Inside the Trump-Bachmann Meeting
Real estate mogul discusses his meeting with Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain's surge and much more
This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," October 13, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Big shake-up in the Republican nomination for president race, and another candidate makes a pilgrimage to Trump tower. What went on behind the closed Trump golden doors? We just spoke with Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAN SUSTEREN: Donald, nice to talk to you.
DONALD TRUMP, REAL ESTATE MOGUL: Hi, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right, well, the pilgrimage continues. This time, Representative Michele Bachmann went to see you. What do you think?
TRUMP: Well, I think she's a really lovely woman. We had a great conversation. She's very smart. She's doing a really good job. She's really working hard. In fact, I was saying, you know, take it easy, relax, have a good life. The fact is, she's working very, very hard and she's a very good woman.
VAN SUSTEREN: Was she what you expected? Were you impressed more, or not what you thought?
TRUMP: I have known her and I have met her before. She was up to the Trump Tower two months ago. You know, I think she's out there really working hard. She's involved with Iowa. She's involved very strongly with New Hampshire. You know, I am impressed with her. I must tell you, I have had a lot of visits from a lot of people. I can tell that you Governor Romney, very impressive. Rick Perry -- he's a terrific guy with a great record. I know he is having a hard time with the debates. He's the first to admit that. But I mean, really a terrific person.
Herman Cain, who I spoke to yesterday, terrific person. You know, the job he's done is amazing. I mean, if you think about it, it's amazing. So I've met with some fine people.
VAN SUSTEREN: But this is not a Miss Congeniality contest.
TRUMP: That is correct. That's correct.
VAN SUSTEREN: Here's what -- let me tell you what I am suspicious of in terms of which way you are leaning, you tweeted after the most recent debate that Romney did very well in the debate, and you keep telling me, you are going back to Governor Romney. But here's the thing that's curious to me. Why are Governor Romney's numbers static? He doesn't get a bounce when Governor Christie gets out of the race, and it doesn't seem likely gets a bounce out of any of these events?
TRUMP: You are right. I was surprised. I thought he did very well in the debate. And I thought Herman Cain did really well in the debate. But Mitt is not getting a bounce.
I think a lot of people don't know him or understand him. But he doesn't seem to do well in the Republican primary. Now if you look at his numbers overall, he's doing quite well. But he has to get out of the primary. In the Republican primary eye mean, he's doing OK. But he doesn't get the bounce you would think when somebody gets out or when somebody goes down, you would think he would get more numbers than he is getting.
VAN SUSTEREN: Which brings me to the next question, in the event he is the nominee, President Obama and his campaign, they are making a lot of money. They have a lot of things to challenge him on, for instance, the national health care, which the Republican Party, many have been adamant they want to get rid of, but for better or worse of, some of his advisers in Massachusetts helped the Obama administration fashion the national one. That may be a hard sell to a lot of Republicans.
TRUMP: I really think it's going to be about the economy. I think it's going to be about jobs. I really think that that issue is overplayed at this point. You know, I think that governor Romney's explained it to a fair thee well. I believe it's about jobs and who will be the best president.
Honestly, if Obama continues to do the job he's doing and the economy continues to be as bad -- and it is very bad -- but continues to be as bad as it is, I think he will have a very, very hard time beating certain of the Republican candidates.
VAN SUSTEREN: You say it's about jobs. One thing that is curious in following what is going on in if the Obama administration, if Governor Romney is nominated, I think they will run at him hard for his work. He's very successful. I think they will go back to see whether or not go of the companies the companies added jobs or if he dismantled them to make them more efficient. I am not sure this will be a smooth sail as the nominee, on jobs.
TRUMP: You know the biggest problem? When you very successful and have you had a great career, you have done a lot of things and he said, some good, some bad, but mostly good. And the fact is that have you a lot of things that people can shoot at because you have been a productive person. You have worked hard. Even good deals -- he buys a company and maybe he got rid of some people to make the company better or save the company or whatever. So he did things.
With Obama, he never did anything. If you look, I mean the only thing he did is buy a house. He never did anything. So there is nothing to criticize. The house you can criticize because if you look at the way he brought that house, this is a very, very suspect deal, and people should look at it. The only deal he had in his life, he bought a house. So you can't criticize him because he bought 37 companies and employed tens of thousands of people. There is nothing to criticize. And it's very unfair.
And I have always said it's very hard for a very successful person to get elected because even your good deals they can criticize.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right, I understand there are a couple of categories. One is who you think might be the best candidate or the best president or best representative. But let me ask you, who do you think the Obama administration most fears in a general election? Not ultimately be the president, but on purely strategy and give him the biggest run for his money?
TRUMP: The one they most dislike is Donald Trump because nobody hit him like I did because I told the truth. I have heard that from so many people is the one they most disliked is me, and I am honored by it. I would love it if he would do the job. I would be his biggest supporter.
VAN SUSTEREN: Who is number two?
TRUMP: I don't want to say. I don't want to say. Honestly, it's too early for me to say. At the appropriate time, I am going to be saying. It's too early for me to say.
And I will say this -- I spoke yesterday with Senator Lindsay Graham. I love what he is doing with respect China, putting bills in because they are trying to fight the Chinese curse. Honestly, he should be given more support. His bill passed but he has to be given support. It's the first time I am seeing somebody go out and fight, I call at this time Chinese curse because what they are doing to this country is unbelievable.
VAN SUSTEREN: What would President Donald Trump do about Iran in light of the terrorist plot that has been thwarted but apparently leads all the way up to the high leadership in Iran?
TRUMP: The problem we have with Iran is that they no longer respect us as a country. They know we are dying to get out of Iraq and that's fine and we should be. But as I said, we should take the oil. We should absolutely take the oil. We are spending $1.5 trillion --
VAN SUSTEREN: Take Iran's oil?
TRUMP: Iraq. Iraq has the second largest oil fields of the world. We should reimburse ourselves and the family who is have lost children, fabulous, fabulous men and women, lost. What they are getting --
VAN SUSTEREN: I am talking about Iran. Not Iraq.
TRUMP: No, no. But I am saying Iran is going to take over the oil fields of Iraq and they are going on take over Iraq. And the reason they are going to do that is very simple. They have absolutely no respect for the United States. And that's why when they send the people in, as they did yesterday, as we found out, it's a lack as Rodney Dangerfield would say -- it's really a lack of respect for our country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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