Trump: Iraqi Officials ‘Crooks,’ Jeb’s ‘Skin in the Game’ Remark Dumb

On Saturday in Des Moines, IA, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump criticized Iraqi officials as “a bunch of crooks,” and blasted fellow candidate former Florida Governor Jeb Bush for his remarks that “the Iraqis want our help. They want to know we have skin in the game, that we’re committed to this.”

Trump said of Jeb, “he made statements over the last couple of days that are incredible, trying to justify the war in Iraq, can’t be justified. And then he said ‘skin in the game.’ I don’t know if you saw his recent statement, he said the United States has to prove to Iraq that ‘we have skin in the game.’ We’ve spent $2 trillion, thousands of lives lost, wounded warriors, who I love, all over place, and he said we have to prove that ‘we have skin in the game.’ I think it may be one of the dumbest statements I’ve ever heard, ‘skin in the game.’ We don’t have to prove anything. First of all, the Iraqi officials are a bunch of crooks, if there even is an Iraq, which, I don’t think there is. Iran is taking over Iraq. It was one of the dumbest things ever. And I think what happened, because I understand psychology, I think his brother probably said, ‘Hey, you’re killing me.’ That was his war, and he looks very bad. So this — so Jeb Bush tried to push back. But when he said we have to prove to Iraq that ‘we have skin in the game,’ and we’ve lost all of those lives, and all of that money, I think he should apologize to the families of the people.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett