DONALD TRUMP:Real players (and I don't subscribe to the view that Trump is simply a clownish buffoon who's doing this for ratings and an ego boost) recognize one another. Trump recognizes how formidable she could be. I truly hope that Sarah can break out of the image the media fashioned for her and show her true colors.
Correct. I am a Republican. I would run as a Republican, yes.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS:
So-- when you look at the field now, we've got Sarah Palin Sunday…in the New York Times.
DONALD TRUMP:
Very interesting. Very interesting.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS:
That she's really thinking hard about it.
DONALD TRUMP:
Hey. Same producer, Mark Burnett produced her show, produces The Apprentice, which has become a very, very major hit as you know, and we've had a lot of fun. But Sarah Palin, hey, she's very interesting. And don't underestimate her. I mean, I see what she does. Do not underestimate Sarah Palin. [My emphasis]
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS:
Would you take her on if she gets in--
DONALD TRUMP:
Well, if I ran, I'd have no choice. I would take her on. I like her, but I'd take her on.
He's a smart business man. But I don't see him as presidential material.
DONALD TRUMP:
Well, if I ran, I’d have no choice. I would take her on. I like her, but I’d take her on.
&&&&
One of the recent interviewers of Trump asked him if he would live in the White House if he was elected, and he gave the longest pause I have heard him use in any interview for any other question. That told me that he has not thought through entirely what it would mean to him to actually Be the President. Right now he is addressing ills of the country, as he sees them.
I find it very encouraging that he knows Mark Burnett well, who knows Sarah well. Very encouraging.