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This book is dedicated to my parents, Mary and Fred C. Trump, and my brothers and sisters—
Maryanne, Robert, Elizabeth, and Fred. Also, my wonderful wife, Melania, and my incredibly supportive children, Don Jr., Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany, and Barron.
And importantly, to the people who are ready to Make America Great Again!
C O N T E N T S
Preface: You Gotta Believe
1. Winning Again
2. Our “Unbiased” Political Media
3. Immigration: Good Walls Make Good Neighbors
4. Foreign Policy: Fighting for Peace
5. Education: A Failing Grade
6. The Energy Debate: A Lot of Hot Air
7. Health Care Is Making Us All Sick
8. It’s Still the Economy, Stupid
9. Nice Guys Can Finish First
10. Lucky to Be an American
11. The Right to Bear Arms
12. Our Infrastructure Is Crumbling
13. Values
14. A New Game in Town
15. Teaching the Media Dollars and Sense
16. A Tax Code That Works
17. Making America Great Again
Photographs
Acknowledgments
My Personal Financials
About the Author
P R E FA C E
YOU GOTTA BELIEVE
SOME READERS MAY BE wondering why the picture we used on the cover of this book is so angry and so mean looking. I had some beautiful pictures taken in which I had a big smile on my face. I looked happy, I looked content, I looked like a very nice person, which in theory I am. My family loved those pictures and wanted me to use one of them. The photographer did a great job. But I decided it wasn’t appropriate. In this book we’re talking about Crippled America—that’s a tough title. Unfortunately, there’s very little that’s nice about it. Hence, the picture on the cover.
So I wanted a picture where I wasn’t happy, a picture that reflected the anger and unhappiness that I feel, rather than joy. There’s nothing to be joyful about. Because we are not in a joyous situation right now. We’re in a situation where we have to go back to work to make America great again. All of us. That’s why I’ve written this book. People say that I have self-confidence. Who knows? When I began speaking out, I was a realist. I knew the relentless and incompetent naysayers of the status quo would anxiously line up against me, and they have:
The politicians who talk a great game in campaigns—and play like total losers when they try to actually govern because they can’t govern; they don’t know how to govern.
The lobbyists and special interests with their hands in our pockets on behalf of their clients or others.
The members of the media who are so far lost when it comes to being fair that they have no concept of the difference between “fact” and “opinion.”
The illegal immigrants who have taken jobs that should go to people here legally, while over 20 percent of Americans are currently unemployed or underemployed. Believe me, they’re all over the place. I see them. I talk to them. I hug them. I hold them. They are all over the place.
Congress, which has been deadlocked for years and virtually unable to deal with any of our most pressing domestic problems, or even the most basic ones, such as passing a budget. Think of it: a little thing like passing the budget. They don’t even have a clue.
Meanwhile, the bedrock of this country—the middle class—and those 45
million Americans stuck in poverty have seen their incomes decline over the past 20 years. Understandably, their disenchantment and frustration at what’s happening grows every day, and it gets worse and worse and worse.
And even our lawyers and judges, the reflective “wise men,” have been stepping all over the US Constitution, the bulwark of our democracy. They have recklessly appointed themselves to be policy makers, because our actual elected officials are paralyzed by partisanship. They can’t move; they can’t act. They are totally impotent.
As for the presidency and the executive branch, the incompetence is beyond belief.
As I write this, Russian president Vladimir Putin is totally outmaneuvering our president by putting together a coalition in Syria that will make Putin the only effective leader in the world. He and his allies—
most notably Iran—have positioned themselves exactly where President Obama and our military have failed miserably for years. They are total failures. They are not leaders. We are no longer a leader. Putin has become the leader, and it’s an embarrassment to our country.
We’ve wasted literally trillions of dollars in the Middle East, with virtually nothing to show for it except for alienating our best ally, Israel. To make matters worse, we’ve negotiated a worthless and costly nuclear treaty with Iran (now Russia’s best friend) on the supposition that it will lead to greater harmony and world peace, which it won’t. It will lead to just the opposite.
The idea of American Greatness, of our country as the leader of the free and unfree world, has vanished.
Despite all of these challenges—and actually because of the challenges—
I decided to do something about it. I couldn’t stand to see what was happening to our great country. This mess calls for leadership in the worst way. It needs someone with common sense and business acumen, someone who can truly lead America back to what has made us great in the past.
We need someone with a proven track record in business who understands greatness, someone who can rally us to the standard of excellence we once epitomized and explain what needs to be done.
When I started speaking out, I had no idea what the reaction would be. I know I’m a great builder, I’ve built buildings all over the world. I’ve had
tremendous success. But I hadn’t fully exposed my political thoughts and ideas to restore America’s greatness.
I also knew that the Trump brand is one of the world’s great icons of quality and excellence. Everybody talks about it. Everybody knows about it.
It’s very very special. I’m very proud of it. Our buildings and resorts now stand very proudly (and beautifully) all over the United States and in many other countries.
I started with the issue of illegal immigration, and proposed building a major wall that would be very high and completely impervious to the flood of immigrants who we don’t want or need here illegally. We love people coming in, but not when it’s done illegally.
Suddenly, Americans started to wake up to what was going on with regard to illegal immigration. Despite the large number of candidates who were running for the Republican nomination, what I was saying started to really hit home with people, and everybody picked it up and they picked it up gladly.
I started drawing crowds so large that we had to move our rallies into football stadiums and convention centers. The first national debate drew 24
million viewers, which set a record for cable television. Despite some of the ridiculous, antagonistic questions—or maybe because of them—I fought back as I always do and began to explain my vision. As a result, most people thought I won the debate.
People were applauding. All of a sudden, people who had never cared about elections or never voted were rushing to our rallies. The rallies became massive. The crowds were unbelievable. The enthusiasm was based on pure love and love of what we were doing.
The media, the politicians, and the so-called leaders of our country reacted in horror. But I persevered and went directly to the people, because I don’t need anyone’s financial support, nor do I need anyone’s approval of what I say or do. I just had to do the right thing. I had to do it. I had no choice. I see what’s happening to our country; it’s going to hell. I had to do it.
I have now begun to fill in some of the details of my vision. I’ve released a tax plan that gives the middle class and those with lower incomes a chance to keep more of what they earn, while restructuring how the richest Americans will be paying taxes.
I’ve committed to a truly more powerful military, one prepared and equipped to stand up to any and all of our foes. When we draw a line in the sand, it needs to mean something to all—especially our enemies.
I’ve introduced a whole new approach to job creation by encouraging companies to bring more of their jobs and manufacturing back to America
(home where it belongs), along with the trillions of dollars currently being held in foreign banks overseas. We’re bringing that money back. It’s a massive amount of money. And guess what? Lots of good things are going to happen. They’re going to spend that money on roads, on bridges, on companies, on jobs. It’s going to be amazing.
I’ve explained why Obamacare is a costly, ludicrous solution to our health care woes and one which must be repealed and replaced with a much better option. We need to fix the problem by creating competition in the private sector between insurance companies, and by allowing patients to choose the family doctors they want. This will be a much better plan, a much less costly plan—better doctors, better service. It will be something really special. And think of it: the United States will save a fortune as a country. People will be better served. A combination that cannot be beat.
Competition is a magic word in education as well. Parents should have the right to choose the schools where their kids can get the best education.
The weaker schools will be closed, and ineffective teachers will be fired.
One-size-fits-all education—Common Core—is bad. It’s not going to happen. We don’t want our children to be educated from Washington. We want local eduction. Education should be locally based.
Domestically, we need to undertake a massive rebuilding of our infrastructure. Too many bridges have become dangerous, our roads are decaying and full of potholes, while traffic jams are costing millions in lost income for drivers who have jobs in congested cities. Public transit is overcrowded and unreliable and our airports must be rebuilt. You go to countries like China and many others and you look at their train systems and their public transport. It’s so much better. We’re like a third-world country.
I could go on and on regarding many of the ideas I’ve written about in this book, and more that will be forthcoming. But let me add that while my critics are pushing their policy agendas, the last thing we need are more plans that evaporate after the elections.
What we need is leadership that can deal with our mess and begin to apply practical solutions to our problems. My goal is not to design hundreds of pages of government regulation and red tape like others propose. We need to outline commonsense policies and then knock some heads together if necessary to make them work. The fact is we are over-regulated. People can’t move. They’re stymied. Companies can’t be built. We’re over-regulated.
I know how to deal with complex issues and how to bring together all the various elements necessary for success. I’ve done it for years and have built a great company and a massive net worth.
This book is designed to give the reader a better understanding of me and my ideas for our future. I’m a really nice guy, believe me, I pride myself on being a nice guy but I’m also passionate and determined to make our country great again.
It’s time we turn America around from despair and anger to joy and accomplishment. It can happen, and it will happen.
Our best days still lie ahead. There is so much untapped greatness in our country. We’re rich in natural resources, and we’re rich in human talent.
Enjoy this book—and together, let’s make America great again!
1
WINNING AGAIN
AMERICA NEEDS TO START winning again.
Nobody likes a loser and nobody likes to be bullied. Yet, here we stand today, the greatest superpower on Earth, and everyone is eating our lunch.
That’s not winning.
We have a president who tries to get tough and draw a line in the sand, but when that line gets crossed, there are no repercussions.
And when we try to negotiate with foreign countries? We don’t stand up.
We don’t threaten to walk away. And, more important, we don’t walk away.
We make concession after concession. That’s not winning.
If I ran my business that way, I’d fire myself.
Take one of the worst agreements in our history—the nuclear “treaty”
with Iran—which John Kerry negotiated and President Obama rammed through and around Congress. (Or, rather, he convinced his party to support it and filibuster any debate or vote on it.) This is probably the most important treaty of our time, and our very stupid leaders in Washington, DC, couldn’t even bring themselves to hold a discussion and vote on it.
Ronald Reagan said, “Trust but verify”—but in this case we aren’t following either piece of advice. How can we trust a man like the Ayatollah Khamenei? Just a month before we approved the treaty, he reiterated that his country was pledged to destroy and eliminate Israel, our most important ally and longtime partner in preserving some semblance of stability in the region.
And as for verification, we don’t even know what side-deals the International Atomic Energy Agency has struck with Iran. Or if we do know, they haven’t been made public.
That’s not winning—that’s criminal negligence, in my view.
Then when every Senate Republican criticized this deal (and some of the Democrats did as well), the president compared his critics to our adversaries.
In other words, he sells out his friends and allies, and then defends his treaty by comparing his critics to our enemies.
That’s what we call successful diplomacy?
Now we’re going to open the gates to refugees from places like Syria, which is like extending a personal invitation to ISIS members to come live here and try to destroy our country from within.
This is America today, the shining city on a hill, which other countries used to admire and try to be like.
So what can be done about it? How do we start winning again?
To start with, we need a government that is committed to winning and has experience in winning. This book is about how we do that.
In early September 2015, I spoke at a major rally in Washington, DC. I told them that we need a military that will be so strong that we won’t have to use it. And then I asked, “Are you listening, President Obama?” Almost everyone in the crowd cheered, but I understand why some of them were skeptical.
Americans are used to hearing the same old promises from the same tired politicians who never produce any results, let alone any victories. I should know. For years I gave money—lots of money—to candidates from both parties who made personal pleas for my support for their campaigns. They promised to change things with new ideas and bring government back to its original, more limited purpose of protecting our country and putting our people first.
Candidate after candidate made all kinds of pledges like this, and very little, if anything, was done. How many of those problems have been solved?
Nothing seemed to move forward in Washington.
Look at Congress, which has an understandably negative reputation among Americans.
And why not? They do nothing.
They can’t even pass an annual budget. They constantly bicker, which means that they just throw all our problems and our huge debt on to our children and possibly our grandchildren.
This has to stop.
Finally, I realized that America doesn’t need more “all-talk, no-action”
politicians running things. It needs smart businesspeople who understand how to manage. We don’t need more political rhetoric—we need more common sense. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”—but if it is broke, let’s stop talking about it and fix it.
I know how to fix it.
A lot of people were encouraging me to speak out, and I realized that with my well-known success story and record of building residential and office buildings and developing public spaces—all the while accumulating personal wealth—I could inspire people to help create the most massive turnaround in American history.
Of course, there were doubters. Between journalists who sell newspapers by creating controversy, and established politicians eager to preserve the status quo that in turn preserves their jobs, there were many “experts”
predicting my demise. They’ve been reading the “polls.” They’ve been listening to all the lobbyists and special interests saying “Trump is a threat to our well-being.” They’ve even been saying I was a bully or that I was prejudiced or that I hated women or hated Hispanics. Some of them even said—and this is the cardinal sin in politics—I was willing to take on even the richest people in America with all their tax benefits.
I have proven everybody wrong.
EVERYBODY!
Suddenly, those same newspapers and “experts” were only talking about my ideas. And even as I’ve had to respond to some of the toughest and dumbest questions from supposedly nonpartisan journalists, people continue to listen to me and support my ideas—and guess what? Women are flocking to my message because they’re just as tired as men are about how little is being accomplished in Washington.
Likewise, Hispanics are climbing on board because they’ve heard—from Hispanic employees who’ve actually worked for me and know me as a boss and leader—that Donald Trump builds businesses.
Donald Trump builds buildings.
Donald Trump develops magnificent golf courses.
Donald Trump makes investments that create jobs.
And Donald Trump creates jobs for legal immigrants and all Americans.
Even the most jaded journalists are realizing that Donald Trump is for real and that the people are responding to someone who is completely different from every other politician.
No one is paying me to say these things. I am paying my own way, and I’m not beholden to any special interests and lobbyists.
I’m not playing by the usual status-quo rules.
I’m not a politician taking polls to see what I should “believe” or be saying.
I am telling it like it is and going to the heart of what I think will make America great again.
I’m not a diplomat who wants everybody else to be happy. I’m a practical businessman who has learned that when you believe in something, you never
stop, you never quit, and if you get knocked down, you climb right back up and keep fighting until you win. That’s been my strategy all my life, and I’ve been very successful following it.
Winning matters. Being the best matters.
I’m going to keep fighting for our country until our country is great again.
Too many people think the American dream is dead, but we can bring it back bigger, better, and stronger than ever before. But we must start now.
We need to ensure America starts winning once again.
2
OUR “UNBIASED” POLITICAL MEDIA
FOR A LONG TIME I’ve been the man the media loves to hate.
It hasn’t taken me long to learn how truly dishonest the political media can be. At the first Republican debate, Fox journalist Megyn Kelly was clearly out to get me. And of course, at the second debate, virtually everyone was attacking me because most of their poll numbers were sinking while mine were surging.
I’m perhaps a controversial person. I say what’s on my mind. I don’t wait to hear what a pollster has to say because I don’t use pollsters. The media loves my candor. They know I’m not going to dodge or ignore their questions.
I have no problem telling it like it is. These presidential debates would normally have attracted a couple million viewers, but the first night we had 24 million tune in, and the second debate drew a similar number. These were the largest audiences in Fox News’ and CNN’s history—bigger than the NBA Finals, the World Series, and most NFL telecasts.
Why do you think people tuned in? To hear the nasty questions? To watch a bunch of politicians trying to pretend they are outsiders (like I truly am) so they can be more successful? 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.
You listen to the politicians and it’s as if they are speaking from a script titled “How Boring Can I Possibly Be?” Watching some of these people being interviewed is about as exciting as watching paint dry. They’re so afraid of tripping on their own words, terrified that they’re going to say something unscripted and go off message—that’s the phrase they use, “go off message”—that they are verbally paralyzed. They’ll do anything they can to avoid answering a question—and the media plays the game with them.
The object of this game is to appear thoughtful while still looking like a regular guy (or gal) who would be fun to have a beer with. The pollsters tell them how to be everything to everybody without alienating anyone. These same politicians who boldly promise they are going to stand up to our enemies won’t even give direct answers to reporters. I don’t play that game, because I’m a very successful businessman and my mind-set is that this country needs to bring itself back from the depths of all our problems and the $19 trillion we owe.
At the first debate, I responded to Megyn Kelly’s adversarial question by telling her, “I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct. I’ve been challenged by so many people, and I don’t frankly have time for total political correctness. And to be honest with you, this country doesn’t have time either. This country is in big trouble. We don’t win anymore. We lose to China. We lose to Mexico both in trade and at the border. We lose to Russia and Iran and Saudi Arabia.”
I’m not bragging when I say that I’m a winner. I have experience in winning. That’s what we call leadership. That means that people will follow me and be inspired by what I do. How do I know? I’ve been a leader my whole life. Thousands of my employees know that I’ll deliver and help them deliver. Sometimes I can be self-effacing, injecting a little humor, having some fun, and kidding around. We have a good time. What I say is what I say, and everyone that knows me really appreciates it.
With the problems we’re facing, these debates have become “Trump versus The Others.” The attacks are coming at me from all directions, because they all know I am the only one talking about really changing this country and making America great again. The moderators read some quote of mine (or misinterpret a quote of mine) and then ask someone else to comment. Do I have the right temperament? Would I run the country like a business? When did I “actually become a Republican?” These exchanges make great TV. Sadly, they’re almost like watching a sporting event.
And guess what? Few, if any, of these questions get to the heart of what is wrong with our country and what really matters to Americans. It’s all very personal, because politicians (and their journalist cronies) know that the public doesn’t want to hear the details of our nuclear sellout to Iran or what we’re going to do about all the federal red ink bleeding the American taxpayer dry these days. The personal exchanges between me and the others become the big story of the debate and the focus of news coverage for weeks. You’d like to think that Fox News and CNN could do better. For the record, I think CNN and Fox treated me badly. Still, you’d think a major news network would take their responsibilities more seriously and use these
debates to help the public determine who has the best plan to make our country great again.
But they missed that opportunity.
The whole debate format has worked out fine for me. The American people are smart and figured out pretty quickly what the real motives are for turning up the personal attacks against me. And I get more minutes, more front-page coverage, more requests for interviews than anyone else—and most important for America—the opportunity to speak directly to the people.
There are many reporters whom I have a lot of respect for, especially in the financial media. When the financial journalists interview you they know what they’re doing, and they ask direct questions that can provide important information to their viewers. There’s money at stake and they don’t play the same silly “gotcha” games as the political media do. They can’t afford to.
I don’t mind being attacked. 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. I learned a long time ago that if you’re not afraid to be outspoken, the media will write about you or beg you to come on their shows. If you do things a little differently, if you say outrageous things and fight back, they love you. So sometimes I make outrageous comments and give them what they want—viewers and readers—in order to make a point.
I’m a businessman with a brand to sell. When was the last time you saw a sign hanging outside a pizzeria claiming “The fourth best pizza in the world”?! But now I am using those talents, honed through years of tremendous success, to inspire people to think that our country can get better and be great again and that we can turn things around.
The cost of a full-page ad in the New York Times can be more than $100,000. But when they write a story about one of my deals, it doesn’t cost me a cent, and I get more important publicity. I have a mutually profitable two-way relationship with the media—we give each other what we need.
And now I am using that relationship to talk about the future of America.
Many people believe I do well with the press. Maybe I do, sometimes, but anyone who believes I can use the media is absolutely wrong. Nobody can use the press. It’s too big, too widespread. For me, it has been absolutely necessary to try to build relationships with reporters. There are many journalists I respect. Some of the finest people I know are journalists. They are honest, decent, and hardworking; they bring honor to their profession. If I do something wrong or make a mistake, they report it accurately. I’ve got no problem with that. The mistake bothers me, not the reporting.
But there also are a lot of times I believe that the media is abusive, both to people like me and to the process. The key word is “accurately.” Like in
every other profession, there are people who are not good. There is no question that considering all the press I’ve had, both good and bad, I’ve definitely met people at both the very top as well as the lowest end of the food chain. I mean, the very bottom: They are horrible human beings, they are dishonest. 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. There is no other explanation.
The image I created through the media enabled me to build one of the greatest luxury brands in the world. People buy my apartments, buy my label, and play on my golf courses, because they know if I put my name on it, it has to be top quality. Why do you think NBC gave me my own show, The Apprentice? They did it because I set myself apart to be a target, the big, tough employer. The result was one of the most successful shows in television history. I’m the only boss in the world who boosts a person’s future status by firing them.
Sometimes the truth hurts, but sometimes that is the only way to get better. And a lot of the viewers told me that by watching my show they learned how to be more effective in their jobs so they wouldn’t get fired.
I don’t mind criticism. People call me thin-skinned, but I have thick skin.
I have a wonderful and beautiful wife. I’ve got billions of dollars. My children are highly intelligent and accomplished executives who work with me. I’ve got a pile of potentially huge projects sitting on my desk. I can’t walk into a room or down a street without people racing toward me and telling me that they are excited for our country to win again. So criticism doesn’t bother me, and it can’t hurt me. I’ve had power and I’ve had profits, but now it’s time to help the people have a voice and to make sure the people are heard. I am doing this to make our country great again.
Not too long ago, a lot of the pundits kept asking me if I was serious. I thought they were asking the wrong question. What they should have been asking was if I was serious about the future of our country. I have never been more serious about anything in my life.
In the quest for ratings, every show is trying to make news. The problem is that they aren’t doing their job. They aren’t interested in informing the public. Instead, they play their own game, the “gotcha” game. As I’ve said, some of the political media are very dishonest. They don’t care about printing the truth, they don’t want to repeat my entire remarks, and they don’t want to be bothered explaining what I meant. They know what I said, they know what I meant, and they edit it or interpret it to have a different meaning.
I was reminded of this behavior when I announced that I was running for president on June 16 in New York. I spoke at great length about a lot of different topics. I listed a lot of the problems we were facing: illegal immigration, underemployment, a shrinking gross domestic product, an aging nuclear arsenal, and Islamic terrorism. I went through them all. What did the media focus on? They concentrated on the fact that I said Mexico was sending its worst people over our southern border. “They’re sending people that have lots of problems,” I said. “And they’re bringing those problems to us.”
The next thing you heard was that Trump said all immigrants were criminals. That wasn’t what I said at all, but it made a better story for the media. It gave them some headlines. What I said was that among all the illegal immigrants coming from Mexico were some pretty bad people, some of them are rapists, some of them are drug dealers, some of them are coming here to live off the system, and we’d better take immediate and tough measures to close our borders to “illegals.”
People who know me know I would never insult Hispanics or any group of people. I’ve done business with many Hispanics. I’ve lived in New York all my life. I know how wonderful the Latino culture can be. I know the contributions they make to our country. I’ve employed many hardworking Hispanic people through the years. I have great respect for Hispanic people, but that’s not what the media reported.
Here’s what the media reported: TRUMP CALLS ALL IMMIGRANTS CRIMINALS
and TRUMP CALLS ALL MEXICANS RAPISTS!
Completely ridiculous.
One of the problems the political media has with me is that I’m not afraid of them. Others run around practically begging for attention. I don’t. People respond to my ideas. These media types sell more magazines when my face is on the cover, or when I bring a bigger audience to their television show than they normally attract, and by far. And what’s funny is that it turns out the best way for them to get that attention is to criticize me.
But the American people are beginning to understand that. They have finally figured out that a lot of the political media aren’t trying to give the people a fair representation of the important issues. Instead, they are trying to manipulate the people—and the election—in favor of the candidates they want to see elected. These media companies are owned by billionaires.
These are smart people who know which candidates are going to be best for them, and they find a way to support the person they want.
It would be impossible for me to even estimate how many times I’ve been interviewed by how many reporters. I couldn’t even tell you how many
magazine covers I’ve been on.
Recently, I was interviewed by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
“Best interview in America,” he called me. Here’s what happened: During the show, he started asking me a series of questions about an Iranian general and various terrorist leaders. “I’m looking for the next commander in chief to know who Hassan Nasrallah is, and Zawahiri, and al-Julani, and al-Baghdadi. Do you know the players without a scorecard yet?”
What a ridiculous question. I don’t think knowing the names of each terrorist leader more than a year before the election is a test of whether someone is qualified. We’re not playing Trivial Pursuit. Every question Hugh asked me was like that—although I noticed he didn’t ask too many questions about our economic policy or about reforming the tax system—things I’ve spent my life mastering. Instead, he asked these “gotcha” questions that proved nothing except that he was able to read some names and pronounce them correctly. Does anybody believe George W. Bush and Barack Obama could name the leaders of all terrorist organizations? (Not that they are the standard!)
People see through this nonsense. We have real problems and I am talking about how to fix them, and the media continues to play these same old games. In the end though, Hugh Hewittt was just fine, and has since said some great things about me.
Every question was “gotcha, gotcha, gotcha.” I gave Hewitt the best possible answer: Those people probably won’t even be there in a year. I should have added that if America doesn’t do the right things, we won’t be help much longer either.
Let me tell you something: When I need to know something, I know it.
When I decided to build the most magnificent golf resort in the world in Aberdeen, Scotland, I didn’t know the names of the Scottish officials who would be involved in this project—but by the time we went to work, I knew every person it was necessary to know. I’d probably met most of them, too.
At the beginning of any kind of project I know what I need to know—and then I get the information to make sure the project gets done to my satisfaction. And I have strong executives who know how to—as their title suggests—execute.
So here’s the way I work: I find the people who are the best in the world at what needs to be done, then I hire them to do it, and then I let them do it . . . but I always watch over them.
We have great military leaders in this country. We produce the finest officers and soldiers anywhere in the world. And we have some really smart men and women working in our intelligence community. These people
spend all day, every day, working on serious problems. These professionals are the real experts. They know all the players.
One reason that I have been successful in business is that I hire the best people. I pay them well, and I keep them working for me. There are times when I meet someone working on the other side of the deal. Maybe they don’t beat me, but they give me a tough time. I respect that. In fact, I respect that so much that sometimes I hire them away from the company they were negotiating for.
Truthfully though, I can’t really blame Hugh Hewitt for doing what he did. Just like Megyn Kelly, he figured out that the best way to get attention is to attack Donald Trump. This guy got more headlines from our little exchange than he probably ever got in his whole career. It wasn’t the names of terrorist leaders that he cared about—it was his own name. And it worked for him.
It’s just the same old game, where the people come last. That needs to change, too.
Begging for attention really sums up the problem we face in this country with our media. There is such competition that they’re more interested in entertaining their audience than educating them. They like me because I help them attract more viewers. They hate me because they know I don’t need them. I learned a long time ago how to talk directly to the people who matter—to regular Americans who are fed up with the career politicians.
That’s probably you—the real Americans—which is why I’ve written this book.
3
IMMIGRATION: GOOD WALLS MAKE GOOD
NEIGHBORS
WHEN I ANNOUNCED MY candidacy I spoke for almost an hour, covering just about every challenge that we’re facing. But the subject that got the most attention was my focus on our immigration policy. Or, in fact, our lack of any coherent immigration policy. I was pretty tough on illegal immigrants, and a lot of people didn’t like that. I said that many countries are dumping their worst people on our border and that it has to stop. A country that doesn’t control its borders can’t survive—especially with what’s going on right now.
What I said only makes common sense. I speak to border patrol guards, and they tell us who we’re letting across our border. The countries south of us are not sending us their best people. The bad people are coming from places other than just Mexico. They’re coming from all over Central and South America, and they’re coming probably—probably—from the Middle East. Let me add now: Allowing tens of thousands of Syrian refugees in the door will certainly bring a lot of problems. But we won’t know how bad, because we have no protection and we have no competence. We don’t know what’s happening. It’s got to stop, and it’s got to stop quickly.
Later in my announcement I added, “I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build it very inexpensively. I will build a great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.” I spoke for quite a while that day. I covered just about all the problems our country is facing. But what did the media report about that speech? “Trump is anti-immigration.”
“Trump calls immigrants rapists.” “Trump is starting a war with Mexico.” You want to know why we aren’t solving our problems? Why nothing changes? It’s because we’re not facing the problems and taking action.
The flow of illegal immigrants into this country is one of the most serious problems we face. It’s killing us. But until I made that point during my speech, nobody was talking about it honestly. And instead of saying,
“Trump’s right and we’d better do something to stop illegal immigration right now or we’re going to lose our country,” they said, “Oh, what a terrible thing Trump said about the nice people who live south of our borders. I hope they don’t get upset at us because of that. Maybe he’ll apologize.” I understand why that happened. It’s a lot easier to criticize me for being blunt than it is to actually admit this immigration situation is a dangerous problem and then to find a way to deal with it.
Let me state this clearly: I am not against immigration.
My mother emigrated to this country from Scotland in 1918 and married my father, whose parents had come here from Germany in 1885. My parents were two of the best people who ever lived, and it was millions of people like them who made this country so wonderful and so successful.
I love immigration.
Immigrants come to this country, they want to work hard, be successful, raise their kids, and share in the American dream. It’s a beautiful story. I can close my eyes and just imagine what my relatives must have been thinking when they sailed past the Statue of Liberty into New York and their new lives. And if they could only see the results of their risk and sacrifice! How can anyone not appreciate the courage it took for these people to leave their families and come here?
What I don’t love is the concept of illegal immigration.
It’s not fair to everyone else, including people who have been waiting on line for years to come into our country legally. And the flood of illegal immigrants coming across our borders has become a dangerous problem. We don’t protect our borders. We don’t know who’s here, but I bet wherever they came from knows that they are gone. Yet those governments do nothing to help us. The estimate is that there are 11 million illegal immigrants in America, but the fact is that nobody knows how many there really are. We have no way of tracking them.
What we do know is that some of those immigrants are a source of real crime. In 2011, the Government Accountability Office reported that there were three million arrests that could be attributed to the incarcerated alien population, including tens of thousands of violent criminals. There were 351,000 criminal illegal aliens in our prisons—that number does not include the crime of crossing our borders. It costs us more than a billion dollars a year just to keep these people in prison.
I understand that the vast majority of these people are honest, decent, hardworking people who came here to improve their own lives and their children’s lives. America holds so much promise, and what honest person wouldn’t want to come here to try to make a better life for himself and his children? But illegal immigration is a problem that must be confronted by the United States government who, in turn, must confront other countries. I feel as sorry for these individuals as anyone else does. Conditions in some of their countries are deplorable.