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Donald John Trump, Sr. (born 14 June 1946) is an American businessman, investor, author, and television personality, who is the President-elect of the United States, scheduled to take office as the 45th President of the United States on January 20, 2017.

Quotes

1980s

Rona Barrett: Would you like to be the President of the United States?
Donald Trump: I really don't believe I would, Rona. But I would like to see somebody as the president who could do the job, and there are very capable people in this country.
Barrett: Why wouldn't you dedicate yourself to public service?
Trump: Because I think it's a very mean life. I would love, and I would dedicate my life to this country but I see it as being a mean life, and I also see it in somebody with strong views, and somebody with the kind of views that are maybe a little bit unpopular, which may be right, but may be unpopular, wouldn’t necessarily have a chance of getting elected against somebody with no great brain but a big smile.
- An interview with Rona Barrett (1980)

I said, 'I will build you this incredible, gorgeous, gleaming hotel. I will put people to work in the construction trades and save hotel jobs and the Grand Central area will come around.' So the city made the deal.
- Bender, Marilyn (7 August 1983), "The Empire and Ego of Donald Trump", New York Times

Some people have an ability to negotiate. It's an art you're basically born with. You either have it or you don't.
- Romano, Lois (15 November 1984), "Donald Trump, Holding All The Cards The Tower! The Team! The Money! The Future!", Washington Post

I have featured and will always continue to feature my name prominently in all my enterprises.
- Business Week (22 July 1985)

I look at things for the art sake and the beauty sake and for the deal sake.
- New York Magazine (11 July 1988), p. 24

I'm not big on compromise. I understand compromise. Sometimes compromise is the right answer, but oftentimes compromise is the equivalent of defeat, and I don't like being defeated.
- Life, Vol. 12 (January 1989), p. iii

How can our great society tolerate the continued brutalization of its citizens by crazed misfits? Criminals must be told that their CIVIL LIBERTIES END WHEN AN ATTACK ON OUR SAFETY BEGINS!
- "Bring Back the Death Penalty. Bring Back Our Police!" (01 May 1989)^{[specific citation needed]}

A well-educated black has a tremendous advantage over a well-educated white in terms of the job market. I think sometimes a black may think they don't have an advantage or this and that... I've said on one occasion, even about myself, if I were starting off today, I would love to be a well-educated black, because I believe they do have an actual advantage.
- The R.A.C.E., NBC , quoted in Porter, David D. (13 September 1989), "What Must Blacks Go Through?", Orlando Sentinel, retrieved on 2011-06-06

I like to hire people that I've seen in action. I often hire people that were on the opposing side of a deal that I respect.
- The Washington Post (23 September 1989), as quoted in The World According to Trump (2005) by Ken Lawrence, p. 25

My new game is Trump: The Game. I think you'll like it.
- Lines promoting his first and only board game from the commercial for it (1989)^{[citation needed]}

Female news reporter: Mr. Trump, you said it's on June 27th?
Trump: That's right.
Male News Reporter: We're all about, like, what's this about a fight before the fight?
Trump: No comment.
- From a Diet Pepsi commercial promoting The Fight Before The Fight

Trump: The Art of the Deal (1987)

Quotes from Trump: The Art of the Deal (1987) by Donald J. Trump with Tony Schwartz.

I don't do it for the money. I've got enough, much more than I'll ever need. I do it to do it. Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That's how I get my kicks.
- p. 1

I try to learn from the past, but I plan for the future by focusing exclusively on the present.
- p. 2

Sometimes it pays to be a little wild.
- p. 5

Experience taught me a few things. One is to listen to your gut, no matter how good something sounds on paper. The second is that you're generally better off sticking with what you know. And the third is that sometimes your best investments are the ones you don't make.
- p. 28

My philosophy is always to hire the best from the best.
- p. 31

Deal-making is an ability you're born with. It's in the genes.
- p. 45

I like thinking big. I always have. To me it's very simple: if you're going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big. Most people think small, because most people are afraid of success, afraid of making decisions, afraid of winning. And that gives people like me a great advantage.
- p. 46

I wasn't satisfied just to earn a good living. I was looking to make a statement.
- p. 47

People think I'm a gambler. I've never gambled in my life. To me, a gambler is someone who plays slot machines. I prefer to own slot machines. It's a very good business being the house.
- p. 48

The point is that you can't be too greedy.
- p. 48

I'm a great believer in asking everyone for an opinion before I make a decision. ... I ask and I ask and I ask, until I begin to get a gut feeling about something. And that's when I make a decision. I have learned much more from conducting my own random surveys than I could ever have learned from the greatest of consulting firms.
- pp. 51–52

The worst thing you can possibly do in a deal is seem desperate to make it. That makes the other guy smell blood, and then you're dead. The best thing you can do is deal from strength, and leverage is the biggest strength you can have. Leverage is having something the other guy wants. Or better yet, needs. Or best of all, simply can't do without. Unfortunately, that isn't always the case, which is why leverage often requires imagination, and salesmanship.
- p. 53

My experience is that if you're fighting for something you believe in—even if it means alienating some people along the way—things usually work out for the best in the end.
- p. 59

One of the problems when you become successful is that jealousy and envy inevitably follow. There are people—I categorize them as life's losers—who get their sense of accomplishment and achievement from trying to stop others. As far as I'm concerned, if they had any real ability they wouldn't be fighting me, they'd be doing something constructive themselves.
- p. 59

You can't con people, at least not for long. You can create excitement, you can do wonderful promotion and get all kinds of press, and you can throw in a little hyperbole. But if you don't deliver the goods, people will eventually catch on.
- p. 60

File:Hong Sook-ja talking with Donald Trump (cropped).jpg

Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score. The real excitement is playing the game.

Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score. The real excitement is playing the game.
- p. 63

Get in, get it done, get it done right, and get out.
- p. 65

The most important thing in life is to love what you're doing, because that's the only way you'll ever be really good at it.
- p. 67

You can't be scared. You do your thing, you hold your ground, you stand up tall, and whatever happens, happens.
- p. 89

My own mother was a housewife all her life. And yet it's turned out that I've hired a lot of women for top jobs, and they've been among my best people. Often, in fact, they are far more effective than the men around them.
- p. 173

In the end, you're measured not by how much you undertake but by what you finally accomplish.
- p. 355

What I admire most are people who put themselves directly on the line.
- p. 367

In my life, there are two things I've found I'm very good at: overcoming obstacles and motivating good people to do their best work.
- p. 367

1990s

What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate.
- Trump: Surviving at the Top (1990), p. 3

Very good question. (pause) I don’t think it’s a sin but I don’t think it should be done.
- in response to the question, "Is adultery a sin."
- in the New York Post, February 23, 1990, as archived at the Daily Beast

Leona Helmsley is a truly evil human being. She treated employees worse than any human being I've ever witnessed and I've dealt with some of the toughest human beings alive.
- Interview, Playboy Magazine (March 1990)

When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength.
- interview with Playboy, March 1990; quoted in the New York Daily News (Bury Trump in a Landslide, published October 20, 2016)

I said to the bankers, "Listen, fellows, if I have a problem, then you have a problem. We have to find a way out or it's going to be a difficult time for both of us."
- Fortune (13 August 1990), as quoted in The World According to Trump (2005) by Ken Lawrence, p. 44
- Cf. J. Paul Getty: "If you owe the bank $100, that's your problem. If you owe the bank $100 million, that's the bank's problem."

You know, it doesn't really matter what the media writes as long as you've got a young and beautiful piece of ass.
- Esquire Interview (1991)

You have to treat 'em [women] like s--- ^[sic]
- Reported in Baumgold, Julie (1992-11-09). "Fighting Back: Trump Scrambles off the Canvas". New York (magazine) 25 (44): p. 43. . Bowdlerization in the original.

Wow! Just think — in a couple of years I’ll be dating you.
- to two 14-year-old girls in 1992
- from the Chicago Tribune, as archived at Slate

I'm gonna be dating her in ten years.
- of a 10-year-old girl, in 1992
- at CBS News

Howard Stern: So, you treat women with respect?
Donald Trump: Uh, I can't say that either.
Stern: Alright, good.
- An interview on The Howard Stern Show, 1993

Well, I think that she's got a lot of Marla [Maples, Trump's second wife], she's a really beautiful baby, and she's got Marla's legs. We don't know whether she's got this part yet [gestures toward own chest], but time will tell...
- On his then-one year old daughter Tiffany, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, 1994

Donald Trump: You really think this is the right thing to be doing, Ivana?
Ivana Trump: But do your people think?
Donald: Let 'em talk.
Ivana: [in her mind, echoing] Donald.
Donald: [in his mind, echoing] Ivana. [regular voice] It's wrong, isn't it?
Ivana: But it feels so right.
Donald: Then ti's a deal?
Ivana: Yes, we eat our pizza the wrong way.
Donald: Crust first.
Ivana Trump: Can I have the last slice?
Donald: Actually, dear, you're only entitled to half.
- Lines from a commercial for Pizza Hut's Stuffed Crust Pizza (1995)

I'm conservative, and even very conservative. But I'm quite liberal and getting much more liberal on health care and other things. I really say: What's the purpose of a country if you're not going to have defensive and health care? If you can't take care of your sick in the country, forget it, it's all over. I mean, it's no good. So I'm very liberal when it comes to health care. I believe in universal health care. I believe in whatever it takes to make people well and better.
- Interview with Larry King CNN (October 1999)

I surround myself with the best people. I know the best people.
- On an interview (1999 November 26)

The part of my life I think I'm most disappointed in is that I have not had the great marriage. And I would have thought that would have happened, because I came from a home—you know, it's not like some of my friends, they get divorced, but their parents were divorced twice or three times. I came from a home where marriage was just incredible. I mean, my parents truly loved each other.
- Good Morning America (2 December 1999), as quoted in The World According to Trump (2005) by Ken Lawrence, p. 46

I'm on the conservative side, but [Pat] Buchanan is Attila the Hun.
- As quoted in Selected Quotes from Newsweek Magazine, 1999 — Richard Watanabe - Newsweek Quotes, 1999. Sph.umich.edu. Retrieved on 2010-06-13.

People want me to [run for president] all the time … I don’t like it. Can you imagine how controversial I’d be? You think about [Bill Clinton] and the women. How about me with the women? Can you imagine?
- On Hardball with Chris Matthews, as quoted in the New York Post.[1]

2000s

So the Reform Party now includes a Klansman, Mr. Duke, a neo-Nazi, Mr. Buchanan, and a communist, Ms. Fulani. This is not company I wish to keep.
- As quoted in "QUOTATION OF THE DAY". The New York Times. 14 February 2000.

I judge people based on their capability, honesty, and merit.
- "Trump towers", interview with Paul Alexander, The Advocate (15 February 2000), p. 23

It’s very possible that I could be the first presidential candidate to run and make money on it.
- Reported by Jerry Useem, "What Does Donald Trump Really Want?", Fortune, 3 April 2000.

Holey and Alexander the Great. Donald Trump. We all come from the same clause, and that clause is very, very large.
It's not too big, is it?
Go big or go home!
I've got to be losing money on this.
- Lines from a commercial for Pizza Hut's Big New Yorker Pizza that aired in Australia (2000)

I think the regulations are very tough, but I think they could be made tougher. And where they really have to be made tougher is when somebody is proven to be dishonest, not a mistake, not an honest mistake because look, people make bad business deals all the time. When somebody is proven to be dishonest, really harsh punishment has to take place.
- Hardball with Chris Matthews (15 July 2002), as quoted in The World According to Trump (2005) by Ken Lawrence, p. 23

I don't know how you do it. I've put together some really impressive deals, but this thing you've pulled off, it's amazing: a Big N' Tasty for just a dollar. How do you do it? What's your secret? Together Grimace, we could own this town.
I don't know how you do it. I really don't. I put together some really impressive deals, but this thing you've pulled off, it's amazing: a Big N' Tasty for just a dollar. How do you do it? What's your secret? You're a man of a few words. I like it. Purple: very, very powerful.
Trump: I don't know how you do it.
Grimace: Errr, what?
Trump: A Big N' Tasty for just a dollar? You can't even buy this pen for a dollar.
Grimace: Oh.
Trump: Actually, it's about $4,000.
Grimace: Can I borrow your pen? Heh heh heh!
- Trump's lines in three McDonald's commercials featuring Grimace (2002)

Howard Stern: Are you for the invasion of Iraq?
Donald Trump: Yeah, I guess so. I wish, uh, I wish the first time it was done correctly.
- Interview on Howard Stern Show (11 September 2002), reported by BuzzFeed (19 February 2016)

I love beautiful women, and beautiful women love me. It has to be both ways.
- Interview with Norwegian talk show host Fredrik Skavlan in (November 2003).^{[specific citation needed]}

Now, if your boss is a sadist, then you have a big problem. In that case, fire your boss and get a new job.
- Trump: How to Get Rich (2004)

If you don't tell people about your success, they probably won't know about it.
- Trump: How to Get Rich (2004), p. xiii

Get going. Move forward. Aim high. Plan for a takeoff. Don't just sit on the runway and hope someone will come along and push the airplane. It simply won't happen. Change your attitude and gain some altitude. Believe me, you'll love it up here.
- Trump: How to Get Rich (2004), p. 74

In business—every business—the bottom line is understanding the process. If you don't understand the process, you'll never reap the rewards of the process.
- Trump: How to Get Rich (2004), p. 86

Watch, listen, and learn. You can't know it all yourself—anyone who thinks that they do is destined for mediocrity.
- Trump: The Way to the Top: The Best Business Advice I Ever Received (2004), p. 20

I don't like firing people. It's not a pleasant thing and it's sad. ... In some cases, it's a terrible, terrible situation for the person who gets fired, how strongly they take it. So it's not something that any rational or sane person can love doing, but it also happens to be a fact of life in business.
- Boston Herald (7 January 2004), as quoted in The World According to Trump (2005) by Ken Lawrence, p. 16

People say, "Do you have the same opportunity today as you had years ago?" And I said, "Absolutely." You always have an opportunity. There's always an opportunity, especially in this country.
- Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, CNN (21 March 2004)

All of the women on 'The Apprentice' flirted with me - consciously or unconsciously. That's to be expected.
- Ny Daily News (24 March 2004)

[On "You're fired!":] There's a beauty in those two words. When you utter those words, there's very little that can be said. There's a succinctness to those words.
- Armstrong, David (28 March 2004), "Trump TV / 'The Apprentice' takes realistic inside look at corporate world", San Francisco Chronicle

My life is seeing everything in terms of "How would I handle that?" Look at the war in Iraq and the mess that we're in. I would never have handled it that way. Does anybody really believe that Iraq is going to be a wonderful democracy where people are going to run down to the voting box and gently put in their ballot and the winner is happily going to step up to lead the county? C'mon. Two minutes after we leave, there's going to be a revolution, and the meanest, toughest, smartest, most vicious guy will take over. And he'll have weapons of mass destruction, which Saddam didn't have. What was the purpose of this whole thing? Hundreds and hundreds of young people killed. And what about the people coming back with no arms and legs? Not to mention the other side. All those Iraqi kids who've been blown to pieces. And it turns out that all of the reasons for the war were blatantly wrong. All this for nothing!
- Esquire magazine (August 2004); "Donald Trump: How I'd Run the Country (Better)" (18 August 2015)

Hi, I'm Donald Trump to talk to you about the remarkable convenience of the Visa check card...
Oops.
- From a commercial for Visa (2004)

Pregnancy is "a wonderful thing for the woman, it's a wonderful thing for the husband, it's certainly an inconvenience for a business."
- About pregnancy (2004)

You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. When you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything... Grab 'em by the pussy. You can do anything.
- To Billy Bush in 2005; "Transcript: Donald Trump's Taped Comments About Women", The New York Times (8 October 2016)

If Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her.
- "The View" (6 March 2006)

I sort of hope [a housing crash] happens because then people like me would go in and buy.
- (2006); @TheBreifing2016 via Twitter (4 November 2016)

The war is total disaster. It's a catastrophe, nothing less. It is such a shame that this took place. In fact, I gained a lot of respect for our current president's father by the fact that he had the sense not to go in to Iraq. He won the war and then said let's not go the rest of the way and he turned out to be right. And Saddam Hussein, whether they like him or didn't like him, he hated terrorists. He'd shoot and kill terrorists. When terrorists came in to his country, which he did control and he did dominate, he would kill terrorists. Now it's a breeding ground for terrorists. So, look, the war is a total catastrophe...and they have a civil war going on.
- Interview on "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer (16 March 2007)

I make that --- twice now, on a Monday I let returning Iraqi injured soldiers come to the premises. The most beautiful people I've ever seen. But they're missing arms and legs, they're with their wives, sometimes they're with their girlfriends. And the tears are coming down the faces of these people. I mean, thousands and maybe hundreds of thousands, and the Iraqis that have been just maimed and killed. This war is a horrible thing. Now, President Bush says he's religious. And yet 400,000 people, the way I count it, have died, and probably millions have been badly maimed and injured. What's going on? What's going on? And the day we pull out it's going to explode. We're keeping the lid on a little bit. It's still a catastrophe, but the day we pull out, because they're in a civil war. Whether we want to admit it or not, they're in a civil war.
- Interview on "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer (16 March 2007)

Hillary Clinton I think is a terrific woman. I am biased because I have known her for years. I live in New York. She lives in New York. I really like her and her husband both a lot. I think she really works hard. And I think, again, she’s given an agenda, it is not all of her, but I think she really works hard and I think she does a good job. I like her.
- 2007 CNN interview, reported in Zeke J. Miller, "When Donald Trump Praised Hillary Clinton", Time Magazine (July 17, 2015).

Trump Steaks are the world's greatest steaks, and I mean that in every sense of the word. Treat yourself to the very, very best life has to offer you. And as a gift, Trump Steaks are the best you can give. One bite, and you'll know exactly what I'm talking about, and believe me. I understand steaks, it's my favorite food.
- Lines marking the introduction of Trump Steaks by The Sharper Image (2007)

I know Hillary and I think she'd make a great president...
- March 2008

They'll walk up, and they'll flip their top, and they’ll flip their panties.
- Interview on The Howard Stern Show (2008)

It’s very exciting we have a new president. It would have been nice if he ended with a 500 point up instead of down. It’s certainly very exciting. His speech was great last night. I thought it was inspiring in every way. And, hopefully he’s going to do a great job. But the way I look at it, he cannot do worse than Bush.
- "Donald Trump on President-Elect Obama: 'He Cannot Do Worse Than Bush'" Interview with Greta Van Susteren Fox News (6 November 2008)

Gentlemen, Oreo has rejected my bid to buy the DSRL, so we lick race for it, right here, with Double Stuf Gold.
- To Peyton and Eli Manning in an Oreo commercial (2 September 2009)

Trump: Where are my Golden Double Stuf cookies?
Double Trump: Right where they belong.
Trump: That's terrific.
Double Trump: It is.
Trump: I really like it.
Double Trump: I do too.
[Caption: The Donalds have arrived.]
- Commercial for Double Stuf Oreo cookies (September 2009)

If I'd started in business thinking I knew everything, I'd have been sunk before I started... Never think of learning as being a burden or studying as being boring. It may require some discipline, but it can be an adventure. It can also prepare you for a new beginning.
- Think Like a Champion: An Informal Education In Business and Life (2009), pp. 16–17

Without passion, you don't have energy; without energy, you have nothing. Nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion.
- As quoted in Social Networking for Authors: Untapped Possibilities for Wealth (2009) by Michael Volkin, p. 60

2010s

2011

Part of the beauty of me is that I am very rich.
- Interview with Ashleigh Banfield on ABC’s Good Morning America (17 March 2011); also in "Trump on 2012: ‘Part of Beauty of Me Is I’m Very Rich'" (17 March 2011)

Because if you're not born in the United States, you cannot be president. And, there is a real question. And if this birth certificate exists, you know what I get a kick out of? The Governor of Hawaii says, "I remember when he was born 50 years ago." I doubt it. I think this guy should be investigated. I doubt it. He remembers when Obama was born? Give me a break! He's just trying to do something for his party. The fact is, if you're not born in the United States, you cannot be president. He is having a hard time — he spent millions of dollars trying to get away from this issue, millions of dollars in legal fees trying to get away from this issue. And I'll tell you what, I brought it up just routinely and all of a sudden, a lot of facts are emerging, and I'm starting to wonder myself whether or not he was born in this country.
- Fox & Friends, Fox News, 28 March 2011
- "Fox Goes Birther: Trump Tells Unquestioning Co-hosts, "I'm Starting To Wonder...Whether Or Not [Obama] Was Born In This Country"", Media Matters for America, 28 March 2011, retrieved on 2011-03-30

Donald Trump: Meredith, he spent two million dollars in legal fees trying to get away from this issue. And if he weren't lying, why wouldn't he just solve it? And I wish he would, because if he doesn't, it's one of the greatest scams in the history of politics, and in the history period. You are not allowed to be a president if you're not born in this country. He may not be born in this country. And I'll tell you what, three weeks ago I thought he was born in this country. Right now, I have some real doubts. I have people that actually have been studying it and they cannot believe what they're finding.
Meredith Vieira: You have people now, down there searching—
Trump: Absolutely.
Vieira: I mean, in Hawaii?
Trump: Absolutely. And they cannot believe what they're finding. I would like to have him show his birth certificate, and can I be honest with you, I hope he can. Because if he can't, if he can't, if he wasn't born in this country, which is a real possibility, I'm not saying it hap— I'm saying it's a real possibility, much greater than I thought two or three weeks ago, then he has pulled one of the great cons in the history of politics. And beyond politics.
- Today, NBC, 7 April 2011
- regarding Barack Obama
- Two million dollars is the sum of all the Obama presidential campaign's post-election legal expenses.[2]

David Brody: Radical Islam: to Evangelicals, this is a bread and butter issue. You said there's a Muslim problem in this country. What do you mean by that exactly?
Donald Trump: Bill O'Reilly asked me is there a Muslim problem? And I said absolutely, yes. In fact I went a step further. I said I didn't see Swedish people knocking down the World Trade Center. It was very interesting. I thought that was going to be a controversial statement and somebody, I think it was Dennis Miller introduced me, he was doing like an analysis of me, he said, I love it. The guy said what the truth is. He didn't mince his words. He didn't say, 'Oh, gee, no there's not a Muslim problem, everybody's wonderful.' And by the way, many, many, most Muslims are wonderful people, but is there a Muslim problem? Look what's happening. Look what happened right here in my city with the World Trade Center and lots of other places. So I said it and I thought it was going to be very controversial but actually it was very well received. I think people want the truth. I think they're tired of politicians. They're tired of politically correct stuff. I mean I could have said, 'Oh absolutely not Bill, there's no Muslim problem, everything is wonderful, just forget about the World Trade Center.' But you have to speak the truth. We're so politically correct that this country is falling apart.
Brody: With some evangelicals there are some problems with the teachings of the Koran. Do you have concerns about the Koran?
Trump: Well, I'll tell you what. The Koran is very interesting. A lot of people say it teaches love and there is a very big group of people who really understand the Koran far better than I do. I'm certainly not an expert, to put it mildly. But there's something there that teaches some very negative vibe. I mean things are happening, when you look at people blowing up all over the streets that are in some of the countries over in the Middle East, just blowing up a super market with not even soldiers, just people, when 250 people die in a super market that are shopping, where people die in a store or in a street. There's a lot of hatred there that's some place. Now I don't know if that's from the Koran. I don't know if that's from some place else. But there's tremendous hatred out there that I've never seen anything like it. So, you have two views. You have the view that the Koran is all about love and then you have the view that the Koran is, that there's a lot of hate in the Koran.
- On CBN News' "The Brody File" (12 April 2011) (video) (transcript)

I have a great relationship with the blacks. I've always had a great relationship with the blacks.
- Robinson, Eugene (18 April 2011), "Donald Trump as GOP hopeful: Take him seriously", The Washington Post, retrieved on 2011-05-07

I heard he was a terrible student, terrible. How does a bad student go to Columbia and then to Harvard? I'm thinking about it, I'm certainly looking into it. Let him show his records.
- Associated Press interview, 2011-04-25
- Madison, Lucy (25 April 2011), "Trump: How did Obama get into the Ivy League?", CBS News, Archived from the original on 2013-06-28, retrieved on 2011-05-01
- about Barack Obama, who graduated from Columbia in 1983 and graduated magna cum laude with a Juris doctorate from Harvard Law School in 1991

Today I'm very proud of myself, because I've accomplished something that nobody else has been able to accomplish. I was just informed, while on the helicopter, that our president has finally released a birth certificate. I want to look at it, but I hope it's true, so that we can get on to much more important matters, so the press can stop asking me questions. He should have done it a long time ago. Why he didn't do it when the Clintons asked for it, why he didn't do it when everyone else was asking for it, I don't know. But I am really honored, frankly, to have played such a big role in hopefully, hopefully getting rid of this issue. Now, we have to look at it, we have to see, is it real? Is it proper? What's on it? But I hope it checks out beautifully. I am really proud, I am really honored.
- press conference, 2011-04-27
- "Trump Questions Obama Birth Certificate", TMZ, 27 April 2011, retrieved on 2011-05-01
- Regarding the release of Barack Obama's full birth record from Hawaii that morning

The word is, according to what I've have read, is that he was a terrible student when he went to Occidental. He then gets to Columbia and then gets to Harvard. I heard at Columbia he was not a very good student, and then he then he gets into Harvard. How do you get into Harvard if you are not a good student? Maybe that's right, maybe that's wrong, but I don't know why he doesn't he release his records. Why doesn't he release his Occidental records?
- press conference, New Hampshire, 2011-04-27
- "Schieffer: Racism underlying Trump's assertions", CBS News, 27 April 2011, Archived from the original on 2013-06-28, retrieved on 2011-05-01
- About Barack Obama, who transferred to Columbia from Occidental College in 1981, graduated from Columbia in 1983, and graduated magna cum laude with a Juris doctorate from Harvard Law School in 1991

I blame our leaders. Here we have China, ripping this country off like nobody's ever seen before, and we have the president of China come, a few months ago, to Washington, and we give him a state dinner. Now when people are screwing you, you don't give 'em state dinners. [...] What we do, is we sit down in my office for a couple of hours. We either make a deal where you stop manipulating your currency or not. If we make a deal, you can have a state dinner if you want. If we don't make a deal, you take McDonald's, and you go home.
- ^{[citation needed]}
It's always so simple. What would you do? What could you do? So easy. I drop a 25% 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 [effete voice] "We're going to tax you 25%", and I can say another, "Listen, you motherf---ers, we're going to tax you 25%." You've said the same thing. You've said the same exact thing when it's the messenger. [...] I'll tell you what's going to happen. When they believe the message— they don't believe it right now— when they believe the message, they're going to do one thing. They're going to give us anything they want.
Did you see recently where, a couple of days ago? Saudi Arabia said, "ah, let's raise the price. Let's cut production." Could you believe it? You're gonna be payin' five or six dollars a gallon on gasoline pretty soon. And they want to...they want to go in and raise the price of oil. Because we have nobody in Washington that sits back and says, "You're not gonna raise that f---ing price!" You understand me?
- Trump's speech at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino targeted the U.S. relationship with China, OPEC countries, and Saudi Arabia, on 2011-04-28.^{[specific citation needed]}
- "Trump calls U.S. leaders "stupid"", Reuters, 29 April 2011, retrieved on 2011-05-01 ^{[not in citation given]}
- Catalina Camia (29 April 2011), "Trump fires f-bombs in Vegas speech", USA Today, retrieved on 2015-01-03 ^{[not in citation given]}

It's like in golf. A lot of people — I don't want this to sound trivial — but a lot of people are switching to these really long putters, very unattractive. It's weird. You see these great players with these really long putters, because they can't sink three-footers anymore. And, I hate it. I am a traditionalist. I have so many fabulous friends who happen to be gay, but I am a traditionalist.
- Barbaro, Michael (1 May 2011), "After Roasting, Trump Reacts In Character", New York Times, retrieved on 2011-05-06
- on his opposition to same-sex marriage

I know the Chinese. I've made a lot of money with the Chinese. I understand the Chinese mind.
- As quoted in "Donald Trump has read a lot of books on China: 'I understand the Chinese mind'", Los Angeles Times (3 May 2011), and in Forbes (August 2015)

I dealt with Gaddafi. I rented him a piece of land. He paid me more for one night than the land was worth for two years, and then I didn't let him use the land. That's what we should be doing. I don't want to use the word 'screwed,' but I screwed him. That's what we should be doing.
- As quoted in Donald Trump: In his own colourful words
"@damiranz: DonaldTrump: Pls don't run for president. If you do and win, the rest of the world would be screwed" So true, (except friends)!
- Twitter (23 August 2011)

She's a slob, she talks like a truck driver.
If I were running my business, I'd fire Rosie, I mean, I'd look her right in that fat ugly face of hers and say, "Rosie, you're fired."
- On an interview on why he hates Rosie O'Donnell (28 August 2011)

2012

Mitt is tough. He is smart. He is sharp. He is not going to allow bad things to continue to happen to this country that we all love. So Gov. Romney, go out and get em. You can do it.
- Quoted in Corbett B. Daly (2 February 2012), "Trump endorses Mitt Romney for president", CBS News

No, I've never really changed. Nothing's changed my mind. And by the way, you know, you have a huge group of people — I walk down the street, and people are screaming, "Please don't give that up."
A lot of people are questioning his birth certificate. They're questioning the authenticity of his birth certificate. I've been known as being a very smart guy for a long time. I don't consider myself birther or not birther, but there are some major questions here and the press doesn't wanna cover it. The press just refuses to cover it. Now if that were somebody else, they would be covering it, and they'd be throwing people out of office. But they don't want to cover it. So it's interesting.
- Telephone interview, CNBC, 29 May 2012 , quoted in Melissa Jeltsen (29 May 2012), "Donald Trump Goes On Epic Birther Rant", The Huffington Post

Wolf Blitzer: Donald, you're beginning to sound a little ridiculous, I have to tell you.
Donald Trump: No I think you are, Wolf. Now let me tell you something, I think you sound ridiculous, and if you'd ask me a question and let me answer it —
Blitzer: Here's the question, did the conspiracy start in 1961 where the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and the Honolulu Advertiser contemporaneously published announcements that he was born in Hawaii?
Trump: That's right. That's right. And many people put those announcements in because they wanted to get the benefit because of getting so-called born in this country. Many people did it. It was something that was done by many people even though they weren't born in the country. You know and so do I... And so do a lot of your viewers. Although you don't have too many viewers.
Donald Trump (clip): I have people that actually have been studying it and they cannot believe what they're finding.
Meredith Vieira (clip): You have people now, down there searching—
Trump (clip): Absolutely.
Vieira (clip): I mean, in Hawaii?
Trump (clip): Absolutely. And they cannot believe what they're finding.
Wolf Blitzer: All right, tell us what your people who were investigating in Hawaii, what they found.
Trump: Oh, we don't have to go into old news. That's old news.
Blitzer: Well, what did they find?
Trump: There's been plenty found. You can call many people. You can read many, many articles on the authenticity of the certificate. You can read many articles from just recently as to what the publisher printed in a brochure as to what Obama told him, as to where his place of birth is. And that's fine, Wolf.
Now, it's appropriate, I think, that we get to the subject of hand, which is — at hand, which is jobs, which is the economy, which is how our country is not doing well at all under this leadership, which is how are we going to do something about energy, which is really that things that I wanted to talk to you about, but you like to keep going back to the place of birth.
- The Situation Room, CNN, 29 May 2012 , quoted in Elizabeth Flock (29 May 2012), "Wolf Blitzer Spars With Donald Trump Over Obama's Birth Certificate", US News & World Report
- Referring to a 1991 promotional booklet by literary agency Acton & Dystel with bios of 89 authors, that erroneously described Barack Obama as "born in Kenya".[3]

An 'extremely credible source' has called my office and told me that @BarackObama's birth certificate is a fraud.
- Twitter (6 August 2012)

Ariana Huffington is unattractive both inside and out. I fully understand why her former husband left her for a man- he made a good decision.
- Twitter (28 August 2012)

Robert Pattinson should not take back Kristen Stewart. She cheated on him like a dog & will do it again--just watch. He can do much better!
- Twitter (17 October 2012)

Robert I'm getting a lot of heat for saying you should dump Kristen- but I'm right. If you saw the Miss Universe girls you would reconsider.
- Twitter (18 October 2012)

The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.
- Twitter (6 November 2012)

He [Obama] lost the popular vote by a lot and won the election. We should have a revolution in this country!
The phoney [sic] electoral college made a laughing stock out of our nation. The loser one!
- Two Twitter posts dated 2012-11-06, as quoted in "Trump’s flip-flop on the electoral college: From ‘disaster’ to ‘genius’", The Washington Post, 15 November 2016, retrieved on 2016-11-15
- Cf. Trump's interview on 60 Minutes as President-elect (13 November 2016): "I'm not going to change my mind just because I won. But I would rather see it where you went with simple votes. You know, you get 100 million votes and somebody else gets 90 million votes and you win. There’s a reason for doing this because it brings all the states into play. Electoral College and there’s something very good about that. But this is a different system. But I respect it. I do respect the system." (transcript)

More votes equals a loss...revolution!
- Twitter, 2012-11-07, quoted in "Trump Tweets A Call For "Revolution" After Obama Victory", Media Matters for America, 7 November 2012, retrieved on 2012-11-10

Republicans didn’t have anything going for them with respect to Latinos and with respect to Asians... The Democrats didn’t have a policy for dealing with illegal immigrants, but what they did have going for them is they weren’t mean-spirited about it... They didn’t know what the policy was, but what they were is they were kind... He had a crazy policy of self deportation which was maniacal... It sounded as bad as it was, and he lost all of the Latino vote... He lost the Asian vote. He lost everybody who is inspired to come into this country... Take care of this incredible problem that we have with respect to immigration, with respect to people wanting to be wonderful productive citizens of this country.
- Interview with Newsmax (November 2012)

2013

I keep asking, how long will we go on defending South Korea from North Korea without payment? South Korea is a very very rich country. They're rich because of us. They sell us televisions, they sell us cars. They sell us everything. They are making a fortune. We have a huge deficit with South Korea. They're friends of mine. I do deals with them. I've been partners with them, no problem. But they think we're stupid. They can't believe it. We are defending them against North Korea, we're doing it for nothing. We're not in that position. When will they start to pay us for this defense? Isn't it really ridiculous when you think of it? They make a fortune on the United States and then they got some problems, and what happens? They call the United States to defend them, and we get nothing?
- "From the Desk of Donald Trump: South Korea" YouTube (10 April 2013)

Must be a pretty picture you dropping to your knees.
- " to Brande Roderick, From The Apprentice, Season 6, Episode 1" (3 March 2013)

As everybody knows, but the haters & losers refuse to acknowledge, I do not wear a “wig.” My hair may not be perfect but it’s mine.
- Twitter (24 April 2013)

26,000 unreported sexual assaults in the military-only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?
- Twitter (7 May 2013)

2014

No more massive injections. Tiny children are not horses—one vaccine at a time, over time.
- Twitter (3 September 2014)

Katy Perry must have been drunk when she married Russel Brand - but he did send me a nice letter of apology!
- Twitter (16 October 2014)

2015

If Hillary Clinton can't satisfy her husband, what makes her think she can satisfy America?
- Donald Trump on Twitter, he later deleted the tweet. (16 April 2015)

There is a way of beating ISIS so easily, so quickly, so effectively, and it would be so nice...I know a way that would absolutely give us guaranteed victory...the problem is them everybody will take the idea, run with it and then people will forget where it came from...I ran it past two or three people. [It's] so simple. It's like the paper clip.
- On his plan to defeat ISIS (May 2015)

So I said to myself, you know, nobody’s ever going to know unless I run, because I’m really proud of my success.
- Announcement speech (June 2015)

Donald Trump: Oh, well, if you look at the statistics, of people coming— I didn't say about Mexic— I say the illegal immigrants— if you look at the statistics on rape, on crime, on everything, coming in illegally into this country, they're mind-boggling. If you go to Fusion, you will see a story about 80% of the women coming in– I mean, you have to take a look at these stories. And you know who owns Fusion? Univision. It was in The Huffington Post. I said, let me get some of these articles because I've heard some horrible things. I deal a lot of talking with people on the border patrol. They're incredible people. They help our country.
Don Lemon: But I want some clarification–
Trump: No, but Don, all you have to do is go to Fusion and pick up the stories on rape, and it's unbelievable when you look at what's going on. So all I'm doing is telling the truth.
Lemon: I've read The Washington Post, I read the Fusion, I read The Huffington Post. And that's about women being raped, it's not about criminals coming across the border entering the country.
Trump: Somebody's doing the raping, Don, I mean, you know– I mean, somebody's doing it. You think it's women being raped, well who's doing the raping? Who's doing the raping? I mean how can you say such a thing. So, the problem is you have to stop illegal immigration coming across the border. You have to create a strong border. If you don't, we don't have a country.
- The Situation Room, CNN, 1 July 2015

I didn't know it was going to be this severe.
- "Trump stands by statements on Mexican illegal immigrants, surprised by backlash", FoxNews.com, 4 July 2015

This senseless and totally preventable act of violence committed by an illegal immigrant is yet another example of why we must secure our border immediately.
- Robert Wilde (4 July 2015), "Trump: San Francisco's Illegal Alien Murderer Proves 'American People Deserve a Wall'", Breitbart

I can't apologize for the truth.
- Pam Key (5 July 2015), "Trump on Mexico Comments: 'I Can't Apologize for the Truth'", Breitbart

I don't know. I really don't know. I don't know why he wouldn't release his records.
- When asked whether he thought Barack Obama was born in the U.S. — as quoted in Nick Gass (10 July 2015), "Trump: I'm still a birther", Politico

The silent majority is back, and we're going to take the country back.
- Speech at a packed Phoenix Convention Cente, as quoted in "Trump: 'We're Going to Take the Country Back'", Fox News Insider, 12 July 2015

Our great African American President hasn't exactly had a positive impact on the thugs who are so happily and openly destroying Baltimore!
- Twitter (27 April 2015)

The U.S. has enough problems without publicity seekers going out and openly mocking religion in order to provoke attacks and death. BE SMART.
- Twitter - About the Muhammad Art Contest in Texas at 1st May, 2015 (4 May 2015)

The U.S. will invite El Chapo, the Mexican drug lord who just escaped prison, to become a U.S. citizen because our "leaders" can't say no!
- Twitter (12 July 2015)

Failing candidate Hillary Clinton, who is desperately trying to hold on to her lead in the democratic primary against Bernie Sanders, is knowingly putting out lies about my stance on illegal immigration. I said "Mexico is sending"— I'm not knocking immigration or immigrants, but rather am very critical of the country of Mexico for sending us people that they don't want. Likewise I am very critical of illegal immigration and the tremendous problems including crime, which it causes. She is desperate, she is sad, and she is obviously very nervous when she has to revert to issues that have already been settled given the absolute accuracy of my statement. She speaks about "my tone" and that's the problem with our country's leaders. They are more worried about tone than results! It's not about being nice— it's about being competent. Hillary should spend more time producing her illegally hidden emails and less time trying to obfuscate a statement by me that is totally clear and obviously very much accepted by the public as true. I am honored, however, that she is attacking me, instead of Jeb Bush. Obviously she knows that JEB is no longer her real competition. The last person she wants to face is Donald Trump.
- Facebook post (14 July 2015)

It's going to get worse in our country and we better start fighting a lot tougher than we're fighting right now.
- "Trump: 'Absolutely Ridiculous' Marines Not Allowed to Carry Guns at Centers", Fox News Insider, 16 July 2015

Get rid of gun free zones. The four great marines who were just shot never had a chance. They were highly trained but helpless without guns.
- Tweet (17 July 2015) — quoted in Cooper Allen (17 July 2015), "Trump slams 'gun-free zones' in Chattanooga shooting", OnPolitics - USA Today

Donald Trump: 15,000 people showed up to hear me speak. Bigger than anybody and everybody knows it. A beautiful day with incredible people that were wonderful, great Americans, I will tell you. John McCain goes, "Oh, boy, Trump makes my job difficult. He had 15,000 crazies show up." Crazies. He called them all crazy. I said, they weren't crazy. They were great Americans. These people— if you would have seen these people— you— I know what a crazy is. I know all about crazies. These weren't crazy. So he insulted me and he insulted everybody in that room...
Frank Luntz: He's a war hero.
Donald Trump: He's not a war hero.
Luntz: He's a war hero.
Trump: He is a war hero—
Luntz: Five and a half years in a POW camp.
Trump: He's a war hero 'cause he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, OK? I hate to tell you.
Luntz: Do you agree with that?
Trump: He's a war hero. He's a war hero because he was captured, OK? You can have— and I believe— perhaps he's a war hero, but— but right now he said some very bad things about a lot of people.
- Family Leadership Summit 2015, quoted in Harriet Alexander (18 July 2015), "Donald Trump tells John McCain: 'I like people who weren't captured'", The Telegraph

I am not a fan of John McCain because he has done so little for our Veterans and he should know better than anybody what the Veterans need, especially in regards to the VA. He is yet another all talk, no action politician who spends too much time on television and not enough time doing his job and helping the Vets. He is also allowing our military to decrease substantially in size and strength, something which should never be allowed to happen. Furthermore, he was extremely disrespectful to the thousands upon thousands of people, many of whom happen to be his constituents, that came to listen to me speak about illegal immigration in Phoenix last week by calling them "crazies". These were not "crazies"—these were great American citizens. I have great respect for all those who serve in our military including those that weren't captured and are also heroes. I want to strengthen our military and take care of our Veterans. I want to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN especially for those that serve to protect our freedom. I am fighting for our Veterans!
- "Trump Campaign Statement on John McCain", Breitbart, 18 July 2015

I see Rick Perry the other day. ... He's doing very poorly in the polls. He put on glasses so people will think he's smart. And it just doesn't work! You know people can see through the glasses!
- "Trump Campaign Statement on Rick Perry", NPR, 21 July 2015

If you can't get rich dealing with politicians, there's something wrong with you.
- Campaign Rally in South Carolina
- YouTube

I'm glad President Obama followed my lead and lowered the flags half-staff. It's about time!
- Facebook post (21 July 2015) — quoted in "President Obama Lowers Flags in Memory of Chattanooga, Trump and Christie Do Likewise", TKNN, 22 July 2015

I'm a Republican, I'm a conservative, I'm in first place, I want to run as a Republican and I think I'll get the nomination... [Hillary Clinton] is easily the worst Secretary of State in the history of the country. She's going to be beaten and I'm the one to beat her.
- "Donald Trump tours Mexican border with Texas", BBC, 23 July 2015

Jose Diaz-Balart: Mr. Trump, you know 53,000 hispanics turn 18 years of age in this country every month, born in the country of voting age. 54 million plus hispanics — many feel that what you said when you said that the people who cross the border are rapists and murderers—
Donald Trump: No, no, no! We're talking about illegal immigration and everybody understands that. And you know what? That's a typical case. That's a typical case of the press with misinterpretation. They take a half a sentence, they take a half a sentence, then they take quarter of a sentence and put it all together. It's a typical thing...
Diaz-Balart: I'm not finished with my question.
Trump: No, no! You're finished!
- Oliver Darcy (23 July 2015), "Crowd Erupts in Applause at How Donald Trump Handles MSNBC Host at Presser: 'You're Finished!'", TheBlaze

I think that I would be a great uniter. I think that I would have great diplomatic skills. I think that I would be able to get along with people very well. I've had a great success in my life. I think the world would unite if I were the leader of the United States.
- Jesse Byrnes (30 July 2015), "Trump: 'World would unite if I were the leader'", The Hill

I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct.
- Republican Presidential Debate 2015 — "Annotated transcript: The Aug. 6 GOP debate", The Washington Post, 6 August 2015

You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.
- On Megyn Kelly (7 August 2015)

We have to keep the families together, but they have to go. What if they have no place to go?
- During the Iowa State Fair (2015 August 15)

You know, when you put out policy, like a 14-point plan? A lot of times in the first hour of negotiation, that 14-point plan goes astray, but you may end up with a better deal. That's the way it works. That's the way really life works. When I do a deal, I don't say, "Oh, here's 14 points." I got out and do it. I don't sit down and talk about 14 points.
- Appearance at Iowa State Fair - "Donald Trump’s surprisingly savvy analysis of American politics", The Washington Post, 15 August 2015

Hillary Clinton was the worst Secretary of State in the history of the country. The world came apart under her reign... I will be the one to beat Hillary.
- "Donald Trump Explains All", TIME, 20 August 2015

If you start adding it up, our real unemployment rate is 42%.
- "Donald Trump Explains All", TIME, 20 August 2015 . For a discussion of this figure, see "The Real Jobless Rate Is 42 Percent? Donald Trump Has a Point, Sort Of" by Neil Irwin, The New York Times (10 February 2016).

I will rebuild our military. It will be so strong and so powerful and so great that we'll never have to use it. Nobody's gonna mess with us.
- Campaign rally in Mobile, Alabama (video) — "Live Updates: Donald Trump Holds Massive Campaign Rally in Alabama", Breitbart, 21 August 2015

You've seen my statements, I do very well, I don't mind paying some taxes. The middle class is getting clobbered in this country. You know the middle class built this country, not the hedge fund guys, but I know people in hedge funds that pay almost nothing and it's ridiculous.
- Interview on Bloomberg's With All Due Respect — David Knowles (26 August 2015), "Donald Trump Says He Wants to Raise Taxes on Himself", Bloomberg

We're a nation that speaks English. I think that, while we're in this nation, we should be speaking English... that's how we assimilate.
- "Donald Trump: "While We're in This Nation, We Should Be Speaking English"", The Hollywood Reporter, 3 September 2015

"Look at that face! [of Carly Fiorina] Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?!"
- "Trump Seriously: On the Trail With the GOP's Tough Guy", Rolling Stone, 9 September 2015

The fact is all lives matter. That includes black, and it includes white, and it includes everybody else. And we have... Democrats that are afraid to even say that.
- As quoted in Colin Campbell (9 September 2015), "Donald Trump trashes Black Lives Matter: 'I think they're trouble'", Business Insider

This is a country where we speak English, not Spanish.
- Criticizing Jeb Bush for speaking Spanish on the campaign trail during a Republican Presidential Debate on CNN (16 September 2015)

Audience member: We have a problem in this country, it's called Muslims. Our current President is one. We know he's not even an American. We have training camps growing where they want to kill us. That's my question, when can we get rid of them?
Donald Trump: We're going to be looking at a lot of different things. A lot of people are saying that and a lot of people are saying that bad things are happening out there. We're going to be looking at that and a lot of different things.
- At a town hall meeting in New Hampshire — as quoted in Maya Rhodan (17 September 2015), "Here's How Donald Trump Responded to a Person Saying President Obama is Muslim", Time

Am I morally obligated to defend the president every time somebody says something bad or controversial about him? I don't think so!
This is the first time in my life that I have caused controversy by NOT saying something.
- Tweets — quoted in Doina Chiacu (20 September 2015), "Trump defend Obama? 'I don't think so!'", Reuters

You can be politically correct if you want, but are you trying to say we don't have a problem? ... Most Muslims, like most everything, I mean, these are fabulous people... But we certainly do have a problem, I mean, you have a problem throughout the world. ... It wasn't people from Sweden that blew up the World Trade Center.
- On CNN's "State of the Union" with Jake Tapper — as quoted in Timothy Cama (20 September 2015), "Trump: 'We certainly do have a problem' with some Muslims", The Hill

The first thing I'd do in my first day as president is close up our borders so that illegal immigrants cannot come into our country.
- Twitter question and answer session from Twitter's New York office — as quoted in Jesse Byrnes (21 September 2015), "Trump: I'll close US borders 'in my first day'", The Hill

You ever see guys with nothing on their desk? They always fail. I don’t know what it is. I’ve seen it for years.
- Explaining his messy desk, NY Times Magazine interview. Mark Leibovich (21 September 2015), "Donald Trump is not going anywhere", The New York Times Magazine

Why aren’t we letting ISIS go and fight Assad and then we pick up the remnants?
- Interview in 60 Minutes, 2015-09-27
- Cited by Mitt Romney in Business Insider, 2016-03-03

He was such a nice guy. And he said, Oh, I'm never going to attack. But then his poll numbers tanked. He's got -- that's why he's on the end -- and he got nasty. And he got nasty. So you know what? You can have him.
- Response to John Kasich "CNBC Republican debate transcript", CNBC, 28 October 2015

Trump: I'm Donald Trump, and I'm running for president. Our country is in deep trouble because let's face it: politics are all talk and no action. My opponents have no experience in creating jobs or making deals. The fact is, I'm going to make the greatest trade deals we've ever made in our country. And I'm going to bring jobs and money back to the United States. I'll take care of our veterans and make our military so strong that nobody will ever mess with us. I'll secure our borders, and yes, we will have a wall. You can't have a country without borders. Obamacare is a total disaster. It will be repealed and replaced with something much better. If the people of Iowa vote for me, you'll never be disappointed. I don't disappoint people, I produce. Together, we're going to Make America Great Again. I'm Donald Trump, candidate for president, and I approve this message.
Female V/O: Paid for by Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.
- Radio ad aired in Iowa (5 November 2015)

You're going to have a deportation force, and you're going to do it humanely and you’re going to bring the country -- and, frankly, the people, because you have some excellent, wonderful people, some fantastic people hat have been here for a long period of time. Don't forget, Mika, that you have millions of people that are waiting in line to come into this country and they’re waiting to come in legally. And I always say the wall, we're going to build the wall. It's going to be a real deal. It’s going to be a real wall. There was a picture in one of the magazines where they had a wall this tall and they were taking drugs over the wall. They built a ramp over the wall and the truck was going up and down. They were using it like a highway; the wall is like a highway. It's not going to happen. It's going to be a Trump wall. It’s going to be a real wall. And it's going to stop people and it's going to be good. But your friend Thomas Friedman called me and said, hah, there should be a big door. I said going to be a big door. I love the expression. There's going to be a big beautiful nice door. People are going to come in and they’re going to come in legally. But we have no choice. Otherwise, we don't have a country. We don't even know how many people. We don't know if it's 8 million or if it’s 20 million. We have no idea how many people are in our country. And then you see what happened with Kate in San Francisco. You see what happens with all of the things going on, all of the tremendous crime going on. It costs us $200 billion a year for illegal immigration right now. $200 billion a year, maybe $250, maybe $300. They don't even know. We’re going to stop it. We’re going to run it properly and we’re going to stop it.
- On his immigration plan (2015 November 11)

Watch and study the mosques, because a lot of talk is going on at the mosques.
- As quoted in "Donald Trump: 'Strongly consider' shutting mosques" (16 November 2015), by Gregory Krieg, CNN (2015), Atlanta, Georgia: Cable News Network.

[When the government says] 'everybody gets equal pay,' you get away from the whole American Dream.
- An unequal answer about equal pay (19 November 2015)

I would certainly implement that. Absolutely... There should be a lot of systems, beyond databases. We should have a lot of systems... They have to be. They have to be... It's all about management.
- As quoted in "Donald Trump Says He Supports a Database and ID Cards to Track Muslims in the U.S.: 'We're Going to Have to Look at the Mosques'" (20 November 2015), by Char Adams, People.

Get him the hell out of here.
- As quoted in "Trump supporters, Black Lives Matter protester clash at rally" (21 November 2015), by Reena Flores, CBS News, CBS Interactive, Inc.

Written by a nice reporter. Now the poor guy - you ought to see the guy: ‘Uhh I don’t know what I said. I don’t remember!’ He’s going, ‘I don’t remember! Maybe that’s what I said.’
- As quoted in "Donald Trump accused of mocking disabled reporter" (26 November 2015), by Rob Crilly

My policy has always been the same. We're fighting ISIS and Assad is fighting ISIS, but we're backing rebels to fight Assad. You can't fight everybody, you have to pick who you want to fight. And now you've got Turkey, who like ISIS more than they like others, no one really knows because we don't have people that know what they're doing. So in my opinion, you go along, and Russia does not like ISIS, and people are starting to find out. I mean in all fairness lost an airplane, got blew out of the air. So Russia is not a fan of ISIS. Russia is bombing the hell out of them, starting to bomb them. I say isis is our number one threat. We can't be fighting everybody at the same time. ISIS is our number one threat. I would bomb the hell out of them -- I like to do one thing at a time. I would knock the hell out of ISIS. I would hit them ... so hard like they've never been hit before.
- In an interview with Fox & Friends. [4] (December 2, 2015)

They're using them as shields. It's a horrible thing. They're using them as shields. But we're fighting a very politically correct war. And the other thing is with the terrorists. You have to take out their families. When you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families. They care about their lives. Don't kid yourself. But they say they don't care about their lives. You have to take out their families.
- When asked how he would deal with civilian casualties. In an interview with Fox & Friends. [5] (December 2, 2015)

Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on... According to Pew Research, among others, there is great hatred towards Americans by large segments of the Muslim population. Most recently, a poll from the Center for Security Policy released data showing “25% of those polled agreed that violence against Americans here in the United States is justified as a part of the global jihad” and 51% of those polled, “agreed that Muslims in America should have the choice of being governed according to Shariah.” Shariah authorizes such atrocities as murder against non-believers who won’t convert, beheadings and more unthinkable acts that pose great harm to Americans, especially women.
- Statement on Preventing Muslim Immigration (2015)

We have places in London and other places that are so radicalised that the police are afraid for their own lives. We have to be very smart and very vigilant.
- As quoted in "Donald Trump claims parts of London are 'so radicalised' police officers are 'afraid for their lives'" by Rose Troup Buchanan, The Independent (8 December 2015); also in "'Trump's not wrong – we can't wear uniform in our OWN cars': Five police officers claim Donald Trump is RIGHT about parts of London being so 'radicalised' they are no-go areas" by Martin Robinson, Daily Mail Online (9 December 2015)

These are people that are outside the country, so we're really not talking about the Constitution. And it's not about religion. This is about safety. This has nothing to do with religion. It's about safety.
- Interview on ABC's "Life with Kelly and Michael", as quoted in "Trump: Muslim ban 'not about religion'" by Jesse Byrnes, The Hill (9 December 2015)

We're doing really well with the evangelicals, and, by the way: And again, I do like Ted Cruz

-- but not a lot of evangelicals come out of Cuba, in all fairness. It's true. Not a lot come out. But I like him nevertheless. But I think we're going to do great, and we are doing great with evangelicals.

I'm with you. I'm with everybody. I'm with everybody, look, I'm self-funding. I have no oil company. I have no special interest. I have no lobbyists.
Well look he's from Texas -- to the best of my knowledge, there's a lot of oil in Texas, right? So, he gets a lot of money from the oil companies, and he's against ethanol and everything you're else talking about. And I'm not I'm totally in favor. And you know it's a big industry here, it's a big industry. You know if that industry is upset Iowa's got problems.
I really do, I like Ted Cruz a lot, I would say that we would certainly have things in mind for Ted, to be honest with you. I mean, he's somebody that I could certainly say that [about] because I like him.
- During a rally in Iowa. [6][7][8] (December 11, 2015)

I think there has to be a trust. There actually has to be a trust. If you don’t trust, you’re not going to do very well.
- In response to a reporter’s line of questioning on what his specific plans will be to achieve the goals of his campaign. "Trump on Specifics of His Proposals: ‘Trust Me’" (12 August 2015), by Melanie Hunter

We are losing a lot of people to the Internet. We have to do something. We have to go see Bill Gates and a lot of different people that really understand what’s happening. We have to talk to them [about], maybe in certain areas, closing that Internet up in some way. Some people will say, ‘Freedom of speech, Freedom of speech’. These are foolish people.
- Google's Eric Schmidt calls for 'spell-checkers for hate and harassment', 8 December 2015, by Alex Hern.

Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again (2015)

The fact is I give people what they need and deserve to hear - exactly what they don't get from politicians - and that is The Truth. Our country is a mess right now and we don't have time to pretend otherwise. We don't have time to waste on being politically correct.
- p. 8

I use the media the way the media uses me—to attract attention. Once I have that attention, it's up to me to use it to my advantage.
- p. 10

I’ve seen these so-called journalists flat-out lie. I say that because incompetence doesn’t begin to explain the inaccurate stories they have written.
- p. 12

Our country, our people, and our laws have to be our top priority.
- p. 30

Citizenship is not a gift we can afford to keep giving away.
- p. 28

I want good people to come here from all over the world, but I want them to do so legally. We can expedite the process, we can reward achievement and excellence, but we have to respect the legal process. And those people who take advantage of the system and come here illegally should never enjoy the benefits of being a resident--or citizen--of this nation. So I am against any path to citizenship for undocumented workers or anyone else who is in this country illegaly. They should--and need to--go home and get in line.
- p. 30

Depending on the price of oil, Saudi Arabia earns somewhere between half a billion and a billion dollars every day. They wouldn’t exist, let alone have that wealth, without our protection. We get nothing from them. Nothing. We defend Germany. We defend Japan. We defend South Korea. These are powerful and wealthy countries. We get nothing from them. It’s time to change all that. It’s time to win again.
- p. 34

When Kuwait was attacked by Saddam Hussein, all the wealthy Kuwaitis ran to Paris. They didn’t just rent suites—they took up whole buildings, entire hotels. They lived like kings while their country was occupied. Who did they turn to for help? Who else? Uncle Sucker. That’s us.
- p. 34

We can't be afraid to use our military, but sending our sons and daughters should be the very last resort. I've seen what wars do to our kids. I've seen their broken bodies, know all about the horrors that live in their heads, and the enormous effects of trauma. We cannot commit American troops to battle without a real and tangible objective.
- p. 35

To me, for politicians to claim that we have an answer to every problem is silly. When you listen to some politicians reeling off their prepared answers, you almost fall for it. They’re all experts. But nothing ever happens.
- p. 73

I manage to blast through the ridiculous liberal bias of the media and speak right to the hearts of the people - or at least I try.
- p. 80

It's not just jobs that are being lost to other countries. We are seeing whole industries vanish overseas.
- p. 85

A great leader has to be flexible, holding his ground on the major principles but finding room for compromises that can bring people together. A great leader has to be savvy at negotiations so we don't drown every bill in pork barrel bridges to nowhere. I know how to stand my ground — but I also know that Republicans and Democrats need to find common ground to stand on as well.
- p. 96

We look at politicians and think: This one's owned by this millionaire. That one's owned by that millionaire, or lobbyist, or special interest group. Me? I speak for the people. So the establishment attacks me. They can't own me, they can't dictate to me, so they search for ways to dismiss me.
- p. 97

2016

January

The entire world has been upset. The entire world, it's a different place. During Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton's term, she's done a horrible job.
She has caused death. She has caused tremendous death with incompetent decisions. I was against the war in Iraq. I wasn't a politician, but I was against the war in Iraq. She voted for the war in Iraq.
Look at Libya. That was her baby. Look. I mean, I'm not even talking about the ambassador and the people with the ambassador. Young, wonderful people. With messages coming in by the hundreds, and she's not even responding. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about all of the death that's been caused and not only our side.
There was nothing saved. If we would have never done anything in the Middle East, we would have a much safer world right now. ... All of this has led to the migration. All of this has led to tremendous death and destruction. And she for the most part was in charge of it along with Obama.
She's constantly playing the woman card. It's the only way she may get elected. I mean frankly... Personally, I'm not sure that anybody else other than me is going to beat her. And I think she's a flawed candidate. And you see what's happened recently. And it hasn't been a very pretty picture for her or for Bill. Because I'm the only one that's willing to talk about his problems. I mean, what he did and what he has gone through I think is frankly terrible, especially if she wants to play the woman card.
I have more respect for women by far than Hillary Clinton has. And I will do more for women than Hillary Clinton will. I will do far more including the protection of our country. She caused a lot of the problems that we have right now.
- CBS interview with John Dickerson (taped 1 January 2016) for Face the Nation — as quoted in "Trump: Clinton has ruined the world" by Nick Gass, Politico (3 January 2016)

They've created ISIS. Hillary Clinton created ISIS with Obama; created with Obama. But I love predicting because you know, ultimately, you need somebody with vision.
- At a rally, as quoted in "TRUMP: 'Hillary Clinton created ISIS with Obama'" by Colin Campbell, Business Insider (3 January 2016)

She [Clinton] has a terrible record as secretary of state. I mean, she's literally created ISIS. If you look at her, between her and Obama, they're the ones — we have this big ISIS problem they created with their bad policies and their bad thinking.
- On Fox & Friends, as quoted in "TRUMP: 'Hillary Clinton created ISIS with Obama'" by Colin Campbell, Business Insider (3 January 2016)

Hillary said that guns don't keep you safe. If she really believes that she should demand that her heavily armed bodyguards quickly disarm!
- Facebook post, quoted in "Trump: Hillary Clinton Should Disarm Her Bodyguards If She Really Believes 'Guns Don't Keep You Safe'", by Awr Hawkins, Breitbart (3 January 2016)

Mexico is going to be the new China because what they're doing to us is unbelievable, although they did catch El Chapo. Good? Good? They did catch El Chapo, that's good. I mean I don't know, he better not escape a third time, you know? Those tunnels, bing, boom, right under the toilet, bing boom, right up. It's pretty amazing when you think about it, right? But anyway. I have an idea: Put him on the fourth floor this time, right? No more, no more first floors.
- Speech (9 January 2016), as quoted in "El Chapo on Donald Trump: 'Mi Amigo!", by Rebecca Kaplan, CBS News (10 January 2016).

Iran humiliated the United States with the capture of our 10 sailors. Horrible pictures & images. We are weak. I will NOT forget!
- Twitter post (13 January 2016).

I'm very angry because our country is being run horribly and I will gladly accept the mantle of anger. Our military is a disaster. Our healthcare is a horror show. Obamacare, we're going to repeal it and replace it. We have no borders. Our vets are being treated horribly. Illegal immigration is beyond belief. Our country is being run by incompetent people. And yes, I am angry. I'm angry because our country is a mess.
- Full Transcript of the Sixth Republican Debate in Charleston, Time (14 January 2016).

And just so — if I could, because he insulted a lot of people. I’ve had more calls on that statement that Ted made — New York is a great place. It’s got great people, it’s got loving people, wonderful people. When the World Trade Center came down, I saw something that no place on Earth could have handled more beautifully, more humanely than New York. You had two one hundred, you had two 110-story buildings come crashing down. I saw them come down. Thousands of people killed, and the cleanup started the next day, and it was the most horrific cleanup, probably in the history of doing this, and in construction. I was down there, and I’ve never seen anything like it. And the people in New York fought and fought and fought, and we saw more death, and even the smell of death — nobody understood it. And it was with us for months, the smell, the air. And we rebuilt downtown Manhattan, and everybody in the world watched and everybody in the world loved New York and loved New Yorkers. And I have to tell you, that was a very insulting statement that Ted made.
- Full Transcript of the Sixth Republican Debate in Charleston, Time (14 January 2016).

The truth is, he's a nasty guy. He was so nice to me. I mean, I knew it. I was watching. I kept saying, 'Come on Ted. Let's go, okay.' But he's a nasty guy. Nobody likes him. Nobody in Congress likes him. Nobody likes him anywhere once they get to know him. He's a very –- he's got an edge that's not good. You can't make deals with people like that and it's not a good thing. It's not a good thing for the country. Very nasty guy.
- About Ted Cruz in an interview on This Week [9] (January 17, 2016)

Tony Perkins wrote that out for me -- he actually wrote out 2, he wrote out the number 2 Corinthians, I took exactly what Tony said, and I said, 'Well Tony has to know better than anybody.
It's a very small deal, but a lot of people in different sections of the world say two, and I've had many, many people say that to me. My mother, as you know, was from Scotland, and they say two.
- In an interview with CNN's Don Lemon, about saying "two Corinthians" instead of "Second Corinthians" during a speech at Liberty University. [10] (January 22, 2016)

The people, my people, are so smart, and you know what they say about my people? The polls. They say I have the most loyal people — did you ever see that? Where I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters. It's like incredible. No, they say, "Trump we love you too." Trump's voters are by far, ya know, I'm at sixty-eight and sixty-nine percent, I'm at ninety percent, total, like, "Will you say absolutely?" I think it's sixty-eight and sixty-nine percent. "Will you most likely stay?" That gets into the nineties. Other guys like a ten. A guy like Jeb Bush, he has a nobody, but he's like, they don't have people. They have nothing. Rubio, soft. They're all soft. My people stay, by the way, Cruz, soft. When they heard about this thing with that he was bordering Canada, nobody knew them? He lost a lot of people! He's gone down big in the polls. Ted Cruz has gone down big in the polls. That doesn't mean he's giving us a fight in Iowa, that doesn't mean you can stay home, okay, see, you with the smile? It doesn't mean that. You gotta go out cause we can't take any chances.
- Speech at campaign rally (23 January 2016), Sioux Center, Iowa.

February

To have a crowd like this on our final day, can you believe it, this is the day. This is the day we take our country back. Remember that. This is the day we take our country back. So I got a little notice in case you see it. It's security guys. We have wonderful security guys. They said, "Mr. Trump, there may be somebody with tomatoes in the audience." So if you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously... Okay? Just knock the hell... I promise you I will pay for the legal fees, I promise. I promise. There won't be so much cause the courts agree with us too. What's going on in this country.
- At a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (1 February 2016)

This has been going if it's not going to happen anymore, folks. We're going to bring businesses back. We're going to have businesses that used to be in New Hampshire, that are now in Mexico, come back to New Hampshire and you can tell them to go f--- themselves...because they let you down, and they left. We want the businesses that stay. I know a lot of businesses up here and I knew a lot of businesses up here. These are great people, they could've left and they wanna stay. They willing to stay, they're fighting to stay. It's hard. With a highest tax nation in the entire world. It's hard for them to stay and they stay. Those are the people we have to cherish and love. These are the people that are great.
- At a rally in New Hampshire. (4 February 2016)

Trump: No, I didn't use the word. I never said the word, Bill. I don't know who told you -- I would never use the word. I didn't say the word. I said, "you can tell them to go [beat of silence] themselves."
O'Reilly: But the lips kind of moved in the --
Trump: Well, they might have. No, I didn't say the word. I wouldn't do that. Even I -- hey Bill, even I wouldn't do that, okay. No, I never said the word.
- On an interview on The O'Reilly Factor (6 February 2016)

It's the Harvard of Terrorists.
- Interview with Charlie Rose (17 February 2016)

Torture works, okay folks? [...] Believe me, it works. [...] Waterboarding is your minor form. Some people say it's not actually torture. Let's assume it is. But they asked me the question. What do you think of waterboarding? Absolutely fine. But we should go much stronger than waterboarding. That's the way I feel.
- Donald Trump: "Torture works". CBS News (17 February 2016). Bluffton, South Carolina.

Bye bye. Look, see? He's smiling. See, he's having a good time. Oh, I love the old days, you know? You know what I hate? There's a guy, totally disruptive, throwing punches, we're not allowed to punch back anymore. I love the old days. You know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place like this? They'd be carried out on a stretcher, folks. You know, I love our police, and I really respect our police, and they're not getting enough. They're not. Honestly, I hate to see that. Here's a guy, throwing punches, nasty as hell, screaming at everything else when we're talking, and he's walking out, and we're not allowed -- you know, the guards are very gentle with him, he's walking out, like, big high fives, smiling, laughing -- I'd like to punch him in the face, I'll tell you.
- At a rally in Las Vegas (22 February 2016)

We won with young. We won with old. We won with highly educated. We won with poorly educated. I love the poorly educated.
- Donald Trump declares 'I love the poorly educated' as he storms to victory in Nevada caucus, 24 February 2016

Ted Cruz: Donald, relax.
Donald Trump: I'm relaxed. You're the basket case. Go ahead, don't get nervous.
- CNN-Telemundo Republican debate (25 February 2016)

March

Donald Trump: I think you've become very negative.
Bill O'Reilly: Why would I do that?
Trump: Who knows. You'll have to ask your psychiatrist.
- "Trump to O'Reilly: 'I think you've become very negative'" by Nick Gass, Politico (3 March 2016)

Anderson Cooper: Is Islam at war with the West?
Donald Trump: I think Islam hates us. There is something there, there is a tremendous hatred there, and we have to get to the bottom of it. There is an unbelievable hatred of us.
Cooper: In Islam itself?
Trump: You're going to have to figure that out, but there is a tremendous hatred and we have to be very vigilant, we have to be very careful and we can't allow people coming into this country who have this hatred of the United States and of people that are not Muslim.
Cooper: The question is is there a war between the West and radical Islam or is it between the West and Islam itself?
Trump: Well it's radical but it's very hard to define, it's very hard to separate because you don't know who's who.
- 9 March CNN interview, as quoted in "US Election 2016: Donald Trump tells CNN TV interviewer 'Islam hates us'" by Harriet Sinclair, International Business Times (10 March 2016)

Come on, get ’em out, police, please. Let's go! ... Nobody wants to hurt each other anymore.
- During a St Louis, Mo., rally, as quoted in "‘Get ’em out!’ Racial tensions explode at Donald Trump’s rallies", by Jose A. DelReal, The Washington Post (12 March 2016), Washington, D.C.

Obama: But you would rule in the possibility to fight against ISIS.
Trump: Well, I'm never gonna rule anything out. And I wouldn't wanna say. Even if I felt -- it wasn't going -- I wouldn't wanna tell you that because, at a minimum, I want them to think maybe that we would use it.
- As part of a conversation with Barack Obama about ruling out the use of nuclear weapons (March 23, 2016) ^{[citation needed]}

If Saudi Arabia was without the cloak of American protection, I don’t think it would be around.
- Interview on foreign policy given on 25 March 2016, published: In Donald Trump’s Worldview, America Comes First, and Everybody Else Pays, The New York Times (26 March 2016)

I was angry because they sued.
- explaining why he withdrew the medical benefits to his nephew's infant son who had cerebral palsy, after his nephew claimed that the exclusion from Fred Trump's will was a result of Donald Trump and his siblings unduly influencing the older man
- as quoted in Donald Trump's Cruel Streak, by Conor Friedersdorf, in The Atlantic; published September 26, 2016; retrieved October 24, 2016

April

I can be presidential, but if I was presidential I would only have - about 20% of you would be here because it would be boring as hell.
- At a rally in Superior, Wisconsin (4 April 2016)

May

You've been hearing me say it's a rigged system, but now I don't say it anymore because I won. It's true. Now I don't care.
- "Trump: GOP 'rigged,' but I don't care because I won" by Ryan Lovelace, Washington Examiner (5 May 2016)

Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!
- Tweet (5 May 2016)

How can Crooked Hillary say she cares about women when she is silent on radical Islam, which horribly oppresses women?
- Tweet (22 May 2016)

June

It's going to be like this. I'm not changing.
- Answer to the question whether the American public could expect a similar dynamic if he would win the presidential elections, quoted in Donald Trump: Questions on money for war veterans aljazeera.com, 1 June 2016

He's a Mexican. We're building a wall between here and Mexico.
- About American judge Gonzalo Curiel (3 June 2016), as quoted in "Trump Presses Case That 'Mexican' Judge Curiel Is Biased Against Him" (4 June 2016), by Nina Totenberg, National Public Radio

I'm truly honored by your support. Together, we accomplished what nobody thought was absolutely possible and you know what that is and we're only getting started and it's going to be beautiful, remember that. Tonight we close one chapter in history and we begin another. Our campaign received more primary votes than any GOP campaign in history, no matter who it is, no matter who they are, we received more votes. This is a great feeling. That's a great feeling. This is not a testament to me but a testament to all of the people who believed real change, not Obama change, but real change is possible. You've given me the honor to lead the Republican Party to victory this fall.
- Victory speech after winning New Jersey and other states Tuesday night (7 June 2016) – TIME transcript

To those who voted for someone else in either party, I will work hard to earn your support and I will work very hard to earn that support. To all of those Bernie Sanders voters who have been left out in the cold by a rigged system of super delegates, we welcome you with open arms. And by the way, the terrible trade deals that Bernie was so vehemently against and he's right on that will be taken care of far better than anyone ever thought possible and that's what I do. We are going to have fantastic trade deals. We're going to start making money and bringing in jobs.
- Victory speech after winning New Jersey and other states Tuesday night (7 June 2016) – TIME transcript

My goal is always again to bring people together. But if I'm forced to fight for something I really care about, I will never, ever back down and our country will never, ever back down. Thank you. I've fought for my family. I've fought for my business. I've fought for my employees. And now, I'm going to fight for you, the American people like nobody has ever fought before.
- Victory speech after winning New Jersey and other states Tuesday night (7 June 2016) – TIME transcript

Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don't want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart!
- Twitter, 12 June 2016, after the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting

We're led by a man that either is not tough, not smart, or he's got something else in mind. And the something else in mind, you know, people can't believe it, people cannot believe that President Obama is acting the way he acts and can't even mention the words 'radical Islamic terrorism. There's something going on — it's inconceivable. There's something going on. He doesn't get it, or he gets it better than anybody understands. It's one or the other, and either one is unacceptable.
- Phone interview on "Fox and Friends", as quoted in "Trump on Obama and Islam: 'There's something going on'" by Jesse Byrnes, The Hill (13 June 2016)

Corporate inversion, they’re leaving the United States, we have almost $5 trillion sitting out there, where they can’t get the money back, they can’t bring it in because there’s no mechanism to bring it back in and the tax is so high. I’m going to bring tremendous amounts of money, tremendous amounts of jobs, tremendous numbers of companies, and yes the tax is going to be cut from the highest tax nation anywhere in the world to a fairly low tax. Not the lowest in the world, but to a fairly low tax.
I called myself the king of debt. I’m the king of debt. I’m great with debt, nobody knows debt better than me. I made a fortune by using debt. And if things don’t work out I renegotiate the debt, I mean that’s a smart thing not a stupid thing. And I made a fortune.
You go back and you say, hey, guess what, the economy just crashed, I’m going to give you back half. I like debt for me, I don’t like debt for the country. I like debt for my company, but I don’t like debt for the country. For the country we have $19 trillion in debt, it’s going to be very soon $21 trillion, not billion, $21 trillion in debt. And I will tell you we are sitting on a time bomb and Hillary Clinton doesn’t have a clue. And President Obama has pretty much doubled the debt since he’s been in office and somebody’s going to pay a big price. We have to start chopping that debt down. ... I wouldn’t renegotiate the debt.
- In an interview with CBS This Morning' Norah O'Donnell [11] (June 22, 2016)

July

The only people who are not interested in being the V.P. pick are the people who have not been asked!
- Tweet on Twitter (4 July 2016)

Saddam Hussein was a bad guy. Right? He was a bad guy, really bad guy. But you know what he did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so good. They didn't read them the rights -- they didn't talk, they were a terrorist, it was over. Today, Iraq is Harvard for terrorism. You want to be a terrorist, you go to Iraq. It's like Harvard. Okay?
- At a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina (July 5, 2016)

I'll stand up for Article Two, Article 12, you name it of the Constitution.
- About the U.S. Constitution, which only has seven articles and 27 amendments; as recounted by Mark Sanford, quoted in "Trump Manages To Give Some House GOPers More Heartburn In Hill Meeting" (2016), Talking Points Memo (July 7, 2016).

Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.
- Press conference, reported in Ashley Parker and David E. Sanger, "Donald Trump Calls on Russia to Find Hillary Clinton’s Missing Emails, The New York Times (July 27, 2016).

Though Bernie is exhausted and has given up on his revolution, many of his voters still want to keep up the fight. I expect that millions of Bernie voters will refuse to vote for Hillary because of her support for the War in Iraq, the invasion of Libya, NAFTA and TPP, and of course because she is totally bought and sold by special interests. She and her husband have been paid millions and millions by global corporations and powerful interests who will control her every decision. She is their puppet, and they pull the strings. We welcome with open arms all voters who want an honest government and to fix our rigged system so it works for the people. This includes fixing one of Bernie's biggest issues, our terrible trade deals that strip our country of its jobs and wealth.
- How Donald Trump Beat Reddit, The Atlantic (July 28, 2016)

The things that were said about me. … You know what, I wanted to hit a couple of those speakers so hard. ... I was gonna hit one guy in particular, a very little guy. I was gonna hit this guy so hard, his head would spin. He wouldn't know what the hell happened.
- Press conference, reported in Jacob Bogage, "‘I wanted to hit a couple of those speakers so hard’, Trump says of Democratic convention", The Washington Post (July 29, 2016).

A guy who didn’t have the guts to run for president. Little Michael. He doesn’t know anything about me. But he never had the guts to run. He probably wished he did but he didn’t. He spent millions of dollars on polling but he was missing one thing: guts. Little Michael.
- On Michael Bloomberg’s speech about Trump. At an interview with The New York Times' Maureen Dowd. [12] (July 29, 2016)

Obama gave a good speech but not nearly as good as the press would have you believe. Whether it’s good or bad, the press will say it’s fantastic. In many ways, I like Obama. It’s hard to define. There’s something about him I do like. I’m embarrassed to admit it. I give him a lot of credit. It’s very unique and very hard to do and I give him tremendous credit. He became a two-term president of the United States. He’s got some quality going.
- At an interview with The New York Times' Maureen Dowd. [13] (July 29, 2016)

Emails in general are terrible. There’s no security. It happens so often. I’m old-fashioned. I put a letter in an envelope and have it hand delivered. My son is 10 years old, and he has grown up computer literate. They start using computers before they can walk. His computer was locked and he unlocked it. And I said, ‘Barron, how did you do that?’ And he said, ‘I won’t tell you, Dad.
- At an interview with The New York Times' Maureen Dowd. [14] (July 29, 2016)

Putin said I was a genius. I do say this: Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we actually could get along with Russia and China and some other countries that we don’t get along with, and then we go out and knock the hell out of ISIS? Wouldn’t it be nice if we cleaned that mess up? Wouldn’t it be smart?
- At an interview with The New York Times' Maureen Dowd. [15] (July 29, 2016)

I think he’s a pervert. It’s dangerous to allow him on the convention floor.
- About Anthony Weiner on the 2016 Democratic National Convention. At an interview with The New York Times' Maureen Dowd. [16] (July 29, 2016)

Captain Humayun Khan was a hero to our country and we should honor all who have made the ultimate sacrifice to keep our country safe. The real problem here are the radical Islamic terrorists who killed him, and the efforts of these radicals to enter our country to do us further harm. Given the state of the world today, we have to know everything about those looking to enter our country, and given the state of chaos in some of these countries, that is impossible. While I feel deeply for the loss of his son, Mr. Khan who has never met me, has no right to stand in front of millions of people and claim I have never read the Constitution, (which is false) and say many other inaccurate things. If I become President, I will make America safe again.
Hillary Clinton should be held accountable for her central role in destabilizing the Middle East. She voted to send the United States to war against Iraq, helped lead the disastrous withdrawal of American troops years later that created the vacuum allowing the rise of ISIS, and has never met a regime change she didn’t like (which have all been disasters) – not to mention her invasion of Libya and her abandonment of American personnel in Benghazi. The loss of these lives in Libya is directly traceable to Clinton, but their families' testimonials were rejected by the media.
Clinton’s actions have been reckless and have directly led to the loss of American lives. And her extreme immigration policies, as also laid out by American victims in Cleveland, will cause the preventable deaths of countless more -- while putting all residents, from all places, at greater risk of terrorism. As Bernie Sanders said on numerous occasions, Hillary Clinton suffers from "bad judgement." She is not qualified to serve as Commander in Chief.
- Written statement responding to Khizr M. Khan [17] (July 30, 2016)

August

Mr. Khan, who does not know me, viciously attacked me from the stage of the DNC and is now all over T.V. doing the same - Nice!
- Twitter, August 1, 2016

He's a terrible president, he'll probably go down as the worst president in the history of our country, he's been a total disaster.
- On Barack Obama during an interview with WJLA. [18] (August 2, 2016)

President Obama will go down as perhaps the worst president in the history of the United States!
- Tweet about Obama (2016 August 2)

Don’t worry about that baby. I love babies. I hear that baby crying, I like it. What a baby. What a beautiful baby. Don’t worry, don’t worry. The mom’s running around like—don’t worry about it, you know. It’s young and beautiful and healthy and that’s what we want. [...] Actually, I was only kidding, you can get the baby out of here. That’s all right. Don’t worry. I, I think she really believed me that I love having a baby crying while I’m speaking. That’s OK. People don’t understand. That’s OK.
- At a rally in Ashburn, Virginia. (August 2, 2016)

ISIS is honoring President Obama. He is the founder of ISIS. He founded ISIS. And I would say the co-founder would be crooked Hillary Clinton.
- During a Florida rally at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, as quoted in "Donald Trump: President Barack Obama 'Is the Founder of ISIS'" by David Caplan, ABC News (August 10, 2016)

No group in America has been more harmed by Hillary Clinton's policies than African-Americans. If Hillary Clinton's goal was to inflict pain on the African-American community, she could not have done a better job. It's a disgrace. Tonight, I'm asking for the vote of every single African-American citizen in this country who wants to see a better future. The inner cities of our country have been run by the Democratic party for more than fifty years. Their policies have reduced only poverty, joblessness, failing schools and broken homes. It's time to hold Democratic politicians accountable for what they have done to these communities. At what point do we say, "enough?" It's time to hold failed leaders accountable for their results not just their empty words over and over again. Look at what the Democratic party has done to the city as an example and there are many others of Detroit: forty percent of Detroit's residents live in poverty. Half of all Detroit residents do not work and cannot work and can't get a job. Detroit tops the list of most dangerous cities in terms of violent crime. This is the legacy of the Democratic politicians who have run this city. This is the result of the policy agenda embraced by Hillary Clinton: thirty-three thousand emails gone. The only way to change results is to change leadership. We can never fix our problems by relying on the same politicians who created our problems in the first place. A new future requires brand new leadership. Look how much African-American communities suffered under Democratic control. To those I say the following: What do you have to lose by trying something new like Trump. What do you have to lose? I say it again, what do you have to lose. Look, what do you have to lose? You're living your poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs. Fifty-eight percent of your youth is unemployed? What the hell do you have to lose? And at the end of four years, I guarantee you, that I will get over ninety-five percent of the African-American vote. I promise you.
- Speech to the African-American community in Dimondale, Michigan (August 19, 2016)

It’s just, like, a total catastrophe, the unemployment rates, everything is bad — no health care, no education, no anything, no anything. And poverty is unbelievable. Then, I said, ‘Hey, wait a minute, vote for me. What have you got to lose? You can’t do worse, you can’t do any worse than what these people have been doing and I will do better.
- About African Americans in the United States, interview with Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro. [19] (August 21, 2016)

Immigration security, we need to protect American jobs. We need to protect American safety. We're going to build a wall folks, don't worry, we're going to build a wall. That wall will go up so fast, your heads will spin. And you'll say, "you know, know he meant it!" And you know what else I mean? Mexico is going to pay for the wall.
- On immigration at a rally in Akron, Ohio (22 August 2016)

It's our right as a sovereign nation to choose immigrants that we think are the likeliest to thrive and flourish and love us.
- Immigration speech (31 August 2016), quoted in "Donald Trump delivers immigration speech after meeting with Mexican president" by CNN Wire, Fox 59.

When politicians talk about immigration reform, they usually mean the following: amnesty, open borders, and lower wages. Immigration reform should mean something else entirely: it should mean improvements to our laws and policies to make life better for American citizens. But if we are going to make our immigration system work, then we have to be prepared to talk honestly and without fear about these important and sensitive issues.
- Immigration speech (31 August 2016)

To all the politicians, donors and special interests, hear these words from me today: there is only one core issue in the immigration debate and it is this: the well-being of the American people. Nothing even comes a close second.
- Immigration speech (31 August 2016)

September

For the first time in a long while, her true feelings came out, showing bigotry and hatred for millions of Americans. How can she be President of our country when she has such contempt and disdain for so many great Americans?
- Berke, Beremy (2016-09-10). "Clinton walks back 'deplorables' comment: I 'regret' using the term to describe 'half' of Trump's supporters". Business Insider.

Really sad that Republicans would allow themselves to be used in a Clinton ad. Lindsey Graham, Romney, Flake, Sass. SUPREME COURT, REMEMBER!
- Tweet about the Clinton ad, "Agree" (10 September 2016)

While my opponent slanders you as deplorable... I call you hard-working, American patriots.
- Donald Trump Campaign Rally in Ashville, North Carolina, C-SPAN.org (September 12,2016).

Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. I finished it. I finished it. You know what I mean. President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period. Now we all want to get back to making America strong and great again.
- "Trump finally says Obama born in U.S., blames Clinton for controversy". USA Today. 2016-09-16.
- Conspiracy theories about Barack Obama's citizenship were not started by Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign according to PolitiFact.com, and Trump continued to question Obama's citizenship for years after he released his long-form birth certificate in 2011[20].

Do people notice Hillary is copying my airplane rallies - she puts the plane behind her like I have been doing from the beginning.
- Tweet (20 September 2016), quoted in "Trump blasts Clinton for 'copying' his airplane rallies" by Kelly Cohen, Washington Examiner (20 September 2016)

Hillary Clinton is taking the day off again, she needs the rest. Sleep well Hillary - see you at the debate!
- Tweet (20 September 2016)

On the question if he would honor the results of the election should he lose:
"We’re going to have to see. We’re going to see what happens. We’re going to have to see."
- In an interview with the New York Times; Trump Appears to Back Off Pledge to Support Clinton If She Wins, NBC News (30 September 2016)

October

I’d never withdraw. I’ve never withdrawn in my life.
- phone call to the Washington Post (8 October 2016)

So important that you get out and vote. So important that you watch other communities, because we don't want this election stolen from us. We don't want this election stolen from us.
- Transcript of speech at Ambridge, Pennsylvania (October 10, 2016)

Donald Trump: Now, he's supposed to look like Donald Trump, but he's actually much too good looking. [to toddler] You are really handsome... Do you want to go back to [your parents] or do you want to stay with Donald Trump?
Toddler: Trump.
- Little Trump Look-Alike Comes on Stage with Donald in Wilkes-Barre 10/10/16, Right Side Broadcasting, YouTube. Quoted in "Donald Trump Meets His Mini-Me at Pennsylvania Rally" by Dave Quinn, People.com (October 11, 2016).

Hillary Clinton meets in secret with international banks to plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty in order to enrich these global financial powers, her special interest friends and her donors.
Honestly, she should be locked up. She should be. Should be locked up.
- at a rally in West Palm Beach, Florida (October 13, 2016)

She [Clinton] walks in front of me, she walks in front of me, you know. And when she walked in front of me, believe me I wasn’t impressed.
Reporters at The New York Times are not journalists. They’re corporate lobbyists for Carlos Slim and Hillary Clinton.
Believe me: She [one of the women accusing him of sexual assault] would not be my first choice, that I can tell you.
- at a rally in Greensboro, N.C. Also quoted in Donald Trump’s Barrage of Heated Rhetoric Has Little Precedent (October 14, 2016)

We're going to make history together. You're going to look back at this election on November 8th, and say it is by far the most important vote that you have ever cast. Once again, we're going to have a government of, by, and for the people. We will make America wealthy again, we will make America powerful again, we will make America strong again, we will Make America Great Again! Thank you all, thank you very much. God bless you, everybody, thank you.
- At a rally in Bangor, Maine (October 15, 2016)

Such a nasty woman. [of Hillary Clinton]
- Third Presidential debate (19 October 2016), full transcript at fortune.com.

November

No dream is too big, no challenge is too great. Nothing we want for our future is beyond our reach. America will no longer settle for anything less than the best.
- Victory Speech (9 November 2016)

I think I'm a sober person. I think the press tries to make you into something a little bit different. In my case, a little bit of a wild man, I'm not, I'm actually not. I'm a very sober person.
- During an interview on 60 Minutes (11 November 2016)

Today, I would like to provide the American people with an update on the White House transition and our policy plans for the first 100 days. Our transition team is working very smoothly, efficiently, and effectively. Truly great and talented men and women, patriots indeed are being brought in and many will soon be a part of our government, helping us to Make America Great Again. My agenda will be based on a simple core principle: putting America First. Whether it’s producing steel, building cars, or curing disease, I want the next generation of production and innovation to happen right here, in our great homeland: America – creating wealth and jobs for American workers. As part of this plan, I’ve asked my transition team to develop a list of executive actions we can take on day one to restore our laws and bring back our jobs. It’s about time. These include the following: On trade, I am going to issue our notification of intent to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a potential disaster for our country. Instead, we will negotiate fair, bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back onto American shores. On energy, I will cancel job-killing restrictions on the production of American energy – including shale energy and clean coal – creating many millions of high-paying jobs. That’s what we want, that’s what we’ve been waiting for. On regulation, I will formulate a rule which says that for every one new regulation, two old regulations must be eliminated, it’s so important. On national security, I will ask the Department of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop a comprehensive plan to protect America’s vital infrastructure from cyber-attacks, and all other form of attacks. On immigration, I will direct the Department of Labor to investigate all abuses of visa programs that undercut the American worker. On ethics reform, as part of our plan to Drain the Swamp, we will impose a five-year ban on executive officials becoming lobbyists after they leave the Administration – and a lifetime ban on executive officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government. These are just a few of the steps we will take to reform Washington and rebuild our middle class. I will provide more updates in the coming days, as we work together to Make America Great Again for everyone.
- A Message from President-Elect Donald J. Trump (21 November 2016)

We are very blessed to call this nation our home. And that is what America is: it is our home. It’s where we raise our families, care for our loved ones, look out for our neighbors, and live out our dreams. It is my prayer, that on this Thanksgiving, we begin to heal our divisions and move forward as one country, strengthened by a shared purpose and very, very common resolve. In declaring this national holiday, President Lincoln called upon Americans to speak with “one voice and one heart.” That’s just what we have to do. We have just finished a long and bruising political campaign. Emotions are raw and tensions just don’t heal overnight. It doesn’t go quickly, unfortunately, but we have before us the chance now to make history together to bring real change to Washington, real safety to our cities, and real prosperity to our communities, including our inner cities. So important to me, and so important to our country. But to succeed, we must enlist the effort of our entire nation. This historic political campaign is now over. Now begins a great national campaign to rebuild our country and to restore the full promise of America for all of our people. I am asking you to join me in this effort. It is time to restore the bonds of trust between citizens. Because when America is unified, there is nothing beyond our reach, and I mean absolutely nothing. Let us give thanks for all that we have, and let us boldly face the exciting new frontiers that lie ahead. Thank you. God Bless You and God Bless America.
- A Thanksgiving Message from President-Elect Donald J. Trump (23 November 2016)

Fidel Castro is dead!
- Tweet mentioning Castro's death (26 November 2016)

In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.
- Twitter, November 27, 2016

December

There is no global anthem, no global currency, no certificate of global citizenship, we pledge allegiance to one flag and that flag is the American Flag!
- Thank You Tour - Cincinnati, Ohio (01 December 2016)

Various speeches

Presidential Bid Announcement (June 16, 2015)

At Trump Tower, 2015-06-16, speech announcing his candidacy for U.S. president — "Full text: Donald Trump announces a presidential bid", The Washington Post, 16 June 2015

Our country is in serious trouble. We don’t have victories anymore. We used to have victories, but we don’t have them. When was the last time anybody saw us beating, let’s say, China in a trade deal? They kill us. I beat China all the time. All the time. When did we beat Japan at anything? They send their cars over by the millions, and what do we do? When was the last time you saw a Chevrolet in Tokyo? It doesn’t exist, folks. They beat us all the time. When do we beat Mexico at the border? They’re laughing at us, at our stupidity. And now they are beating us economically. They are not our friend, believe me. But they’re killing us economically. The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems.
When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're not sending you. They're not sending you. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we're getting. And it only makes common sense. It only makes common sense. They're sending us not the right people. It's coming from more than Mexico. It's coming from all over South and Latin America, and it's coming probably – probably – from the Middle East. But we don't know. Because we have no protection and we have no competence, we don't know what's happening. And it's got to stop and it's got to stop fast.
Islamic terrorism is eating up large portions of the Middle East. They’ve become rich. I’m in competition with them. They just built a hotel in Syria. Can you believe this? They built a hotel. When I have to build a hotel, I pay interest. They don’t have to pay interest, because they took the oil that, when we left Iraq, I said we should’ve taken.
I love the military, and I want to have the strongest military that we’ve ever had, and we need it more now than ever. But I said, “Don’t hit Iraq,” because you’re going to totally destabilize the Middle East. Iran is going to take over the Middle East, Iran and somebody else will get the oil, and it turned out that Iran is now taking over Iraq. Think of it. Iran is taking over Iraq, and they’re taking it over big league.
We lost thousands of lives, thousands in Iraq. We have wounded soldiers, who I love, I love — they’re great — all over the place, thousands and thousands of wounded soldiers. And we have nothing. We can’t even go there. We have nothing. And every time we give Iraq equipment, the first time a bullet goes off in the air, they leave it.
Last quarter, it was just announced our gross domestic product — a sign of strength, right? But not for us. It was below zero. Whoever heard of this? It’s never below zero.
A lot of people up there can’t get jobs. They can’t get jobs, because there are no jobs, because China has our jobs and Mexico has our jobs. They all have jobs.
Our enemies are getting stronger and stronger by the way, and we as a country are getting weaker. Even our nuclear arsenal doesn’t work. It came out recently they have equipment that is 30 years old. They don’t know if it worked. And I thought it was horrible when it was broadcast on television, because boy, does that send signals to Putin and all of the other people that look at us and they say, “That is a group of people, and that is a nation that truly has no clue. They don’t know what they’re doing. They don’t know what they’re doing.”
We have a disaster called the big lie: Obamacare. ... We have to repeal Obamacare, and it can be — and — and it can be replaced with something much better for everybody. Let it be for everybody. But much better and much less expensive for people and for the government. And we can do it.
Remember the $5 billion Web site? $5 billion we spent on a Web site, and to this day it doesn’t work. A $5 billion Web site. I have so many Web sites, I have them all over the place. I hire people, they do a Web site. It costs me $3.
I hear my fellow Republicans. And they’re wonderful people. I like them.
I watch the speeches of these people, and they say the sun will rise, the moon will set, all sorts of wonderful things will happen. And people are saying, “What’s going on? I just want a job. Just get me a job. I don’t need the rhetoric. I want a job.”
Obama is going to be out playing golf. He might be on one of my courses. I would invite him, I actually would say. I have the best courses in the world, so I’d say, you what, if he wants to — I have one right next to the White House, right on the Potomac. If he’d like to play, that’s fine. In fact, I’d love him to leave early and play, that would be a very good thing.
I’ve watched the politicians. I’ve dealt with them all my life. If you can’t make a good deal with a politician, then there’s something wrong with you. You’re certainly not very good. And that’s what we have representing us. They will never make America great again. They don’t even have a chance. They’re controlled fully — they’re controlled fully by the lobbyists, by the donors, and by the special interests, fully.
I have lobbyists. I have to tell you. I have lobbyists that can produce anything for me. They’re great. But you know what? it won’t happen. It won’t happen. Because we have to stop doing things for some people, but for this country, it’s destroying our country. We have to stop, and it has to stop now.
Our country needs a truly great leader, and we need a truly great leader now. We need a leader that wrote “The Art of the Deal.” We need a leader that can bring back our jobs, can bring back our manufacturing, can bring back our military, can take care of our vets. Our vets have been abandoned. And we also need a cheerleader. ... We need somebody that can take the brand of the United States and make it great again. It’s not great again.
He (Barack Obama) was vibrant. He was young. I really thought that he would be a great cheerleader. ... But he wasn’t a cheerleader. He’s actually a negative force. He’s been a negative force. He wasn’t a cheerleader; he was the opposite.
We need somebody that can take the brand of the United States and make it great again. It's not great again.
We need -- we need somebody -- we need somebody that literally will take this country and make it great again. We can do that.
And, I will tell you, I love my life. I have a wonderful family. They're saying, "Dad, you're going to do something that's going to be so tough."
You know, all of my life, I’ve heard that a truly successful person, a really, really successful person and even modestly successful cannot run for public office. Just can’t happen. And yet that’s the kind of mindset that you need to make this country great again.
So, ladies and gentlemen, I am officially running for president of the United States, and we are going to make our country great again!
We have people that aren’t working. We have people that have no incentive to work. But they’re going to have incentive to work, because the greatest social program is a job. And they’ll be proud, and they’ll love it, and they’ll make much more than they would’ve ever made, and they’ll be — they’ll be doing so well, and we’re going to be thriving as a country, thriving. It can happen. I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created. I tell you that.
We owe China $1.3 trillion. We owe Japan more than that. So they come in, they take our jobs, they take our money, and then they loan us back the money, and we pay them in interest, and then the dollar goes up so their deal’s even better. How stupid are our leaders? How stupid are these politicians to allow this to happen? How stupid are they?
I’m totally against the trade bill for a number of reasons. Number one, the people negotiating don’t have a clue. Our president doesn’t have a clue. He’s a bad negotiator. He’s the one that did Bergdahl. We get Bergdahl, they get five killer terrorists that everybody wanted over there. We get Bergdahl. We get a traitor. We get a no-good traitor, and they get the five people that they wanted for years, and those people are now back on the battlefield trying to kill us. That’s the negotiator we have.
Israel maybe won’t exist very long. It’s a disaster, and we have to protect Israel.
I’m a free trader. But the problem with free trade is you need really talented people to negotiate for you. If you don’t have talented people, if you don’t have great leadership, if you don’t have people that know business, not just a political hack that got the job because he made a contribution to a campaign, which is the way all jobs, just about, are gotten, free trade terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people, but we have people that are stupid. We have people that aren’t smart. And we have people that are controlled by special interests. And it’s just not going to work.
I love China. The biggest bank in the world is from China. You know where their United States headquarters is located? In this building, in Trump Tower. I love China. People say, “Oh, you don’t like China?” No, I love them. But their leaders are much smarter than our leaders, and we can’t sustain ourself with that.
We have all the cards, but we don’t know how to use them. We don’t even know that we have the cards, because our leaders don’t understand the game. We could turn off that spigot by charging them tax until they behave properly.
You have a problem with ISIS. You have a bigger problem with China. And, in my opinion, the new China, believe it or not, in terms of trade, is Mexico.
I know the smartest negotiators in the world. I know the good ones. I know the bad ones. I know the overrated ones.
It sounds crass. Somebody said, “Oh, that’s crass.” It’s not crass.
We got nothing but problems.
I love the Saudis. Many are in this building. They make a billion dollars a day. Whenever they have problems, we send over the ships. We say “we’re gonna protect.” What are we doing? They’ve got nothing but money.
Saudi Arabia without us is gone. They're gone.
It’s so nice to say I’m running as opposed to if I run, if I run. I’m running.
All of these politicians that I’m running against now, they’re trying to disassociate. I mean, you looked at Bush, it took him five days to answer the question on Iraq. He couldn’t answer the question. He didn’t know. I said, “Is he intelligent?” Then I looked at Rubio. He was unable to answer the question, is Iraq a good thing or bad thing? He didn’t know. He couldn’t answer the question. How are these people gonna lead us? How are we gonna — how are we gonna go back and make it great again? We can’t. They don’t have a clue. They can’t lead us. They can’t. They can’t even answer simple questions. It was terrible.
Saudi Arabia is in big, big trouble. Now, thanks to fracking and other things, the oil is all over the place. And I used to say it, there are ships at sea, and this was during the worst crisis, that were loaded up with oil, and the cartel kept the price up, because, again, they were smarter than our leaders. They were smarter than our leaders.
I think I am a nice person. People that know me, like me. Does my family like me? I think so, right. Look at my family. I’m proud of my family.
This is going to be an election that’s based on competence, because people are tired of these nice people. And they’re tired of being ripped off by everybody in the world. And they’re tired of spending more money on education than any nation in the world per capita, than any nation in the world, and we are 26th in the world, 25 countries are better than us in education. And some of them are like third world countries. But we’re becoming a third word country, because of our infrastructure, our airports, our roads, everything. So one of the things I did, and I said, you know what I’ll do. I’ll do it. Because a lot of people said, “He’ll never run. Number one, he won’t want to give up his lifestyle.” They’re right about that, but I’m doing it.
I said to myself, you know, nobody’s ever going to know unless I run, because I’m really proud of my success. I really am.
We have losers. We have people that don’t have it. We have people that are morally corrupt. We have people that are selling this country down the drain.
I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively, I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall.
I will stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons. And we won’t be using a man like Secretary Kerry that has absolutely no concept of negotiation, who’s making a horrible and laughable deal, who’s just being tapped along as they make weapons right now, and then goes into a bicycle race at 72 years old, and falls and breaks his leg. I won’t be doing that. And I promise I will never be in a bicycle race. That I can tell you.
Fully support and back up the Second Amendment.
Bush is totally in favor of Common Core. I don’t see how he can possibly get the nomination. He’s weak on immigration. He’s in favor of Common Core. How the hell can you vote for this guy? You just can’t do it. We have to end — education has to be local.
Rebuild the country’s infrastructure. Nobody can do that like me. Believe me. It will be done on time, on budget, way below cost, way below what anyone ever thought. I look at the roads being built all over the country, and I say I can build those things for one-third. What they do is unbelievable, how bad.
Save Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security without cuts. Have to do it. Get rid of the fraud. Get rid of the waste and abuse, but save it. People have been paying it for years. And now many of these candidates want to cut it. You save it by making the United States, by making us rich again, by taking back all of the money that’s being lost.
We’re in a bubble. We have artificially low interest rates. We have a stock market that, frankly, has been good to me, but I still hate to see what’s happening. We have a stock market that is so bloated. Be careful of a bubble because what you’ve seen in the past might be small potatoes compared to what happens. So be very, very careful.
Sadly, the American dream is dead. But if I get elected president, I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before, and we will make America great again.

Speech at Liberty University (18 January 2016)

Presidential Candidate Donald Trump at Liberty University, C-SPAN (18 January 2016)

I have read a lot about it and I watched it and Liberty University, like a rocket ship, a really great rocket ship.
I'm in first place. I said when you're in first place, you discuss polls.
I love Iowa, and I'm going there right after this, going up to New Hampshire, I'm going to Iowa because I want to win Iowa. Everyone says don't say that. Just say you're going to do well. That's the closest, but I can't do that. The safe way is, I think I'll do well. I want to win Iowa.
We've done great with the evangelicals. The evangelicals have been amazing. The Tea Party has been amazing and we're doing really well.
We're going to protect Christianity, and I can say that. I don't have to be politically correct. We're going to protect it. I hear this is a major theme right here, but two Corinthians, 3:17, that's the whole ball game. Where the spirit of the lord, right, where the spirit of the lord is, there is liberty, and here there is Liberty College, but Liberty University, but it is so true. You know, when you think -- and that's really -- is that the one? Is that the one you like? I think that's the one you like because I loved it, and it's so representative of what's taken place. But we are going to protect Christianity. And if you look what's going on throughout the world, you look at Syria where if you're Christian, they're chopping off heads. You look at the different places, and Christianity, it's under siege.
I'm a protestant. I'm very proud of it, Presbyterian to be exact, but I'm proud of it, very, very proud. And we've got to protect because bad things are happening, very bad things are happening, and we don't -- I don't know what it is. We don't band together, maybe. Other religions, frankly, they're banding together.
This is a movement. It is a movement going on. We want to take our country back. Our country is disappearing. You look at the kind of deals we make. You look at what's happening, our country is going in the wrong direction, and so wrong, and it's got to be stopped and it's got to be stopped fast.
And my generals, by the way, they're not going on television, OK? So the enemy can learn all about it. Oh, well, then we attack.
They have totally destabilized the Middle East. It's a disaster.
When our sailors were captured last week, I said that's one of the saddest things that I have seen when those young people were on their hands and knees in a begging position with their hands up and thugs behind them with guns, and then we talk like it's OK. It's not OK. It's lack of respect. We can't let that happen to this country. It's lack of respect.
The Persians, very good negotiators. Great negotiators, legendary negotiators. They're known for it. They're sitting across the table.
I hate to tell this to the woman, they're behind the fact, they're a little behind the fact. They haven't figured out that women may be in certain ways much better than men. But I don't want to say that because I will get myself in trouble with men. But they haven't figured this out yet but that's OK.
We're a debtor nation. We owe $19 trillion. We're not going to give you any money, and you want to be nice. You don't want to put it in their face. Just say, look, we're a poor nation. We've been mismanaged, we've been misrun. We don't know what the hell we're doing, right?
If I'm president, you're going to see 'Merry Christmas' in department stores, believe me.
We spent 5 trillion dollars in the Middle East and our country is going to hell. We gotta bring it back. We gotta knock the hell out of ISIS.
I want to see a woman president soon, but not [Hillary Clinton]. She's a disaster. She's a disaster. She's a disaster. I mean, just think of the corruption and the scandal... We don't want to go through it. We want to see winning. We want to see win, win, win – constant winning. And you'll say – if I'm president... 'Please, Mr. President, we're winning too much. We can't stand it anymore. Can't we have a loss?' And I'll say no, we're going to keep winning, winning, winning... because we're going to make America great again. And you'll say, 'Okay, Mr. President. Okay.'

Foreign Policy Speech (27 April 2016)

No country has ever prospered that failed to put its own interests first.

Transcript: Donald Trump's Foreign Policy Speech, The New York Times (27 April 2016)

It's time to shake the rust off America's foreign policy.

My foreign policy will always put the interests of the American people and American security above all else... That will be the foundation of every single decision that I will make. America First will be the major and overriding theme of my administration.

Our foreign policy is a complete and total disaster. No vision. No purpose. No direction. No strategy.

President Obama has weakened our military by weakening our economy. He's crippled us with wasteful spending, massive debt, low growth, a huge trade deficit and open borders.

Our allies are not paying their fair share... The countries we are defending must pay for the cost of this defense, and if not, the U.S. must be prepared to let these countries defend themselves. We have no choice.

Israel, our great friend and the one true democracy in the Middle East has been snubbed and criticized by an administration that lacks moral clarity... President Obama has not been a friend to Israel. He has treated Iran with tender love and care and made it a great power.

We've let our rivals and challengers think they can get away with anything, and they do... If President Obama's goal had been to weaken America, he could not have done a better job.

We've made the Middle East more unstable and chaotic than ever before. We left Christians subject to intense persecution and even genocide. We have done nothing to help the Christians, nothing, and we should always be ashamed for that lack of action.

Hillary Clinton refuses to say the words radical Islam, even as she pushes for a massive increase in refugees coming into our country. After Secretary Clinton's failed intervention in Libya, Islamic terrorists in Benghazi took down our consulate and killed our ambassador and three brave Americans. Then, instead of taking charge that night, Hillary Clinton decided to go home and sleep. Incredible. Clinton blames it all on a video, an excuse that was a total lie, proven to be absolutely a total lie. Our ambassador was murdered and our secretary of state misled the nation.

We're also going to have to change our trade, immigration and economic policies to make our economy strong again. And to put Americans first again. This will ensure that our own workers, right here in America, get the jobs and higher pay that will grow our tax revenues, increase our economic might as a nation.

I believe an easing of tensions, and improved relations with Russia from a position of strength only is possible.

Americans must know that we're putting the American people first again on trade, on immigration, on foreign policy. The jobs, incomes and security of the American worker will always be my first priority. No country has ever prospered that failed to put its own interests first. Both our friends and our enemies put their countries above ours and we, while being fair to them, must start doing the same. We will no longer surrender this country or its people to the false song of globalism. The nation-state remains the true foundation for happiness and harmony. I am skeptical of international unions that tie us up and bring America down, and will never enter America into any agreement that reduces our ability to control our own affairs.

2016 Republican National Convention (21 July 2016)

Donald Trump 2016 RNC draft speech transcript, Politico (21 July 2016)

The attacks on our police, and the terrorism in our cities, threaten our very way of life. Any politician who does not grasp this danger is not fit to lead our country.
The most basic duty of government is to defend the lives of its own citizens. Any government that fails to do so is a government unworthy to lead.
We cannot afford to be so politically correct anymore.
There will be no lies. We will honor the American people with the truth, and nothing else.
Decades of progress made in bringing down crime are now being reversed by this Administration’s rollback of criminal enforcement.
America is far less safe – and the world is far less stable – than when Obama made the decision to put Hillary Clinton in charge of America’s foreign policy. I am certain it is a decision he truly regrets. Her bad instincts and her bad judgment – something pointed out by Bernie Sanders – are what caused the disasters unfolding today.
This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction and weakness.
The problems we face now – poverty and violence at home, war and destruction abroad – will last only as long as we continue relying on the same politicians who created them. A change in leadership is required to change these outcomes.
There can be no prosperity without law and order
Our plan will put America First. Americanism, not globalism, will be our credo. As long as we are led by politicians who will not put America First, then we can be assured that other nations will not treat America with respect.
Big business, elite media and major donors are lining up behind the campaign of my opponent because they know she will keep our rigged system in place. They are throwing money at her because they have total control over everything she does. She is their puppet, and they pull the strings. That is why Hillary Clinton’s message is that things will never change. My message is that things have to change – and they have to change right now.
Every day I wake up determined to deliver for the people I have met all across this nation that have been neglected, ignored, and abandoned. I have visited the laid-off factory workers, and the communities crushed by our horrible and unfair trade deals. These are the forgotten men and women of our country, and they are forgotten, but they're not going to be forgotten long. These are people who work hard but no longer have a voice. I AM YOUR VOICE.
I have no patience for injustice, no tolerance for government incompetence, no sympathy for leaders who fail their citizens.
When innocent people suffer, because our political system lacks the will, or the courage, or the basic decency to enforce our laws – or worse still, has sold out to some corporate lobbyist for cash – I am not able to look the other way.
When a Secretary of State illegally stores her emails on a private server, deletes 33,000 of them so the authorities can’t see her crime, puts our country at risk, lies about it in every different form and faces no consequence – I know that corruption has reached a level like never before.
I have joined the political arena so that the powerful can no longer beat up on people that cannot defend themselves. Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it. I have seen firsthand how the system is rigged against our citizens, just like it was rigged against Bernie Sanders – he never had a chance.
He (Mike Pence) is a man of character and accomplishment. He is the right man for the job.
An attack on law enforcement is an attack on all Americans. I have a message to every last person threatening the peace on our streets and the safety of our police: when I take the oath of office next year, I will restore law and order our country.
In this race for the White House, I am the Law And Order candidate. ... I will work to ensure that all of our kids are treated equally, and protected equally.
Once again, France is the victim of brutal Islamic terrorism. Men, women and children viciously mowed down. Lives ruined. Families ripped apart. A nation in mourning.
I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBT citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology.
We must work with all of our allies who share our goal of destroying ISIS and stamping out Islamic terror. This includes working with our greatest ally in the region, the State of Israel.
We must immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism until such time as proven vetting mechanisms have been put in place.
I only want to admit individuals into our country who will support our values and love our people. Anyone who endorses violence, hatred or oppression is not welcome in our country and never will be.
Decades of record immigration have produced lower wages and higher unemployment for our citizens, especially for African-American and Latino workers. We are going to have an immigration system that works, but one that works for the American people.
Of all my travels in this country, nothing has affected me more deeply than the time I have spent with the mothers and fathers who have lost their children to violence spilling across our border.
We are going to build a great border wall to stop illegal immigration, to stop the gangs and the violence, and to stop the drugs from pouring into our communities.
Peace will be restored.
We are going to be considerate and compassionate to everyone. But my greatest compassion will be for our own struggling citizens.
Americans want relief from uncontrolled immigration. Communities want relief.
I’m going to make our country rich again. I am going to turn our bad trade agreements into great ones.
I pledge to never sign any trade agreement that hurts our workers, or that diminishes our freedom and independence. Instead, I will make individual deals with individual countries.
No longer will we enter into these massive deals, with many countries, that are thousands of pages long – and which no one from our country even reads or understands. We are going to enforce all trade violations, including through the use of taxes and tariffs, against any country that cheats.
We’ll walk away if we don’t get the deal that we want.
Reducing taxes will cause new companies and new jobs to come roaring back into our country.
My Dad, Fred Trump, was the smartest and hardest working man I ever knew.
I have loved my life in business.
We must break free from the petty politics of the past.
America is a nation of believers, dreamers, and strivers that is being led by a group of censors, critics, and cynics.
All of the people telling you that you can’t have the country you want, are the same people telling you that I wouldn’t be standing here tonight. No longer can we rely on those elites in media, and politics, who will say anything to keep a rigged system in place.
We must choose to Believe In America. History is watching us now.
My opponent asks her supporters to recite a three word loyalty pledge. It reads, "I'm with her." I choose to recite a different pledge. My pledge reads, "I’m with you – the American people." I am your voice. So to every parent who dreams for their child, and every child who dreams for a better future, I say these words to you tonight: I’m with you, and I will fight for you, and I will win for you. To all Americans tonight, in all of our cities and towns, I make this promise: We will make America proud again, we will make America strong again, we will make America safe again, and we will Make America Great Again! God bless you and good night! I love you!

This Week Interview (July 30, 2016)

Interview on ABC News' This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Transcript (31 July 2016)

She's (Hillary Clinton) a very dishonest person. I have one of the great temperaments. I have a winning temperament. She has a bad temperament. She's weak. We need a strong temperament and that's all it is, I have a strong temperament. ... I think I have a great temperament. I beat 16 very talented people in -- and I've never done this before. You don't do that with a bad temperament. ... I'm leading her in the polls, as you probably have noticed. And I think I have a great temperament. I have a temperament where I know how to win. She doesn't know how to win. She's not a winner. She doesn't know how to win. Honestly, she lies a lot and she really -- she should tell the truth. I honestly believe if she told the truth -- because she made some reference to my campaigning, I've had a beautiful -- I've had a -- had a flawless campaign. You'll be writing books about this campaign. And yet she's criticizing my campaign.
If you look at what's going on in terms of unity, the Bernie people are angry. They're angry. He was angry. What was amazing to me is when she was talking about Bernie last night, the camera was on him and he was angry. It almost looks like he has buyer's remorse, like he shouldn't have made the deal.
I have no relationship with Putin. I don't think I've ever met him. I never met him. I don't think I've ever met him. ... I have never spoken to him on the phone, no. I've speak -- I've spoken -- when we had the Miss Universe contest a number of years ago, we had Miss Universe in Moscow, in the Moscow area, he was invited. He wanted to come. He wasn't able to come. That would have been a time when I would have met him. ... I don't know what it means by having a relationship. I mean he was saying very good things about me, but I don't have a relationship with him. I didn't meet him. I haven't spent time with him. I didn't have dinner with him. I didn't go hiking with him. I don't know -- and I wouldn't know him from Adam except I see his picture and I would know what he looks like.
If our country got along with Russia, that would be a great thing. When Putin goes out and tells everybody -- and you talk about a relationship, but he says Donald Trump is going to win and Donald Trump is a genius, and then I have people saying you should disavow. I said, I'm going to disavow that? ... If we can have a good relationship with Russia and if Russia would help us get rid of ISIS, frankly, as far as I'm concerned, you're talking about tremendous amounts of money and lives and everything else, that would be a positive thing, not a negative thing.
NATO is going to be just fine. But NATO countries -- we have 28 countries -- many of them are taking advantage of us because they're not paying. So we're protecting these countries and they're not paying. ... I'm all in favor of NATO. I said NATO is obsolete. I was asked a question by one of your competitors and I said NATO is obsolete, because it's not taking care of terror.
The people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were. And you have to look at that, also. Now, that was under -- just so you understand, that was done under Obama's administration. And as far as the Ukraine is concerned, it's a mess. And that's under the Obama's administration, with his strong ties to NATO. So with all of these strong ties to NATO, Ukraine is a mess. Crimea has been taken. Don't blame Donald Trump for that.
No debts. I have very little debt to anybody. I don't need debt. You know, it's very interesting, I'm so liquid, I don't need debt. And if I need debt, if I want debt, I can get it from banks in New York City very easily.
If you want to get a television today -- I buy thousands of television sets. If I want a television, I would love the buy American-made televisions like they used to have where they had GE and Sylvania and all of the different. Today, it's Samsung, it's LG, it's Sony. We don't make televisions anymore.
When I do ties, I bid them out. And I go all over the place. You have companies over in different countries where they devalue their currency and they make it impossible for American companies to compete. The hat, Make America Great Again. I fought like crazy to find a company in this country that could make the hats. And I found one. And they're American-made, but it's -- because I knew the first thing people would do is, where is the hat made. OK, Make America Great.
He (Khizr M. Khan) was, you know, very emotional and probably looked like a nice guy to me. His wife, if you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say. She probably, maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything to say. You tell me. But plenty of people have written that. She was extremely quiet. And it looked like she had nothing to say. A lot of people have said that. And personally, I watched him. I wish him the best of luck.
I'd say we've had a lot of problems with radical Islamic terrorism. That's what I'd say. We have a lot of problems. ... I'd say you’ve got to take a look at that, because something is going on. And it's not good.
Well, that sounds - who wrote that? Did Hillary's scriptwriters write it? Because everybody that went out there, we also had John Allen who failed with ISIS. I mean, he was a general, Allen, General Allen. He went out. And he was ranting and raving. And then I read a report. He was in there for a number of months. And he failed with ISIS.
The generals aren't doing so well right now. Now, I have a feeling it may be Obama's fault. But if you look at ISIS… General MacArthur and General Patton, they're spinning in their graves. The generals certainly aren't doing very well right now.
I think I've made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. I've created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures. I've done, I've had tremendous success. I think I've done a lot. ... I think they're sacrifices. I think when I can employ thousands and thousands of people, take care of their education, take care of so many things, even in military. I mean, I was very responsible, along with a group of people, for getting the Vietnam Memorial built in downtown Manhattan, which to this day people thank me for.
I raised, and I have raised, millions of dollars for the vets. I'm helping the vets a lot. I think my popularity with the vets is through the roof, far greater than hers. She's done nothing. All she's done is tell everybody that the vets are in good shape. They're fine. And they're not fine. People are waiting on line for seven days to see a doctor. She thinks it's fine.
Our country's a mess. And that's why when she makes the speech, she doesn't talk about radical Islam. She doesn't talk about the problems that we have in this country and throughout the world. Many of the problems, she caused. I mean, she created ISIS with her stupidity and her lack of knowledge with her bad judgment.

Speech about the Orlando Shooting (June 13, 2016)

Speech after the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting (transcript)

So many people — it’s just hard to believe, but just so many people dead, so many people gravely injured, so much carnage, such a disgrace. The horror is beyond description. The families of these wonderful people are totally devastated, and they will be forever. Likewise, our whole nation and indeed the whole world is devastated.

Our nation stands together in solidarity with the members of Orlando’s LGBT community. They have been through something that nobody could ever experience. This is a very dark moment in America’s history. A radical Islamic terrorist targeted the nightclub, not only because he wanted to kill Americans, but in order to execute gay and lesbian citizens, because of their sexual orientation.

It’s a strike at the heart and soul of who we are as a nation. It’s an assault on the ability of free people to live their lives, love who they want, and express their identity. It’s an attack on the right of every single American to live in peace and safety in their own country.

We’re not acting clearly, we’re not talking clearly, we’ve got problems.

We have a dysfunctional immigration system, which does not permit us to know who we let into our country, and it does not permit us to protect our citizens properly. We have an incompetent administration.

The immigration laws of the United States give the president powers to suspend entry into the country of any class of persons. Now, any class — it really is determined and to be determined by the president for the interests of the United States. And it’s as he or she deems appropriate. Hopefully it’s he in this case.

When I’m elected I will suspend immigration from areas of the world where there’s a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe or our allies until we fully understand how to end these threats. ... After a full and partial and long — really long overdue security assessment we will develop a responsible immigration policy that serves the interests and values of America.

We cannot continue to allow thousands upon thousands of people to pour into our country many of whom have the same thought process as this savage killer. Many of the principles of radical Islam are incompatible with Western values and institutions. Remember this, radical Islam is anti-woman, anti-gay and anti- American. I refuse to allow America to become a place where gay people, Christian people, Jewish people are targets of persecution and intimation by radical Islamic preachers of hate and violence. This is not just a national security issue. It’s a quality of life issue. If we want to protect the quality of life for all Americans — women and children, gay and straight, Jews and Christians and all people then we need to tell the truth about radical Islam and we need to do it now. We need to tell the truth also about how radical Islam is coming to our shores. And it’s coming.

We’re importing radical Islamic terrorism into the West through a failed immigration system and through an intelligence community held back by our president.

They share these oppressive views and values. We want to remain a free and open society. Then, and if we do, then we have to control our borders. We have to control, and we have to control them now, not later. Right now.

Hillary Clinton, for months, and despite so many attacks, repeatedly refused to even say the words radical Islam until I challenged her yesterday. And, guess what, she will probably say them. She sort of has said them, but let’s see what happens. She really has no choice, but she doesn’t want to. However, she’s really been forced, and she has been forced to say these words. She supports, and the reason is, she supports so much of what is wrong, and what is wrong with this country, and what’s going wrong with our country and our borders. She has no clue, in my opinion, what radical Islam is and she won’t speak honestly about it if she does, in fact, know. She’s in total denial, and her continuing reluctance to ever name the enemy broadcasts weakness across the entire world — true weakness.

She says the solution is to ban guns. They tried that in France which has among the toughest gun laws anywhere in the world, and 130 people were brutally murdered by Islamic terrorists in cold blood. Her plan is to disarm law abiding Americans, abolishing the Second Amendment, and leaving only the bad guys and terrorists with guns. No good. Not going to happen, folks. ... She wants to take away American’s guns and then admit the very people who want to slaughter us. Let them come into the country, we don’t have guns. Let them come in, let them have all the fun they want.

Hillary Clinton’s catastrophic immigration plan will bring vastly more radical Islamic immigration into this country, threatening not only our society but our entire way of life. When it comes to radical Islamic terrorism, ignorance is not bliss. It’s deadly — totally deadly. ... Clinton’s State Department was in charge of admissions and the admissions process for people applying to enter from overseas. Having learned nothing from these attacks, she now plans to massively increase admissions without a screening plan including a 500 percent increase in Syrian refugees coming into our country. Tell me, tell me – how stupid is that? This could be a better, bigger, more horrible version than the legendary Trojan Horse ever was. Altogether, under the Clinton plan, you’d be admitting hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Middle East with no system to vet them, or to prevent the radicalization of the children and their children. Not only their children, by the way, they’re trying to take over our children and convince them how wonderful ISIS is and how wonderful Islam is and we don’t know what’s happening. The burden is on Hillary Clinton to tell us why she believes immigration from these dangerous countries should be increased without any effective system to really to screen. We’re not screening people.

We have, just, no intelligence gathering information. We need this information so badly. ... We need an intelligence gathering system second to none. Second to none. That includes better cooperation between state, local and federal officials, and with our allies, very importantly. I will have an Attorney General, a Director of National Intelligence and a Secretary of Defense who’ll know how to fight a war on radical Islamic terrorism.

They have put political correctness above common sense, above your safety, and above all else. I refuse to be politically correct.

The days of deadly ignorance will end, and they will end soon.

The media talks about home grown terrorism but Islamic radicalism and that’s a very, very important term — a term that the president refuses to use and the networks that nurture it are imports from overseas whether you like it or whether you don’t like it. Yes, there are many radicalized people already inside our country as a result of poor policies of the past.

Hillary Clinton can never claim to be a friend of the gay community as long as she continues to support immigration policies that bring Islamic extremists to our country and who suppress women, gays and anyone who doesn’t share their views or values.

Clinton wants to allow radical Islamic terrorists to pour into our country. They enslave women, and they murder gays. I don’t want them in our country.

Immigration is a privilege, and we should not let anyone into this country who doesn’t support our communities. All of our communities, every single one of them.

I want every American to succeed including Muslims. But the Muslims have to work with us. They have to work with us. They know what’s going on. They know that he was bad. They knew the people in San Bernardino were bad. But you know what? They didn’t turn them in. And you know what? We had death, and destruction.

Hillary Clinton wants to empty out the Treasury to bring people into the country that include individuals who preach hate against our citizens. I want to protect our citizens, all of our citizens.

America must do more — much more — to protect its citizens, especially people who are potential victims of crimes based on their backgrounds or sexual orientation, as you just saw in Orlando.

The decision to overthrow the regime in Libya, then pushing for the overthrow of the regime in Syria, among other things, without plans for the day after, have created space for ISIS to expand and grow like nobody has ever seen before. These actions, along with our disastrous Iran deal, have also reduced our ability to work in partnership with our Muslim allies in the region. That is why our new goal must be to defeat Islamic terrorism not nation building. No more nation building. It’s never going to work.

The last major NATO mission was Hillary Clinton’s war in Libya. That mission helped to unleash ISIS on a new continent.

America must unite the whole civilized world in the fight against Islamic terrorism. Pretty much like we did with communism during the Cold War. We tried it President Obama’s way, doesn’t work. He gave the world his apology tour. We got ISIS and many other problems in return. That’s what we got. Remember the famous apology tour. We’re sorry for everything.

Speech at rally in Wilmington, North Carolina (August 9, 2016)

Speech at rally in Wilmington, North Carolina. Transcript (August 9, 2016)

I’m the messenger, but I’ll tell you what, the message is the right message.

$400 million in all cash, anybody know what that looks like? That’s a lot of cash. That’s a lot of case. And honestly, it’s so sad. Think of it, going to Iran, a terrorist state. Now I happen to think they have plenty of money, we’ve given then $150 billion, so the $400 million is just, you know – I happen to think it goes into their accounts in Switzerland personally. Now, a lot of people say, “no, no, it’s used for terror,” and they use it for terror because it’s the number one terror funder – not even close. But I also think that when you have $400 million in cash, different denominations, do you see the size of this? I guess they did release the pictures after all. They released pictures. ... Obama said that he did it because we don’t have a working account with Iran. Do you believe that? How long does it take to set up an account? Right? You don’t have a working account, you set up an account, right?

What’s going on in this country is insane. And we have people running our country that don’t know what they’re doing, they’re grossly incompetent, and it’s time. We have to make change, real change. Not Obama change, we have to make change.

We get Bergdahl who was a traitor, and they get five of the greatest killers that they’ve wanted for eight years. We get Bergdahl — I call it the five for one trade. For the Iran deal, where we get nothing, we get nothing. They get ultimately, they have the path, beautiful path, they’ll get way, way earlier than that. They’ll get nuclear weapons, so if you get Trump you’re going to see a lot of changes to that deal. That’ll happen fast.

Remember Obamacare, “you’re going to keep your doctor, you’re going to keep your plan, over and over again, you’re going to keep your doctor.” It was a lie. And in fact, if he didn’t make the lie, he would have never gotten it approved because most Democrats, many of the Democrats didn’t want to do it. It was only that, that got them to sign it and to approve it. And it was a lie.

America first. We get a little tired of these deals where they actually put, and you know why, because of lobbyists and special interests and people representing and people wanting it to happen. It’s just not that they want other countries to benefit over us. There are reasons for it and you know, when I raise money, and I’m putting up a lot of money for my own campaign, I’m funding me. And I’m raising for the Republican party. And we’re getting a lot of money from the small donors.

Those cameras are not going on the move unless we have a protester. If we had a protester that’s the only time they move because they’re showing something that in their mind is a bad thing, so then they move. But I like that, I’ve always liked my protesters because the cameras show these massive crowds and people say wow, was that a big crowd.

She (Hillary Clinton) lacks judgment, she lacks temperament and I’m the one that used unfit many, many months ago. And now they’ve turned it around, use it on me, unfit? I’m unfit? That’s — that’s a first. But she lacks the temperament and the moral character to lead this country, its very simple. She really does. She’s a dangerous person who doesn’t tell the truth which has been proven very loudly. I’ve never seen a — I don’t think we’ve ever had greater proof of that, of anybody. And she has disregarded the lives of Americans — you see what’s happening — with what she has done with her server? And you know why she did that. So, I just look at this, and I said that if she gets elected, she will cause the destruction of this country from within. Remember that. ... She is disdainful of the rules set for everyone else and she hasn’t changed a bit. This is — that was the good thing. I couldn’t say the bad things. It was too much. Nobody would even — nobody would even believe it. You’ve got to see this book. Nobody would believe because it’s so terrible, so terrible. And she comes across like this woman — nice, easy — but she’s not. And — and she’s — listen — she’s not a leader, not a leader. And she is a liar.

France isn’t France anymore. We’re not going. And so many people are saying that. Look at what’s going on with Germany. Look at what’s happening with Germany. Look at the crime; look at the problems. We have enough problems in our country right now. We don’t need additional problems, folks. We don’t need additional problems. And for all we know, this could be the great Trojan Horse. This could be. We don’t know who these people are. ... We have to get smart, folks. We don’t need the problems — and we’ve already got those problems, just so you understand. Because they’re coming into the country, they’re being put where nobody even knows where they are. It’s like, if I were the enemy, I would say, I can’t believe they’re that stupid. They’re taking my people and they’re putting them all over the place, because you have great military right here.

33,000 e-mails are missing. And she’s so guilty. She’s so guilty.

Could you imagine if I said that “I short circuited”? They would be calling for my execution, — electric chair. They’d bring back the electric chair. It would be a whole different ball game if I said it, believe me.

Obama-Clinton economic policies have produced 1.2 percent economic growth, the weakest so-called recovery since the Great Depression. Now, this is, like, unbelievable — 1.2. Do you know China goes to 7 percent or 8 percent, it’s like a national catastrophe. Now, what they do is they cut their currency. They devalue their currency, and big league, and then all of our businesses continue to be drained out of the United States. Our money, our jobs. They make our product, they sell our product to us. No tax, no nothing, you devalue — see devaluing is sort of cheating.

I see the carnage that NAFTA has caused, I see the carnage. It’s been horrible. ... It’s a suicidal pact for our country. And you know I’ve watched for years.

I like Mexico. And I respect the leaders of Mexico because they’re much smarter, they’re much street smarter, but they’re much smarter and more cunning than our leaders. But you have to see what’s going on.

I can’t believe I’m saying I’m a politician.

The Bernie ones were — they had a lot more spirit. I think we’re going to get a lot of Bernie voters, if you want to know the truth. Because they do understand that trade is killing us. Trade.

The national debt has doubled. And you know the bad part about that? You think if the national debt has doubled, our infrastructure would be great, our country would be in great shape. We’d have beautiful roads, beautiful highways. You see where like 50 percent of the bridges are in danger in this country. And the roadways are a mess.

We have great people. We have the most loyal people. We have the smartest people. You know, so many of my people, they’re so smart. They like to say, well, Trump, I don’t know if he’s got this right — let me tell you, we have the smartest people. We have the people that are the smartest, and the strongest, and the best and the hardest working. We have the smartest people. We’ll put I.Q.s among — some of us, we couldn’t say all of us, right — against any I.Q.s that we — we have to deal with, that I can tell you. I would love to do that.

Today, homeownership is at its lowest rate in 51 years. ... Lowest that its been in so many years, 51 years. Nearly 12 million people and more Americans are dependent on food stamps and 2 million more Latino Americans live in poverty under Obama and Clinton — under Obama; because Clinton’s just gonna carry on.

Hillary wants to raise taxes. It’s a comparison. I want to lower them.

If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don’t know. But — but I’ll tell you what. That will be a horrible day. If — if Hillary gets to put her judges — right now, we’re tied. You see what’s going on.

Hillary essentially wants to abolish the Second Amendment.

Hillary and President Obama refused to use the term radical Islamic terrorism. Big problem. Big problem. Hillary wants to release violent criminals and criminal offenders from prison, that’s wonderful, enjoy yourselves. I want to work with our police. Our police are so incredible, they’re not getting the respect they deserve.

We have to respect and cherish our police.

We’re fighting a political correct war. It’s a political correct war. I mean, you know what’s going on. You know what’s going on. These are people that chop off heads. These are people that, in steel cages, drop steel cages into the waters and drowned large numbers of people. These are people that buried people in the sand. We’ve got to knock them out. I was against the war in Iraq. We shouldn’t have been to the war in Iraq. It destabilized the Middle East and I said that was going to happen. But we shouldn’t have gotten out the way we got out. The way we got out was insane. And Obama gave a date, and he — and that’s how ISIS happened, folks. Hence, the birth of ISIS.

If I’m ISIS, I call her (Hillary Clinton) up and I give her the most valuable player award. ... And I guarantee you with Libya, which was her baby, and all of the other mistakes she has made. Obama takes now, because obviously, for him, that’s the better alternative, all right? But he has been an incompetent president. He has done a horrible job.

Speech in Jackson, Mississippi (August 24, 2016)

Speech in Jackson, Mississippi. As quoted by CBS and The Hindu [21][22] (August 24, 2016)

Hillary Clinton is a bigot who sees people of color only as votes, not as human beings worthy of a better future. She’s going to do nothing for African-Americans. She’s going to do nothing for the Hispanics. She’s only going to take care of herself, her consultants, her donors, these are the people she cares about. She doesn’t care what her policies have done to your communities. She doesn’t care. Remember this, you’ve had her policies — Democrats running some of the inner cities for 50, 70, 80, even over 100 years. And look what you have right now: poverty, no education, crime, you can’t walk down the street with your child. We’re going to fix it. Hillary Clinton has no remorse. I will fight to create a better future for every American.
Eight years of Obama-Clinton policies have sacrificed our safety and undermined our freedom and independence. ... The Obama-Clinton foreign policy has unleashed ISIS, destabilised the Middle East and put the nation of Iran — which chants Death to America — in a dominant position of regional power and, in fact, aspiring to be a dominant world power.
Our jobs have moved overseas, Islamic terrorism has spread within our shores and an open border has crushed low-income workers and threatened our security. The issues we face here in America are similar to the issues faced in Britain during their referendum on membership in the EU. This is the movement known as Brexit
Hillary wants to surrender America to globalism. She wants a country without borders. She wants trade deals written for the benefit of foreign corporations. She wants a government that ignores the will of the people. She wants to sell out American security to the Clinton Foundation for a pile of cash. It is hard to tell where the Clinton Foundation ends and the State Department begins. ... Hillary Clinton has betrayed her duty to the people.
The job of a public official is to serve and protect the citizens of the United States. Not illegal immigrants, not foreign nationals seeking entry, but the people living here lawfully today — including millions of African-American and Hispanic citizens.
I will fight for their security, I will fight for their jobs, I will fight for their families. One American Nation.
It’s time for America to recapture its destiny. Our government, our leaders, and our media have lost touch with the people. You need no better evidence of that than the fact that the media ignores the plight of Americans who have lost their children to illegal immigrants, but spends day after day pushing for amnesty for those here in violation of the law.
This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction, terrorism and weakness. But Hillary Clinton’s legacy doesn’t have to be America’s legacy.
I have a message for the terrorists trying to kill our citizens: we will find you, we will destroy you, and we will win. This is not only a military fight, but we will also require cyberwarfare and financial warfare. It is also an ideological fight. We will confront directly the hateful ideology of Radical Islam — and promote American values, and American culture, and America’s system of government.

First presidential debate (September 26, 2016)

Transcript, Washington Post

Our jobs are fleeing the country. They're going to Mexico. They're going to many other countries. You look at what China is doing to our country in terms of making our product. They're devaluing their currency, and there's nobody in our government to fight them. And we have a very good fight. And we have a winning fight. Because they're using our country as a piggy bank to rebuild China, and many other countries are doing the same thing. ... We have to stop our jobs from being stolen from us. We have to stop our companies from leaving the United States and, with it, firing all of their people. ... We cannot let it happen. Under my plan, I'll be reducing taxes tremendously, from 35 percent to 15 percent for companies, small and big businesses. That's going to be a job creator like we haven't seen since Ronald Reagan. It's going to be a beautiful thing to watch. Companies will come. They will build. They will expand. New companies will start. And I look very, very much forward to doing it. We have to renegotiate our trade deals, and we have to stop these countries from stealing our companies and our jobs.

Our country's in deep trouble. We don't know what we're doing when it comes to devaluations and all of these countries all over the world, especially China. They're the best, the best ever at it. What they're doing to us is a very, very sad thing.

But in all fairness to Secretary Clinton, when she started talking about this, it was really very recently. She's been doing this for 30 years. And why hasn't she made the agreements better? The NAFTA agreement is defective. Just because of the tax and many other reasons, but just because of the fact Secretary Clinton and others, politicians, should have been doing this for years, not right now, because of the fact that we've created a movement.

The first thing you do is don't let the jobs leave. The companies are leaving. I could name, I mean, there are thousands of them. They're leaving, and they're leaving in bigger numbers than ever. And what you do is you say, fine, you want to go to Mexico or some other country, good luck. We wish you a lot of luck. But if you think you're going to make your air conditioners or your cars or your cookies or whatever you make and bring them into our country without a tax, you're wrong. And once you say you're going to have to tax them coming in, and our politicians never do this, because they have special interests and the special interests want those companies to leave, because in many cases, they own the companies. So what I'm saying is, we can stop them from leaving. We have to stop them from leaving. And that's a big, big factor.

CLINTON: Donald was one of the people who rooted for the housing crisis. He said, back in 2006, "Gee, I hope it does collapse, because then I can go in and buy some and make some money." Well, it did collapse.

TRUMP: That's called business, by the way.

We invested in a solar company, our country. That was a disaster. They lost plenty of money on that one. Now, look, I'm a great believer in all forms of energy, but we're putting a lot of people out of work. Our energy policies are a disaster. Our country is losing so much in terms of energy, in terms of paying off our debt. You can't do what you're looking to do with $20 trillion in debt. The Obama administration, from the time they've come in, is over 230 years' worth of debt, and he's topped it. He's doubled it in a course of almost eight years, seven-and-a-half years, to be semi- exact.

We have to do a much better job at giving companies incentives to build new companies or to expand, because they're not doing it.

NAFTA is the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere, but certainly ever signed in this country. And now you [Hillary Clinton] want to approve Trans-Pacific Partnership. You were totally in favor of it. Then you heard what I was saying, how bad it is, and you said, I can't win that debate. But you know that if you did win, you would approve that, and that will be almost as bad as NAFTA. Nothing will ever top NAFTA.

You are going to approve one of the biggest tax cuts in history. You are going to approve one of the biggest tax increases in history. You are going to drive business out. Your regulations are a disaster, and you're going to increase regulations all over the place. And by the way, my tax cut is the biggest since Ronald Reagan. I'm very proud of it. It will create tremendous numbers of new jobs. But regulations, you are going to regulate these businesses out of existence. ... The things that business as in people like the most is the fact that I'm cutting regulation. You have regulations on top of regulations, and new companies cannot form and old companies are going out of business. And you want to increase the regulations and make them even worse. I'm going to cut regulations. I'm going to cut taxes big league, and you're going to raise taxes big league, end of story.

She's telling us how to fight ISIS. Just go to her website. She tells you how to fight ISIS on her website. I don't think General Douglas MacArthur would like that too much. ... See, you're telling the enemy everything you want to do. No wonder you've been fighting ISIS your entire adult life.

I'm really calling for major jobs, because the wealthy are going create tremendous jobs. They're going to expand their companies. They're going to do a tremendous job. I'm getting rid of the carried interest provision. And if you really look, it's not a tax -- it's really not a great thing for the wealthy. It's a great thing for the middle class. It's a great thing for companies to expand.

We have the worst revival of an economy since the Great Depression. And believe me: We're in a bubble right now. And the only thing that looks good is the stock market, but if you raise interest rates even a little bit, that's going to come crashing down.

I will release them as soon as the audit. Look, I've been under audit almost for 15 years. I know a lot of wealthy people that have never been audited. I said, do you get audited? I get audited almost every year. And in a way, I should be complaining. I'm not even complaining. I don't mind it. It's almost become a way of life. I get audited by the IRS. But other people don't. I will say this. We have a situation in this country that has to be taken care of. I will release my tax returns -- against my lawyer's wishes -- when she [Hillary Clinton] releases her 33,000 e-mails that have been deleted. As soon as she releases them, I will release.
- About releasing his tax returns.

That makes me smart.
- About that Trump didn't pay federal income taxes.

That was more than a mistake. That was done purposely. OK? That was not a mistake. That was done purposely. When you have your staff taking the Fifth Amendment, taking the Fifth so they're not prosecuted, when you have the man that set up the illegal server taking the Fifth, I think it's disgraceful.
- About Hillary Clinton email controversy

As far as my tax returns, you don't learn that much from tax returns. That I can tell you. You learn a lot from financial disclosure. And you should go down and take a look at that.

I am very underleveraged. I have a great company. I have a tremendous income. And the reason I say that is not in a braggadocios way. It's because it's about time that this country had somebody running it that has an idea about money.

Maybe he didn't do a good job and I was unsatisfied with his work ... On occasion, four times, we used certain laws that are there. And when Secretary Clinton talks about people that didn't get paid, first of all, they did get paid a lot, but taken advantage of the laws of the nation. Now, if you want to change the laws, you've been there a long time, change the laws. But I take advantage of the laws of the nation because I'm running a company. My obligation right now is to do well for myself, my family, my employees, for my companies. And that's what I do. ... She [Hillary Clinton] doesn't say is that tens of thousands of people that are unbelievably happy and that love me.
- About not having paid to some of his employees.

We need law and order. If we don't have it, we're not going to have a country. ... We need law and order in our country.

We have a situation where we have our inner cities, African- Americans, Hispanics are living in hell because it's so dangerous. You walk down the street, you get shot.

Now, whether or not in a place like Chicago you do stop and frisk, which worked very well, Mayor Giuliani is here, worked very well in New York. It brought the crime rate way down. But you take the gun away from criminals that shouldn't be having it. We have gangs roaming the street. And in many cases, they're illegally here, illegal immigrants. And they have guns. And they shoot people. And we have to be very strong. And we have to be very vigilant.

Our police, in many cases, are afraid to do anything. We have to protect our inner cities, because African-American communities are being decimated by crime, decimated.

HOLT: Stop-and-frisk was ruled unconstitutional in New York, because it largely singled out black and Hispanic young men.

TRUMP: No, you're wrong. It went before a judge, who was a very against-police judge. It was taken away from her. And our mayor, our new mayor, refused to go forward with the case. They would have won an appeal. If you look at it, throughout the country, there are many places where it's allowed.

HOLT: The argument is that it's a form of racial profiling.

TRUMP: No, the argument is that we have to take the guns away from these people that have them and they are bad people that shouldn't have them.

You need more police. You need a better community, you know, relation. ... You need better relationships between the communities and the police, because in some cases, it's not good.

So when you [Hillary Clinton] tried to act holier than thou, it really doesn't work. It really doesn't.

We should be better than anybody else, and perhaps we're not. I don't think anybody knows it was Russia that broke into the DNC. She's saying Russia, Russia, Russia, but I don't -- maybe it was. I mean, it could be Russia, but it could also be China. It could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, OK?

We have to get very, very tough on cyber and cyber warfare.

President Obama and Secretary Clinton created a vacuum the way they got out of Iraq, because they got out -- what, they shouldn't have been in, but once they got in, the way they got out was a disaster. And ISIS was formed.

I said it to you once, had we taken the oil -- and we should have taken the oil -- ISIS would not have been able to form either, because the oil was their primary source of income. And now they have the oil all over the place, including the oil -- a lot of the oil in Libya, which was another one of her disasters.

You [Hillary Clinton] look at the Middle East, you started the Iran deal, that's another beauty where you have a country that was ready to fall, I mean, they were doing so badly. They were choking on the sanctions. And now they're going to be actually probably a major power at some point pretty soon, the way they're going.

I think we have to get NATO to go into the Middle East with us, in addition to surrounding nations, and we have to knock the hell out of ISIS, and we have to do it fast, when ISIS formed in this vacuum created by Barack Obama and Secretary Clinton. And believe me, you were the ones that took out the troops. ... When they formed, this is something that never should have happened. It should have never happened. Now, you're talking about taking out ISIS. But you were there, and you were secretary of state when it was a little infant. Now it's in over 30 countries. And you're going to stop them? I don't think so.

I think the best person in her [Clinton's] campaign is mainstream media.

The single greatest problem the world has is nuclear armament, nuclear weapons, not global warming, like you think and your -- your president thinks.

Second presidential debate (October 9, 2016)

Transcript, New York Times

Anderson Cooper: You bragged that you have sexually assaulted women. Do you understand that?
Donald Trump: No, I didn’t say that at all. I don’t think you understood what was — this was locker room talk.

I have great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women than I do.

...if I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your [Hilary Clinton's] situation, because there has never been so many lies, so much deception. There has never been anything like it, and we’re going to have a special prosecutor.

Hillary Clinton: ...it’s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country.
Donald Trump: Because you’d be in jail.

Cooper: Please allow her to respond. She didn’t talk while you talked.
Clinton: Yes, that’s true, I didn’t.
Trump: Because you have nothing to say.

Martha Raddatz: ...you, Secretary Clinton, purportedly say you need both a public and private position on certain issues....
Clinton: As I recall, that was something I said about Abraham Lincoln after having seen the wonderful Steven Spielberg movie ...
Trump: Now she’s blaming the lie on the late, great Abraham Lincoln. That’s one that I haven’t... OK, Honest Abe, Honest Abe never lied. That’s the good thing. That’s the big difference between Abraham Lincoln and you. That’s a big, big difference. We’re talking about some difference.

I know nothing about Russia. I know — I know about Russia, but I know nothing about the inner workings of Russia.

Cooper: Did you use that $916 million loss to avoid paying personal federal income taxes for years?
Trump: Of course I do. Of course I do. And so do all of her donors, or most of her donors. ... I pay tremendous numbers of taxes. I absolutely used it. And so did Warren Buffett and so did George Soros and so did many of the other people that Hillary is getting money from.

...NAFTA, signed by her husband, is perhaps the greatest disaster trade deal in the history of the world.

New York Times Interview (November 23, 2016)

New York Times Interview, Transcript (November 23, 2016)

People are giving up tremendous careers in order to be subject to you folks and subject to a lot of other folks. But they’re giving up a lot. I mean some are giving up tremendous businesses in order to sit for four or maybe eight or whatever the period of time is. But I think we’re going to see some tremendous talent, tremendous talent coming in. We have many people for every job. I mean no matter what the job is, we have many incredible people. I think, Reince, you can sort of just confirm that. The quality of the people is very good. ... We’re trying very hard to get the best people. Not necessarily people that will be the most politically correct people, because that hasn’t been working. So we have really experts in the field. Some are known and some are not known, but they’re known within their field as being the best. That’s very important to me.
I think the popular vote would have been easier in a true sense because you’d go to a few places. I think that’s the genius of the Electoral College. I was never a fan of the Electoral College until now.
What we do want to do is we want to bring the country together, because the country is very, very divided, and that’s one thing I did see, big league. It’s very, very divided, and I’m going to work very hard to bring the country together.
I want to move forward, I don’t want to move back. And I don’t want to hurt the Clintons. I really don’t. She went through a lot. And suffered greatly in many different ways. And I am not looking to hurt them at all. The campaign was vicious. They say it was the most vicious primary and the most vicious campaign. I guess, added together, it was definitely the most vicious; probably, I assume you sold a lot of newspapers. ... It’s just not something that I feel very strongly about. ... I’m not looking to look back and go through this. This was a very painful period. This was a very painful election with all of the email things and all of the foundation things and all of the everything that they went through and the whole country went through. This was a very painful period of time.
- About not prosecuting Hillary Clinton.
Our country’s really in bad, big trouble. We have a lot of trouble. A lot of problems. And one of the big problems, I talk about, divisiveness. I think that a lot of people will appreciate … I’m not doing it for that reason. I’m doing it because it’s time to go in a different direction.
Clean air is vitally important. Clean water, crystal clean water is vitally important. Safety is vitally important.
Sometimes I’ll say I’m actually an environmentalist and people will smile in some cases and other people that know me understand that’s true. Open mind.
We’re not a competitive nation with other nations anymore. We have to make ourselves competitive. We’re not competitive for a lot of reasons. That’s becoming more and more of the reason. Because a lot of these countries that we do business with, they make deals with our president, or whoever, and then they don’t adhere to the deals, you know that. And it’s much less expensive for their companies to produce products. So I’m going to be studying that very hard, and I think I have a very big voice in it. And I think my voice is listened to, especially by people that don’t believe in it. And we’ll let you know.
As far as the, you know, potential conflict of interests, though, I mean I know that from the standpoint, the law is totally on my side, meaning, the president can’t have a conflict of interest. That’s been reported very widely. Despite that, I don’t want there to be a conflict of interest anyway. And the laws, the president can’t. And I understand why the president can’t have a conflict of interest now because everything a president does in some ways is like a conflict of interest.
I don’t care about my company. ... Because it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters to me is running our country.
It’s hard to explain. I don’t care about anything having to do with anything having to do with anything other than the country.
In theory I could run my business perfectly, and then run the country perfectly. And there’s never been a case like this where somebody’s had, like, if you look at other people of wealth, they didn’t have this kind of asset and this kind of wealth, frankly. It’s just a different thing.
I’ve known Steve Bannon a long time. If I thought he was a racist, or alt-right, or any of the things that we can, you know, the terms we can use, I wouldn’t even think about hiring him. First of all, I’m the one that makes the decision, not Steve Bannon or anybody else.
To me more important is taking care of the people that really have proven to be, to love Donald Trump, as opposed to the political people. And frankly if the political people don’t take care of these people, they’re not going to win and you’re going to end up with maybe a total different kind of government than what you’re looking at right now. These people are really angry. They’re smart, they’re workers, and they’re angry. I call them the forgotten men and women. And I use that in speeches, I say they’re the forgotten people — they were totally forgotten.
I would love to be able to be the one that made peace with Israel and the Palestinians. I would love that, that would be such a great achievement. Because nobody’s been able to do it. ... I’ve had a lot of, actually, great Israeli businesspeople tell me, you can’t do that, it’s impossible. I disagree, I think you can make peace. I think people are tired now of being shot, killed. At some point, when do they come? I think we can do that. I have reason to believe I can do that.
The Times is, it’s a great, great American jewel. A world jewel.

Disputed

I have black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day. Those are the kind of people I want counting my money. Nobody else. Besides that, I've got to tell you something else. I think that the guy is lazy. And it's probably not his fault because laziness is a trait in blacks. It really is, I believe that. It's not anything they can control... Don't you agree?
- "Wrongly attributed" to Trump, who said the book with the alleged quote was "written by a fired and totally disgruntled employee who was terrible at the job he did and who I hardly knew." (Washington Examiner, 8 July 2015)
- "Recalled" by John "Jack" O'Donnell, former president of Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino. O'Donnell, John R.; Rutherford, James (1 January 1991), Trumped!: The Inside Story of the Real Donald Trump -His Cunning Rise and Spectacular Fall, New York: Simon & Schuster, ISBN 9780671737351, OCLC 23355814 , cited in "Ignoring Trump's Record of Racism". Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting. 2011-05-06. Retrieved on 2011-05-07. "But did Trump actually utter those words? Who knows?" — Howard Kurtz (May 10, 1991). "Duck, Donald! Trump-Size Tackiness". The Washington Post.
- Donald Trump: "I never said it. I hardly know this guy. He was running one of my casinos for a short period of time. He was fired—we fired him because he wasn't doing a very good job. He wrote this nasty book. He made up stuff... This guy, I hardly know him. He made up this quote. I've heard the quote before, and it's nonsense... I've never said anything like it, ever." – Meet the Press (24 October, 1999)

Misattributed

I have a really high IQ, Phil. I mean, c'mon. It's impossible for me to not be atheist.
- Attributed by photo meme to an appearance on The Phil Donahue Show in 1989. According to Snopes.com, there is no evidence he ever said this, nor that he even appeared on The Phil Donahue Show in 1989.

If I were to run, I'd run as a Republican. They're the dumbest group of voters in the country. They believe anything on Fox News. I could lie and they'd still eat it up. I bet my numbers would be terrific.
- There is no record of Trump ever saying this; sometimes "People magazine, 1998" is incorrectly given as the "source" of this quotation — snopes.com; truthorfiction.com

The harder I work, the luckier I get.
- Originated with Samuel Goldwyn as a paraphrase of a proverb from a collection by Coleman Cox, but similar proverbs have existed since the 16th century. [23]

Life is what you do while you're waiting to die.
- Fred Ebb, Zorba (1968)

Quotes about Trump

Alphabetized by surname.

A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · J · K · L · M · N · O · P · Q · R · S · T · U · V · W · X · Y · Z · See also · External links

File:DavidBrooks.jpg

Donald Trump just has more courage. Whatever you might think of him, and I don’t think much of him, but he has more courage than his opponents. ~ David Brooks

You need to be an outsider to be a change agent. There's only one person who can do that. And that is Donald Trump. ~ Scott Brown

Trump is *sui generis*, unlike any candidate of recent times. And his success is attributable not only to his stance on issues, but to his persona, his defiance of political correctness, his relish of political combat with all comers, his "damn the torpedos" charging in frontally where others refuse to tread... ~ Pat Buchanan

Donald Trump is the last hope for America. ~ Robert Davi

People are looking for somebody who is outspoken and who isn't afraid. And [Trump] seems to have kind of a fearless attitude. ~ Clint Eastwood

File:Düsseldorf, Rosenmontag 2016, politische Karnevalswagen (05).jpg

The stuff [Trump] is saying on immigration, the stuff he saying on torture, the stuff he is saying on war, is absolutely unforgivable ... He is coming out directly against the Statue of Liberty. ~ Penn Jillette

I love Donald, and he would make a great president. Number one, he tells the truth. Number two, he's been where most of these guys want to be, in terms of riding on his own plane... I could give you so many reasons. But most of all, most important I think for Mr. Trump, is he tells it like it is. ~ Wayne Newton

When [Trump] decided to run for president, I know he did it with a true conviction to bring this country back to prosperity. He is the only one who can do it. No frills, no fuss, only candid truths. ~ Jon Voight

The neutrality of this article is disputed.
Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.

A

I agree with Trump that we should reduce immigration, reinforce border controls and keep better track of who is coming into our country.
- Jimmie Åkesson, as quoted in "Sweden Democrats Leader Backs Trump and Brexit, Stating 'Nothing Negative' About Leaving The EU" by Sarkis Zeronian, Breitbart (7 March 2016)

I think it's funny because Donald Trump is kind of in the spirit of old Greek tyrants where they used to vote in a guy that had no encumbrances. So the smartest thing about him, which is probably most overlooked, to me, is that he doesn't owe anybody anything and if he would just stick to fixing the bridges, roads and infrastructures that's what he knows how to do...just keep him doing that.
- Tim Allen, as quoted in "Tim Allen says he leans left, leans right, and ends up 'center right'" by Blanche Johnson, FoxNews.com (13 January 2016)

We support Trump because he is the savior of the White race, sent by God to free us from the shackles of the Jew occupation and establish a 1000 Reich.
- Andrew Anglin, as quoted in "Trump’s Neo-Nazi And Jewish Backers Are Both Convinced He’s Secretly On Their Side" (26 May 2016), by Jessica Schulberg, The Huffington Post

Mr. Trump is a wild card, but he is likely to sign pro-life measures, and he is seeking advice now from the right people to appoint a plausible successor to Justice Scalia. In this Guide for the Perplexed, we may find reason to bite our lips and take the Wild Card over the brutal Sure Thing on the other side.
- Hadley Arkes, "A Guide for the Perplexed", The Catholic Thing (4 May 2016)

My analysis is that Trump would not be permitted to win. Why do I say that? Because he has had every establishment off his side. Trump does not have one establishment, maybe with the exception of the Evangelicals, if you can call them an establishment. Banks, intelligence, arms companies, foreign money, etc. are all united behind Hillary Clinton. And the media as well. Media owners, and the journalists themselves.
- Julian Assange, interview with John Pilger; "Assange: Clinton & ISIS funded by same money, Trump won't be allowed to win", RT.com (4 November 2016)

There is no greater sacrifice than to lay down one's life for their country, and that's the sacrifice that Captain Humayum Khan made fighting to defend our freedom and our constitutional rights. He was a true American hero. The Khan family deserves nothing less than our deepest support, respect, and gratitude, and they have every right to express themselves in any way they choose. I am appalled that Donald Trump would disparage them and that he had the gall to compare his own sacrifices to those of a Gold Star family.
- Kelly Ayotte, statement regarding Donald Trump's comments about Khizr and Ghazala Khan [24] (July 31, 2016)

B

Attached hereto is a copy of Mr. Trump’s birth certificate, demonstrating that he is the son of Fred Trump, not an orangutan.
- Scott Balber, Donald Trump's lawyer, to comedian Bill Maher (2013), in response to Maher's facetious assertion that he'd pay Trump $5 million dollars upon release of Trump's birth certificate to prove he was not sired by an orangutan. [25] [26]

Viewed through any conventional lens, President-elect Donald Trump’s candidacy was improbable from start to finish. Today, two things about his victory seem to be in sharper focus: one, that Trump’s victory might best be understood as the success of the country’s first independent president, and second, that the Trump coalition may be even more uniquely his than President Obama’s has turned out to be.
- Dan Balz, Donald Trump, America’s first independent president (November 19, 2016)

Trump owes his success in part to the fact that he ran for president in an environment that favored change over the status quo. But his luck or genius goes beyond that. It has long been noted that the conditions have existed for an independent candidate to run a serious campaign for president.
- Dan Balz, Donald Trump, America’s first independent president (November 19, 2016)

Trump took the elements of an independent candidacy — the lack of clear ideology, the name recognition of a national celebrity and the personal fortune needed to fund a presidential campaign — and then did what no one seemed to have thought of before. He staged a hostile takeover of an existing major party. He had the best of both worlds, an outsider candidacy with crosscutting ideological appeal and the platform of a major party to wage the general election. By the time he had finished, he had taken down two political dynasties: the Bush dynasty in the primaries and the Clinton dynasty in the general election.
- Dan Balz, Donald Trump, America’s first independent president (November 19, 2016)

Donald Trump's voice is resonating with average Americans who feel their voice has been lost by their party. I believe this will become a new Republican Party, one that we should embrace. We should be the party of working men and women, the party of America first.
- Lou Barletta, as quoted in "Lou Barletta, an immigration hard-liner in Congress, endorses Trump" by Robert Costa, The Washington Post (22 March 2016)

Mr Khan, shame on you & #CrookedHillary (Hillary Clinton) for not being truthful to all in attacks at @realDonaldTrump (Donald Trump).
- Al Baldasaro, Twitter, August 1, 2016

As Democrats jeer that Trump has merely laid bare the true soul of the GOP, some Republicans wonder, with considerable anguish, whether they’re right.
- Molly Ball, Can the Republican Party Survive Trump?, The Atlantic (August 24, 2015)

When conservatives desperately needed allies in the fight against big government, Donald Trump didn't stand on the sidelines. He consistently advocated that your money be spent, that your government grow, and that your Constitution be ignored... Trump’s potential primary victory would provide Hillary Clinton with the easiest imaginable path to the White House. But it’s far worse than that. If Donald Trump wins the Republican nomination, there will once again be no opposition to an ever-expanding government. This is a crisis for conservatism. And, once again, this crisis will not go to waste.
- Glenn Beck, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review

Donald Trump, I really truly believe is a very dangerous man. If you listen to the things he said this weekend... 'I could go onto Fifth Avenue and shoot people and I wouldn't lose a vote'. He has joked about killing reporters — and 'not' killing reporters like Putin does... We don't change with the mood of the country. That is the problem with our country right now. The Constitution is to anchor us in principles that help temper the mood of the country... The mood of the country is very angry, but you never make a good decision when you are angry... The worst thing we can do is to now start looking at, who is going to get revenge? One of the things that Donald Trump does, when you have a guy who is angry and then has an enemies list and starts to just take people down over and over and over again — if you disagree with him, he destroys you. If that is the mood of the country, we are in more trouble than I thought.
- Glenn Beck, interview on New Day (January 2016), CNN, Georgia: Cable News Network

In an age of pussified political correctness, you have to respect the people who remain unfiltered.
- Dan Bilzerian, as quoted in "'King of Instagram' praises 'unfiltered' Trump" by Jesse Byrnes, The Hill (16 December 2015)

...it is merely Marxist drivel to think that employers have more power than employees (tell that to Michael Jordan and Jerry Reinsdorf) or landlords than tenants (tell that to the landlord of Bill Gates or Donald Trump).
- Walter E. Block, The Case for Discrimination (2010, Ludwig von Mises Institute) p. 404

Americans think it would be better to have a businessman than a politician as president, and I sympathize with them. Alas, the only businessmen crazy enough to run for president seem to be, well, crazy. At least Ross Perot kept his craziness confined mostly to private matters, such as the looming disruption of his daughter’s wedding. Donald Trump puts it front and center. From a libertarian point of view, and I think serious conservatives and liberals would share this view, Trump's greatest offenses against American tradition and our founding principles are his nativism and his promise of one-man rule. Not since George Wallace has there been a presidential candidate who made racial and religious scapegoating so central to his campaign. Trump launched his campaign talking about Mexican rapists and has gone on to rant about mass deportation, bans on Muslim immigration, shutting down mosques, and building a wall around America. America is an exceptional nation in large part because we’ve aspired to rise above such prejudices and guarantee life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to everyone.
- David Boaz, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review

Where Washington and New York-based GOP leaders pledge outreach to immigrants, moderate Muslims and other minorities, the reality TV star plays more overt racial politics than any national candidate since George Wallace. Trump's brand of nativist, nationalist isolationism marked the path to victory.
- Igor Bobic and Ryan Grim, "What Donald Trump's Win In South Carolina Says About The Republican Party" (20 February 2016), The Huffington Post.

Trump is a fascist. And that’s not a term I use loosely or often. But he’s earned it.
- Max Boot, Twitter (2015)

Republican Party is dead. ... It has been killed by Donald Trump.
Trump is an ignorant demagogue who traffics in racist and misogynistic slurs and crazy conspiracy theories. He champions protectionism and isolationism — the policies that brought us the Great Depression and World War II. He wants to undertake a police-state roundup of undocumented immigrants and to bar Muslims from coming to this country. He encourages his followers to assault protesters and threatens to sue or smear critics. He would abandon Japan and South Korea and break up the most successful alliance in history — NATO. But he has kind words for tyrants such as Vladimir Putin. There has never been a major party nominee in U.S. history as unqualified for the presidency. The risk of Trump winning, however remote, represents the biggest national security threat that the United States faces today.
I only know one thing for sure: I won't vote for Trump. My hope is that he will lose by a landslide, and the Republican Party will come to its senses, rejecting both his ugly, nativist populism and the extreme, holier-than-thou conservatism represented by Ted Cruz.
- Max Boot The Republican Party is dead. Los Angeles Times (May 8, 2016).

If an unapologetic ignoramus wins the presidency, the consequences will be no laughing matter.
Donald J. Trump, a presidential candidate who truly is the know-nothing his Republican predecessors only pretended to be. ... It is genuinely terrifying that someone who advances such offensive and ridiculous proposals could win the nomination of a party once led by Teddy Roosevelt, who wrote more books than Mr. Trump has probably read. It’s one thing to appeal to voters by pretending to be an average guy. It’s another to be an average guy who doesn’t know the first thing about governing or public policy. The Trump acolytes claim it doesn’t matter; he can hire experts to advise him. But experts always disagree with one another and it is the president alone who must make the most difficult decisions in the world. That’s not something he can do since he lacks the most basic grounding in the issues and is prey to fundamental misconceptions.
- Max Boot How the ‘Stupid Party’ Created Trump. The New York Times (August 2, 2016).

As media scramble to figure out Trump's evolving position on immigration, remember he cares *only* about feeding his ego. Policy irrelevant.
- Max Boot, Twitter, August 20, 2016

The GOP base is clearly disgusted and looking for new leadership. Enter Donald Trump, not just with policy prescriptions that challenge the cynical GOP leadership but with an attitude of disdain for that leadership—precisely in line with the sentiment of the base. Many conservatives are relishing this, but ah, the rub. Trump might be the greatest charlatan of them all.
- L. Brent Bozell III, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review

Donald Trump betrays. It can start with Trump University, where Trump betrayed schoolteachers and others who dreamed of building a better life for themselves.
- David Brooks, "Donald Trump, the Great Betrayer" (4 March 2016), The New York Times

Donald Trump just has more courage. Whatever you might think of him, and I don’t think much of him, but he has more courage than his opponents... He's a marketing genius who offers no substance. And people either got pushed into subprime loans by Trump Mortgage, or they got suckered into racking up huge credit card debt to buy courses on Trump University, and they were left high and dry when those things went belly up. And so that’s a story that I think can be told. In a country which is feeling betrayed, he is a mass and serial betrayer... Given the numbers now, it’s very hard to see he could win, given the huge numbers of Americans, the vast majority of Americans who say they could not support the guy. And I still find it hard to believe that somebody as policy-thin and as knowledge-thin would very well — he might be able to wear well with the electorate that we have.
- David Brooks, as quoted in "Shields and Brooks on the GOP push to stop Trump" (4 March 2016), PBS NewsHour

Are we really here? Is this really happening? Is this America? Are we a great country talking about trying to straddle the world and create opportunity in this country? It's just mind-boggling. And we have sort of become acculturated, because this campaign has been so ugly. We have become acculturated to sleaze and unhappiness that you just want to shower from every 15 minutes. The Trump comparison of the looks of the wives, he does have, over the course of his life, a consistent misogynistic view of women as arm candy, as pieces of meat. It’s a consistent attitude toward women which is the stuff of a diseased adolescent. And so we have seen a bit of that show up again. But if you go back over his past, calling into radio shows bragging about his affairs, talking about his sex life in public, he is childish in his immaturity. And his — even his misogyny is a childish misogyny. And that’s why I do not think Republicans, standard Republicans, can say, yes, I’m going to vote for this guy because he’s our nominee. He’s of a different order than your normal candidate. And this whole week is just another reminder of that... The odd thing about his whole career and his whole language, his whole world view is there is no room for love in it. You get a sense of a man who received no love, can give no love, so his relationship with women, it has no love in it. It’s trophy. And his relationship toward the world is one of competition and beating, and as if he’s going to win by competition what other people get by love. And so you really are seeing someone who just has an odd psychology unleavened by kindness and charity, but where it’s all winners and losers, beating and being beat. And that’s part of the authoritarian personality, but it comes out in his attitude towards women.
- David Brooks, as quoted in "Shields and Brooks on Trump-Cruz wife feud, ISIS terror in Brussels" (25 March 2016), PBS NewsHour

You need to be an outsider to be a change agent. There's only one person who can do that. And that is Donald Trump.
- Scott Brown endorsing Donald Trump, as quoted in "Brown: Trump is the ‘agent of change’ to fix Washington" by Elliot Smilowitz, The Hill (2 February 2016)

Trump is sui generis, unlike any candidate of recent times. And his success is attributable not only to his stance on issues, but to his persona, his defiance of political correctness, his relish of political combat with all comers, his "damn the torpedos" charging in frontally where others refuse to tread...
- Pat Buchanan — "Pat Buchanan says Donald Trump is the future of the Republican Party", The Washington Post (12 January 2016)

I do not support Trump, and believe he would be a disastrous president and commander in chief.
- Brent Budowsky, Why Libertarian Gary Johnson must be included in debates, The Hill (August 11, 2016)

Trump has no coherent organizing economic philosophy, spent decades acting like and supporting traditional liberal Democrats, has repeatedly shifted his positions on major issues and has little more trust from economists than he has earned among the general electorate.
Trump is that he is a crony capitalist, who now states that he supported the Clintons and other liberals with donations for so long because he wanted to obtain influence with them while they were in power. He has led several businesses to bankruptcy. He has called himself the "king of debt," a description that Johnson or Paul and other leading libertarians would never use to describe themselves. ... The viewpoints offered by Trump seem to change like the leaves that change their colors when summer gives way to fall. ... Can anyone suggest we know what Trump will believe tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow?
- Brent Budowsky, Why Libertarian Gary Johnson must be included in debates, The Hill (August 11, 2016)

And we, all of us, the Jews, helped them get there.
- Bradley Burston, Trump's Win, the Greatest Victory for anti-Semitism in America Since 1941, Haaretz (10-11-2016)

Whatever his views are this morning, they might change this afternoon, and they were different than they were last night, and they’ll be different tomorrow. ... They seem to be ever, ever-changing, depending on what crowd he’s in front of. Sounds like a typical politician, by the way, where you get in front of one crowd and say one thing, and then say something else to another crowd that may want to hear a different view. All the things that Donald Trump railed against, he seems to be morphing into — it’s kind of disturbing. ... He doesn’t believe in things, this is all a game.
- Jeb Bush, about Trump's views — Jeb Bush Says He’s Not Buying The Trump Immigration Shift, BuzzFeed (August 25, 2016)

C

Hillary is stealing America, whereas Donald Trump is trying to save our society.
- Herman Cain, on "Hannity" (29 July 2016) transcript

If this guy pretends that closing the borders to anywhere either for trade (or) for people is going to provide prosperity to the United States, he is completely crazy... He is not very well informed.
- Felipe Calderón, interview with CNBC (6 February 2016).

If he came to visit our country, I think he would unite us all against him.
- David Cameron, as quoted in "Donald Trump debate: Could UK really ban him?" (18 January 2016), by Max Foster, CNN, Georgia: Cable News Network

I've come to know Donald Trump, he is actually a very intelligent man who cares deeply about America.
- Ben Carson endorsing Donald Trump, as quoted in "'He is actually a very intelligent man'; Former candidate Ben Carson endorses Donald Trump" by Alain Tolhurst, The Sun (11 March 2016)

The myriad vulgarities of Donald Trump—examples of which are retailed daily on Web sites and front pages these days—are not news to those of us who have been living downwind of him for any period of time. I first encountered Trump more than 30 years ago. Back then he was a flashy go-getter from an outer borough eager to make his name in Manhattan real estate. Which he succeeded in doing in the only way he knew how: by putting his name in oversize type on anything he was associated with—buildings, yes, but also vodka, golf courses, starchy ties, and even a sham of a real-estate school... Just to drive him a little bit crazy, I took to referring to him as a "short-fingered vulgarian" in the pages of Spy magazine. That was more than a quarter of a century ago. To this day, I receive the occasional envelope from Trump. There is always a photo of him—generally a tear sheet from a magazine. On all of them he has circled his hand in gold Sharpie in a valiant effort to highlight the length of his fingers.
- Graydon Carter, "Why Donald Trump Will Always Be a "Short-Fingered Vulgarian", Vanity Fair (November 2015)

We're all tying ourselves in knots about what Donald Trump said about Mexicans... Just as Dylann Roof doesn't represent white people, Mexican rapists don't represent anyone other than themselves either... While I like a good brawl as much as the next person, it seems that Trump is the answer only if the question is: Why can’t we get more oafish egomaniacs into politics? Just when the Republican Party needs finesse and sensitivity when discussing immigration; just when it needs to focus on issues that unite all sectors of the electorate, including Hispanic and Asian voters; it gets a blowhard with all the nuance of a grenade... Trump’s smear about Mexican immigrants was about as far away as you can get from Ronald Reagan... He tarred most Mexican immigrants as drug dealers, criminals, and rapists, allowing only as an afterthought that some may be good people. He claimed to have discussed the matter with border guards. Would those officers please step forward? In any case, crude and vulgar people always preen that they are brave truth tellers.
- Mona Charen, "The Trump Sideshow Plays Right into Democrats’ Hands" (10 July 2015), National Review

Put aside for a moment Trump’s countless past departures from conservative principle on defense, racial quotas, abortion, taxes, single-payer health care, and immigration. That's right. In 2012, he derided Mitt Romney for being too aggressive on the question, and he’s made extensive use of illegal-immigrant labor in his serially bankrupt businesses. The man has demonstrated an emotional immaturity bordering on personality disorder, and it ought to disqualify him from being a mayor, to say nothing of a commander-in-chief. Trump has made a career out of egotism, while conservatism implies a certain modesty about government. The two cannot mix... When a con man swindles you, you can sue—as many embittered former Trump associates who thought themselves ill used have done. When you elect a con man, there’s no recourse.
- Mona Charen, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review.

Donald is a leader. He is a successful person that, like me, isn't afraid to tell it like it is. Our system is broken and it won't be fixed from the inside. I am proud to offer my endorsement of his candidacy for President.
- Chris Christie, endorsing Donald Trump for President, at a campaign rally in Fort Worth, TX [27]

Please stop it with voting for Trump. It was funny for a little while. But the guy is Hitler. And by that I mean that we are being Germany in the 30s. Do you think they saw the shit coming? Hitler was just some hilarious and refreshing dude with a weird comb over.
Trump is not your best. He's the worst of all of us. He's a symptom to a problem that is very real. But don't vote for your own cancer. You're better than that.
- Louis C.K. in an email to fans, quoted in Louis C.K. Compares Donald Trump to Hitler: ‘He’s an Insane Bigot’

Donald Trump has been uncommonly nice to Hillary and me. We're all New Yorkers. And I like him. And I love playing golf with him.
- Bill Clinton, as quoted in "Bill Clinton Said What?" (4 June 2012), Salon

He's a master brander, and he's the most interesting character out there. And...he says something that overrides the ideological differences. There is a macho appeal to saying, 'I'm just sick of nothing happening. I'll make things – vote for me.'
- Bill Clinton on CBS 'Late Show' — Ryan Gajewski (6 October 2015), "Bill Clinton to Stephen Colbert: Donald Trump Has a "Macho Appeal"", The Hollywood Reporter

Despite what you hear, we don't need to make America great again. America has never stopped being great. But we do need to make America whole again. Instead of building walls, we need to be tearing down barriers.
- Hillary Clinton, speech (February 2016)

We cannot let him roll the dice with America.
- Hillary Clinton during an election speech, as quoted on boston.com, 2 June 2016

I would never trust him to follow the law. We're dealing with a dangerous egomaniac who has no control of himself, recognizes no limits, no bounds and does not recognize the constraints of law or anything else.
- Eliot A. Cohen, in Analysis: The Vengeful World of Donald Trump, and Why It Matters, at NBC News; published October 31, 2016

A warning label should be affixed to Trump’s forehead.
- Richard Cohen, "Reince Priebus, fool" (16 May 2016), The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.

There's a populism to Trump that I found very appealing. The party elders would like him to go away, but the people have decided that he is not going to... [T]here is something really hopeful about the fact that, well, 36 percent of the likely voters want him to win, so the people in the machine don't get to say otherwise.
- Stephen Colbert, as quoted in "Colbert: Trump's populism 'very appealing'" by Bradford Richardson, The Hill (23 December 2015)

Trump denied knowing that Serge (Kovaleski) was disabled, and demanded an apology, saying that anyone could see his imitation was of a flustered, frightened reporter, not a disabled person. It’s true that Trump was not mimicking any mannerisms that Serge has. He doesn’t jerk around or flail his arms. He’s not retarded. He sits calmly, but if you look at his wrists, you’ll see they are curved in. That’s not the imitation Trump was doing—he was doing a standard retard, waving his arms and sounding stupid: “’Ahhh, I don’t know what I said—ahhh, I don’t remember!’ He’s going, ‘Ahhh, I don’t remember, maybe that’s what I said!’”
There's nothing Trump can do that won't be forgiven, except change his immigration policies.
- In Trump We Trust [28][29] (2016)

When the voters examine Donald, they'll discover he actually embodies Washington corruption, the Washington deal-making that they're so angry about.
- Ted Cruz, interview with Charlie Rose (1 March 2016), CBS This Morning

People are asking themselves, 'How would we feel if our children came in repeating the words of the president of the United States if that president was Donald Trump?' And if it would embarrass you to have your children repeat the words of the president, that's not a good thing... A president should unify us, should appeal to our better angels, should appeal to our shared values that make America who we are.
- Ted Cruz, interview with John Dickerson (March 2016), Face the Nation

It's not easy to tick me off... I don't get angry often. But you mess with my wife, you mess with my kids; that'll do it every time. Donald, you're a sniveling coward and leave Heidi the hell alone.
- Ted Cruz, as quoted in "Cruz calls Trump "sniveling coward" and says 'leave Heidi the hell alone'" (24 March 2016), by Reena Flores, CBS News

Let me be clear: Donald Trump may be a rat, but I have no desire to copulate with him.
- Ted Cruz, as quoted in Ted Cruz Will Do Anything for Love, But He Won't Do Rats [25 March 2016], by Matt Miller, Esquire Magazine

The best thing to happen to politics in a long long time. I don't care what his actual positions are. I don't care if he says the wrong thing. He says what's on his mind. He gives honest answers rather than prepared answers. This is more important than anything any candidate has done in years.
- Mark Cuban, as quoted in "Mark Cuban: Congrats, Donald: You’re best thing to happen to politics in a long time", Dallas Mavericks Blog, 27 July 2015

Hillary Clinton, speech in Warren, Michigan (August 11, 2016)

Speech in Warren, Michigan. Transcript by Newsweek [30] (August 11, 2016)

He’s made a career out of stiffing small businesses from Atlantic City to Las Vegas. There are companies that were left hanging because he refused to pay their bills. A lot of those companies scraped together what the could to pay their employees, and many of them put their businesses at risk and some of them ended up taking bankruptcy. It wasn’t because Trump couldn’t pay them, it was because he wouldn’t pay them.

It’s just not right that Donald Trump can ignore his debts, but students and families can’t refinance their debt.

Mr. Trump may talk a big game on trade, but his approach is based on fear, not strength. Fear that we can’t compete with the rest of the world even when the rules are fair. Fear that our country has no choice but to hide behind walls.

Let’s remember where Trump makes many of his own products. Because it sure is not America. ... One positive thing Trump could do to make America great again is actually make great things in America again.

Trump would roll back the tough rules that we have imposed on the Financial Industry. I’ll do the opposite – I think we should strengthen those rules so that Wall Street can never wreck Main Street again.

He called for a new tax loophole – let’s call it the Trump Loophole – because it would allow him to pay less than half the current tax rate on income from many of his companies. He’d pay a lower rate than millions of middle class families.

He’s making a big promise. But his advisors have said, his own advisors have said, he may not stand by them. ... One of the differences between Donald Trump and me is I’m telling you what I will do, I’m laying out my plans, and I will stand by them, and I want you to hold me accountable for delivering results. This all reminds me of that old saying, ‘if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.’

Guaranteeing equal pay won’t just increase paychecks for women – it will boost family budgets and get incomes rising across the board. And I don’t understand why Trump’s against that. Paid family leave won’t only make life easier for Moms and Dads – it will also keep skilled, talented Americans in the workforce and grow our economy. That’s why every other advanced country already has it. Again, he’s against it. Raising the federal minimum wage won’t just put more money in the pockets of low-income families – it also means they will spend more at the businesses in their neighborhoods. Trump’s against that as well.

Based on what we know from the Trump campaign, he wants America to work for him and his friends, at the expense of everyone else.

Hillary Clinton, speech in Reno, Nevada (August 25, 2016)

Speech in Reno, Nevada. Transcript by Vox [31] (August 25, 2016)

Donald Trump has built his campaign on prejudice and paranoia. He’s taking hate groups mainstream and helping a radical fringe take over one of America’s two major political parties. His disregard for the values that make our country great is profoundly dangerous. In just the past week, under the guise of "outreach" to African Americans, Trump has stood up in front of largely white audiences and described black communities in insulting and ignorant terms.

Donald Trump misses so much. He doesn’t see the success of black leaders in every field… The vibrancy of black-owned businesses…Or the strength of the black church… He doesn’t see the excellence of historically black colleges and universities or the pride of black parents watching their children thrive… And he certainly doesn’t have any solutions to take on the reality of systemic racism and create more equity and opportunity in communities of color. It takes a lot of nerve to ask people he’s ignored and mistreated for decades, "What do you have to lose?" The answer is everything!

Trump’s lack of knowledge or experience or solutions would be bad enough. But what he’s doing here is more sinister. Trump is reinforcing harmful stereotypes and offering a dog whistle to his most hateful supporters. It’s a disturbing preview of what kind of President he’d be.

A man with a long history of racial discrimination, who traffics in dark conspiracy theories drawn from the pages of supermarket tabloids and the far reaches of the internet, should never run our government or command our military. If he doesn’t respect respect all Americans, he can’t serve all Americans! ... There’s no other Donald Trump. This is it.

Well, throughout his career and this campaign, Donald Trump has shown us exactly who he is. We should believe him. When Trump was getting his start in business, he was sued by the Justice Department for refusing to rent apartments to black and Latino tenants. Three years later, the Justice Department took Trump back to court because he hadn’t changed. The pattern continued through the decades.

In 2015, Trump launched his own campaign for President with another racist lie. He described Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals. And he accused the Mexican government of actively sending them across the border. None of that is true. Oh, and by the way, Mexico’s not paying for his wall either. If it ever gets built, you can be sure that American taxpayers will be stuck with the bill. Since then, there’s been a steady stream of bigotry.

Someone detached from reality should never be in charge of making decisions that are as real as they come.

He’d abolish the bedrock constitutional principle that says if you’re born in the United States, you’re an American citizen. He says that children born in America to undocumented parents are, quote, "anchor babies" and should be deported. Millions of them.

He’d ban Muslims around the world – 1.5 billion men, women, and children –from entering our country just because of their religion.

Ever since the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, America has distinguished itself as a haven for people fleeing religious persecution. Under Donald Trump, America would distinguish itself as the only country in the world to impose a religious test at the border.

Trump likes to say he only hires the "best people." But he’s had to fire so many campaign managers it’s like an episode of the Apprentice.

D

Donald Trump...is the last hope for America. I don't want nuance, I want bold colors: red, white, and blue... When I saw those guys on the boats on their knees, I mean, that sends a picture about America that I haven't seen ever before. And I think we need Donald Trump right now. The country needs him.
- Robert Davi, as quoted in "‘Die Hard’ Actor Robert Davi: Donald Trump Is The ‘Last Hope For America’" by Steve Guest, The Daily Caller (14 January 2016)

The case for constitutional limited government is the case against Donald Trump. To the degree we take him at his word — understanding that Trump is a negotiator whose positions are often purposefully deceptive — what he advocates is a rejection of our Madisonian inheritance and an embrace of Barack Obama's authoritarianism. Trump assures voters that he will use authoritarian power for good, to help those who feel — with good reason — ignored by both parties. But the American experiment in self-government was the work of a generation that risked all to defeat a tyrannical monarch and establish a government of laws, not men. A government of the people, by the people, and for the people is precisely what the Constitution offers, and what is most threatened by “great men” impatient to impose their will on the nation. Conservatives should reject Trump’s hollow, Euro-style identity politics.
- Ben Domenech, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review.

E

People are looking for somebody who is outspoken and who isn't afraid. And [Trump] seems to have kind of a fearless attitude.
- Clint Eastwood, as quoted in "Clint Eastwood Praises Trump, Carson: 'Really Good People'" by Todd Beamon, Newsmax (25 December 2015)

I'd have to go for Trump ... you know, [because] she's declared that she's gonna follow in [President] Obama's footsteps. I mean, it's a tough voice to listen to for four years. It could be a tough one. If she's just gonna follow what we’ve been doing, then I wouldn't be for her. She's made a lot of dough out of a being a politician. I gave up dough to be a politician. I'm sure that [former President] Ronald Reagan gave up dough to be a politician. ... [Trump]'s onto something, because secretly everybody's getting tired of political correctness, kissing up. That's the kiss-ass generation we're in right now. We're really in a p-ssy generation.
- Clint Eastwood, interview with Esquire as quoted in "Clint Eastwood: 'I’d have to go for Trump’ over Clinton" by Mark Hensch, The Hill (3 August 2016)

I will not be voting for Donald Trump in the primary. I take my conservatism seriously, and I also take Saint Paul seriously. In setting out the qualifications for overseers, or bishops, Saint Paul admonished Timothy... We should not put a new conservative in charge of conservatism or the country, so that he does not become puffed up with conceit and fall into condemnation. Republicans have wandered in the wilderness already by letting leaders define conservatism in their own image. Donald Trump needs more time and more testing of his new conservative convictions.
- Erick Erickson, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review

Hitler is not Hillary Clinton either. The neo-nazis and white supremacists backing Donald Trump fetishize Hitler too. Trump dog whistles to them.
- Erick Erickson, "Republicans for Hitler" (17 May 2016), The Resurgent

F

Trump is Hillary Clinton's Christmas gift wrapped up under a tree.
- Carly Fiorina, Twitter (8 December 2015)

I think Trump says a lot of things that are crazy... [repeating what a 10-year-old girl said] Trump's a moron.
- Carly Fiorina, as quoted in "Carly Fiorina Repeats After Girl: 'Donald Trump's a Moron'" (16 January 2016), by Ben Gittleson, ABC News

He reminds me of Hitler.
- Vicente Fox, interview with Anderson Cooper (February 2016)

A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not of building bridges, is not Christian. This is not the gospel... I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that. We must see if he said things in that way and I will give him the benefit of the doubt.
- Pope Francis, as quoted in "Pope Francis: Donald Trump 'is not Christian'" (18 February 2016), by Rebecca Kaplan, CBS News

I was wrong. Weeks ago I said on a number of radio interviews that while I opposed Trump in the primary, I'd back him if he won the GOP nomination. I hadn't yet seen, or had been unwilling to believe, the full extent of his contempt for the truth, his fondness for far-left conspiracy theories, and his sheer malice. When I saw Trump in full, my decision was easy. Never Trump... I cannot abide the notion of voting for a man whose 'war strategy' is a child-killing war crime.
- David French, "Why I Changed My Mind and Joined the #NeverTrump Movement" (2 March 2016), National Review

There is an Ivy League grad who has spent most of his life in Manhattan, where he is chauffeured around in limousines. He frequently brags to strangers about his massive personal wealth. In public statements, he has advocated government healthcare, a woman’s right to an abortion, an assault weapons ban, and paying off the national debt by forcing rich people to forfeit 14.25 percent of their total wealth. When the man married his third wife, he invited Bill and Hillary Clinton to the wedding, and he has given many thousands to their political campaigns and their foundation. He’s donated many thousands more that helped elect Democrats to the Senate and the House. And George W. Bush was “maybe the worst president in the history of this country,” the man said in 2008. “He was so incompetent, so bad, so evil.” On paper, this is not someone you’d expect to excel in the 2016 Republican Party primary. But Donald Trump is excelling. Thanks to his celebrity, a few epic flip-flops, and his willingness to pander to the most xenophobic element of the GOP’s base, the real-estate developer and reality-TV star is polling near the top of the field.
- Conor Friedersdorf, "Donald Trump Is No Conservative" (13 July 2015), The Atlantic

G

Donald Trump is a serial liar.
- Neal Gabler, "Donald Trump is a serial liar. More upsetting is that no one seems to care" (15 May 2016), Salon

We thought about it when we made the movie! Are you kidding? You watch Part II again and there’s a scene where Marty confronts Biff in his office and there’s a huge portrait of Biff on the wall behind Biff, and there’s one moment where Biff kind of stands up and he takes exactly the same pose as the portrait? Yeah.
- Bob Gale, ‘Back to the Future’ Writer: Biff Tannen Is Based on Donald Trump, The Daily Beast (October 15, 2015)

Donald Trump rightly criticized the Khan parents. Clearly, Trump does not oppose Muslim soldiers serving in the military. Nonsense. Trump opposes Muslim immigration from jihad-hot regions. We know Islamic terror groups are plotting attacks on the West and using the migration to import their soldiers.
- Pamela Geller, DNC, Mainstream Media’s New SPOX — Muslim Parents of Fallen Soldier WHO OPPOSE TRUMP BUT NOT JIHAD TERROR @chucktodd @meetthepress (July 31, 2016)

I remain a skeptic about Donald Trump. Trump fans look at us skeptics with incredulity that we could possibly object to their man... Yet I see people comparing Trump to Reagan. Donald Trump has been a conservative for about ten minutes.
- Jim Geraghty, "The Corner", National Review

As a party, we are better to risk losing without Donald Trump than trying to win with him. Enough already with Mister Trump.
- Lindsey Graham, Twitter post (August 2015)

Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke told radio show listeners that ‍'‍Jewish tribal nature‍'‍ is to blame for the media's harsh treatment of Trump and compared Jews to ‍'‍a pack of wild dogs.‍'‍ The white supremacist is a vocal supporter of Trump.
- Shanika Gunaratna, "Neo-Nazis Tag Jews on Twitter: Harassment, Hate Speech, Politics" (10 June 2016), CBS News, CBS Interactive, Inc.

H

I think he could be a great leader, because he's inspiring a lot of people, and especially people, including me, who are tired of Republicans being weak. I'm so sick of it.
- Sean Hannity — "Hannity on Trump: 'That Boldness Needs to Be There If Republicans Want to Win'", Fox News Insider, 30 July 2015

The facts here are clear: These men were exonerated. Another man has admitted to committing the crime, as proven by DNA evidence. Trump rushed to judgment on the case, has refused to admit he is wrong and continues to peddle yet another racist lie.
- Maya Harris, on Trump's assertion that the men originally convicted of the Central Park jogger case are guilty despite their subsequent exoneration and despite the identification, arrest, and conviction of the actual perpetrator.
- Hillary for America Statement on Trump’s Comments Related to Central Park Jogger Case, October 7 2016

The conservative president we desperately need requires a paradoxical combination of boldness and restraint. The president will need to be bold in challenging the runaway power and reach of his own branch, against the fury of the bureaucracy itself, its client groups, and the media. This boldness is necessary to restore the restraint that a republican executive should have in our constitutional order. Trump exhibits no awareness of this supreme constitutional task.
- Steven F. Hayward, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review

He doesn't know the Constitution, history, law, political philosophy, nuclear strategy, diplomacy, defense, economics beyond real estate, or even, despite his low-level-mafioso comportment, how ordinary people live. But trumping all this is a greater flaw presented as his chief strength. Governing a great nation in parlous times is far more than making “deals.” Compared with the weight of the office he seeks, his deals are microscopic in scale, and as he faced far deeper complexities he would lead the country into continual Russian roulette. If despite his poor judgment he could engage talented advisers, as they presented him with contending and fateful options the buck would stop with a man who simply grasps anything that floats by. Following Obama's, a Trump presidency would be yet more adventure tourism for a formerly serious republic.
- Mark Helprin, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review

What bitch is Donald Trump hanging his dick inside of today?
- Doug Henderson, guitarist/singer/lyricist of Spongehead in the song "Nothing" from Curb Your Dogma (Triple X Records, 1993)

Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.
- Note appended to every article about Trump published by the Huffington Post as of January 2016, but removed after Trump's presidential victory.
- HuffPost to publish anti-Trump kicker with all Trump coverage, at Politico, published January 28, 2016

J

Mr. Trump has crossed the line. More than one line. Captain Khan died in battle trying valiantly to save others. There is no place for criticism, stated or implied, of this brave soldier. He served our country. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery along with those of many ethnic backgrounds and religious denominations. They served our country. Mr. Trump did not. Criticizing Mrs. Khan for not speaking on stage is vile beyond words. No Gold Star Mother should ever be treated like that. Mr. Trump, you owe Mrs. Khan and all Gold Star families a huge apology.
- Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America, about Trump's statements on the Khan family Jewish War Veterans Condemns Remarks of Donald Trump (2016)

The problem is, I know Trump, so my optimism has been squashed like a baby bird ... Everything bad I had to say about him, I said to his face. ... I think he's very good, very compelling on that show [Celebrity Apprentice] ... I really like him because of his absence of filters. I really like the glimpse we get into the human heart we get when someone loses their filters ... "A genius is the one most like himself." In a really weird way, Donald Trump has achieved that. If he weren't running for president, you'd be seeing essays from me about how much I learned from Donald Trump and how much I loved being on the show ... I'm feeling so, so, so guilty, because I feel like, along with millions of other people, I played right into this. The cynicism of the Clintons, the careful, tightrope walk of all politicians, forced me, as an atheist, to get down on my knees and pray that someone would come along with some kind of authenticity. Well, someone called my bluff, goddamn it. ... The stuff [Trump] is saying on immigration, the stuff he saying on torture, the stuff he is saying on war, is absolutely unforgivable ... He is coming out directly against the Statue of Liberty. I'm a pure and utter peacenik. I want a president who sings the praises of people, sings the praises of peace and sings the praises of working together for a great country ... Abraham Lincoln wouldn't have laughed about waterboarding ... I want a president that is kinder, smarter and more measured than me. ... I disagree with Hillary Clinton on just about everything there is to disagree with a person about. If it comes down to Trump and Hillary, I will put a Hillary Clinton sticker on my fucking car. ... Someone who is paying attention can do the same thing that Trump is doing with hate, and do it with love, and become president ... That's kind of beautiful. There's nothing more optimistic than that. ... Donald Trump does, when it comes right down to it, fuck up everything ... He fucks up his casinos. He fucks up his buildings.... Maybe he'll fuck up his campaign before he fucks up the country.
- Penn Jillette, as quoted in "Why Penn Jillette is Terrified of a President Trump" by Grant Burningham, in Newsweek (1 March 2016)

The only reason I wouldn't go to some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump.
- Boris Johnson, [32] (8 December 2015)

Donald Trump's a pussy.
- Gary Johnson, in U.S. Libertarian Party debate (2016)

K

The Trump phenomenon is better understood as an amalgam of three different, largely pathological strains in American history and culture... The first and perhaps most obvious strain is hostility toward immigrants... In the 1850s, the American Party, labeled the 'Know-Nothings' by its opponents, accused Irish and German Catholics of being agents of the pope and a threat... Later in the century, white workers on the Pacific coast led a mass campaign against Chinese newcomers, whom they blamed for undercutting wages... Federal lawmakers affirmed their bigotry by excluding any Chinese laborers... In the 1920s, fears of Slavs, Jews, Italians, and others suspected of being hostile to America's white 'Nordic' heritage persuaded Congress to impose quotas that all but banned immigrants... Trump’s attacks on 'rapists and murderers' crossing the southern border and on potential Muslim terrorists jetting across the Atlantic belong to this long and ignominious tradition.
- Michael Kazin, "Trump in Context" (14 December 2015), Dissent Magazine

His vow to 'Make America Great Again' lacks any explanation of what or who made it so wonderful before. Searching his website for clues turns up no proposals that might credibly bring about a national revival, unless one believes that a simplified tax code and a stern crackdown on illegal immigration amount to a sufficient blueprint for major change.
- Michael Kazin, "Trump in Context" (14 December 2015), Dissent Magazine

The allure of Trump’s candidacy and the dread it provokes at home and abroad stem from the same impulses, which run deep in U.S. political culture. A rich man whose name is familiar to everyone bashes people whom many citizens either fear or mistrust and makes vague promises to fix whatever ails the nation. And he does all this with a smirk, a threat, and yet also with a yearning for respect, even from those he routinely assaults in speeches. Trump probably will not be elected president, and it would be a disaster if he was. But his act is hardly as novel as he, and many of his fans and his critics, believe. After he leaves the stage, another wealthy performer with a talent for bombast and no political record to defend may well take his place.
- Michael Kazin, "Trump in Context" (14 December 2015), Dissent Magazine

Trump is no true conservative. He's not even a reactionary in the best sense of the word. He's a self-aggrandizing opportunist. His policies go no further than his catchphrase, 'you're fired'. Listening to his first television ad is like a preview for a bad movie; an empty supercut of the highlights, or lowlights, without the plot being revealed because it's so thin. Trump is no everyman. He built his empire with $100 million from his wealthy father. Far from born into working or middle class, Trump never struggled a day in his life except by his own failings in business and the resulting repeated bankruptcies. His privileged background enabled him to make money off money; not exactly high on the hierarchy of middle-class values. As for being incorruptible, Trump gave big to politicians. He admitted that was meant to buy favors. His policy positions are similarly ephemeral; he supported the Big Government policies of Democrats and slippery values of the Clintons when it suited him. Steadfast, he is not.
- Sean Kennedy, "Donald Trump must be destroyed" (8 January 2016), CNN, Georgia: Cable News Network

Donald Trump is convincingly playing the role of a pandering demagogue. He seeks to stir up a passionate reaction that serves the purposes of his ambition. America’s founders repeatedly warned against such demagoguery, because it sets people up for tyranny. Given his background, it's advisable to assume Donald Trump is being used by the enemies of rightful liberty to lead otherwise sincerely conservative people down a blind canyon into the withering fire of their elitist foes... Given this track record, before following Trump’s lead, shouldn’t people sincerely anxious to restore America’s constitutional liberty carefully examine the nature of his purported advocacy? With much fanfare, Trump is being attacked by his erstwhile elitist faction buddies. But has he attacked them for treacherous betrayal of the security and sovereignty of the American people?
- Alan Keyes, "Is Donald the Elitist Faction's Trump?" (16 July 2015), WND

Donald Trump has asked why I did not speak at the Democratic convention. He said he would like to hear from me. Here is my answer to Donald Trump: Because without saying a thing, all the world, all America, felt my pain. I am a Gold Star mother. Whoever saw me felt me in their heart.
Donald Trump said I had nothing to say. I do. My son Humayun Khan, an Army captain, died 12 years ago in Iraq. He loved America, where we moved when he was 2 years old. He had volunteered to help his country, signing up for the ROTC at the University of Virginia. This was before the attack of Sept. 11, 2001. He didn’t have to do this, but he wanted to.
I cannot walk into a room with pictures of Humayun. For all these years, I haven’t been able to clean the closet where his things are — I had to ask my daughter-in-law to do it. Walking onto the convention stage, with a huge picture of my son behind me, I could hardly control myself. What mother could? Donald Trump has children whom he loves. Does he really need to wonder why I did not speak?
Donald Trump said that maybe I wasn’t allowed to say anything. That is not true. My husband asked me if I wanted to speak, but I told him I could not. My religion teaches me that all human beings are equal in God’s eyes. Husband and wife are part of each other; you should love and respect each other so you can take care of the family. When Donald Trump is talking about Islam, he is ignorant. If he studied the real Islam and Koran, all the ideas he gets from terrorists would change, because terrorism is a different religion. Donald Trump said he has made a lot of sacrifices. He doesn’t know what the word sacrifice means.
- Ghazala Khan, mother of fallen U.S. Army Captain Humayun S. M. Khan. Ghazala Khan: Trump criticized my silence. He knows nothing about true sacrifice., The Washington Post (July 31, 2016)

Muslims are American, Muslims are citizens, Muslims participate in the well-being of this country as American citizens. We are proud American citizens. It’s the values of this country that brought us here, not our religion. Trump’s position on these issues do not represent those values.
- Khizr M. Khan in an interview with Vocativ. [33] (December 08, 2015)

If it was up to Donald Trump, he never would have been in America. Donald Trump consistently smears the character of Muslims. He disrespects other minorities, women, judges, even his own party leadership. He vows to build walls and ban us from this country. Donald Trump, you are asking Americans to trust you with our future. Let me ask you: Have you even read the U.S. Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy. In this document, look for the words "liberty" and "equal protection of law." Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery? Go look at the graves of the brave patriots who died defending America — you will see all faiths, genders, and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one. We can't solve our problems by building walls and sowing division. We are Stronger Together.
- Khizr M. Khan, speech during the final day of the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. [34] (29 July 2016)

His policies, his practices, do not reflect that he has any understanding of the basic, fundamental constitutional principles of this country, what makes this country exceptional, what makes this country exceptional in the history of the mankind. There are principles of equal dignity, principle of liberty. He talks about excluding people, disrespecting judges, the entire judicial system, immigrants, Muslim immigrants. These are divisive rhetoric that is totally against the basic constitutional principle. If you read the Constitution, you will either deliberately would be violating those principles or you have not read. That is why I have watched whole ear and rest of the world has watched, and the love and affection and support that we have received after my statement, at every corner of the street, at every place. The affection, the support, the love that I have received, that we continue to receive is a testament that he is talking about ignorance. He is not fully aware of these principles.
Two things are absolutely necessary in any leader or any person that aspires, wishes, to be a leader. That is moral compass and second is empathy. This candidate is void of both traits that are necessary for the stewardship of this country.
I do not believe his whole year-long rhetoric, division, excluding people, talking about them derogatorily, has prepared him. He promised to the Republican leadership that he will change his manner, he will not be as ignorant as he had been. But he had continued. Those two traits of moral compass and empathy are absolutely necessary for the leader of a free world leader of nation like United States.
This candidate for presidency to not be aware of the respect of a gold star mother standing there, and he had to take that shot at her, this is height of ignorance. This is why I showed him that Constitution. Had he read that, he would know what status a gold star mother holds in that nation. This country holds such a person in the highest regard. And he has no knowledge, no awareness. That is height of his ignorance. She is ill. She had high blood pressure. People that know her, looked at her face, and she said, "I may fall off the stage." And I told her that, you have to assemble yourself and stand for the beauty of this tribute that is being paid. This person is total incapable of empathy. I want his family to counsel him, teach him some empathy. He will be a better person if he could become -- but he is a black soul. And this is totally unfit for the leadership of this beautiful country, the love and affection that we have received affirms that our beliefs, our experience in this country had been correct and positive. The world is receiving us like we have never seen. They have seen the blackness of his character, of his soul, that he is void of recognizing, empathizing with people.
- Khizr M. Khan, on an interview with CNN about Donald Trump saying that Khan’s wife didn’t speak because she was forbidden. [35] (July 31, 2016)

I have exactly the same rights as he does. He had been abusing, disrespecting women, judges, all decent Americans. He had been so abusive of them. I exercise exactly the same rights. That, again, proves his ignorance. He wants to have one set of rights for himself, and he wants to have another set of rights for others. No, somebody should tell him that there is equal dignity, equal protection of law in this country. That is why that Constitution came to play. I keep that in my pocket, because I cherish this document. I wish somebody would read it to him. Certain fundamental values that enshrine in this document.
Donald Trump needs to sit with his advisers and portray to this world that he is empathetic. You solve the problems with empathy, putting people together. There are bad people among us, but there are good people among us, as well. You gather good people to get rid of bad people, but you do not malign the whole religion -- the whole culture.
We are the solution to the dealing with the terrorism in the United States. Join hands with good Muslims. Only war is not the solution. It is one of the solutions. Communities coming together is the solution. We are as concerned as Donald Trump is about the safety of this country. We are testament to the goodness of this country. We need to stop fighting with one another, but we need a leader that will unite us, not disrespect, not by derogatory remarks. I feel bad about the discourse that this campaign -- this election campaign has taken. We need to join hands. We have a very serious problem of this for the safety of the citizens of this country. We are solution. Look, the treatment of Muslims in France and other places, there is much worse security issues than United States does.
- Khizr M. Khan, in an interview in New Day on CNN Monday [36] (August 1, 2016)

A man comes to him, a veteran, so kindly, what a gracious man, hands him his Purple Heart. What he does, he deceives, thanks, puts in his pocket. Later on, pulls it out. I got this Purple Heart, so easy, I always wanted one. Donald Trump, you had the time, you did not serve. You know what he should have done? And listen to me and I want his surrogates to listen to me. You should have pinned that back to that veteran's chest. He wants to be the leader, commander in chief of this United States of America? That is the thoughtfulness? He should have put that Purple Heart back if he would have been sensible, he would have known what it takes to earn that Purple Heart.
What is important to me now is that end this back and forth, back and forth that had been lack of caliber on the other side. Just imagine and I want to indulge all of his surrogates, after we made the speech, if Donald Trump would have not taken that cheap shot at the gold star mother, we'd not be having these conversations, these discussions. Sometime for a candidate for a higher office has to have the capacity to bear with the criticism. If I had exercised my First Amendment rights as Mr. Trump does, as Donald Trump does, again and again and again, as he had been maligning Hillary Clinton, calling her names and other leaders, if he can exercise the freedom of his speech rights, so can I. But he is the candidate for the highest office, a much larger caliber is needed, tolerance, patience. When a person becomes Commander-in- Chief, president, you are president and Commander-in-Chief of everybody that has supported you and that has not supported you.
Lack of understanding, lack of factual correctness, it's just nothing but political vote pandering. They are trying to create this fear in people's mind. They have come up with this terms and these terminology that they continue to talk about without really knowing the facts about what they are talking. I want to put a footnote in front, I received information from where my website was, it is down now. This is the maliciousness and Donald Trump should say to his surrogates that no more, no more harm, no more ugliness. I received the call from the host of the website saying that we are receiving tremendous amount of hits and especially on certain pages of your website. I have a three-page small website and there is a risk that somebody will damage it, somebody may hack it. I asked them what do you suggest. They said under such circumstances, we normally keep it offline when this madness will go away, we will bring it back. I asked them to do that. To which I began to then receive e-mails and calls why your website is down, why your website is down. This is the ugliness of this discourse. There could be some civility in this discourse. It is a political discourse, of course. There could be some discussion of policy and all that instead of personal ugliness.
- Khizr M. Khan, in an interview in Anderson Cooper 360° Transcript (August 2, 2016)

Donald Trump is a fascist. ... Not in the sense of an all-purpose bad guy, but in the sense of somebody who sincerely believes that the toxic combination of strong government and strong corporations should run the nation and the world. He spent his previous career negotiating with the government on behalf of corporations; now he has switched teams. But it’s the same game.
- Michael Kinsley, Donald Trump is actually a fascist, The Washington Post (December 9, 2016)

If instead of having ten fingers, I had ten combs for fingers, I'd love to meet Donald Trump, just so I could run my fingers through his hair.
- Jarod Kintz (18 May 2011), This Book is Not For Sale

Look, Trump has been elected, he will be our president and he has the right to choose conservatives. But instead of turning to the many principled Republicans available, he seems drawn to hotheads and bigots, embarrassing himself and our nation.
- Nicholas D. Kristof, Trump Embarrasses Himself and Our Country, The New York Times (November 19, 2016)

Isn’t Donald Trump the very epitome of vulgarity? In sum... Isn't Trumpism a two-bit Caesarism of a kind that American conservatives have always disdained? Isn’t the task of conservatives today to stand athwart Trumpism, yelling Stop?
- William Kristol, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review.

What do African-Americans have to lose, asks Donald Trump.
- Paul Krugman, about the comments of Trump on African Americans in the United States. Twitter, August 20, 2016

L

Sadism has even found a prominent position in popular culture.Many prime-time television series now owe their staying power to the sadistic impulses they exploit on the tube. Audience members find tremendous enjoyment in viewing horrified contestants who devour worms and insects on NBC’s Fear Factor; Donald Trump who exclaims without nuance, “You’re fired” on his wildly popular series, The Apprentice...
- Jack Levin and James Alan Fox, "Normalcy in Behavioral Characteristics of the Sadistic Serial Killer", Chapter 1 in Serial Murder and the Psychology of Violent Crimes, edited by Richard N. Kocsis, 2008 Humana Press; p. 12-13

Donald Trump is no conservative. That’s not a crime, it’s just a reason to vote against him. Many fine people are not conservatives. But the reason Trump’s candidacy should worry the Right runs much deeper than that. He poses a direct challenge to conservatism, because he embodies the empty promise of managerial leadership outside of politics.
- Yuval Levin, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review.

Let Trump be Trump
- Slogan introduced by Corey Lewandowski, who was Trump's campaign manager until June 2016.

We have now arrived at a point where what is being spouted by Donald Trump, and others, amounts to a shallow, vulgar, uncompassionate conservatism. Sadly, to many Republicans, Bush is now a punchline, and Trump is the fad of the moment.
- Matt Lewis, "You Guys, I’m Starting to Miss Dubya" (25 November 2015), The Daily Beast

I know Donald Trump. He’s been a frequent guest on my radio and television programs, and I introduced him at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2015. He has always been amiable and complimentary. I genuinely like him. But not as my presidential pick.
- Dana Loesch, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review.

While Trump’s appeal to various groups may be understandable, he makes a terrible champion for Republicans, and especially for conservatives. By the standards we typically use to evaluate candidates — their records, their views, their popularity with the general public, their experience, their temperament, their character — Trump should be dismissed out of hand. No candidate is perfect, but large numbers of conservatives have never before supported any candidate so obviously deficient in all of these respects. That Trump has a long history of liberal positions that extends even into the fairly recent past should not by itself be disqualifying. Conservatism has always welcomed converts. But conservatives have also expected some demonstrated commitment to their principles, some action that advanced their causes, before seeking to elevate a convert to high office. When Mitt Romney ran for the Senate in 1994, for example, he tried to distance himself from Reagan-era conservatism. He later moved right. But even on his least conservative day, Romney was arguing for a smaller government and lower taxes (and for an end to Ted Kennedy’s career). Trump, by contrast, has done essentially nothing for any conservative cause prior to deciding to run for the Republican presidential nomination.
- Rich Lowry and Ramesh Ponnuru, "Trump Wrongs The Right" (19 October 2015), National Review.

Trump obviously never meant to impose a wealth test on his administration, or he would have failed it himself. He is proof that a fortune isn’t necessarily an obstacle to being a champion of an agenda of populist reform.
- Rich Lowry, No, the Swamp Won't Be Drained, Politico (December 01, 2016)

He wouldn’t drain the swamp, but merely feed different alligators.
- Rich Lowry, No, the Swamp Won't Be Drained, Politico (December 01, 2016)

When you get up there and try to say you want to see Hillary Clinton win, that wouldn't go over so big. Trump has sold me. What more can I say? I just think he's the only one who's going to turn this country around.
- Loretta Lynn, as quoted in "This Huge Country Star Just Revealed The Republican She’s Supporting For President" by Kaitlan Collins, The Daily Caller (13 January 2016)

M

Donald Trump, for all of his bluster, is at least authentically stupid... All these other guys are clown posers. Trump is the genuine article. And, God help me, I think I’d rather have him sitting in the Oval Office, getting stupidly out-maneuvered by the politicians under him, than bringing in a guy like Carson who is willing to shred every last bit of his intellectual credibility in order to lord over a citizenry he doesn’t seem to have much respect for.
- Drew Magary, "F*ck Ben Carson", GQ (8 October 2015)

New Rule: Whenever you think the Tea Party can't get any dumber, they get dumber. Now they're in love with Donald Trump. Because nothing says "We're serious about fiscal responsibility" quite like a billionaire whose corporations have filed for bankruptcy three times.
- Bill Maher (2011), The New New Rules: A Funny Look At How Everybody But Me Has Their Head Up Their Ass, New York: Blue Rider Press, ISBN 978-0399158414

Here's the thing about Donald Trump: He never apologizes. He's never wrong, no matter what crazy thing he says. He's totally— he's the white Kanye. And they are gonna love him. For a party whose base adores belligerence, this is the guy.
- Bill Maher, Real Time with Bill Maher, 26 June 2015

Trump is a potential disaster as commander-in-chief—uninformed, volatile, poor judgment. Hard to believe this is the candidate of a major political party.
- Barry McCaffrey, retired four-star U.S. Army general, as quoted in "What Does the Military Think of Donald Trump?" (15 June 2016), Time

In recent days, Donald Trump disparaged a fallen soldier's parents. He has suggested that the likes of their son should not be allowed in the United States — to say nothing of entering its service. I cannot emphasize enough how deeply I disagree with Mr. Trump's statement. I hope Americans understand that the remarks do not represent the views of our Republican Party, its officers, or candidates.
I claim no moral superiority over Donald Trump. I have a long and well-known public and private record for which I will have to answer at the Final Judgment, and I repose my hope in the promise of mercy and the moderation of age. I challenge the nominee to set the example for what our country can and should represent.
Arizona is watching. It is time for Donald Trump to set the example for our country and the future of the Republican Party. While our Party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us.
- John McCain, statement regarding Donald Trump's comments about Khizr and Ghazala Khan (transcript by CNN) (August 1, 2016)

The presidency’s most crucial duty is the protection of American national security. Yet, interviewed by Hugh Hewitt months into his campaign, Donald Trump did not know the key leaders of the global jihad. The man who would be commander-in-chief was unfamiliar with Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader who has been murdering Americans for over 30 years; Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden’s longtime deputy who has quite notoriously commanded al-Qaeda since the network’s leader was killed by U.S. forces in 2011; and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, self-proclaimed caliph of the Islamic State (ISIS) and a jihadist so globally notorious that many teenagers are aware of him. Of course a man who wants to be president should make it his business to know such things.
- Andrew C. McCarthy, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review.

When you think of how far we have come, and at what cost, and with what faith, to just turn it all over to this monstrous clown with a monstrous ego, with no experience, never served his country in any way — it’s just crazy. We can’t stand by and let it happen. The Republican Party shouldn’t stand by and let it happen.
- David McCullough, quoted by Jim Dwyer in The New York Times, "Scholars Steeped in Dead Politicians Take On a Live One: Donald Trump," July 12 2016.

Donald Trump is no conservative. He’s a populist whose theme is: Our government is broken, and I’ll fix it. He’s right on point one: Both parties have failed to lead. Obama and congressional Democrats manipulate the levers of power to push America farther toward European socialism; Republicans promise free-market alternatives but end up caving in to pressure or carrying water for the GOP’s own big-government special interests. The American people have signaled in recent elections that they’ve had enough of business as usual, and now they want to clean house. Yet Trump is no better than what we already have. He’ll say anything to get a vote but give us more of the same if he gets into office. Trump beguiles us, defies the politically correct media, and bullies anyone who points out that the emperor has no clothes. None of that makes him a conservative who cherishes liberty... For decades, Trump has argued for big government.
- David McIntosh, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review.

Trump himself thought it was a good idea in the recent past to support Hillary Clinton, including to be President.
- Dan McLaughlin, "The Never Trump Movement Is Neither Anti-American Nor Hypocritical" (17 May 2016), Red State

Trump is unexpectedly increasing my enthusiasm for Hillary. What he is saying is not based on facts: it’s based on immaturity, bad judgment and ignorance, and I think it's going to be hard for people in uniform who are thoughtful about this, to vote for him.
- Merrill McPeak, retired U.S. Air Force chief of staff, as quoted in "What Does the Military Think of Donald Trump?" (15 June 2016), Time

Trump's brawling, blustery, mean-spirited public persona serves to associate conservatives with all the negative stereotypes that liberals have for decades attached to their opponents on the right. According to conventional caricature, conservatives are selfish, greedy, materialistic, bullying, misogynistic, angry, and intolerant. They are, we’re told, privileged and pampered elitists who revel in the advantages of inherited wealth while displaying only cruel contempt for the less fortunate and the less powerful. The Left tried to smear Ronald Reagan in such terms but failed miserably because he displayed none of the stereotypical traits... Trump is the living, breathing, bellowing personification of all the nasty characteristics Democrats routinely ascribe to Republicans.
- Michael Medved, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review.

There are two tactical approaches for candidates seeking their party’s nomination in election campaigns. One is to strongly debate the issues and firmly advocate your positions, but to avoid personal attacks on your opponents or needless divisiveness. The other is to vigorously attack your fellow candidates, disparaging them personally and seeking to raise yourself up by dragging them down. Ronald Reagan was famous for epitomizing the former path. Donald Trump, unfortunately, has chosen to follow the latter course... At a time when the nation is suffering under one of the most divisive and incompetent presidents in history, our people need positive, unifying leadership, not negative, destructive political rhetoric.
- Edwin Meese, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review.

Trump owes less to Willkie’s tradition than to Benito Mussolini’s, and not only because of the superficial: Trump’s chin-out toughness, sweeping right-hand gestures and talk of his “huge” successes and his “stupid” opponents all evoke the Italian dictator’s style. Monday’s breathtaking announcement that he would block all Muslims from entering the United States has many pointing out the obvious fascist overtones... Trump uses many of the fascist’s tools: a contempt for facts, spreading a pervasive sense of fear and overwhelming crisis, portraying his backers as victims, assigning blame to foreign or alien actors and suggesting only his powerful personality can transcend the crisis. He endorsed the violence done to a dissenter at one of his rallies, and he now floats the idea of making entry to the United States contingent on religion.
- Dana Milbank, "Donald Trump, America’s modern Mussolini" (8 December 2015), The Washington Post.

For all the promises Trump is breaking, there is one he has kept without wavering: his vow to be unpredictable. ... Some suggest that there is a method to Trump’s madness, that he is trying to make would-be adversaries think he is irrational and capricious, thereby making foes and rivals wary of pushing him too far. ... But in Trump’s application of the Madman Theory there seems to be less theory than madman. There may be advantages to keeping foes and opponents off guard, but Trump is baffling friends and allies, too. In foreign affairs, unpredictability spooks allies and spreads instability. And unpredictable policy at home has long been seen as toxic for business. ... The widespread chaos suggests Trump isn’t signaling new policies as much as he’s winging it. His unpredictability is not a theory. It’s the absence of one.
- Dana Milbank, Trump’s one consistent policy: Chaos, The Washington Post (December 6, 2016)

He’s a good guy, and he’s not going to hurt anybody. . . . He treated his wife well and . . . he will treat Marla well.

Actresses, people that you write about just call to see if they can go out with him and things.

I mean, he’s living with Marla and he’s got three other girlfriends.

He does things for himself. When he makes a decision, that will be a very lucky woman.

- Trump's "media spokesman" John Miller in a 1991 interview with a People reporter, Donald Trump masqueraded as publicist to brag about himself, Washington Post

Trump's anti-Jeb retweets now include one from a Nazi's account and another calling Jeb a Nazi.
- Tim Miller, Twitter (January 2016).

The three primary goals of religious conservatives: to protect all human life, including that of the unborn; to reinforce the sanctity of marriage and the family; and to conserve the religious freedom of all persons. All three goals would be in jeopardy under a Trump presidency. Yes, Trump says that he is pro-life now, despite having supported partial-birth abortion in the past. The problem is not whether he can check a box. Pro-life voters expect leaders to have a coherent vision of human dignity and to be able to defend against assaults on human life in the future—some of which may be unimaginable today and will present themselves only as new technologies develop.
- Russell Moore, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review.

Trump’s proposal would assure the enmity of all Muslims, including those whose support we need if we are to prevail. Even assuming an infallible way to identify who is Muslim, the proposal is both under- and over-inclusive. It is under-inclusive because it does not address potential terrorists who have U.S. passports or residence permits, or are already here, or may threaten us abroad; it is over-inclusive because it bars the huge majority of Muslims who are not potential terrorists. Trump says he would order the military to kill the families of terrorists. That would be a direct violation of the most basic laws of armed conflict, which require that deadly force be used only when required by military necessity, under circumstances that allow distinction between military and civilian targets, and when incidental damage to non-military targets is proportional to the military advantage gained. A military that adhered to the laws of armed conflict would necessarily disobey such an order; if it followed the order, both the person who gave it and those who followed it would be subject to prosecution for war crimes.
- Michael B. Mukasey, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review.

N

I love Donald, and he would make a great president. Number one, he tells the truth. Number two, he's been where most of these guys want to be, in terms of riding on his own plane. He doesn't have to worry about what hotels he stays in, he doesn't have to worry about how his family gets to Hawaii, so on and so forth. I could give you so many reasons. But most of all, most important I think for Mr. Trump, is he tells it like it is. Look, we can talk about these radicals all we want, but it's my opinion, and I heard [Trump] say this too: They're only going to be as radical as we let them be.
- Wayne Newton on Fox & Friends, 6 October 2015 — as quoted in "Wayne Newton all in on Trump" by Judy Kurtz, The Hill (6 October 2015)

When Trump came for the Mexicans, I did not speak out, as I was not a Mexican. When he came for the Muslims, I did not speak out, as I was not a Muslim. Then he came for me.
- New York Daily News (9 December 2015)

Trump has chosen to identify himself as a Republican as a matter of egotistical convenience.
- Tom Nichols, "I’ll Take Hillary Clinton Over Donald Trump" (24 February 2016), The Federalist

Donald Trump comes closer than anyone else to being the archetype of the species; crossing genres, he exemplifies all the ways an asshole can capture our attention.
- Geoffrey Nunberg (14 August 2012), Ascent of the A-Word: Assholism, the First Sixty Years, New York: PublicAffairs, pp. 164-165, ISBN 978-1610391757

Mr. Trump didn’t create this economic swan dive to the street. Our politicians did.
American doesn’t need any more professional political punks in D.C., unless you believe sticking a red hot crowbar in your eye is an excellent treatment for cataracts. It’s professional political punks who have created the puss-filled infected wound of fundamental transformation, not Donald Trump. They are the ones calling for a bigger bureaucratic shovel for the hole they have already dug, not Donald Trump. They are the ones who have lied to Americans or intentionally hidden the truth from us, not Donald Trump. It’s professional politicians who are the enemy of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, not Donald Trump.
Donald Trump’s message sings to Americans because he doesn’t play politically correct brain-dead games. He calls them like he sees them. That’s refreshing to millions of Americans who believe political correctness is a public cancer that has eroded free speech and everything else good about America.
Donald Trump should be given the Medal of Freedom for speaking his mind in such a bold, honest and straight-forward manner.
- Ted Nugent, Give Trump the Medal of Freedom, WorldNetDaily (August 7, 2015)

O

We’ve got a debate inside the other party that is fantasy and schoolyard taunts and selling stuff like it’s the Home Shopping Network. And then you’ve got the Republican establishment -- they’re very exercised: We’re shocked that somebody would be saying these things. We’re shocked that somebody is fanning anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-Muslim sentiment. We’re shocked! We’re shocked that somebody could be loose with the facts. Or distort someone’s record -- shocked... This is the guy, remember, who was sure that I was born in Kenya. Who just wouldn’t let it go. And all this same Republican establishment, they weren’t saying nothing. As long as it was directed at me, they were fine with it. They thought it was a hoot. Wanted to get his endorsement... What is happening in this primary is just a distillation of what’s been happening inside their party for more than a decade. I mean, the reason that many of their voters are responding is because this is what’s been fed through the messages they’ve been sending for a long time -- that you just make flat assertions that don’t comport with the facts. That you just deny the evidence of science. That compromise is a betrayal. That the other side isn’t simply wrong, or we just disagree, we want to take a different approach, but the other side is destroying the country, or treasonous. I mean, that’s - look it up. That’s what they’ve been saying. So they can’t be surprised when somebody suddenly looks and says, you know what, I can do that even better. I can make stuff up better than that. I can be more outrageous than that. I can insult people even better than that. I can be even more uncivil.
- Barack Obama on Trump, March 2016

I like Donald Trump because he speaks from the heart. Make America Great Again is a great slogan. I would like to meet him.
- Malik Obama, President Obama's half-brother, as quoted in "Why Obama's half-brother says he'll be voting for Donald Trump" by Isabel Vincent, New York Post (24 July 2016)

Let's take a page from Donald Trump's book and ignore political correctness for a moment. If you support Trump, you support his sexist, bigoted and racist views. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it, and this is especially true for GOP party leaders, elected officials and even community leaders. Some have said things such as, 'I don't like Trump's history of demeaning women, but I think he will be good for the economy'. Sorry, you don't get a pass because you like one of his policy proposals. It's akin to saying, 'I supported Hitler for his tax plan'. And no, I'm absolutely not comparing Trump to Hitler. But Anne Frank's 86-year-old stepsister, Eva Schloss, who survived Auschwitz, did just that a few weeks ago, telling Newsweek that Trump 'is acting like another Hitler by inciting racism'.
- Dean Obeidallah, "A Vote For Trump Is A Vote" (24 February 2016), CNN, State of Georgia: Cable News Network

This young girl, Tara Conner, how old is she? 20? 21. She went out and she was partying. She's from Kentucky. She went to New York and she was hanging out at all the parties, and doing what Paris and Lindsay do — you know, dancing, whatever. And so he held a press conference to announce whether or not she was going to retain her crown. And then she started to cry, going, "I just want to thank Donald for giving me a second chance." And there he is, hair looping, going [flipping hair over top of her head, imitating Trump] "Everyone deserves a second chance. I'm going to give her a second chance."
He annoys me on a multitude of levels. He's the moral authority? Left the first wife, had an affair. Left the second wife, had an affair. Had kids both times, but he's the moral compass for 20-year-olds in America. Donald, sit and spin, my friend! I don't enjoy him. No. No, no, no.
He inherited a lot of money — wait a minute — and he's been bankrupt so many times where he didn't have to pay. But the people beneath him who he owed money to got shorted out of the money, but he got to again, try again and again. And you know what saved him the second time? After his father died, with that money, he paid off all his bankruptcy. This is not a self-made man.
I just think that this man is sort of like one of those, you know, snake oil salesmen in Little House on the Prairie.
- Rosie O'Donnell, The View (2006), quoted in "Rosie O'Donnell Hits Back at Donald Trump After Debate Bashing - and Calls Him an 'Orange Anus'", People (2016-09-27)
- Referring to Trump's announcement that he would give Miss USA 2006 a "second chance" after her substance abuse scandal.

This man just can't be president. They've got this button — this briefcase. He's going to find it.
- P. J. O'Rourke, alluding to the nuclear codes the commander-in-chief takes control of upon assuming office, May 7, 2016 on NPR

P

We continue to give voice to the belief of so many Republicans that Trump is not a conservative, does not represent the values of the Republican Party, cannot beat Hillary Clinton, and is simply unfit to be president of the United States... We will continue to educate voters about Trump until he, or another candidate, wins the support of a majority of delegates to the Convention.
- Katie Packer, Our Principles PAC (2016)

Only one candidate's record of success proves he is the master of the art of the deal... I'm here to support the next president of the United States, Donald Trump.
- Sarah Palin, "Sarah Palin's speech endorsing Donald Trump in full", Independent (20 January 2016)

With Donald Trump as the presumptive presidential nominee, we are witnessing a populist hijacking of one of the United States' great political parties... [R]ooted in ignorance, prejudice, fear and isolationism... This troubles me deeply as a Republican, but it troubles me even more as an American... Enough is enough... It's time to put country before party and say it together: Never Trump.
- Henry Paulson, "Choose country over party" (24 June 2016), The Washington Post, Washington, D.C., as quoted in CBS News (June 2016)

Trump has made a living out of preying on and bullying society’s most vulnerable, with the help of government. He isn’t an outsider, but rather an unelected politician of the worst kind. He admits that he’s bought off elected officials in order get his way and to openly abuse the system. The rabid defense he gets from some quarters is astonishing. Trump’s liberal positions aren’t in the distant past—he has openly promoted them on the campaign trail. Trump isn’t fighting for anyone but himself, which has been his pattern for decades. Conservatives have a serious decision. Do we truly believe in our long-held principles and insist that politicians have records demonstrating fealty to them? Or are we willing to throw these principles away because an entertainer who has been a liberal Democrat for decades simply says some of the right things?
- Katie Pavlich, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review

Donald Trump and I believe that Captain Humayun Khan is an American hero and his family, like all Gold Star families, should be cherished by every American. Captain Khan gave his life to defend our country in the global war on terror. Due to the disastrous decisions of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, a once stable Middle East has now been overrun by ISIS. This must not stand. By suspending immigration from countries that have been compromised by terrorism, rebuilding our military, defeating ISIS at its source and projecting strength on the global stage, we will reduce the likelihood that other American families will face the enduring heartbreak of the Khan family.
- Mike Pence, about the statements of Donald Trump on the fallen Captain Humayun S. M. Khan's family — Facebook, July 31, 2016

I wrote the scripture reference, which is 2 Corinthians 3:17, which is how it's written, I'm guilty as charged. That's exactly what I did. I sent him a couple of suggestions of some things he could talk about as a connection point.
It shows that he's not familiar with Bible, Donald Trump's a very interesting guy. There are some things about him that I find fascinating, that I like about him, as well as other evangelicals.
- Tony Perkins, in an interview with CNN's Erin Burnett on OutFront, about Trump saying "two Corinthians" instead of "Second Corinthians" during a speech at Liberty University. [37] (January 22, 2016)

He offers a barking carnival act that can be best described as Trumpism: a toxic mix of demagoguery, mean-spiritedness and nonsense that will lead the Republican Party to perdition if pursued... Let no one be mistaken: Donald Trump's candidacy is a cancer on conservatism, and it must be clearly diagnosed, excised and discarded. ... Donald Trump is the modern-day incarnation of the Know Nothing movement.
- Rick Perry, campaign event, Willard Hotel, 2015-07-22, quoted in DelReal, Jose A. (22 July 2015), "Perry: Trump’s campaign ‘a barking carnival act’ and ‘a cancer on conservatism’", The Washington Post

I don't know how far Trump will go. But in giving confidence to the American people and exposing establishment hypocrisy, he has already done a great service for our country.
- Jesse Lee Peterson, "Cowards join forces to attack the 'bully'", WND (21 September 2015)

Trump is an unbalanced force. He is the politicized American id. Should his election results match his polls, he would be, unquestionably, the worst thing to happen to the American common culture in my lifetime.
- John Podhoretz, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review.

Donald Trump was so awful, so horrible, so disgusting... His lies, his distortions, his deceits, and his libels thicker and fouler than they've yet been... Since he began running he has demonstrated he knows things we don’t know about the emotions roiling in the American underbelly. Maybe he knows this too... He interrupts, he yells over them, he insults them, he goes over his allotted time, and the whirlwind he creates turns into a vacuum that sucks all the air out of the place and right into his attention-whore lungs.
- John Podhoretz, "Trump was out of control in South Carolina debate" (13 February 2016), New York Post.

He's a really brilliant and talented person, without any doubt. It's not our job to judge his qualities, that's a job for American voters, but he's the absolute leader in the presidential race.
- Vladimir Putin, as quoted in "Putin praises Trump: 'He’s a really brilliant and talented person'" by Neetzan Zimmerman, The Hill (17 December 2015)

R

You may not agree with his authenticity but he's authentic. People like that. He speaks his mind, which reminds me of me once in a while. I think that's something that's refreshing.
- Harry Reid, as quoted in "Reid praises Trump for being 'authentic'" by Rebecca Savransky, The Hill (11 February 2016)

He presents himself as a Strong Man who promises to knock heads and make things right again. In this, he has a lot more in common with South American populist demagogues than with our tradition of political leaders... The middle-class consensus in America has collapsed. This is the most important political and social earthquake since World War II. The conservative movement’s leadership isn’t up to the challenge, and a good number of voters are willing to gamble on Trump’s bluster. Bad bet. Our nation’s solidarity is being tested. It will only make things worse if we go Trumpster diving.
- R.R. Reno, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review.

For anyone to compare their 'sacrifice' to a Gold Star family member is insulting, foolish and ignorant. Especially someone who has never served himself and has no children serving, our county has been at war for a decade and a half and the truth is most Americans have sacrificed nothing. Most of them are smart and grounded enough to admit it.
- Paul Rieckoff, in response to Trump's comparison of his sacrifices with those of someone like Khizr M. Khan — Donald Trump to Father of Fallen Soldier: 'I’ve Made a Lot of Sacrifices', ABC News (July 30, 2016)

He is a successful man for a reason. He's actually created a dialogue [and] forced conversations. He has gotten more people engaged in the political process and current events and what's going on in the world than anyone else has for a long time. More people are engaged than ever before. I think whether you agree with Donald or you don't agree with Donald, he starts conversations. That's what democracy is — you've got to get people engaged to make this country run.
- Melissa Rivers, as quoted in "Melissa Rivers: Trump is ‘a successful man for a reason’" by Mark Hensch, The Hill (9 December 2015)

We know Hillary will be a terrible, hard-core ideological leftist; there is probably a 75 percent chance that Trump would govern less badly than Hillary. There is also a 25 percent chance that Trump would do something so catastrophically awful that he seriously harmed the country in ways Hillary wouldn’t dream of. His trade policy alone could cast America back into recession; his foreign policy is a shambles. Any talk of him listening to advisers must be based on conjecture — so far, Trump hasn’t just been a bull in a china shop, he’s been a tank in a glass factory.
- Ben Shapiro, Conservatism’s Sad and Ugly Transformation into Trumpism, National Review (August 3, 2016)

[Donald J. Trump] is a real leader. He represents success and strength, two attributes our country needs. Like me, he is a successful businessman and family man and I endorse his candidacy for President of the United States.
- Willie Robertson, as quoted in "Duck Dynasty's Willie Robertson Endorses Donald Trump, 'A Real Leader'" by Alex Sawyer, Breitbart (21 January 2016)

I think it's time for a war president. Republicans, conservatives and Christians, and capitalist, any who love capitalism, any who loves America, patriots, I think we need a war president and I think God sent us someone named Donald Trump, I think he's perfect for this election. We needed someone who is a bit coarse and foul-mouthed and vicious and fights with a gun in a gunfight, not with a knife in a gun fight.
- Wayne Allyn Root [38] (August 8, 2016)

Voldemort was nowhere near as bad.
- J.K. Rowling, Twitter post (8 December 2015)

If Donald Trump's plans were ever implemented, the country would sink into a prolonged recession. ... As Donald Trump has offered very few specific economic plans, what little he has said is enough to know that he would be very bad for American workers and for American families.
Isn't he a huge business success that knows what he's talking about? No he isn't. His bankruptcies have crushed small businesses and the men and women who worked for them. He inherited his business, he didn't create it. And what ever happened to Trump Airlines? How about Trump University? And then there's Trump Magazine and Trump Vodka and Trump Steaks, and Trump Mortgage? A business genius he is not.
Trump's bombast is already alarming our allies and fueling the enmity of our enemies.
Donald Trump tells us that he is very, very smart. I'm afraid that when it comes to foreign policy he is very, very not smart.
Donald Trump lacks the temperament of be president. After all, this is an individual who mocked a disabled reporter, who attributed a reporter's questions to her menstrual cycle, who mocked a brilliant rival who happened to be a woman due to her appearance, who bragged about his marital affairs, and who laces his public speeches with vulgarity.
Donald Trump says he admires Vladimir Putin, while has called George W. Bush a liar. That is a twisted example of evil trumping good.
Dishonesty is Trump's hallmark: He claimed that he had spoken clearly and boldly against going into Iraq. Wrong, he spoke in favor of invading Iraq. He said he saw thousands of Muslims in New Jersey celebrating 9/11. Wrong, he saw no such thing. He imagined it. His is not the temperament of a stable, thoughtful leader. His imagination must not be married to real power.
We have long referred to him as "The Donald." He is the only person in America to whom we have added an article before his name. It wasn't because he had attributes we admired.
Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud. His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University. He's playing the American public for suckers: He gets a free ride to the White House and all we get is a lousy hat. His domestic policies would lead to recession. His foreign policies would make America and the world less safe. He has neither the temperament nor the judgment to be president. And his personal qualities would mean that America would cease to be a shining city on a hill.
- Mitt Romney, remarks on Donald Trump and the 2016 race at the University of Utah. [39] (March 3, 2016)

S

I think that the American people are never going to elect a president who insults Mexicans, who insults Muslims, who insults women, who insults African-Americans. And let us not forget that several years ago, Trump was in the middle of the so- called birther movement, trying to delegitimize the president of the United States of America. You know, I find it very interesting, Karen, my dad was born in Poland. I know a little bit about the immigrant experience. Nobody has ever asked me for my birth certificate. Maybe it has something to do with the color of my skin.
In this country, immigration reform is a very hot debate. It’s divided the country. But I would hope very much, that as we have that debate, we do not, as Donald Trump and others have done, resort to racism and xenophobia and bigotry. This idea of suddenly, one day or maybe a night, rounding up 11 million people and taking them outside of this country is a vulgar, absurd idea that I would hope very few people in America support.
When you have Republican candidates for president and in Congress telling you that climate change is a hoax, which is Donald Trump and other candidates’ position, what they are really saying is, we don’t have the guts to take on the fossil fuel industry. ... You know what happens to that Republican who listens to the scientists? On that day, that Republican loses his campaign funding from the Koch brothers and the fossil fuel industry.
- Bernie Sanders Democratic Presidential Debate in Miami. transcript by The New York Times (March 9, 2016)

Donald Trump is a pathological liar.
- Bernie Sanders, [40] (September 24, 2016)

It's impossible to ignore the conspicuous regularity with which Donald Trump issues intentionally provocative, news-cycle-dominating comments. It’s equally difficult to look past their timing, which tends to often coincide with scandalous revelations that reflect poorly on Democratic politicians... This is far from an isolated event; it’s a pattern. First, a Democrat becomes embroiled in a controversy or an external event reflects negatively on the party. Donald Trump then makes an outrageous comment calculated for maximum political impact. Like clockwork, the press abandons their critical examination of Democratic policies, and Republicans are back at each other’s throats. This is a measurable phenomenon. In just the last six months, there are almost too many examples to count.
- Noah Rothman, "The Many Times Trump Rescued Dems" (8 December 2015), Commentary Magazine

Winston Churchill of our time.
- Michael Savage — "Savage: Trump is 'Winston Churchill of our time'", WND, 29 July 2015

No two people on this planet seem less concerned with criticism, more content with themselves, or more oblivious to the obscenity of the words they speak.
- Dave Schilling on Donald Trump and Sarah Palin, "Apocalypse now: Sarah Palin's bizarre Trump endorsement analyzed" (20 January 2016), The Guardian.

He does look like he's the last hope [for America]. We don't hear anybody saying what he's saying. In fact, most of the people who ought to be lining up with him are attacking him. They're probably jealous of the amount of press coverage he gets. But the reason he gets so much press coverage is the grassroots are fed up with people who are running things, and they do want a change. They do want people to stand up for America. It really resonates when he says he wants to 'Make America Great Again.'
- Phyllis Schlafly, as quoted in "Phyllis Schlafly: Trump is 'last hope for America'", WND (21 December 2015)

Trump is the only hope to defeat the Kingmakers. Because everybody else will fall in line. The Kingmakers have so much money behind them.
- Phyllis Schlafly, as quoted in "Exclusive–Phyllis Schlafly Makes the Case for President Trump: 'Only Hope to Defeat the Kingmakers'" by Julia Hahn, Breitbart (10 January 2016)

If Donald Trump becomes the next president of the U.S. it would be a complete disaster... I think he is acting like another Hitler by inciting racism... I remember how upset the world was when the Berlin Wall was erected in 1961 and now everybody is building walls again to keep people out. It's absurd.
- Eva Schloss, Anne Frank's step-sister, interview with Newsweek (January 2016)

I put lipstick on a pig. I feel a deep sense of remorse that I contributed to presenting Trump in a way that brought him wider attention and made him more appealing than he is. I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes, there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilization.
- Tony Schwartz in The New Yorker, July 2016

Trump wants to institute a ban that will keep all Muslims out of America... Of course such a ban will not come to pass. The Constitution forbids it. Republicans and Democrats oppose it. Even Israeli politicians, who have a far longer history of confronting terrorism, have chided him for equating Islam with terrorism... Republicans support Trump because he appears to be authentic, isn’t afraid to tell it like it is and is not worried about being politically correct. I see the opposite. He isn’t authentic, he is cynically opportunistic.
- Khosrow Semnani, "My view: Trump's Fear-Mongering Threatens Republican Party" (17 December 2015), Deseret News

We have predicted nine of his last eight stumbles, and they have yet to all materialize... I think it’s more than childish and juvenile and adolescent. There is something creepy about this, his attitude toward women. Take Megyn Kelly of FOX News, who he just has an absolute obsession about, and he’s constantly writing about, you know, how awful she is and no talent and this and that. It’s an obsession. And I don’t know if he’s just never had women — strong, independent women in his life who have spoken to him. It doesn’t seem that way. His daughter... But there is something really creepy about this that’s beyond locker room. It’s almost like a stalker, and I just — I thought this was — it actually did the impossible. It made Ted Cruz look like an honorable, tough guy on the right side of an issue.
- Mark Shields, as quoted in "Shields and Brooks on Trump-Cruz wife feud, ISIS terror in Brussels" (25 March 2016), PBS NewsHour

I’ve known Donald for a few decades, and what you can say without argument is that he’s a good father. His kids have turned out really well. There’s nothing bad you can say about that.
- Gene Simmons, Interview with Radio.com (July 6, 2016)

[Trump] is not someone who would rule justly or wisely. His track record shows that he is a man of coveting and self-serving – a liar and a cheat should not hold that position.
- Art Sisneros, Republican member of the Electoral College who resigned rather than vote for Trump.Teen becomes seventh 'faithless elector' to protest Trump as president-elect at the Guardian, November 30 2016

It's very difficult to respond in a serious way to any statement that's made by Donald Trump.
- Edward Snowden in response to Trump calling Snowden "a total traitor" and "a bad guy" and saying "there is still a thing called execution."
- "Edward Snowden says Hillary Clinton 'ridiculous' to think emails were secure", The Guardian (3 September 2015)

Donald Trump is a thin-skinned reality TV star with an authoritarian streak.
- Robby Soave, "Don't fall for 'lesser of two evils' argument" (1 June 2016), CNN, State of Georgia: Cable News Network

Let me put this in language Donald Trump understands... You're a loser. You’re a third-rate politician, who clearly doesn't understand issues, and is so scared of Megyn Kelly exposing it, that you're looking to use veterans to protect you from facing her questions.
- Jon Soltz, VoteVets (January 2016)

His stance on Muslim immigration, which he would cease until the terror threat is brought under control, is racist. Trump does not care about the things that regular conservatives have dedicated their lives to fighting for: controls on abortion, protection of marriage, reform of the healthcare market. His inclination towards expanding the government and putting it on the side of his people isn't terribly constitutional. And his claim in a debate that the purpose of conservatism is to conserve wealth is spiritually impoverished. The Republican Party needs to stop him; and sooner rather than later.
- Timothy Stanley, "Donald Trump can win – and he must be stopped" (10 February 2016), CNN, State of Georgia: Cable News Network

In the past few months, a Republican front-runner has emerged who has praised Planned Parenthood, pushed elements of a big spending agenda and questioned the neoconservative agenda. There's a case for saying that some or all of these were in need of analysis and revision. But Trump has taken a wrecking ball to the American conservative movement that threatens to leave it in pieces. It's a revolutionary moment and, unless I'm very much mistaken, conservatives are not supposed to be the revolutionaries. They exist to bring order to chaos, rationality over passion. Trump seems to exist to "mix things up." He is "nasty" and "fun" - although more the former than the latter. His enthusiasm for torture is unpleasant to say the least.
- Timothy Stanley, "Trump is blowing up conservatism - can he be stopped?" (21 February 2016), CNN, State of Georgia: Cable News Network

In a country with more than 300 million people, it is remarkable how obsessed the media have become with just one—Donald Trump. What is even more remarkable is that, after seven years of repeated disasters, both domestically and internationally, under a glib egomaniac in the White House, so many potential voters are turning to another glib egomaniac to be his successor.
- Thomas Sowell, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review.

I had some friends over for dinner and we were of course talking about Trump. People are saying, we don't think Trump's going to be the nominee. I said, I'll tell you what: I think he is. I'll tell you why I think he's going to be the nominee: he's proven that no matter what he says, people dig him. ... I think more or less, people are super tired of politicians, meaning that they like the idea of a successful businessman running the country who might actually be able to get shit done.
- Howard Stern — as quoted in Matt Wilstein (24 August 2015), "Howard Stern Predicts Trump Will Be GOP Nominee: He 'Gets Sh*t Done'", Mediaite.com

Trump is not just a wacky politician of the far right, or a riveting television spectacle, or a Twitter phenom and bizarre working-class hero. He is not just another candidate to be parsed and analyzed by TV pundits in the same breath as all the others. In terms of our liberal democracy and constitutional order, Trump is an extinction-level event. It’s long past time we started treating him as such.
- Andrew Sullivan, in "America Has Never Been So Ripe for Tyranny" in New York Magazine (2 May 2016)

Trump is, of course, a master of distraction and media manipulation. It’s possible to resist being his chump, but it takes continued self-regulation.
- Margaret Sullivan, Journalists in the age of Trump: Lose the smugness, keep the mission., The Washington Post (November 29, 2016)

But at some point—if you understand, and this is not just ideological, it's not just the fact that he's abandoned one position after another or that he has the penchant for internet hoaxes or conspiracy theories. I mean a week ago tonight, remember, he was peddling the notion that Ted Cruz's dad had something do with the JFK assassination. So there are people who say that just because of party loyalty we're supposed to forget all of that. I just don't buy that. Because I've cautioned my fellow conservatives, you embrace Donald Trump, you embrace it all. You embrace every slur, every insult, every outrage, every falsehood. You're going to spend the next six months defending, rationalizing, evading all that. And afterwards, you come back to women, to minorities, to young people and say, that wasn't us. That's not what we're about. The reality is, if you support him to be president of the United States, that is who you are, and you own it.
- Charlie Sykes, on The Kelly File (2016), FOX News

T

All of Trump's constant bragging about his money and his poll numbers and his virility speak directly to this surprisingly vibrant middle American fantasy about a castrated white America struggling to re-grow its mojo... They're eating up Trump's Make America Great Again theme, which one supporter hilariously explained must be his true goal, because 'it's on his hat', because it's a fantasy tale of a once-great culture ruined by an invasion of mongrel criminals.
- Matt Taibbi, "The Republicans Are Now Officially the Party of White Paranoia", Rolling Stone.

Trump has given more than $100,000 to the Democratic House and Senate campaign committees. In 2006, the year Democrats took back Congress, he gave $25,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee... Trump wanted Nancy Pelosi to be speaker of the House and Harry Reid the Senate majority leader. Which is not surprising. At the time he made those contributions, from August 2001 to September 2009, Trump was a registered Democrat... Trump continued to support Reid as majority leader in the election immediately after the passage of Obamacare... With all his past support for Democrats, Trump ought to be asked: Will he commit to supporting whoever is the eventual Republican nominee? After all, why should he be welcomed into the Republican fold if he is going to end up throwing his support to Clinton? The fact is, Trump isn’t a Democrat or a Republican; he is an opportunist... He’s less a candidate than a brand. And running for president is great for the Trump brand, an opportunity for Donald Trump to take the national stage and tell us all how great he is. He pretty much admitted as much during his announcement speech, when he pointed out that some questioned whether he was really as successful as he claimed.
- Marc A. Thiessen, "How Donald Trump helped Democrats pass Obamacare" (22 June 2015), The Washington Post

I wanted to like Donald Trump, much as I wanted to like Richard Nixon’s vice president, Spiro Agnew. Both men have said many things with which I agree. Agnew attacked media bias, and Trump attacks the establishment’s failure to “make America great,” as he nonspecifically puts it. But a proper diagnosis does not equal competence in administering a cure. If I developed a brain tumor, I would want Ben Carson to operate on me, but do I want Donald Trump “operating” on America? Everyone has a temperament. The dictionary defines it as “the combination of mental, physical, and emotional traits of a person.” Would Trump’s “combination” make him a good president? I think not.
- Cal Thomas, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review.

We’re really good friends, we go back to ’86, ’87. Most of my successful and best fights were at Trump’s hotels. He didn’t manage me, though. He was just helping me with my court case. We’re the same guy, a thrust for power, a drive for power. Whatever field we’re in, we need power in that field. That’s just who we are. Balls of energy. We’re not even who we think we are. We’re fire. We’re made of this crap—water, motion, dirt, diamonds, emeralds. We’re made out of that stuff, can you believe it?
That shit is the real deal. Listen: I’m a black motherfucker from the poorest town in the country. I’ve been through a lot in life. And I know him. When I see him, he shakes my hand and respects my family. None of them—Barack, whoever—nobody else does that. They’re gonna be who they are and disregard me, my family. So I’m voting for him. If I can get 20,000 people or more to vote for him, I’m gonna do it.
- Mike Tyson, in an interview with The Daily Caller. [41] (January 21, 2016)

Trump has changed his position on Syria twice and even reversed himself once, but he still can't find the right answer... He said he thinks the Middle East would be better off if Saddam Hussein and Moammar Qaddafi were still in charge of Iraq and Libya, and that Syria will be better off if Bashar al-Assad remains in power for the same reason... He sounds like a random guy in a bar who’s thinking out loud after reading a couple of newspaper articles that are fuzzy on the details. We all run into people like that once a while, people who don’t really know anything about the Middle East but think they’ve got it all figured out anyway. He realizes it’s hard, though, and figures, hey, let the Russians deal with it instead.
- Michael Totten, "Donald Trump Can’t Get the Middle East Right" (7 October 2015), Dispatches, World Affairs Journal

I think he would be a great president... He is one of the most dynamic people in the world. He looks presidential, and he talks presidential, and he would make the changes he promises.
- Ivana Trump, as quoted in Eddie Roche (11 February 2016), "Daily Exclusive: Ivana Trump Uncensored", Daily Front Row

My father is an unbelievable listener, and I don't think people realize that until they actually know him. And he ultimately makes his own decisions and that's what any leader needs to do.
- Ivanka Trump, as quoted in Judy Kurtz (14 October 2015), "Ivanka Trump: Dad's conflict with Megyn Kelly 'very sensationalized'", The Hill

He's smart, he's tough, he knows what he's doing. He's speaking from his heart. He's the best.
- Melania Trump, as quoted in "Melania Trump not nervous for husband" by Judy Kurtz, The Hill (16 December 2015)

Trump's entire personal and professional history is Obama-esque. When it serves his interests, Trump lies. He has lied to business associates, employees, friends, spouses, and now to millions of prospective voters. Anyone who thinks that Trump will not lie to them, or that he will at least tell the truth about 'important things', immigration or ISIS or whatever, is deluding himself. When it becomes expedient for Trump to lie, he will.
- Ian Tuttle, "Donald Trump's Huge Lies", National Review

Yeah! Hell, yeah... That shit is the real deal. Listen. I'm a black motherfucker from the poorest town in the country. I’ve been through a lot in life. And I know him. When I see him, he shakes my hand and respects my family. None of them—Barack, whoever—nobody else does that. They're gonna be who they are and disregard me, my family. So I'm voting for him. If I can get 20,000 people or more to vote for him, I'm gonna do it.
- Mike Tyson, interview with Marlow Stern (January 2016).

V

People no longer trust the career politicians, no longer trust the status-quo because they screwed it up so bad. I loved listening to you talk to those other talking heads about 'Donald Trump could be the destruction of the whole Republican party.' I throw my hands up in the air and cheer. I hope it happens! And I hope Bernie Sanders is the destruction of the Democratic Party. It's time to break up the two party dictatorship.
- Jesse Ventura on CNN with Don Lemon, as quoted in Chris Enloe (7 October 2015), "Jesse Ventura Wants to Destroy the Political Establishment and He's Named Two Guys to Do It", IJ Review

When [Trump] decided to run for president, I know he did it with a true conviction to bring this country back to prosperity. He is the only one who can do it. No frills, no fuss, only candid truths. ... I pray all Americans who have seen and felt the meltdown of America with the Obama years, to please fight for Donald Trump.
- Jon Voight, as quoted in "EXCLUSIVE: Jon Voight Endorses Donald Trump" by Joel B. Pollak, Breitbart (9 March 2016)

We are all Gold Star Families, who have lost those we love the most in war. Ours is a sacrifice you will never know. Ours is a sacrifice we would never want you to know.
Your recent comments regarding the Khan family were repugnant, and personally offensive to us. When you question a mother's pain, by implying that her religion, not her grief, kept her from addressing an arena of people, you are attacking us. When you say your job building buildings is akin to our sacrifice, you are attacking our sacrifice. You are not just attacking us, you are cheapening the sacrifice made by those we lost. You are minimizing the risk our service members make for all of us. This goes beyond politics. It is about a sense of decency. That kind decency you mock as "political correctness."
- VoteVets' Gold Star Family Members, open letter to Trump [42] (August 1, 2016)

W

We’ve never had a president whose business created as many potential conflicts of interest as Donald Trump, and at the same time we’ve never had a president who cared less about conflicts of interest as Donald Trump. Indeed, he and his children are making it quite clear that they will use the presidency as a tool to make as much money as they can. And Republicans, particularly Congress, have apparently decided that if Trump does it, it’s okay.
- Paul Waldman, Republicans are already making it clear: Trump can do whatever he wants, The Washington Post (December 5, 2016)

Can we get Trump to prove he's a good citizen or we'll deport him?
- Shannon Wheeler, cartoonist, twitted 10.10

Trump actually faces unique obstacles as he courts black voters. The mogul has a long history of using racially charged rhetoric and his real estate company was sued for allegedly discriminating against black renters in the 1970s. His stance on Muslims, which has drawn praise from white supremacists, could also prove problematic, since over 25 percent of American Muslims are black.
- Hunter Walker, "Donald Trump has a plan to win ‘100 percent’ of the black vote and prove he’s not a racist" (10 December 2015), Yahoo! News

You will never hear me say a negative thing about Donald Trump. Me and Donald are cool. ... Donald will get my vote.
- Dana White, as quoted in "UFC head Dana White endorses Trump" by Sylvan Lane, The Hill (12 December 2015)

He will be a real American leader, who might not always be the best one from Europe's perspective but defends the interests of his own people. I wish we had political leaders like this in the Netherlands who defend their own country... and forget the rest.
- Geert Wilders, on BNR radio, as quoted in "Geert Wilders says the Netherlands needs a leader like Donald Trump" (18 July 2016), DutchNews.nl.

I’d vote for a bowling ball covered in dog shit and pubic hair before I vote for Trump.
- bestselling author Chuck Wendig, "I'm With Her", June 8, 2016

The cost of appearing with a bloviating ignoramus is obvious, it seems to me. Donald Trump is redundant evidence that if your net worth is high enough, your IQ can be very low and you can still intrude into American politics.
- George Will on This Week, ABC, 27 May 2012 , quoted in Tapper, Jake (27 May 2012), "George Will Calls Donald Trump a ‘Bloviating Ignoramus’", ABC News

It has come to this. The GOP, formerly the party of Lincoln and ostensibly the party of liberty and limited government, is being defined by clamors for a mass roundup and deportation of millions of human beings. To will an end is to will the means for the end, so the Republican clamors are also for the requisite expansion of government’s size and coercive powers... Trump evidently plans to deport almost 10 percent of California’s workers, and 13 percent of that state’s K–12 students. He is, however, at his most Republican when he honors family values: He proposes to deport intact families, including children who are citizens... Trump proposes seizing money that illegal immigrants from Mexico try to send home. This might involve sacrificing mail privacy, but desperate times require desperate measures. He would vastly enlarge the federal government’s enforcement apparatus, but he who praises single-payer health care systems and favors vast eminent domain powers has never made a fetish of small government.
- George Will, "Trump Should Have No Place in the Party of Liberty and Limited Government" (22 August 2015), National Review

If Donald Trump were a Democratic mole placed in the Republican Party to disrupt things, how would his behavior be any different? I don't think it would be.
- George Will, as quoted in "Is Donald Trump a Democratic secret agent?" (11 December 2015), by Anthony Zurcher, BBC News, United Kingdom: British Broadcasting Corporation

Donald Trump, who has driven well past the last exit to relevance and peered into something closer to irresponsible here, is tweeting tonight.
- Brian Williams, November 6, 2012, in response to Trump's tweeted reactions to the 2012 United States elections

Y

He's the classic demagogue described well in the Federalist Papers that our system is designed to stop.
- John Yoo, Analysis: the Vengeful World of Donald Trump and Why It Matters, at NBC News, published October 31, 2016

Z

Donald Trump would be an awesome GOP nominee if he was remotely conservative, suited to beat Hillary, or had the temperament of a good POTUS.
- John Ziegler, Twitter post (February 2016)

Could Donald Trump be a secret double-agent, sent by Democrats to destroy their party from within? Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who has borne the brunt of more than a few Trump barbs, seems to think there's a possibility... He's belittling his Republican colleagues. He's pulling the party to the nativist right in direct conflict with the goal set by strategists in 2013 to appeal to a more ethnically diverse nation. And he's generally sucking up all the political oxygen, making it harder for other candidates to get their message out. All in all, many experts say he's making it much more difficult for a Republican to win the general election next fall. Maybe he's doing it on purpose... But as the saying goes, even paranoids have enemies. And, at least for the moment, there are some Republicans who see Donald Trump much more of an enemy than a friend.
- Anthony Zurcher, "Is Donald Trump a Democratic secret agent?" (11 December 2015), BBC News, United Kingdom: British Broadcasting Corporation

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