Donald Trump: "I don't want to be president" - entire 1987 CNN interview (Larry King Live)

[0:00] Donald Trump, the multimillionaire real estate developer, is sounding more like a politician [0:04] these days than America's most grandiose and controversial builder. When he disagrees [0:09] with a matter of policy, he does it in a big way. Today, he sunk $95,000 into a full-page [0:16] newspaper ad appearing in many papers criticizing the administration's foreign policy. Rumblings [0:22] in the Trump camp point as far as the presidency. Could the Manhattan Magnet be eyeing the White [0:27] House, or is he just calling a bluff? Are you a Republican, Donald? [0:31] I'm a Republican, yes. [0:32] So if there were politics, it would be as a Republican. [0:35] It would be, I guess, as a Republican, but I don't see that there will be politics. [0:39] Why the ad then? I mean, you said you wanted to say it. There's a lot of ways you can say things. I guess an ad is one way. You could have called up shows like this who would have been trying to have you come on. Why now? [0:51] Well, it was very easy. I was tired, and I think a lot of people are tired of watching other countries ripping off the United States. [0:56] This is a great country. They laugh at us. Behind our backs, they laugh at us because of our own stupidity, and the leaders, I mean, what we have, we have a Persian Gulf situation. [1:05] You saw what happened today. Billions and billions of dollars are being spent on getting oil for Japan, and they're not paying anything for it. [1:13] Essentially, they're paying nothing for it. We have tankers going back and forth that our men are protecting, losing their lives. [1:19] I mean, they're losing their lives, Larry. We're spending billions and billions of protection, and those tankers are going over to Japan. [1:25] It's just preposterous. I watched the Kuwaiti oil minister the other day laughing as he was explaining how much money they intend to make with the Bridgeton, [1:34] which has been a total disaster, the Bridgeton. And I said to myself, isn't that a shame? [1:39] He's talking about how much money they're going to make, and here we are. He's smiling and laughing. [1:44] Why don't we get some of it? Why is it that we're protecting? We have frogmen. We have helicopters. [1:48] We have aircraft carriers and all sorts of ships all over the Persian Gulf so that this man and his little group can make a lot of money. [1:55] I think it's ridiculous. [1:56] Well, one of the reasons we say we're doing it is because we've been doing it and that all previous presidents have endorsed doing it. [2:03] I guess the kind of thinking of an entrepreneur is because somebody else said it was right doesn't make it right, right? [2:09] Larry, the country is losing $200 billion a year, $200 billion. This country cannot continue to lose $200 billion. [2:18] Japan is one of the wealthiest machines ever created. Saudi Arabia, and it's not, hey, let me tell you, I'm a big beneficiary of Japan. [2:26] They buy my apartments in spades. They're fine people. But they're laughing to themselves as to what's happening over here. [2:33] We're not kidding ourselves. They're laughing to themselves, Larry, as to what's happening in this country. [2:39] But, Donald, a lot of people feel the way you feel and a lot of people maybe with as much money or certainly some people with as much money feel the way you feel. [2:47] Why did you go public? [2:49] Because somebody had to, Larry. I watch it again, and it's a very important point. Japan is a money machine. [2:55] Saudi Arabia is a money machine. Kuwait, these are money machines, the greatest ever created. [3:01] The United States is, if it were a corporation, it would be bankrupt. It's losing $200 billion a year. For years now, it's been losing that. [3:09] What right do we have to go out and defend? Why aren't these countries, these wealthy money machines, paying us for the defense of their freedom and their nations? [3:17] Why aren't they paying us? [3:18] We are kind of the world's keeper, are we not? [3:21] I don't believe we should be. I think Japan should certainly make a contribution. [3:25] Japan is one of the reasons they're so successful is they don't have to worry about defense, [3:29] because why should they worry about defense when the United States will do it for nothing? [3:34] I mean, it's crazy. Saudi Arabia. I mean, you saw what happened with Saudi Arabia. [3:37] We're going through the Gulf. We have old-fashioned, obsolete minesweepers. [3:43] We ask Saudi Arabia for the use of their minesweepers, which are the best made, the most modern, the best, [3:48] and they say no. Who are they to tell us no? We're not going to give you our minesweepers. It's ridiculous. [3:53] They're only there. They're only there for the sake of us, as far as that's concerned. [3:58] We are protective of Saudi Arabia. They should pay for that. [4:01] Are we going to be hearing more from Mr. Trump on issues like this as we go along? [4:06] I really don't know, Larry. This is an issue that's been bothering me. It's been bothering a lot of people [4:10] that I know. And I think it's an issue that had to be brought out to the fore. The concept of America [4:17] financing and paying and losing lives for countries that won't even allow us to use their ships, [4:23] and these are the countries that in 24 hours they'd be wiped off the face of the earth if it [4:27] weren't for America. It's ridiculous. [4:29] By the way, a couple of other things, then we'll take some calls for Donald Trump. [4:34] Is it true that you're going to go to New Hampshire in October at the invitation of Mike Dunbar, [4:38] who's heading a group called Draft Donald Trump? [4:41] Well, I was asked about three or four weeks ago whether or not by a very good friend of mine [4:44] whether or not I'd go to New Hampshire. That's turned out to be now a much bigger deal than I had ever [4:48] anticipated. And perhaps, I don't know, I am going. I've made the commitment to go. I made the [4:54] commitment about three weeks ago. And I will go, yes. [4:57] You will go, even though you realize now in just standing foot in that state, [5:01] people are going to presume things. [5:02] Well, they can presume whatever they want. I have no intention of running for president, [5:06] but I'd like the point to get across that we have a great country, but it's not going to be great [5:10] for long if we're going to continue to lose $200 billion a year. You're going to get into the early 90s, [5:14] 1990, 1991. And the whole thing is going to blow because this country cannot continue to support [5:20] Japan and Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and many other countries that are much wealthier than we are. [5:25] We're not a wealthy country. You can't be a wealthy country when you're losing the kind of money that [5:30] we're losing. We're a debtor country. A couple of other things, then we'll break and take some calls. [5:35] Don, why don't...there are some who said this. Why don't people like you, [5:38] you and people like you, build low-income, medium-income housing? [5:42] Well, as far as building housing is concerned and low-income housing, I've built a lot of it. [5:47] I haven't recently, but I've built a lot of it. I built senior citizens housing and beautiful, [5:51] beautiful housing. I built low-income housing, and I'm very proud of it. [5:55] The policies of the government right now just don't allow it because really what's happened by the [5:59] tax incentives that were taken away and by the lack of federal programs, you used to have federal [6:03] programs. You don't have them anymore. And it really doesn't allow it to be done on any economic [6:08] basis. And it's a pretty rough situation. I mean, you just don't have subsidized housing, [6:12] low-income, moderate-income housing, and it's a really big problem. [6:16] And if they did, you would do it? [6:17] I would absolutely love to do it. I'd be honored to do it. I used to do it. I mean, [6:20] people think of me in terms of Trump Tower and all the other jobs. I'm just as proud. I mean, [6:24] you folks don't talk about it because maybe it's not as interesting to some people. I am, [6:28] frankly, just as proud of all the low-income and the senior citizen housing I built. [6:32] Well, so far, it's the only buildings I've asked about. Casinos. You're very big in Atlantic City. [6:38] You're going to Vegas? [6:39] Well, I don't think so. I'm not looking to go to Las Vegas. I have stock in companies that [6:44] are in Las Vegas. And I'm not particularly looking to do it. We've done a great job in Atlantic City. [6:49] I'm very proud of the results. We have just about the best casinos, I think, anywhere in the world, [6:53] as far as that's concerned, hotel casinos. And we're very proud of it. And that's really pretty much where [6:58] I want to be. [6:59] What's the drive, Donald, that you don't have to do this anymore, that keeps you wanting to build more and [7:05] more? [7:06] Well, it's a creative process. I enjoy the creative process. I like building things. I like building [7:11] beautiful buildings. I like doing other things. I've been doing a lot of other things. It's a creative [7:16] process, Larry. And it really gives you something to do with your life. And it's something that you [7:20] can feel fulfilled and proud of when you're finished, if you do a good job. [7:23] Do you want a break because of what you do? In other words, are you saying to New York and other [7:28] places, I'll come in and do this. Please give me what you will not give someone else? [7:32] No, I'm not looking for breaks. I think I probably would have a harder time getting breaks. I mean, [7:37] you talk about Ed Koch. The man tried to fight me on so many different things, and he's failed. In [7:42] each case, he's failed. And that's nice. I like beating it. I really get a charge out of beating [7:46] Ed Koch. And, you know, it's just one of those things. But he's fought me on a lot of different [7:50] things. He's consistently fought me, and he's consistently lost. [7:53] You don't want more or less than anyone else would get? [7:56] I don't want more or less than anybody else, no. [7:58] Donald Trump is our guest. He spoke out quite vociferously today in the New York Times and [8:05] other papers in a major statement on American foreign policy. He's the noted, of course, [8:09] builder. And we're going to take your phone calls for Donald Trump. [8:14] Our guest, the famed developer, Donald Trump of New York. We're ready to go to your phone calls. [8:18] Redlands, California. Hello. [8:20] Hello, sir. Comment and a couple of quick questions. I think it would be really a big mistake for the [8:26] United States to attempt to tax its allies for protection, because that would demote them to the [8:31] role of a client state of the United States. And secondly, I think it would also be pretty [8:36] unconstitutional, because the Congress has the authority to raise armies and support them with [8:41] taxes for the defense of the United States, not to be hired out as a mercenary force. [8:45] All right. Donald? [8:46] Well, number one, it wouldn't at all be unconstitutional. And number two, if you're talking [8:50] about taxing, I'm not talking about taxing. I think that people should make a contribution, [8:54] and a major contribution, other countries to this country for what we're doing to keep their freedom [8:59] and to keep them free and to allow them to be free. And would you rather have that, or would you [9:03] rather see this country go totally bust in another couple of years? Because this country cannot afford [9:08] to defend Japan and every other country in the world. It just cannot afford it. [9:11] It wouldn't be a tax. It would be more payment in kind, like for landing space at airports, right? [9:16] It would be. You could call it anything you want. To be perfectly honest, I don't care what it's called. [9:20] But I think that Japan and all of these other countries should certainly pay. They can well afford [9:24] to pay. Donald Trump's our guest. This is Larry King live. We go to Toronto. Hello. [9:28] Yes. Good evening, Larry. My question for Mr. Trump, it's a two-part question relating to [9:33] international trade. Is the solution to the American trade deficit to restrict trade through [9:40] protectionist policies or to train American business to be more aggressive and entrepreneurial? [9:46] And I'd also like to know if Mr. Trump would support a Canadian-U.S. free trade agreement. [9:51] Well, I think just to answer your first part, I believe it's very important that you have free [9:55] trade. But we don't have free trade right now because if you want to go to Japan or if you [9:59] want to go to Saudi Arabia or various other countries, it's virtually impossible for an American to do [10:03] business in those countries. Virtually impossible. And I have many friends. They go over to Japan. [10:08] They can't open up anything. They need approvals. They need this, that. In the meantime, Japan comes [10:12] over to this country. They're buying up Wall Street. They're buying up all of Manhattan's real estate. [10:16] They're buying, which is fine as far as I'm concerned, because they're paying premium prices [10:20] that put people like myself in a very good position if I ever want to sell something. [10:24] So the fact is that you don't have free trade. We think of it as free trade, but you right now [10:29] don't have free trade. And I support anything having to do with Canada because I think they've [10:33] been one hell of a good ally. Do you do any business in Canada? [10:36] I do a little bit of business with Canada. And the Canadian people are wonderful people, [10:40] and they're with us 100 percent, as opposed to many other people in the world. We support so many [10:44] countries that, I mean, you walk out on the airport and they say, Yankee, go home. They have signs all over, [10:48] Yankee, go home. We're giving billions. We don't give anything to our farmers. Our farmers are dying. [10:53] There's no question about it. Farms that were in for generations and families, they're being taken [10:58] away. The homeless are all over the streets of the major cities. They're sick and the problems. [11:02] And yet we'll give billions of dollars in defending countries that have five times more money than we [11:06] can ever hope to have. It's ridiculous. By the way, if you put up one of your properties for sale, [11:11] let's say Trump Tower, would the Japanese be at the head of the line bidding for it? [11:15] It would be very tough to compete with them or some other countries, some other European countries [11:20] right now, because of what's happening with the dollar and the yen and the mark and the various [11:24] other currencies. But the Japanese are at the forefront, and it's very, very tough to compete [11:28] with them in terms of the purchase of anything in this country that's prime. [11:32] Middletown, New York, for Donald Trump. Hello. [11:35] Hi, Mr. Trump. Knowing that you have differences with Mayor Koch in New York, [11:40] would you be interested in a mayoral race against him? [11:43] No, I don't want to run for the mayor of the city of New York. Being mayor of New York is certainly [11:48] not an easy job, but it's a job that's very possible to be done correctly. We have a man who's [11:53] not a competent mayor. I think most people that live in New York know that. He's been bad for the [11:57] city. He's losing a lot of business in the city, and he shouldn't be. And he's really been a pretty [12:02] big disaster. And I think that probably over the next period of time, something's going to come out where [12:07] he will not be the mayor of the city of New York, hopefully much longer. [12:09] Should this mayor of the city be someone who knows business? [12:13] Well, what we need is competence. We don't have that. We have a one-line artist. That's all he is. [12:17] And, you know, he's got sort of one-liners that are okay, but not great. And that's all he's got [12:22] going. And it's a problem. It's a problem because we have the greatest city in the world. It's an [12:26] incredible, incredible city. And I'm proud of the city. And I hate to see the job that he's done, [12:31] because it's really been pathetic. [12:32] You have said you have offered to build a huge metropolis on the west side. NBC apparently, [12:40] officials at NBC told me a couple of years ago that that's where they'd like to move. [12:44] And now there are rumors that NBC may leave 30 Rock and go to New Jersey. But I had a top NBC [12:49] official tell me he wanted to move to your plan on the west side. Where is that now? [12:53] Well, I think we have a real good chance. You know, again, no thanks to Ed Koch, but I think we have a [12:57] real good chance of getting NBC to stay in New York. And we're fighting very hard for it. We have a [13:03] very, very good shot. And I anticipate that they'll be making the decision over the next four or five [13:07] weeks. And it'll be a very, very big decision, very important to the future of New York City. [13:12] Lowell, Massachusetts, for Donald Trump. Hello. [13:15] Yes. Hello, Larry. Donald, first of all, I want to commend your stand in regards to the other nations. [13:21] Thank you. [13:24] My question to you is, if you may have many contacts, why can't you do more for the hungry and the homeless in New York? [13:34] Well, I think it's a very good question, and I'd like to. The problem that you have, and you have a [13:40] major problem, the problem that you have is you need — it's such a big, big dilemma. You really [13:45] need federal government assistance, not even city government. The city governments have to be [13:49] competent, capable, et cetera. But you really need the federal government to step in. That's why it [13:54] bothers me so much that when we give this kind of money to the wealthiest countries in the world, [13:59] and yet for our own people, the homeless, the sick, the poor, the farmers who are really going through [14:05] hell right now, those people, we're not helping. And why should we? I think it's ridiculous. And [14:10] this country shouldn't be raising taxes. We ought to be lowering taxes. We should have a surplus, [14:15] not a deficit, because the kind of money that I'm talking about — and you can call them, as the [14:20] gentleman before said, you can call it a tax, you can call it whatever you want to call it, [14:23] but those countries should be paying us major billions of dollars, and you won't have any deficits [14:29] whatsoever. And then we'll be able to help the poor and the sick and the homeless and the farmers [14:33] and everybody else. Donald, what were you hearing today after that ad appeared? What were people [14:37] telling you? I imagine you got tons of calls. It was unbelievable, to be perfectly honest. I put [14:42] the ad in thinking maybe a couple of politicians would see it, and maybe they'd say, hey, you know [14:46] what? That happens to be a great idea, and he happens to be right. We've gotten thousands of phone [14:51] calls. We've gotten tremendous support. I've never seen anything like it. I have literally never — I [14:56] never dreamt that this kind of reaction could have happened from taking a newspaper ad, essentially saying, [15:01] hey, we're making a mistake, and this is what we should be doing. [15:05] West Patterson, New Jersey. Hello. [15:07] Hello. I'd like to — hi, Larry. I want to ask Mr. Trump a question about the Japanese, [15:14] and if they keep on buying up all the real estate in Hawaii and in New York, [15:19] won't it come to a point where they will be dictating our policy and we'll be afraid to move [15:25] against them? I think it's almost to that point now, isn't it? [15:28] There's a book out, Don, that says that already exists, that Japan is, in a sense, [15:33] wielding the rope with us. [15:35] I believe it already is true to a large extent, and there's no reason for it to be. [15:40] We had — if we had the right people, if we had the right people with the right instincts and [15:44] business ability, there'd be no way that that could happen. And that's why I hate to see what I see. [15:49] By the way, I like the Japanese very much. I do tremendous amounts of business with them. They [15:54] they do very well as far as I'm concerned. A man just bought a $21 million apartment [15:58] in one of the buildings I own. A what? [16:00] A $21 million. He bought seven apartments. A Japanese man, wonderful man. He bought seven [16:04] apartments, put them together. He's building a $21 million apartment. That's without the cost of [16:09] construction, by the way. Plenty of money. I like them very much, but they laugh at us. They're [16:14] laughing at this country and the way the country is being managed. And they should be laughing. [16:18] We should be laughing. Donald, in a $3 million apartment, if you got apartment 3B and 3A is [16:24] hanging a picture, you wouldn't hear that in 3B, would you? Well, hopefully not in the kind of [16:29] buildings I know. Okay, now it's just a little question from someone. I know. Okay. Ocean City, [16:33] New Jersey. Hello. Yeah, Larry, Donald, how are you doing? I have a question. Go ahead. First off, [16:41] I really, really enjoy having — as a 32-year-old — myself, he is a tremendous role model for young people like [16:52] myself that look at hand down their goals and strive to be better. That's the question is, [17:01] I've always felt in West Germany — I mean, we have all those troops over there — I feel that [17:07] my subject is near and dear to his heart. Thank you. Okay. Well, thank you very much. I appreciate [17:17] it. And I agree with you on NATO. I agree with you on other countries. I don't want to single out Japan. [17:22] I don't want to single out Saudi Arabia. But these are countries that people understand the kind of [17:26] wealth we're talking about. And I will single them out. But there are many other countries. And take [17:32] tremendous advantage of this, including NATO. If you look at the payments that we're making to NATO, [17:37] they're totally disproportionate with everybody else's. And it's ridiculous. As far as other causes [17:42] that are near and dear, this is the cause because if we can solve this, then we're able to take care [17:48] of something that I consider to be ultimately of ultimate importance. And that is the homeless [17:52] situation. That is the farmers. That is the sick. We don't have any money. We're going — this country is [17:57] busted. And it's busted because we're doing things that we shouldn't be doing. If we had [18:02] business ability in this country, we'd be making lots of profit, so-called surplus profit. And that [18:08] profit, that money could be going to defend our — and I literally mean defend our homeless and our [18:13] poor and our sick and our farmers. And that's where we ought to be spending the money, not giving it to [18:18] countries that don't give a damn for us to start off with. Give me a development forecast for the [18:22] rest of the 80s, good or bad for buildings. Well, I think it's going to be good in New York City. [18:26] It's been bad in a lot of other places. It's going to get bad unless we do something about this [18:30] horrible, horrendous deficit. You cannot continue to lose $200 billion a year. It's going to be so [18:36] bad that people will never — I really believe this could be much, much worse, unfortunately, [18:42] than recession. This could be the step beyond. I hate to — I hate to use the word depression. [18:46] But if we don't solve the $200 billion a year loss, which is exactly what we have, [18:52] this country is going to have some very, very serious problem in the early 1990s. [18:57] One other thing. Could the next presidency be a one-term presidency because of that? [19:01] I think the next president of the United States could have some very, very, very serious problems. [19:06] It's going to be, I think, a very difficult — it's going to be a very difficult presidency, [19:10] because of the problems that we're talking about right now. [19:12] And you don't want it to be Donald Trump? [19:13] I do not want it to be Donald Trump, but I do want the problems to be solved, Larry. [19:17] Thanks, Don. I'll see you in New York. [19:18] Thank you, Larry.