Donald Trump declined to say on Wednesday whether he was running for president in 2016 but said that “people in this country are desperate for leadership."
The billionaire businessman told Neil Cavuto on Fox News: “Whether it’s me — or, frankly, let it be somebody — but somebody has to come along and straighten out this country. We’re in trouble.”
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The New York Post reported on Monday that Trump has spent $1 million to research his political standing in certain states. He told the Oakland County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner in Michigan last week that it was “highly unlikely” that he would seek the White House in 2016.
“I’m looking at a lot of different things,” Trump told Cavuto. In particular, he said he wants to acquire more properties and upgrade his Doral Golf Resort in Florida.
Trump said he told the Michigan group that he hoped that President Barack Obama was more effective in leading the nation.
“I’d be very happy if the president did a great job,” Trump said. “Before I am a Republican, I am an American. I want this country to be great again. It’s not going to be great again.”
He said the research effort for 2016 grew out of concerns by “a group of people who hate seeing the United States being ripped off and taken advantage of by virtually every country in the world.
“We used to be the smart ones, and we’re no longer the smart ones,” Trump added. “We’re like the dummy — and it’s very sad.
“I have a large group of people who want to see this stop. We can’t just keep doing it. We’re a debtor nation. Our airports are falling apart. Our roads and bridges are falling apart.”
He declined to speculate on who might receive the Republican nomination for president in 2016, though he noted that oft-mentioned New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was “a friend of mine, and I like Chris.”
When Cavuto asked whether Trump would not run if Christie did, the entrepreneur responded: “It’s just too early to see what happens. We have a have a long way to go. You’re talking about a long way out. I want to see this country be great again.”
Trump would not run as an independent, however.
“I’m a Republican. It’s a lot better to do it and keep the two-party system. It really seems to have worked, but it hasn’t been working so well lately.
“The two-party system is good,” he added. “It’s very, very tough running as an independent, extremely tough.”
On the international front, Trump cited the Obama administration’s failure to deal effectively with Syria, noting that Russia planned to send advanced air-defense missiles to Damascus to fend off a no-fly zone under consideration by the White House.
“Russia is putting all sorts of weapons there to shoot down our planes,” Trump said. “This is just crazy. What are we doing? What are we doing as a country? We don’t even know who we’re fighting for.”
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Regarding China, Trump called America’s relationship with Beijing “a total disaster.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping is to visit the United States next month and meet with Obama in California.
“They’re not our friends,” Trump said. “I’m not knocking China. I’m saying I wish our people were smart so we can compete with China — because, right now, we are not competing with China.”
He cited how the country manipulates its currency by artificially strengthening the American dollar to make Beijing’s currency — and, thus, its exports — comparatively cheaper.
“What they do with the manipulation of their currency — though brilliant; nobody’s ever done it better — China is taking total advantage of the United States,” Trump said. “And they’re making us look like fools.”
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