I actually heard the interview by Hugh Hewitt. Hewitt was quite respectful of Trump and even gave him advise as to how he should deal with questions of this sort.
Hugh even told Trump that every Presidential candidate will be asked the same kind of questions he asked Trump.
Ben Carson himself was unhappy with Hugh’s questions ( very similar to the ones he asked Trump ).
And the questions were not even very hard for anyone who understood foreign affairs.
Here is the text of the interview:
http://www.hughhewitt.com/donald-trump-on-the-day-he-took-the-pledge/
And here’s the part that had Trump stumped....
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HH: You know, I’d buy that, because you’re a builder. But on the front of Islamist terrorism, 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, Donald Trump?
DT: No, you know, I’ll tell you honestly, I think by the time we get to office, they’ll all be changed. They’ll be all gone. I knew you were going to ask me things like this, and there’s no reason, because number one, I’ll find, I will hopefully find General Douglas MacArthur in the pack. I will find whoever it is that I’ll find, and we’ll, but they’re all changing, Hugh. You know, those are like history questions. Do you know this one, do you know that one. I will tell you, I thought you used the word Kurd before. I will tell you that I think the Kurds are the most under-utilized and are being totally mistreated by us. And nobody understands why. But as far as the individual players, of course I don’t know them. I’ve never met them. I haven’t been, you know, in a position to meet them. If, if they’re still there, which is unlikely in many cases, but if they’re still there, I will know them better than I know you.
HH: That’s what I’m getting at, because the Islamist extremism is metastasizing. Nasrallah’s been there a long time, and al-Baghdadi’s running ISIS. And so I wonder if you’re going to throw yourself into the details of this during the campaign the way you did into the U.N. deal, because you knew that stuff cold.
DT: Well, you know, and unfortunately, I said I’d build it for $500 million. They were at $3 billion. And it ended up costing $6 billion, and I told them that would happen. And it was a disgrace. Frankly, that whole U.N. situation was a disgrace. They ended up spending $5-6 billion dollars to renovate a building that I would have done for $500 million, and I told them I would have done it, and it would have been better. Now as far as what you’re talking about now, I will know every detail, and I will have the right plan, not a plan like this where we’re probably going backwards based on everything that I’m hearing, but we’re probably going backwards, zero respect. We have, we are not a respected country, and certainly as it relates to ISIS and what’s going on, and Iran.
HH: Now I don’t believe in gotcha questions. And I’m not trying to quiz you on who the worst guy in the world is.
DT: Well, that is a gotcha question, though. I mean, you know, when you’re asking me about who’s running this, this this, that’s not, that is not, I will be so good at the military, your head will spin. But obviously, I’m not meeting these people. I’m not seeing these people. Now it probably will be a lot of changes, Hugh, as you go along. They’ll be, by the time we get there, which is still a pretty long period of time, you know, you start, let’s say you figure out nominations, and who is going to represent the Republicans in, let’s say, February, March, April, you’ll start to get pretty good ideas, maybe sooner than that, actually. But that will be a whole new group of people. I think what is really important is to pick out, and this is something I’m so good at, to pick out who is going to be the best person to represent us militarily, because we have some great people, militarily. I don’t know that we’re using them.
HH: All right, well, let me expand it, because you know, it’s not gotcha. I’m trying not to do that. But I wanted to see if you…
DT: Well, it sounded like gotcha. You’re asking me names that, I think it’s somewhat ridiculous, but that’s okay. Go ahead, let’s go.
All it would take is to have Trump attend his daily briefings for 2 days between the election and the immaculation.
Sounded to me that Hewitt was respectful (”you had that answer cold”) and might actually have been trying to do exactly what he said, ie. showing Trump the sort of questions he will get and have to have an answer down cold.
Whether he can go into every interview and debate and just wing it without details—and be seen by the public to be well prepared for the Presidency—is unlikely. So far he’s been able to get past ‘gotchas” but its like watching a guy on a high wire without a net. Will he make a misstep?
Politics ain’t beanbag and Trump has to know the entire MSM is really out to get him. I don’t think Hewitt was.
Thanks for providing the text of the conversation. Here is THE GOTCHA QUESTION:
“Do you know the players without a scorecard, yet, Donald Trump?”
Hugh Hewitt continues to deny it IS a gotcha question, when it is obvious to anyone that it IS.
Especially since in many of the cases, THE PLAYERS are only known to current government/military staff who are privy to TOP SECRET and CONFIDENTIAL INFO.
Trump saying that AFTER he was sworn in, had appointed new (better) statf, and had been properly briefed, then he would be IN THE KNOW.
That is just common sense. Which few seem to have these days.
These are the questions Trump will be asked in Presidential debates in front of a national audience. They are perfectly legitimate. They are things I want any President to know cold. If Trump doen’t know stuff like this he’s not ready for prime time.
HH has been an ardent conservative for as long as I remember. He would fit in perfectly on FR. Trump hasn’t been.
Liberal reporters, unlike HH, are going to line up to ask Trump these questions, and relish in his post interview insults. For them, it will be a badge of honor. For the rest of us it will be a massive embarrassment.