Trump Is a Giant

On Tuesday night, “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” began its evening newscast with a program on Donald Trump and his 2012 presidential ambitions.

I was surprised by the segment, especially since NBC airs Trump’s top-rated “Apprentice” show.

The NBC News segment was a hatchet job, focusing on a slice of Trump’s business dealings through the years. NBC only highlighted controversies and failures the businessman has been involved in throughout more than three decades of deal-making.

Apparently, NBC dug up every little company that Trump has been associated with that had a lawsuit, bankruptcy, or other problem.

The report was simply unfair. NBC completely left out Trump’s fantastic business success that has yielded him a multibillion-dollar net worth. He didn’t get this status by being a schlep. There is no dispute that Trump has built beautiful buildings and properties and profitable companies, and has burnished a global brand the likes of which few can boast.

Hello NBC — doesn’t your own “Apprentice” program promote The Donald as one of the great businessmen in the land, a man whose “you’re fired” means he knows what he’s talking about?

Donald Trump

Imagine NBC doing a story on Warren Buffett, America’s most famous and successful businessman, and suggesting that he was a disaster.

Why take this position? His first business, textile-maker Berkshire Hathaway, was a dismal failure despite Buffett’s best efforts. In fact, it had to shut its doors. Its namesake continues as Buffett’s holding company, and is a testament to the fact that even an incredibly successful person like Buffett can face failure. Ditto for Trump.

Having and coping with business failure is a key principle of our capitalist system. Economist Joseph Schumpeter describes it as “creative destruction.”

Make no mistake about it — Donald Trump is the real McCoy.

But he still has his detractors on both the left and the right. Republican-leaning David Brooks devotes his New York Times Op-Ed this week to chiding Trump.

Brooks admits that Trump is representative of “the gospel of success” and is admired by millions of Americans. He also says Trump is touching raw nerves in the heartland of the country.

Nevertheless, Brooks labels Trump as a simple “blowhard” and concludes his column by saying, ironically, the country is better off with such characters. But Trump is not a blowhard. He has a long track record of success and accomplishment. In my book, Trump’s a giant. He’s a “big picture” visionary.

I don’t agree with all of his positions. Sure, he has rhetoric that is strong and sometimes over the top. But, again, look at his performance record, the most important thing to consider for the moment.

Ignore the rhetoric and Trump’s showbiz flare. Trump holds a reputation as a pragmatic man who gets things done.

He is also politically savvy — as he is demonstrating with a remarkable rise in GOP polls.

Clearly, Trump is striking a cord with ordinary Americans who feel Washington has let them down at home, and feel that abroad, the country is being pushed around.

Newsmax has not endorsed any GOP candidate — including Trump — for president. We are giving all of these candidates a platform to talk to our readers about the big issues facing us.

One issue Trump has brought to the fore is OPEC. Trump has a huge problem, as I do, with so much of the national wealth being exported to OPEC, an organization with a membership roster of U.S haters. I agree with him that the country’s pre-eminence is threatened if oil prices continue to rise and our national wealth drains to hostile powers.

The success of Trump points to a great desire for someone with a plan and the ability to see it through. For many Americans, Trump is seen as a person that fits the bill.

Americans are not bothered, as the media claim, by the fact Trump has raised the birth certificate issues.

While I believe Obama was born in Hawaii, and that the evidence supports that claim, it is perfectly acceptable for Trump to demand that Obama release his full birth certificate. This document, as well as many others from Obama’s personal and public career, should have been released, as others have who run for president.

For some reason Obama has stubbornly refused to release the birth certificate and at an apparent cost of millions of dollars in legal fees. Trump says Obama is hiding something.

I don’t know if that is true. But Obama can simply put the whole matter to rest by releasing his full birth certificate.

I have no idea if Trump will actually run at the end of the day. But Trump’s growing popularity can be attributed to two things: his business acumen and the strong message he is offering.