Jimmy Fallon asked me a question on his show one night: “Have you ever apologized? Ever, in your whole life?” I told him that I think apologizing is a great thing—but you have to have been wrong. Then I promised, “I will apologize in the distant future if I am ever wrong.” The audience laughed, as they should have. If you want to know if I’ve ever been wrong, the best thing to do would be to ask my kids. They’ll tell you the truth about that.
Of course I’ve done things wrong. Show me a human being who hasn’t. But when I do, I go out and try to make things right. I try to do a better job going forward.
I have been asked if I thought the Gospels would have a bearing on my public policy choices. That question has been asked of candidates for political office since Al Smith, a Catholic, ran for president in 1928. Many people thought JFK ended the discussion in 1960 when he said he would be president of all Americans. I am who I am, and deep down the Gospels helped make me that person. In business, I don’t actively make decisions based on my religious beliefs, but those beliefs are there—big-time.
What does offend me is the way our religious beliefs are being treated in public. There are restrictions on what you can say and what you can’t say, as well as what you can put up in a beautiful public area. The fact is that our deep-rooted religious beliefs have made this country great. That belief in the lessons of the Bible has had a lot to do with our growth and success.
That’s our tradition, and for more than 200 years it has worked very well. For years you’d have beautiful mangers in public spaces and nobody complained about it.
Now? Mary and the baby Jesus are seldom shown. Even the word “Christmas” has somehow become controversial.
Who in the world could be offended by someone saying “Merry Christmas”?! That greeting isn’t critical of any other religion, and it isn’t being disrespectful to those who practice another religion. It’s a wonderful tradition.
I don’t understand why the same people who demand respect for their beliefs often don’t show respect for the beliefs of others. It seems like every week there is a negative ruling on some issue having to do with Christianity. I think it’s outrageous, totally outrageous. The president should do something about it. If the president has to go through the court system to do it, the president should do it. But this president won’t.
It’s well-known I am not fond of President Obama. I think he has been an awful president. His inexperience and arrogance have been very costly to this country. He’s weakened our military, alienated our allies, and emboldened our enemies. He’s abused his power by taking executive actions that he had no right to take. The next president is going to have to reverse and repeal many of the actions he’s taken.
I did take a lot of criticism for not responding when an individual made what some people considered to be an anti-Muslim comment at an event in New Hampshire. People have their beliefs and their opinions. It’s not my job to defend the president. President Obama would never defend me.
Anybody who wonders how I feel about women should just take a good look at the Trump Organization.
My positive feelings about women are reflected in the number of women who have worked in my organizations. I placed women in important leadership positions in the Trump Organization long before anybody else gave them that opportunity because I knew they could handle it. I was the first developer ever to put a woman in charge of a major construction project in New York City.
On The Apprentice, I was always pointing out the business skills of women. Talk to any of the women who worked for me and they will all tell you the same thing—I am a tough, demanding boss. I reward success and I penalize failure. I treat women no differently than I treat the men who work for me. I give women the responsibility they earn with their performance, I pay them the same, promote them accordingly, and, when they mess up, fire them the same.
I couldn’t be more proud of my record with women.
Maybe my spokesperson on this subject should be my daughter Ivanka. I take a tremendous amount of pride in the fact that my children not only work with me, but when I’m criticized, they are the first to defend me.
14
A NEW GAME IN TOWN
CONTRARY TO THE JOKES, I don’t think the White House needs any bright neon signs on the roof. No need to add additional wings or to sell the air rights.
I do, however, think we need to bring some business acumen to the White House.
The one thing you can be certain about is that, unlike the Obama administration, I stand up for this country, proudly and loudly. I continue to be exactly what I have been—the greatest cheerleader for America—the America that won rather than constantly lost.
As has become evident throughout my life, I am not afraid to look my opponents right in the eyes and say exactly what I believe.
I never worry about being politically correct. I don’t need to read the polls to make my decisions.
And I don’t see any reason to change my approach.
The issues facing our country are too important for anything less than an honest assessment of where we are and what needs to be done.
We are unique among the nations of the world, and we should be leading, not following.
Winning, not losing.
We have an amazing history. America is the greatest country that has ever existed on the Earth, and yet for some reason our leaders are reluctant to press our advantage.
I’ve successfully built one of the most respected brands in the world by representing it in everything that I do. I realized a long time ago that if I’m not proud of what I’m selling, then there is no reason for anybody else to feel that pride.
I put my own name on my buildings and on my products, and I stand behind them. People have come to expect top quality from anything that carries my name.
There is nothing in this world in which I take more pride than the United States of America. I will always be its best defender, and the best salesperson and cheerleader we’ve ever had.
America is the leader of the free world—we’ve earned the right to boast and make it clear that we are ready and willing to do whatever is necessary to defend this country as well as liberty anywhere in the world.
Our national anthem gets it right: This is the land of the free and the home of the brave. It’s time we lived that message and let the world know we’re willing to back it up.
Making America Great Again means standing by our word. We’ve watched President Obama draw a line in the sand, then another line in the sand, then no line at all. We’ve become an embarrassment to ourselves and to our history.
When your allies don’t trust you and your enemies don’t fear you, you have zero credibility in the world. Right now, our allies don’t know what to believe about us, or how, or if, to value our word. President Obama has been talking into the wind for a long time.
We’ve seen Putin ignore him. We’ve seen just about every faction warring in Syria pay no attention to him. We’ve seen the Chinese taking tremendous advantage of our trade policies. We’ve seen the Iranians leave the conference table where we were negotiating a nuclear treaty (where a “new era” of cooperation is proclaimed), and then a few weeks later the Ayatollah is threatening again to destroy Israel—and laughing at the US.
Closer to home, only blocks away from the White House, Congress is preparing to decide whether or not to shut the government down. This happens almost every other year.
We need a leader who is going to restore the respect this country enjoyed in the past. I’m criticized for not issuing elaborate, detailed policy statements. What good are detailed plans if your country doesn’t have the credibility to carry them out—but I issue them anyway.