This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," November 15, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Donald Trump says, well, it's disgusting. Now, he's talking about President Obama calling America's business community lazy. And that is not the only thing that has Donald Trump all fired up. We spoke with him earlier tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VAN SUSTEREN: Donald, nice to see you.

DONALD TRUMP, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: Thank you.

VAN SUSTEREN: OK, you've been busy on Twitter lately. Let me read you one of your recent Twitters. It's about President Obama. You said, "The habitual vacationer calling America lazy this past weekend while in Hawaii." He was at a big APEC summit in Hawaii. You take issue with it?

TRUMP: Well, I do, indeed, when he's using a 747 Boeing to go around, which is called Air Force One, to go around and campaign and raise funds. And I can't imagine that the Republicans aren't being stronger about he shouldn't be able to do that. But he's flying around on Air Force One, which is a plane that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars an hour to fly.

VAN SUSTEREN: But all presidents do this, both parties.

TRUMP: Maybe they do, but I've never seen anybody do it like this. I mean, I've been watching this for a long time and I've never seen any president work like this. This is crazy. He calls it vacation. He calls it this. He's campaigning. He's really campaigning and vacationing.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right...

TRUMP: I'm not sure which is worse.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, the reference where he says -- he said when he was speaking on November 12th -- this is in part -- "But we've been a little bit lazy, I think, over the last couple of decades. We've kind of taken for granted, well, people want to come here, and we aren't out there hungry, selling America and trying to attract new business into America."

TRUMP: Well, it's interesting that he calls people lazy. I mean, he's done one business deal in his life. That was his house. And there's a big question about his house. So it's very interesting that he's calling people lazy because he's really referring to the business community, and they don't give us the tools.

When they allow China to manipulate their currency, when they allow other people and other countries to do what they're doing against our country -- you know, it would be nice if the government could give a little help. But for him to call -- and I said it the other day on, actually, one of your shows. I said it the other day. For him to say that the business people of this country are lazy is disgusting.

VAN SUSTEREN: What do we want...

TRUMP: Especially coming from him.

VAN SUSTEREN: What do we want more of? Do we want more of American businesses going overseas and developing products and growing around the world, or do we want foreign companies to come here?

TRUMP: I think we want American companies to stay here and develop their products from here.

VAN SUSTEREN: That wasn't the choice. That wasn't the choice.

TRUMP: No, but that's what's going on. I mean, that's the problem. People don't even give that as a choice. Even you. I mean, you're asking me a question, Do we want to go over there and develop? No. I think companies should stay here, make their product and sell it to China, like they do to us.

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, we'd like it. That's ideal. But that -- I mean, that's not happening.

TRUMP: Well, the reason...

VAN SUSTEREN: At least not...

TRUMP: ... it's not happening is because of a simple manipulation of currency, and we do nothing about it. But we should be making product here and sending it out. You know, China says, You want to build a tractor? Good. We don't want your tractor. Go build a plant in China. We don't do this. We don't do this. We're not doing it properly in this country.

China says, Wait until you see what happens to Boeing. I have a lot of good friends at Boeing. And watch what's going to happen with China and Boeing. They're going to make their own aircraft. They're going to make everything. They're not going to be buying from Boeing very soon. They're going to be making their own aircraft. It's going to be made in China. And they're going to be competing with Boeing like you never saw before.

VAN SUSTEREN: OK, new topic, 2012 -- give me sort of a highlight of what you think is going on in the race. Who's up, who's down, who's doing (INAUDIBLE)

TRUMP: Well, it's amazing because every day, it changes. Now, Newt, who's a friend of mine, is doing very well. Mitt Romney is doing very well. I mean, he's doing very well, but he just doesn't seem to get that extra little bounce that you would think he'd get.

VAN SUSTEREN: Why? Why doesn't he move up a little bit? He doesn't move down, but why doesn't he budge at all?

TRUMP: Well, you could say he's got a very solid base. I mean, he doesn't move down, and that's a big statement that you make. He doesn't move down. But you would think that he'd be bouncing like wild. He's done great in the debates. He's really done beautifully in every single debate.

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, does he -- I mean, the pundits say that, but if the numbers don't reflect it -- I mean -- I mean -- I mean, he's a great debater. You know, all the pundits say he does really well. But how come the numbers aren't moving up? The voters are not showing that they think he's doing a great job.

TRUMP: Well, they think he's probably not as conservative as they'd like to see. And yet that's a very smart game, potentially, because if he gets the nomination, he's going to have a very good chance against Obama relative to other people that maybe are more conservative. So he's playing a very fine-line game, and it may be brilliant. We'll let you know in about a year, right?

VAN SUSTEREN: One of the things that the president -- that the Obama campaign is going to go after him for is things like flip-flopping, issues like abortion. When he debated Senator Ted Kennedy in the early '90s, he was pro-choice. He's changed his mind. And he got a little heat recently about the collective bargaining law in the state of Ohio. They called him a flip-flopper for that. He's getting a little bit of that, which is going to be very painful should he get the nomination.

TRUMP: Well, sure, and they're going to get him on flip-flopping. And other people flip-flop, and frankly, people change their minds over a period of time. And Obama was against the debt ceiling. He voted against it when he was a senator and did lots of different things that he's now advocating. So, you know, I guess they probably look at that as a weakness. I'm not sure it's a weakness or not. He changed his mind.

VAN SUSTEREN: So it's a tie. They both have flip-flopped.

TRUMP: Well, Obama certainly flip-flops. He was against the war. He was going to get us right out of the war. It was going to end immediately. In the meantime, he got us more into the war.

And by the way, as soon as we leave Iraq, as soon as that' over, that thing is going to be a mess and Iran's going to take over. So I don't think he's done us any favor.

But no, I mean, who flip-flopped more than Obama? Look at the war. Look at his vote on debt ceiling. Look at many of his other votes. He's flip-flopped more than anybody!

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, you mentioned Speaker Gingrich, that he is at least currently surging. Every day is a little bit different for everybody. Why do you think he is doing better now?

TRUMP: Well, he's got some very good conservative views, but I think maybe more than anything else, he really is a very good debater. And you know I like him because he's a member of my great golf club in Washington, D.C. I love people that join my clubs.