Henry Kissinger Discusses Trump's Views on China, Most Profound Event

Kissinger in No Spin Zone

Former secretary of state discusses Trump's views on China, most profound event

This is a RUSH transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," June 17, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

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LAURA INGRAHAM, GUEST HOST: Dr. Henry Kissinger, secretary of state from '73 to 1977, is a diplomat's diplomat. In 1973, he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to negotiate a peaceful settlement of the Vietnam War. Dr. Kissinger, who just turned 88, has a new book out called "On China." Bill spoke with him recently.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL O'REILLY: Doctor, as you know, Donald Trump, when he was flirting with running on the Republican ticket, made China a centerpiece of his campaign or his strategy. I want you to react to a sound-bite from Mr. Trump. Let's roll the tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, REAL ESTATE MOGUL: I'd drop a 25 percent tax on China, and, you know, I said to somebody that it's really the messenger; the messenger is important. I could have one man say, "We're going to tax you 25 percent," and I could say another, "Listen, you (EXPLETIVE DELETED), we're going to tax you 25 percent."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'REILLY: All right. So Mr. Trump saying that the Chinese have rigged the game and they're killing us economically. And how do you answer that?

DR. HENRY KISSINGER, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, I like Donald Trump. I know him personally. I don't agree with him. He -- he describes a problem. The Chinese have made enormous progress economically. Part of our difficulties are that we are not doing at home what we need to do in order to be competitive. And China is going to be a major force in the world. And we have to decide whether we're going to deal with it by confrontation or by an intended cooperation. If they challenge our fundamental interests, we're going to confront them.

O'REILLY: OK. You have seen an amazing amount of things in this world. If you had to point to one, one event in your lifetime that you believe was the most profound, what would it be?

KISSINGER: When I realized that the Vietnam War would end in a negotiation, that was a great moment for me, even though it turned out very tragically. The role that America played at the end of the war -- I asked President Truman once what had he done that he was most proud of? And he said he was most proud of that we had totally defeated our enemies and then brought them back to the community of nations as equals…

O'REILLY: Japan and Germany.

KISSINGER: …and that only Americans would have done that.

O'REILLY: True.

KISSINGER: And that is true, and I agree with that.

O'REILLY: OK, Doctor, thanks very much. We appreciate your book, "On China."

KISSINGER: Great pleasure to be here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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