GOP presidential candidate and real estate mogul Donald Trump called into Howie Carr’s radio show Tuesday to say that if he is doing well during his candidacy, he would spend whatever it takes to win.
“If I’m doing well, I’ll spend whatever I have to spend,” Trump told Carr.
Carr pinned Trump down on whether or not the billionaire would spend a billion dollars on his presidential campaign.
“If I had to, I’d spend that,” Trump answered. Trump has also said he has his own money and doesn’t need to take from donors or lobbyists.
“I don’t have to go out and say, ‘Listen, if you give me money, you’re going to be an ambassador, if you give me money, you’re going to negotiate against Japan, if you give me money, you’re going to be Secretary of Commerce or Secretary of the Treasury,” Trump explained.
Trump also said it’s “embarrassing” that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is ahead of him in a recent poll amongst New Hampshire voters, where Trump placed second to Bush.
“He couldn’t answer the question was Iraq good or bad,” Trump said, adding he won’t do a good job as president because he isn’t strong or powerful enough to have China, Japan or Mexico – or terrorists – respect him.
Trump also discussed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), fellow GOP presidential candidate, on his vote on the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation that would grant president Obama fast track trade authority.
Cruz decided to flip his vote on TPA Tuesday morning, deciding that he didn’t support granting Obama this authority under the secrecy that has been discovered over the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal – one of three of Obama’s current trade deals.
“Look, he’s a politician… he probably thought it was good for him. He hasn’t been doing very well in the poll,” Trump responded. “He’s a nice person. He called me. He is coming up to see me. He wants to meet with me. He’s a very nice guy, but I was very disappointed when I saw him – of all people – I thought he wouldn’t do that and he flip flopped…”
“This is not a jobs bill for us, this is a jobs bill for other countries,” Trump said, adding that this deal is dominated by the interests of lobbyists – not in the best interest of American jobs.
Trump gave his opinion as a business negotiator on the trade deal.
“I’ve been against it from the beginning,” Trump said. “China will come in and dominant. It’s a horrible deal. We should do individual deals with individual countries.”
“Obama’s a terrible negotiator, doesn’t know what he’s doing,” added Trump.
“I wouldn’t trust him to negotiate the simplest agreement.”