Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told
Newsmax TV Wednesday that he would "bomb the hell" out of the Islamic State (ISIS) if he was elected to the White House.
"I would attack the oil. I would take away their source of power," the billionaire businessman said in an exclusive "Newsmax Prime" interview with J.D. Hayworth to air Wednesday at 8 p.m. Eastern time. "I would take away their source of wealth. You will defeat ISIS."
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That wealth comes from the oil and gas fields that ISIS has captured since beginning its campaign across Syria and Iraq last year. The terrorist group makes about $1 million a day through extortion and taxation,
The New York Times reports, and its oil assets brought in $100 million last year.
"They are very wealthy," Trump told Hayworth. "They're building a hotel in Syria. A hotel. They're competing with me.
"They're building a hotel in Syria. … They're wealthy. You know why they're wealthy? From the oil," he said. "I would absolutely cut off their source of wealth, which is the oil. I would bomb the hell out of them."
Trump added that he would seek to cut off aid to the Islamic State by other Arab nations, particularly Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally.
"I would find out whoever gives donations. Those are the enemy," he told Hayworth. "They're coming out of Saudi Arabia and other places."
Beyond airpower, Trump said he would bring the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters into the game because "they're good fighters and we treat them terribly — and they're the ones that really seem to be the ones that fight.
"We do have some great fighters with the Kurds, and they're the ones that really do seem to be the fighters — and they know what they're ding. But they don't have the equipment. We're giving our equipment to people that run every time a bullet gets fired.
"So, I would look very strongly at doing what I said and we would win and win quickly," Trump said.
Turning to the nation's crumbling infrastructure, the billionaire developer said he would rebuild the country through a program based heavily on contractors that would get the U.S. government out of the construction business and would create jobs.
"Our country has a tremendous infrastructure problem," he told Hayworth. "We have to build — and that also creates jobs. That's a really good situation if you know what you're doing.
"What would I do is I'd make sure that we have a system in place that lets us get the best bids. I would generally bid out to contractors; I hate seeing government projects where you have government employees doing it. I would bid out.
"I'd have a great system of bidding. I'd also create an awards system. I sometimes don't give to the lowest bidder," the hotelier said, "because sometimes I'd have a bidder that was low, but I know he's not good. I know he's a big extras guy.
"I know he's going to try and rip me off in the end — and I'll give to a guy who's actually a little bit higher, but in the long run he's a much better contractor and it'll end up being much cheaper."
Trump added that he was "essentially" financing his own presidential campaign.
"I don't want anybody's money. But a lot of people are sending in money because they like my message.
"Essentially, they're tired of being ripped off — and with me, we're not going to be ripped off anymore," he said. "We're paying Iran hundreds of billions of dollars. Why don't we hold those payments until such time as the nuclear deal is done?
"Because we have people that are incompetent," Trump concluded. "Everything about our country and our representatives seems to be incompetent."
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