Donald Trump FULL Interview on This Week with George Stephanopoulos

[0:00] As you may have seen from your morning papers, our exclusive interview with Donald Trump [0:03] is already generating headlines and controversy all over the world. [0:08] Especially Mr. Trump's first response to the Khan family, gold star appearance of fallen [0:12] soldier Humayun Khan. [0:14] Watch the whole exchange. [0:15] Form your own judgments. [0:16] I met up with Mr. Trump Friday afternoon in Colorado Springs and he began the interview [0:20] exuberant from his Thursday night ratings win over Hillary Clinton. [0:24] Let's talk about the Democratic convention. [0:26] So you won the ratings war in the last night. [0:28] Hillary Clinton's speech... [0:29] By millions, George. [0:30] By millions, right? [0:31] A couple million. [0:32] It's true. [0:33] Three. [0:34] Hillary Clinton's speech. [0:35] Twenty-two direct mentions of your name. [0:36] Seventy-eight references. [0:37] Very tough. [0:38] Including this one hit on your temperament. [0:40] A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons. [0:49] She quoted Jackie Kennedy suggesting you're a little man moved by fear and pride. [0:54] She's a very dishonest person. [0:56] I have one of the great temperaments. [0:57] I have a winning temperament. [0:58] She has a bad temperament. [0:59] She's weak. [1:00] We need a strong temperament. [1:02] And that's all it is. [1:03] I have a strong temperament. [1:04] I know how to win. [1:05] But there are... [1:06] Polls do show some concern about this that whether you can be trusted with the nuclear [1:09] codes. [1:10] Well, I think that's probably because Hillary, that's all they talk about is temperament. [1:13] I think I have a great temperament. [1:15] I beat 16 very talented people and I've never done this before. [1:20] You don't do that with a bad temperament. [1:22] I'm leading her in the polls, as you probably have noticed. [1:25] And I think I have a great temperament. [1:27] I have a temperament where I know how to win. [1:29] She doesn't know how to win. [1:30] She's not a winner. [1:31] She doesn't know how to win. [1:32] Honestly, she lies a lot. [1:34] And she really, she should tell the truth. [1:37] I honestly believe if she told the truth, because she made some reference to my campaigning, [1:42] I've had a beautiful, I've had a flawless campaign. [1:45] You'll be writing books about this campaign. [1:47] And yet she's criticizing my campaign. [1:49] Now her campaign, she couldn't beat Bernie. [1:51] Well, she did beat him. [1:52] Well, barely. [1:53] And this question's even about that. [1:55] But barely. [1:56] And if you look at what's going on in terms of unity, the Bernie people are angry. [2:00] They're angry. [2:01] He was angry. [2:02] What was amazing to me is when she was talking about Bernie last night, the camera was on [2:07] him. [2:09] And he was angry. [2:10] It almost looks like he has buyer's remorse, like he shouldn't have made the deal. [2:13] Let's talk about Russia. [2:14] You made a lot of headlines with Russia this week. [2:16] What exactly is your relationship with Vladimir Putin? [2:19] I have no relationship with Putin. [2:21] I have no relationship with Putin. [2:22] But if you have no relationship with Putin, then why did you say in 2013, I do have a relationship? [2:28] In 2014, I spoke... [2:29] Because he has said nice things about me over the years. [2:32] I remember years ago, he said something, many years ago, he said something very nice about me. [2:37] I said something good about him when Larry King was on. [2:40] This was a long time ago. [2:41] And I said, he is a tough cookie or something to that effect. [2:46] He said something nice about me. [2:48] This has been going on. [2:49] We did 60 Minutes together. [2:50] By the way, not together together, meaning he was probably shot in Moscow when I was shot [2:54] in New York. [2:55] But that's the thing. [2:56] No, just so you understand, he said very nice things about me, but I have no relationship [3:01] with him. [3:02] Yet you said for three years, 13, 14, and 15, that you did have a relationship with him. [3:06] No. [3:07] Look, what do you call a relationship? [3:08] I mean, he treats me with great respect. [3:09] I'm asking you. [3:10] I have no relationship with Putin. [3:13] I don't think I've ever met him. [3:14] I never met him. [3:15] I don't think I've ever met him. [3:16] You would know it if you did. [3:17] I think so. [3:18] Yeah, I think so. [3:19] Never spoken to him on the phone. [3:20] I've been in Moscow. [3:21] I didn't meet him in Moscow. [3:22] Where? [3:23] Never spoken to him on the phone. [3:24] I have never spoken to him on the phone. [3:25] No. [3:26] I've spoken. [3:27] When we had the Miss Universe contest a number of years ago, we had Miss Universe in Moscow, [3:32] in the Moscow area. [3:33] He was invited. [3:34] He wanted to come. [3:35] He wasn't able to come. [3:36] That would have been a time when I would have met him. [3:38] But I just want to clear this up, because you did say on three different occasions you [3:43] had a relationship with him. [3:44] Now you say there is none. [3:45] Well, I don't know. [3:46] I don't know. [3:47] What it means by having a relationship. [3:50] I mean, he was saying very good things about me, but I don't have a relationship with him. [3:54] I didn't meet him. [3:55] I haven't spent time with him. [3:57] I didn't have dinner with him. [3:59] I didn't go hiking with him. [4:01] I don't know. [4:02] I wouldn't know him from Adam, except I see his picture and I would know what he looks like. [4:05] Vice President Biden told me this week that Vladimir Putin wants to beat Hillary. [4:09] And Madeleine Albright said that your victory would be a gift to Putin. [4:13] And what they're pointing to is things like your statements about conditioning our commitments [4:18] to NATO allies, softening the GOP platform on Ukraine, even considering softening sanctions [4:23] and recognizing Russian annexation of Crimea. [4:26] They fear that that's going to hurt America and advance Russia's interests. [4:30] They only fear one thing, losing the election. [4:32] If our country got along with Russia, that would be a great thing. [4:37] When Putin goes out and tells everybody, and you talk about relationship, but he says Donald [4:41] Trump is going to win and Donald Trump is a genius. [4:43] And then I have people saying, you should disavow. [4:45] I said, I'm going to disavow that. [4:47] But when Putin says good things and when we have a possibility of having a good relationship [4:51] with Russia, I think that's good. [4:52] But if we have a good relationship by bowing to his annexation of Crimea, is that a good thing? [4:55] Hey, George, you know me pretty well. [4:56] I don't bow, okay? [4:57] I don't bow. [4:58] But if we can have a good relationship with Russia and if Russia would help us get rid of [5:03] ISIS, frankly, as far as I'm concerned, you're talking about tremendous amounts of money and [5:07] lives and everything else, that would be a positive thing, not a negative thing. [5:10] Even if that means conditioning our commitments to NATO, as you said? [5:12] No, because you're not going to do that. [5:14] NATO is going to be just fine. [5:16] But NATO countries, we have 28 countries, many of them are taking advantage of us because they're [5:21] not paying. [5:22] And when people leave that last part in, everybody agrees with me. [5:27] I'm all in favor of NATO. [5:29] I said NATO is obsolete. [5:30] I was asked a question by one of your competitors and I said NATO is obsolete because it's not [5:36] taking care of terror. [5:37] You understand that. [5:38] And it turned out I was right. [5:39] A lot of people gave me credit for that. [5:41] Then three months ago on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, they said NATO to [5:45] develop a terror division and somebody who's supposed to be very extraordinary is put in charge [5:51] of it. [5:52] That was all because of me. [5:53] So I was right about that. [5:54] I was also right about the fact that NATO, with being taken advantage of by NATO countries, [6:00] totally advantage of. [6:01] Why did you soften the GOP platform on Ukraine? [6:04] I wasn't involved in that. [6:07] Honestly, I was not involved. [6:08] Yeah. [6:09] I was not involved in that. [6:10] I'd like to, I'd have to take a look at it, but I was not involved. [6:14] Do you know what they did? [6:15] They softened it, I heard, but I was not involved. [6:18] They took away the part of the platform calling for provision of lethal weapons to Ukraine [6:22] to defend themselves. [6:23] Why is that a good idea? [6:24] It's look, you know, I have my own ideas. [6:27] He's not going into Ukraine. [6:28] Okay. [6:29] Just so you understand. [6:30] He's not going to go into Ukraine. [6:31] All right. [6:32] You can mark it down. [6:33] You can put it down. [6:34] You can take it anywhere you want. [6:35] Well, he's already there, isn't he? [6:36] Okay. [6:37] Well, he's there in a certain way, but I'm not there. [6:38] You have Obama there. [6:39] And frankly, that whole part of the world is a mess under Obama. [6:43] With all the strength that you're talking about and all of the power of NATO and all [6:47] of this, in the meantime, he's going away. [6:49] He takes Crimea. [6:50] He's sort of, I mean... [6:51] But you said you might recognize that. [6:53] I'm going to take a look at it. [6:55] But you know, the people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia [7:00] than where they were. [7:01] And you have to look at that also. [7:03] Now that was under, just so you understand, that was done under Obama's administration. [7:07] And as far as the Ukraine is concerned, it's a mess. [7:10] And that's under the Obama's administration, with his strong ties to NATO. [7:15] So with all of these strong ties to NATO, Ukraine is a mess. [7:19] Crimea has been taken. [7:20] Don't blame Donald Trump for that. [7:22] You've said you have... [7:23] And we'll do better, and yet we'll have a better relationship with Russia. [7:27] And having a good relationship, maybe, and having a good relationship with Russia [7:32] is a good thing, not a bad thing. [7:34] You said you have no investments in Russia. [7:36] But do you owe any money to Russian individuals and institutions? [7:39] No. [7:40] None. [7:41] The primary thing I did with Russia, I bought a house in Palm Beach out of bankruptcy. [7:44] It was a bankrupt, you know, person. [7:47] I bought it from the banks. [7:49] I bought it for about $40 million. [7:51] I sold it for $100 million to a Russian. [7:54] That was probably five years ago, and that was primarily it. [7:58] You partnered with Russians on the Soho Grand? [8:00] Will I sell? [8:01] Many years ago, I don't think they're Russian. [8:03] I think there were other people, but there were various partners. [8:06] Will I sell condos to Russians on occasion? [8:09] Probably. [8:10] I mean, I do that. [8:11] I have a lot of condos. [8:12] I do that. [8:13] But I have no relationship to Russia whatsoever. [8:15] No debts? [8:16] No debts. [8:17] I have very little debt to anybody. [8:18] I don't need debt. [8:19] You know, it's very interesting. [8:20] I'm so liquid. [8:21] I don't need debt. [8:22] And if I need debt, if I want debt, I can get it from banks in New York City very easily. [8:26] You know where I'm going to take this next. [8:28] Americans could be assured on that if they saw your tax returns. [8:31] My tax returns are very simple. [8:35] They're under a minor audit, routine audit, as they have been for many years. [8:39] Every year I get audited. [8:40] Now, I don't know if you get audited, but I have friends that are very wealthy that never have been audited. [8:45] I say, do you get audited? [8:47] I get audited every year. [8:48] I'm under a routine audit, like routine, and I have been for years, every year. [8:54] But there are several years that are no longer under that audit. [8:56] It's very simple. [8:57] Yeah, but they're all linked. [8:58] It's called the link. [8:59] It's very simple. [9:00] If my audit's finished, that's great. [9:02] Now, I have to tell you, I watched Mitt Romney four years ago. [9:05] He waited until September to give him, just before the election. [9:09] They made him look so bad. [9:11] It was so unfair. [9:12] I actually think he didn't lose because of the 47%. [9:15] I think he lost because of a couple of really minor items in a tax return where he did nothing wrong. [9:21] So it is unfair. [9:22] But I will say, when I'm finished with the audit, I'll do it. [9:26] Richard Nixon released his, even though his were under audit. [9:28] Don't use Richard Nixon as necessarily the guide, okay? [9:31] I mean, you know, it's an interesting person to use, but don't use it. [9:33] Mike Bloomberg. [9:34] Yeah. [9:35] Very tough on you at the Democratic Convention. [9:38] Trump says he wants to run the nation like he's running his business? [9:42] God help us. [9:46] Called you a con man, reckless, even seen... [9:49] He doesn't know me well. [9:51] Michael Bloomberg, when he had a problem in Ferry Point, which is a massive job where his administration was a mess, [9:57] they couldn't get it built, they called me. [9:59] I took it over. [10:00] I got it done in a year. [10:02] Michael Bloomberg couldn't get elected dog catcher in New York. [10:05] In the past, you said he was a great mayor. [10:06] Sure, he was good, but his last term was terrible. [10:08] He did a terrible thing his last term. [10:11] And, frankly, a lot of people didn't like him. [10:14] He spent a fortune to get elected. [10:15] He shouldn't have gone to third term. [10:17] The snow removal was a disaster. [10:18] He had a lot of problems. [10:20] Michael Bloomberg had a big problem with Ferry Point in the Bronx. [10:24] They called me. [10:25] I made a deal. [10:26] I took it over. [10:27] I got it built. [10:28] I got it open. [10:29] It's open today. [10:30] It's very successful. [10:31] And I think, personally, I think he made a deal with Hillary where he gets a job because he'd like to... [10:35] Because Michael Bloomberg's wanted to run for president for probably as long as you've known him. [10:40] And guess what? [10:41] He never had the guts to do it. [10:42] And now I see this guy up on stage saying negative things. [10:45] He knows nothing about me. [10:47] He's never been to my office. [10:48] I don't know him well. [10:50] Played golf together. [10:51] Maybe once. [10:52] Here's what he hit you on in the speech. [10:55] And I hit the ball a lot longer. [10:56] A lot better. [10:57] He hit you for hypocrisy in the speech. [10:59] For selling products made overseas. [11:01] Gaming the visa system to hire foreign workers at low wages. [11:05] And just this week, BuzzFeed reported that Mar-a-Lago is putting out an application for 78 more visas for foreign workers. [11:12] Even though the... [11:13] Should I tell you about it? [11:14] Mar-a-Lago's a very successful club in Palm Beach, Florida. [11:17] The Mar-a-Lago Club. [11:18] And during the season, it's very, very hard to get employees. [11:21] Local employment agents say they have more than a thousand people in their database. [11:24] And we have a lot of people. [11:25] We come up with a lot of people. [11:27] But it's very, very hard to get people in Palm Beach during the Palm Beach season. [11:31] It's called the Palm Beach social season. [11:33] And what we do is we sometimes have to bring people in. [11:36] As far as product, our country doesn't make product anymore. [11:40] You have other countries devalue their currencies. [11:43] They make it impossible. [11:44] You look at suits and ties and shirts. [11:46] You look at steel. [11:48] You look at so many different things. [11:50] It's one of the things... [11:51] But our country does make those products, but you don't. [11:53] We make them very small. [11:54] Three percent of our product is made in apparel. [11:58] And much of the material comes from overseas. [12:01] It's very... [12:02] If you want to get a television today, I buy thousands of television sets. [12:06] If I want to get a television... [12:07] I would love to buy American-made televisions like they used to have, [12:11] where they had GE and Sylvania and all of the different... [12:14] Today, it's Samsung. [12:15] It's LG. [12:16] It's Sony. [12:17] We don't make televisions anymore. [12:18] There's so many... [12:19] But you're out there saying other American companies must come and create jobs here, [12:22] but you're not willing to do it yourself. [12:23] You're not... [12:24] This is nothing new, what you're saying. [12:25] I talk about this during my speech. [12:27] When I do ties, I bit them out and I go all over the place. [12:30] You have companies over in different countries where they devalue their currency [12:34] and they make it impossible for American companies to compete. [12:37] The hat, make America great again. [12:40] I fought like crazy to find a company in this country that could make the hats. [12:47] And I found one. [12:48] And they're American-made. [12:50] But it's... [12:51] Because I knew the first thing people would do is, where is the hat made? [12:53] Okay? [12:54] Make America great. [12:55] But it is very, very hard for our companies to compete because other companies, [13:01] and it's really the countries, other countries take advantage of us. [13:04] Here are the numbers on the hiring of foreign workers. [13:06] Since 2010, 300 U.S. applicants down in Mar-a-Lago, 17 hired, [13:12] more than 500 visa applications. [13:14] Well, you know what? [13:15] I don't hire the people. [13:16] But if you look at all of the other places in Palm Beach, [13:19] they're all doing exactly the same thing. [13:20] What do you think an American worker... [13:21] And you know why they're doing that? [13:22] You know why they're doing that? [13:23] Because you can't get people, George. [13:25] What do you think a voter thinks when they hear you say, [13:27] I can't find American workers, I can't find American companies? [13:29] I think the voter understands it because they understand that. [13:33] You know, you're not reinventing the wheel here with these questions. [13:36] These questions get asked all the time. [13:38] I've been asked about Mar-a-Lago. [13:39] I have many other places where I don't have to do that because you have a normal season. [13:42] Let's talk about debates. [13:43] You can accept the recommendations of the debate commission. [13:46] Three debates, one VP debate. [13:48] Well, I'll tell you what I don't like. [13:49] It's against two NFL games. [13:50] I got a letter from the NFL saying, this is ridiculous. [13:54] Why are the debates against? [13:55] Because the NFL doesn't want to go against the debates because the debates are going to be [13:59] pretty massive from what I understand, okay? [14:01] And I don't think we should be against the NFL. [14:05] I don't know how the dates were picked. [14:06] I don't know why those particular dates... [14:07] So you don't like the dates that are out there? [14:09] Well, I don't like dates against... [14:10] You know, Hillary Clinton wants to be against the NFL. [14:12] She does it maybe like she did with Bernie Sanders where they were on Saturday nights when nobody's home. [14:17] But they're against the NFL. [14:19] I saw the dates too. [14:20] I think two of the three are against the NFL. [14:22] So I'm not thrilled with that. [14:23] But I like three debates. [14:24] I think that's fine. [14:25] I think it's enough. [14:26] If somebody said one debate, I'd rather have three. [14:29] I think they'll be very interesting. [14:30] I don't know if you saw this speech, but there was a man named Kaiser Khan speaking at the Democratic Convention last night. [14:36] His son, Captain Humayun Khan, was killed serving in Iraq. [14:40] And he had some very tough questions for you. [14:43] Have you even read the United States Constitution? [14:47] I will gladly lend you my copy. [14:53] You have sacrificed nothing and no one. [15:00] He said you wouldn't have even let his son in America. [15:04] He doesn't know. [15:05] He doesn't know that. [15:06] I saw him. [15:07] He was, you know, very emotional and probably looked like a nice guy to me. [15:13] His wife, if you look at his wife, she was standing there. [15:17] She had nothing to say. [15:18] She probably, maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything to say. [15:21] You tell me. [15:22] But plenty of people have written that. [15:24] She was extremely quiet. [15:26] And it looked like she had nothing to say. [15:28] A lot of people have said that. [15:30] And personally, I watched him. [15:33] I wish him the best of luck, George. [15:35] What would you say to that father? [15:36] Well, I'd say we've had a lot of problems with radical Islamic terrorism. [15:40] That's what I'd say. [15:41] We have a lot of problems where you look at San Bernardino. [15:45] You look at Orlando. [15:46] You look at the World Trade Center. [15:48] You look at so many different things. [15:49] You look at what happened to the priest over the weekend in Paris where his throat was cut, [15:54] 85-year-old beloved Catholic priest. [15:57] You look at what happened in Nice, France a couple of weeks ago. [16:01] I'd say you've got to take a look at that because something's going on and it's not good. [16:05] He said you have sacrificed nothing and no one. [16:08] Well, that sounds... [16:09] Who wrote that? [16:10] Did Hillary's script writers write it? [16:12] Because everybody that went out there... [16:14] We also had John Allen who failed with ISIS. [16:17] I mean, he was a general. [16:18] Allen. [16:19] General Allen. [16:20] He went out and he was ranting and raving. [16:22] And then I read a report. [16:23] He was in there for a number of months and he failed with ISIS. [16:26] And he's telling me, you know... [16:27] You saw Hillary say last night you don't know more than the generals. [16:30] Well, I'll tell you, the generals aren't doing so well right now. [16:33] Now, I have a feeling it may be Obama's fault. [16:35] But if you look at ISIS, General MacArthur and General Patton, they're spinning in their [16:40] graves. [16:41] The generals certainly aren't doing very well right now. [16:43] And General Allen, after I saw he was on ranting and raving about me, who we never met, [16:49] I checked up. [16:50] Guess what? [16:51] They weren't so happy with him. [16:53] He didn't beat ISIS. [16:54] He didn't beat ISIS. [16:55] He didn't do even well with ISIS. [16:57] How would you answer that, Father? [16:58] What sacrifice have you made for your country? [17:00] I think I've made a lot of sacrifices. [17:02] I worked very, very hard. [17:04] I've created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures. [17:11] I've done... [17:12] I've had tremendous success. [17:14] I think I've done a lot. [17:15] Those are sacrifices? [17:16] Oh, sure. [17:18] I think they're sacrifices. [17:19] I think when I can employ thousands and thousands of people, take care of their education, [17:24] take care of so many things, even in military. [17:26] I mean, I was very responsible, along with a group of people, for getting the Vietnam [17:31] Memorial built in downtown Manhattan, which, to this day, people thank me for. [17:36] I raised and I have raised millions of dollars for the vets. [17:39] I'm helping the vets a lot. [17:41] I think my popularity with the vets is through the roof, far greater than hers. [17:45] She's done nothing. [17:46] All she's done is tell everybody that the vets are in good shape. [17:48] They're fine. [17:49] And they're not fine. [17:50] People are waiting in line for seven days to see a doctor. [17:52] She thinks it's fine. [17:53] A hundred days left. [17:54] What's the number one thing you have to do? [17:56] I think that I just want to continue to campaign the way I'm doing. [18:00] I'm leaving here. [18:01] I'm going to a speech. [18:02] It's packed with thousands of people. [18:04] They're making, in many cases, less money now, George, than they made 18 years ago. [18:08] And they're working two jobs. [18:09] They're working harder. [18:10] They're older. [18:11] And it's unfair. [18:12] Our country's a mess. [18:14] And that's why, when she makes this speech, she doesn't talk about radical Islam. [18:17] She doesn't talk about all of the problems that we have in this country and even throughout [18:21] the world, many of the problems she caused. [18:24] I mean, she created ISIS with her stupidity and her really lack of knowledge with her bad [18:30] judgment. [18:31] You know, Bernie Sanders said something about Hillary Clinton that was very interesting. [18:33] He said she had bad judgment. [18:35] Great words. [18:36] Bad judgment. [18:37] You know what? [18:38] She has bad judgment. [18:39] She has no instinct. [18:40] Final question. [18:41] You worried at all that the Democratic Convention is going to bounce her ahead of you in the polls? [18:45] I don't know. [18:46] I mean, look, I had a very big bounce. [18:47] In fact, I think you even said it was one of the biggest bounces in 20 years. [18:51] It's been a long time since somebody had a bounce like that. [18:54] Look, I think the Republican Convention was great. [18:57] Or I wouldn't have had the bounce that I had. [18:59] As you said, I had 3 million people more than she had on the final night. [19:03] She had a Thursday. [19:04] I had a Thursday. [19:05] She had a speech. [19:06] I had a speech. [19:07] I had 3 million people more than she did. [19:08] And they had a lot of people. [19:09] There were a lot of people. [19:10] I think I had 30 million. [19:11] They had 27 million. [19:12] I think we're going to do very well in this election. [19:15] Mr. Trump, thanks for your time. [19:17] Thank you very much. [19:18] As we said, that was on Friday. [19:20] And overnight, the Trump campaign put out a statement responding to the controversy. [19:24] Here's the statement. [19:25] 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. [19:31] 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. [19:42] Mr. Trump also put out a tweet this morning. [19:45] He said that Captain Khan killed 12 years ago was a hero, but this is about radical Islamic terror and the weakness of our leaders to eradicate it. [19:53] And one other note. [19:55] The NFL has disputed a claim Mr. Trump made in the interview that the NFL wrote him a letter complaining about the presidential debate schedule. [20:03] An NFL representative told us that was not true. [20:05] And the Trump team responded to that overnight, saying that Trump was made aware of conflicting dates by a source close to the league.