 or 13 people. Then they started leaving. But you know, even now, I mean, we have the three, whereas Hillary had one. Much different. Much different, so. And\u2014and I think\u2014I would love the reporters, if you agree with me, I\u2019d like you to make that point. We have a lot of delegates. I guess we\u2019re almost up to 700, which is substantially more than anybody else, but I got those delegates the hard way. I got them by running against many many different people, all accomplished, all senators, governors, successful people. Now we\u2019re down to three. And we\u2019ll see what happens. Okay?<\/p>\n QUESTION: You do keep winning. You do keep winning. Why don\u2019t you think the party has [inaudible] around you yet. Why do you think there\u2019s still so\u2014<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Because I\u2019m an outsider, Katie, I mean I\u2019m an outsider. I understand it. They\u2019re senators, they\u2019re governors, they\u2019re congressmen, women, and they\u2014they are not used to this. And a lot of people don\u2019t like it because I haven\u2019t taken money. I don\u2019t take campaign contributions. And they want to give campaign\u2014they want to\u2014they want campaign contributions. And a lot of the people, the donors, some of whom are friends of mine, I mean, I\u2019ve had donors come up to my office, offer me millions of dollars, and I said I\u2014I would love to take it but I can\u2019t. I\u2019m not taking it, right? I said, by the way, what are you gonna do. He said, I\u2019m gonna go with somebody else. I said, why? Because, he said, I have to. Because they want to spend their money. You know what? The truth is, they\u2019re gamblers. So when I said I don\u2019t want your money\u2014and I\u2019m their friends, but I don\u2019t want your money, they go to someplace else. They do that. They are gamblers in a certain sense. Ah, yes. Go ahead.<\/p>\n QUESTION: Mr. Trump, I got to meet Dr. Carson, and shared with him [inaudible] And he said, he\u2019d [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Dr. Carson, who is a great guy, yeah.<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: They like Dr. Carson as a running mate? Well I can tell you this. And you know, when he called me and he came over and we met, it was\u2014you know, we\u2019ve had a good relationship. Once I got to know him and he got to know me. Ah, he is a fine man, a fine person with a great family. So we\u2019ll be talking to Ben Carson. About a lot of things.<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Well that\u2019s great. I like\u2014 I\u2019m glad that you told me that.<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: I know that, thank you.<\/p>\n QUESTION: You put together a foreign policy [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: A piece of it, yeah I announced a piece. I have actually many more, but I gave them page one.<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible] which of the people you named then helped you to form your AIPAC team [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: No, I used various people. But I used also, ah, my son-in-law Jared\u2014where is Jared, is he here someplace? Jared. You know, his wife is about ah, two minutes away from having a baby. So he\u2019s here. He\u2019s coming to AIPAC. Where\u2019s Jared? Hey Jared. And Jared is the\u2014spoke to many of his friends from Israel and we\u2014we put it together with a lot of really great people. Ivanka\u2019s about\u2014I mean, probably today or tomorrow she\u2019s having a baby. So Jared is getting ready to get going. Okay?<\/p>\n QUESTION: Just one other thing. So in that foreign policy team, General Kellogg was the COO of the coalition in the [inaudible] and you\u2019ve been really consistent on [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: It doesn\u2019t mean that I\u2019m gonna use what they\u2019re saying, but I do like different opinions. He has a different opinion. But I do like different opinions. Okay yes, go ahead.<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Yes.<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible] Chinese businessmen or Chinese tourists to Trump Hotel?<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Yes, they\u2019ll always be involved. Absolutely. Chinese tourists will be involved. Investment I don\u2019t need. They don\u2019t have to give me their money. But the ah, tourists are ah, certainly\u2014we want tourists from China. Yeah, go ahead.<\/p>\n QUESTION: You said you\u2019d done really well in Arizona, but in Utah it doesn\u2019t look as well [inaudible] could be a blue state in 2016, which would be unprecedented.<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Well, we\u2019re gonna see what happens.<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible] protesters, like tonight\u2019s walkouts at AIPAC, are these just two groups that don\u2019t share your values?<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: No I don\u2019t think so. I think that ah, I think we\u2019ll do fine in Utah. It wasn\u2019t one of the states that we were projected to win, but you know, I had ah, one speech there and it was massive. We actually turned away over 5000 people, you saw what happened. And I think we\u2019ll do well there. It wasn\u2019t a state\u2014I was really going out to Arizona, but I have a lot of friends in Utah, so we stopped and we made a speech and we had a great response to it. I think I\u2019ll do\u2014I think I\u2019ll do very nicely there. Yes, go ahead.<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t know. I mean yeah, there\u2019ll be some that we won\u2019t make. Yeah go ahead. Go ahead.<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible] question in foreign policy. [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: What?<\/p>\n QUESTION: Do you think the US ought to leave NATO?<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: I don\u2019t think they\u2019ll leave NATO, no.<\/p>\n QUESTION: Do you think the UK in the referendum on the euro [inaudible] should leave the EU?<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: I think they may leave the EU, yes. They\u2019re having a lot of problems. I think they\u2019re\u2014I don\u2019t want to make a comment about the UK leaving, but I think they may leave it based on everything\u2014I\u2019m there a lot. I have a lot of investments in the UK, and I will tell you that I think they may leave, based on everything that I\u2019m hearing.<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible] better off?<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: I don\u2019t know. I\u2014 You\u2019d have to ask them. I just think they may leave. Yeah, go ahead.<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible] some diplomats from Mexico were organizing [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: To give immigrants voting status to vote against me, and the head of Mexico wants to do that? If I were the head of Mexico I\u2019d want to do that too. Okay? Because we\u2019re gonna bring it back. We\u2019re gonna bring it back. Look. We have a tremendous trade deficit with Mexico, $58 billion. We have tremendous problems coming across the border. You know, Mexico could stop it in one day. We\u2019re gonna build a wall anyway. But if Mexico wanted they could stop that in one day. Do you know how tough it is to become a citizen of Mexico, one of the toughest places on earth. And yet over here, you have a baby on the land and you\u2019re a citizen, congratulations, okay? Try that in Mexico. You know what they do? They laugh at you in your face. So no, I could understand why the officials in Mexico would want people to vote against me. But I tell you, the Mexican people like me. And if you look at the Nevada polls that just came out, and if you look at the exit polls in Nevada, the state\u2014a state that I won, one of many, ah, you take a look at those polls, we do very very well with the Hispanics. Yeah, go ahead, back.<\/p>\n QUESTION: Mr. Trump, first, Speaker Paul Ryan as being very quick to criticize you with his statements. He\u2019s also worked behind the scenes to oppose your candidacy. At what point do you lose confidence that Speaker Paul Ryan should be the chairman of the convention?<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Well it\u2019s a very fair question, because I notice he\u2019s been having meetings. He called me last week, he couldn\u2019t have been nicer. He was very ah, just could not have been nicer. Ah, I have tremendous\u2014I have many millions of people behind me. We want to bring competence back to the country. We want to bring sanity back to this country. And we want to do a lot of great things. And\u2014and to be honest with you, the Republicans should be embracing\u2014 Look. There is something happening with our country that\u2019s never happened to the extent that it\u2019s happened now. Millions of additional people are going out and voting in primaries. And you know, in the Democrat case, they\u2019re down 35 percent. Nobody cares about Hillary and Bernie in terms of voting. They\u2019re down 35 percent. We\u2019re up 72 percent. And it looks like even much more than that. I mean, some states are up over 100 percent. And that\u2019s because of me. Now, they can play games and they can play cute. I can\u2014I can only take him at face value. I understand duplicity, I understand a lot of things. But he called me last week, he could not have been nicer. I spoke with Mitch McConnell, he could not have been nicer. If people want to be smart, they should embrace this movement. Time magazine calls it a movement, it\u2019s been on the cover\u2014[break in audio] want to be smart. If they don\u2019t want to be smart, they should do what they\u2019re doing now, and the Republicans are gonna go down to a massive loss. And all of these people, these millions of people that are coming out to vote for me\u2014because you look at South Carolina, I was supp\u2014 I wasn\u2019t supposed to win South Carolina. And I won in a landslide. I wasn\u2019t supposed to win Nevada, I won in a landslide. I wasn\u2019t supposed to win many of the\u2014I won the whole south. Look at Alabama. I mean, we\u2019re getting close to 50 percent, with a lot of candidates, that was when you had even more [break in audio] is great. And let me tell you. If they don\u2019t win, you\u2019re gonna have probably four and could even be five Supreme Court justices approved that will never allow this country to be the same. It\u2019ll take a hundred years, but that won\u2019t work. So they better be careful. And I certainly bet\u2014should be careful with third-party stuff. If Trump gets it, we\u2019re gonna start a third party. Well a third party means that the Democrats are gonna win. Almost certainly [break in audio at] You can\u2019t be that spiteful. You can\u2019t be that spiteful, because you\u2019ll destroy the country. Third party would destroy the country. I\u2019m gonna be [break in audio] I\u2019ve already shown it to a lot of people. And you know, a lot of people they\u2019re like, a little bit worried about which judges. I want a very sup\u2014I want a\u2014We\u2019re gonna have a conservative, very good group of judges. Ah, I\u2019m gonna submit a list of justices, potential justices of the United States Supreme Court that I will appoint from the list. I won\u2019t go beyond that list. And I\u2019m gonna let people know. Because some people say, maybe I\u2019ll appoint a liberal judge. I\u2019m not appointing a liberal judge. But I\u2019m gonna have a list of ten. Ah, we\u2019re working on it already. Heritage ah, Foundation and others are working on it already. And ah, with, you know, some thoughts of\u2014of mine. I\u2019ve already named a couple of them that I think would be [break in audio] probably between seven and ten judges that I think will be\u2014meet the highest standards, the highest standards. And from that list we\u2019ll pick Supreme Court judges. And I\u2019d make that pledge, because I want people to understand. That is the single biggest problem with\u2014It would be terrible losing the election because the country\u2019s going in the wrong direction. But if the new president is a Democrat and picks very liberal people, this country is in big big trouble. Okay Tom, go ahead.<\/p>\n QUESTION: What would you say to all those Republicans and Conservatives that are still convinced and are still raising money, that they\u2019re gonna wrestle the nomination away from you at the convention?<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: You\u2019ll have to see what happens. I think I\u2019ll get the votes, first of all. I mean, I think I\u2019ll get the votes. We\u2019ll see what happens. Maybe I won\u2019t.<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible] team, do you have a team\u2014<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: I have a team. [break in audio] Ah, it\u2019s a professional team. I\u2019ll give you some names later. But it\u2019s\u2014it\u2019s a top of the line team. Ah, I think that we will win without that. And everybody says, if he gets the votes, he gets the votes. I think we\u2019ll do well. I think we\u2019re gonna have a big night in Arizona. Ah, and we\u2019ll see. It\u2019s a lot of\u2014that\u2019s a lot of votes. Just like I said we were gonna win Florida. A lot of people said, how do you beat the face of the Republican party. Don\u2019t forget, I watched your show, and you did a\u2014a show on Rubio. I had no problems with him. But you did a show four or five months ago on Rubio, and you said he is the future of the Republican party, he\u2019s the face. So Trump went against the [break in audio] 20 points [break] 67 counties, I won 66, which is unprecedented, it\u2019s never happened before. I think we\u2019re gonna do well in Arizona. I hope to do well in Wisconsin, and I hope to do well in a lot of other places, but I think we should be able to put it away. Yeah.<\/p>\n QUESTION: Mr. Trump, the violence began at some of your rallies [inaudible] clearly and categorically [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Let me just tell you, I rent a stadium or whatever. We had 21,000 people in ah, near Phoenix. And we had 6,000 people in Tucson over the weekend. And\u2014both in the same day, both with very short notice, 21,000 people [break in audio] They blocked the road. These are professional agitators. They blocked the road. They used foul language. They put up signs using the F-bomb and all sort of words that were horrible. Ah, these are not good people. The people that are supporters are unbelievably good people. The incident that took place in Tuscon with the gentleman who I understand was in the Air Force, I haven\u2019t found out too much about it yet, but I hear he had a very fine record in the Air Force [break in audio] a certain finger of the hand. He was ah, talked to horribly, and he was also ah, looking at somebody [break in audio] Ku Klux Klan. And he happened to be African American, the person who was a supporter. And it was a shame what happened. But you know what? He saw a member of the Ku Klux Klan and\u2014you people don\u2019t write that. You know, it\u2019s interesting. It\u2019s interesting. Because at the beginning of the news cycle, early in the morning, they showed the Ku Klux Klan guy walking up [break in audio] didn\u2019t see that anymore. You just saw the\u2014the man hitting. And I said, isn\u2019t that a shame. They took it out of the cycle, which you did pers\u2014you know, you did it, it\u2019s terrible. This is an African American man, who is a supporter, who has a great family, and he has had enough. And I\u2019ll be honest with you. In this country, [break in audio] this country have had [break in audio] where we\u2019re losing our jobs, they\u2019ve had enough where we\u2019re losing all our trade. I mean you look at these trade deals that we have. They\u2019ve had enough where our military can\u2019t beat ISIS. They\u2019ve had enough with the increases in Obamacare where you have 35, 45, and 55 percent increases in Obamacare, and your deductible\u2019s so high [break in audio] not even health insurance. So people in this country are fed up. Okay. Mark, go ahead.<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Three biggest threats? Ah\u2014 You know, honestly Mark, I don\u2019t see threats. I see people that are trying to go against you, but I guess you have that in life, no matter what you do, whether you\u2019re in politics or not. I think they\u2019re very misguided. I think the people that go against me should embrace me. And I\u2019d [break in audio] because I brought millions\u2014I mean you\u2019ve reported on it. There\u2019s never been\u2014they have said in your circles, there has never been an event like that\u2014like [break in audio] history of politics. I\u2019ve had people that you know very well, say in the history of politics. We have millions and millions of people all over the world they\u2019re talking about it. And to be honest with you, Mark, they should embrace it, but they don\u2019t. So that would be a threat. If they don\u2019t embrace it, that\u2019s always a threat. Yeah go ahead sir.<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Well I started today and I\u2019ve\u2014you know, I\u2019ve had\u2014 Look, again, Jeff Sessions and others have endorsed me. We have some great congressmen, I watch them on television now a lot, and they\u2019ve endorsed me, and we have a lot of people coming on. I will say this. I don\u2019t want to drive you folks crazy, but people that I\u2019m watching that are against me, aren\u2019t really against me. Because they\u2019re calling me. I\u2019ve\u2014I\u2019ve seen people on television, we have to stop Donald Trump, we have to stop\u2014 And they were on the phone with me an hour and a half before and they want to set up a meeting. You have a lot of people out there that you think are against me. And it\u2019s just politicians. They want to make a deal. They want to come in and they want to be part of it. People really do want to be part of it.<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: I don\u2019t think much. They have to embrace what\u2019s happening. We have people\u2014many Democrats are coming over. That\u2019s why we\u2019re gonna beat Hillary Clinton so\u2014 I\u2019m gonna beat. If I\u2019m running it, I\u2019m gonna beat her. We have Democrats coming in. I mean, what do we have, Mark, 20 percent of the Democrats come in for the last\u2014for the last primary. Twenty percent were Democrat. But we have independents coming in vast numbers. And the\u2014the most amazing thing, we have many many many people\u2014you wouldn\u2019t think there were this many people, who have never voted before. They\u2019ve never voted before, Sarah. You know that. And I see it, when I\u2019m doing the rope line, the signings, or the shaking of the hands, I mean every 15th person says, Mr. Trump, I\u2019ve never ever voted. I mean, I\u2019m talking about 30 year old men, 40 year old women, 50, 60, 70. My oldest is 93 years old from Tennessee. She\u2019s never voted before. This incredible woman. I actually interviewed her a couple of you. And she\u2019s so excited. And she\u2019s gonna be voting. 93 years old from Tennessee. So I\u2014I just tell you that there\u2019s something that\u2019s amazing that\u2019s happening. The other thing is, we\u2019re gonna get states that the other Republicans can never even think of, like Michigan. Michigan\u2019s not in the rota of\u2014of, you know, if you look at it. Ah, Ohio is a state we have to win, right? You have to win Florida. You have to win Virginia. You have to win Pennsylvania. They don\u2019t ever talk about Michigan because they say you can\u2019t even think about it. I think we have a good shot at New York. New York values, okay, remember New York values? You think Ted Cruz is gonna win New York? I don\u2019t think so. If you win New York, it\u2019s over. Because it\u2019s got so many delegates. So I think we have a chance at winning New York. And various other states we\u2019re gonna win that nobody else can win. That makes it a whole different contest. But think in terms of Michigan. I won Michigan really big. Don\u2019t forget, Kasich was out in Michigan, he stayed there, he slept there. He actually made the statement that if he doesn\u2019t win Michigan he\u2019s gonna leave the race. He was so sure of Michigan, and he lost Michigan in a landslide to me. So I\u2019m gonna win Michigan. And I\u2019m gonna win other states that no other Republican candidate can win. That from the electoral college standpoint throws this thing much\u2014it makes it a much different deal. Okay one or two more.<\/p>\n QUESTION: Mr. Trump, at many of your rallies you denounced countries that we send foreign aid to that can defend themselves, such as Germany, Japan, and South Korea\u2014<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Yeah. I don\u2019t denounce the country. I have great respect for those countries. I want them to pay us some money.<\/p>\n QUESTION: Should that same standard apply to Israel?<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: I think Israel will do that also, yeah. I think Israel will do\u2014 There are many countries that can pay. And they can pay big league. I mean, we\u2019re supporting South Korea. I order thousands of television sets a year from South Korea. They\u2019re a behemoth economically. Every time North Korea raises its head, they do anything, they sneeze, we start sending the ships, the planes, everything else. We don\u2019t get proper reimbursement for that. Now I like South Korea. I have property in South Korea. I like it. I have a lot of friends in South Korea. They can\u2019t believe they get away with it, to be honest. Germany can\u2019t believe it. You know who really can\u2019t believe it? Saudi Arabia. I mean, we have Saudi Arabia, the richest country, when you\u2014no matter how you cut it, they were making\u2014I tell this. Until, you know, recently, but now they\u2019re making half, which is still\u2014 They were making a billion dollars a day, and we subsidized the military, which is ridiculous. It\u2019s ridiculous. And they wouldn\u2019t be there except for us. This is how we\u2019re gonna get our wealth back. This and other things, trade deals. Okay, ah, one more question. One more. Who\u2019s got a good question? Who\u2019s got a good question? Who\u2019s my favorite reporter? Go ahead.<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible] you are open to a better relationship with Russia as president\u2014<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Sure, I want a better relationship with everybody. A better re\u2014with Russia, yeah. But I want a better relationship with everybody. Go ahead.<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible] position to maintain [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: No I don\u2019t think so. I think the media understands. Look. If we can get along\u2014 Putin says very nice things about me. I think that\u2019s very nice. It has no effect on me, other than I think it\u2019s very nice. If we can get along with Russia, that\u2019s very good. If Russia wants to spend millions of dollars a day dropping bombs on ISIS, I\u2019m okay with that. You know, I\u2019m okay with that. Some people don\u2019t like it, they say, no no that\u2019s our job. It\u2019s not our job. It\u2019s\u2014it\u2019s\u2014 let\u2014let Russia, if they want to do that, I\u2019m all for it. No, I want to get along with all countries. And we will. We\u2019ll get a much better relation\u2014you look at what China is doing in the South China Sea. That is so disrespectful to Obama, and to our country. You just take a look. Look what they are doing in the South\u2014 They are building a massive military complex. And yet, they\u2019re draining us for money. They\u2019re taking money out of our country. We\u2019re rebuilding\u2014we are rebuilding China. So no, I want to get along with all countries. And you know the interesting thing, we\u2019ll do much better with all countries. And yet we\u2019ll get along with them better too. Okay? Okay. Go ahead. Real fast, go ahead.<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Many of the people that you see that they say they\u2019re not supporting Trump want to support me.<\/p>\n QUESTION: Who are they?<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Well you\u2019re gonna find out soon because a lot of them are gonna join the team. Or as they say, the Trump Train. But a lot of them are\u2014<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: I just don\u2019t want to do it now. But you\u2019ll be seeing over the next ah, short period of time. I mean, many of the people that I watch on television that are supporting somebody else, they\u2019re really supporting me. Or they want to support\u2014and they will. As soon as we say yes. But you\u2019re gonna see a lot of people. Okay?<\/p>\n [mixed voices]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: What?<\/p>\n QUESTION: [inaudible] Supreme Court nominees in the list that you\u2019re putting together, is there any sort of litmus test for [inaudible]<\/p>\n MR. TRUMP: Yeah. We\u2019re gonna look at that. We\u2019re gonna look at\u2014it\u2019s gonna be pro-life. We\u2019re gonna look at that. We\u2019re gonna look at intellect. Very important. Like, we want very very smart people. We want conservatives on the Supreme Court. Be we\u2019re gonna be making up a list of from seven to ten people, I will be distributing that list in the very near future. Okay? Thank you very much everybody. Thank you. Thank you very much. Oh wait a minute. Let\u2019s take a tour. Nobody asked about the hotel. Does anybody want to see\u2014first of all this room is gonna be \u2014does anybody want to see\u2014we\u2019re building now the largest luxury ballroom in Washington by far. We can take a look. And then if anybody wants to go up and look at the rooms and suites, they\u2019re giving some tours. Ah, they are magnificent. The building was gutted down to the basics, it was gutted down to the steel, except for this area because this area is all a landmark. And we have magnificent suites, rooms, meeting rooms, and we\u2019re building a ballroom. So if you\u2019ll follow me I\u2019m gonna give you a tour of the ballroom, okay? Come on Mark.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"Trump_responds_to_Brooks\"](\"https:\/\/peter.murmann.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Trump_responds_to_Brooks-150x150.png\")
<\/div>\n
\nEvery weekday, get thought-provoking commentary from Op-Ed columnists, The Times editorial board and contributing writers from around the world.<\/p>\n
\nBy ELIZABETH WILLIAMSON MARCH 22, 2016 4:48 NY Times<\/p>\n
![\"Trump_responds_to_Brooks\"](\"http:\/\/localhost\/peter\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Trump_responds_to_Brooks.png\")
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