Donald Trump says he considers fellow billionaire Oprah Winfrey a good friend and a "terrific woman," but that doesn't mean he's going to ask her to join him as his running mate or that she's even interested.
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George Stephanopoulos interviewed me and he said, 'would you take Oprah?'" Trump said Wednesday on Fox News'
"Fox & Friends" program. "I said of course I would."
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But Trump, who held his huge presidential campaign announcement in New York City on Tuesday, said the question was posed jokingly in reference to an interview he gave years ago to CNN talk show host Larry King, and that the media have taken off with the latest "news."
"Give me a break; she's a friend of mine," he told Fox News. "She had me on her last show. She had myself and all of my children on the show. She's a terrific woman. He said that as a joke. Would you do it? I said of course, she's great. All of a sudden, people make a big deal."
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Trump also on Wednesday showed no signs of backing down on one of the more controversial statements
he made during his announcement speech, continuing to slam Mexico, which he said is "not sending their best and finest" to the United States.
"I only tell the truth," he told the "Fox & Friends" program. "We're getting drug dealers, sex offenders — I spoke to border guards last week. They said what's coming into this country is not their best, believe me."
And while he said he's sure some "good" people are coming across the border, Mexicans are coming by "walking past security, no checks, no balances."
Trump added that he doesn't care if it costs him votes if he talks about the issue.
"Our country is like a dumping ground," he said. "We have leaders with no clue ... people need to be alerted we are getting bad characters coming into this country."
Trump also continued with his attacks on Republican pundits Charles Krauthammer and George Will, calling them both "losers" who "sit there [and] haven't done anything."
"I'm not a fan of Krauthammer," he said. "He's wrong on so many things, including the Iraq War. I've never been a fan. Obviously he knows that. He's not a fan of mine, and that's OK."
Trump also continued to attack the country's "stupid leaders" and "incompetent president" over trade with China.
"They're taking our jobs, manufacturing, our money," he said. "They're manipulating currency so our country can't compete ... we're ripped off by the Chinese and every other country that does business. They're not going to say they're beating us. They're killing us."
Until now, Trump had been a regular weekly feature on the Fox program, but his Monday morning visits have been put on hold now that he's announced his candidacy.
During the Stephanopoulos interview, which aired in full on
ABC's "Good Morning America" on Wednesday, Trump was also outspoken on his opinions about his opponents.
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Jeb Bush, he said, is "a stiff. I watch him. I think he's somebody that doesn't want to do what he's doing. I don't know; is he being forced to do it?"
And Marco Rubio is "an overrated person," Trump said. "They say he's a young Ronald Reagan. I say I don't think so, and I have far better hair than he does."
And as far as Hillary Clinton is concerned, her email server issues are "scandalous."
"Gets a subpoena and after getting the subpoena, she cancels it," said Trump. "She cancels everything. What she did is illegal; what she did is totally illegal. I don't know how she gets away with it."