Donald Trump Sits Down With Bill O'Reilly
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This is a RUSH transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," March 30, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
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BILL O'REILLY, HOST: In the "Personal Story" segment tonight: Donald Trump for president. The real estate mogul and TV personality says he's considering a run for the Republican nomination in 2012. Mr. Trump has made millions building and selling real estate. His program "The Celebrity Apprentice" is very highly rated, and he is a no-spin guy. Just ask the ladies on "The View." But he has not been closely questioned about policy until tonight.
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O'REILLY: Obamacare. Do you believe the federal government has an obligation, a moral obligation, to provide people who can't afford health insurance with health insurance?
DONALD TRUMP, REAL ESTATE MOGUL: I certainly would like to see -- you know, I have a big heart. I really do, despite what you may think.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}O'REILLY: Me?
TRUMP: And I have a great, big, fat, beautiful heart. And when people are in trouble, I like to help them out. We have a moral obligation to help people. I really believe that. I believe that strongly and not everybody does.
O'REILLY: So there will be Trumpcare then?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TRUMP: Well, it would be a form of much better. As an example, I have a big company. When I buy health insurance, I can't go across state lines to buy it. You know why?
O'REILLY: Yes.
TRUMP: And I can make a better deal in New Jersey than I can in New York with a better company. Yet, I can't go. No. 1, anywhere in the United States has to be a strong company. But we should be able to go out and price it privately. I believe in the private. But I don't want to be stuck with one or two companies in New York. I should be able to go to Wisconsin. I should be able to go to Iowa. If I want to buy health care for my people, as long as it's a strong company, I should be able to bid it out.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}O'REILLY: All right.
TRUMP: So that would be a big thing right there.
O'REILLY: One of the reasons the recession hit us so hard is because weasels on Wall Street ginned up these real estate derivatives. You're a real estate guy. Would you crack down on Wall Street? Would you have more regulations on these people? More rules they have to follow over there?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TRUMP: I would not do that. You're making it so tough for our companies and our Wall Street people -- let's use the word nicely -- our Wall Street people to compete with the rest of the world because you have guys in London, guys in Switzerland, guys in Hong Kong that are giving very, very good deals, and they don't have the kind of regulation that we have here. I'm not a big regulation person.
O'REILLY: OK, all right. Now, you have a situation where the unions, all right, are being attacked by some governors because the public service unions, tremendous perks. OK. You use union labor.
TRUMP: I do.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}O'REILLY: What do you think about the unions?
TRUMP: I have a great relationship with unions. I understand what's happening, let's say in Wisconsin. I understand.
O'REILLY: Is Walker right in Wisconsin?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TRUMP: I think that he is maybe right for his state. I think it doesn't necessarily apply to all states. You know, I have had great relationship over the years with unions. We've had collective bargaining. I have become very wealthy. I have dealt with unions because, as you know, New York is largely unions. You are dealing with them. I have great friends that are in unions and heads of unions. So I haven't had the same difficulty and problem. But I think you have to do what's right for your area. I respect him. He is tough.
O'REILLY: Walker, you're talking about.
TRUMP: Yes. He is unyielding and maybe sometimes too unyielding and maybe not too unyielding. He wants Wisconsin to come back. He wants to have a great balanced budget. So I understand what he is doing.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}O'REILLY: All right. Illegal immigration. How are we going to stop that?
TRUMP: Well, you either have a country or you don't. You either have a line and a boundary or you don't. Something has to be done.
O'REILLY: What?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TRUMP: Well, you put soldiers on that line.
O'REILLY: You militarize it.
TRUMP: Do you have a choice?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}O'REILLY: I don't think so. I've been calling for that for 10 years.
TRUMP: They are coming over and they are -- they are climbing over a fence and there's nobody within 10 miles. And they walk…
O'REILLY: All right, you militarize the border. You make it very difficult.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TRUMP: They get a job and they are selling drugs all over the place…
O'REILLY: Yes, you stop the narcotics.
TRUMP: …and they are killing people all over the place. We're not doing anything about it.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}O'REILLY: OK. Now, the 15 million illegal aliens already in the United States. What do you do with them?
TRUMP: I think right now you're going to have to do something and, you know, it's hard to generalize. But you're going to have to look at the individual people. See how they've done. See how productive they have been. See what their references are and then make a decision.
O'REILLY: And then make a decision. All right, on case by case. It's going to take a long time and a lot of people.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TRUMP: A long time, but, you know, you have some great productive people that came in.
O'REILLY: No doubt.
TRUMP: And then you have some total disasters that probably should be in prison.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}O'REILLY: OK. Real quick, social issues. Abortion.
TRUMP: Right.
O'REILLY: You favor it?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TRUMP: No. As you know, I'm pro-life.
O'REILLY: OK, so you're pro-life on abortion. But would you outlaw abortion?
TRUMP: Well, I'd -- I'd go a step -- I'd go a pretty strong step. Something I don't like, I used to not be pro-life. I have become pro-life. I have seen friends that had children that they didn't want. And now they have children and they are the apple of the eye. So I really have changed in my views over the years but I am pro-life. I would -- I would really -- I'm forming an opinion, I'm forming a very strong opinion but I'll let you know in about three or four weeks if I decided to.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}O'REILLY: All right. Gay marriage, favor it?
TRUMP: I'm against it.
O'REILLY: Why?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TRUMP: I just don't feel good about it. I don't feel right about it. I'm against it and I take a lot of heat because I come from New York. You know, for New York it's like, how can you be against gay marriage? But I'm opposed to gay marriage.
O'REILLY: They say, the gays, that this violates their rights, that they are American citizens and they should have a right to live the same way heterosexuals live, and you say?
TRUMP: Well, I think it's a tough situation, and I'll tell you what I say. I say that we have other problems. We have other problems in this country. And I don't think a president should be elected on gay marriage or not gay marriage because we have some very big problems. Based on everything I see, Obama, who said basically the same thing as I do, I think he is going to come out in favor of gay marriage.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}O'REILLY: Yes, he will. But you remain opposed?
TRUMP: I am opposed, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}O'REILLY: All right. Now we'll have more with Mr. Trump in a moment. We'll pin him down on the tax question. That's pretty interesting.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'REILLY: Continuing now with our interview of Donald Trump, who may run for president in the Republican primaries. We begin our second segment with Trump's media exposure.
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O'REILLY: You saw me on "The View" with the ladies walking out.
TRUMP: Yes, I did.
O'REILLY: But they did not walk out with you when you brought up the birth certificate and they should have. That was worse than what I did. Is there a Muslim problem in the world?
TRUMP: Absolutely. Absolutely. I don't notice Swedish people knocking down the World Trade Center.
O'REILLY: So why…
TRUMP: I came out very strongly against the mosque being built virtually…
O'REILLY: So did I. You and I are on the same page. However, Muslim-Americans say you are picking on us.
TRUMP: No, nobody is picking. The fact is it was so insensitive when they announced the mosque in that location. Don't forget that's my territory, Manhattan real estate. When they announced the mosque in that location I couldn't believe it. You know, you have people -– 3,000 people died and you have all those parents and sisters and brothers and wives, I mean, just saying, "I can't believe it. The World Trade Center came down, my loved one more than anybody in the world I love this person, dead and now they are building a mosque across it."
O'REILLY: Yes. I thought it was the same way.
TRUMP: I think it's very insensitive and I…
O'REILLY: But you do believe overall there is a Muslim problem in the world.
TRUMP: Well, there is a Muslim problem. Absolutely. You just have to turn on your television set.
O'REILLY: And do you think it encompasses all Muslims?
TRUMP: No. And that's the sad part about life. Because you have fabulous Muslims. I know many Muslims and they're fabulous people. They're smart. They're industrious. They're great. Unfortunately, at this moment in time, there is a Muslim problem in the world. And by the way, and you know it and it I know it and some people don't like saying it because they think it's not politically correct.
O'REILLY: Whoopi and Joy will walk off on me. But when I say there is a Muslim problem in the world I basically say why don't the good Muslims that I believe outnumber the bad Muslims probably eight or nine to one…
TRUMP: Or more.
O'REILLY: …why don't they, the Muslim community throughout the world, speak out more forcefully against the jihadists?
TRUMP: Well, there is something out there that brings a level of hostility that I have never seen in any religion. I mean, you can say what you want about the Koran. You can say what you want, but there's something there. There is tremendous hatred and tremendous hatred of us. I look at Iraq. I was watching the other day, you know, we have spent all this money and all those lives in Iraq. They hate us. They hate us. They can't get rid of us fast enough.
O'REILLY: Now, when you were on "The View" and they didn't walk out, which they should have because they walked out on me and they should have stayed. You were way, way worse than I was on "The View." You were hammering the birth certificate.
Now, we very early on did an investigation about Barack Obama's birth certificate. What "The Factor" found out was there were two announcements the week he was born in both Honolulu newspapers saying that he was born, OK. That is impossible -- that is impossible to make happen if he had not been born in the hospital. So therefore, I just put it to bed. I said he was born in Honolulu. The two newspapers documented it. His mother was a hippy. His father was a guy from Kenya who split. There couldn't have been a sophisticated -- what is he, Baby Jesus? -- there was a sophisticated conspiracy to smuggle this baby back into the country? So I just dismissed it. But you made a big deal of it.
TRUMP: Bill, I grew up with Wall Street geniuses. What they do in terms of fraud and how they change documents and I will tell you something. If you notice those dates were three days later. Here is what I ask people. Who puts announcements? Here are two poor people, a man and a woman with no money, they have a baby. There's announcements in the newspaper?
O'REILLY: The grandparents did it.
TRUMP: Excuse me. The grandparents. Nelson Rockefeller doesn't put announcements.
O'REILLY: Sure, there are birth announcements all the time.
TRUMP: I have never seen one.
O'REILLY: Really? They are common.
TRUMP: I've never seen one.
O'REILLY: But why is this important to you?
TRUMP: Because if you are going to be president of the United States you have to be born in this country. And there is a doubt as to whether or not he was born…
O'REILLY: Oh come on. Do you really feel this about him?
TRUMP: You know, I started off by saying -- and I always do and I did on the "The View." I'm a very smart guy. I went to the best college. I had good marks. I was a very smart guy, good student and all that stuff. Because what they do to the birthers, which is a term I hate because a lot of these birthers are just really quality people that just want the truth. What they do to the birthers is unbelievable to a point where people are afraid to talk about this subject. They are afraid to confront you or anybody about this subject.
O'REILLY: Do you think it's an important subject?
TRUMP: Listen, I have a birth certificate. I have my birth certificate. And in fact, they said the one I gave yesterday wasn't good enough. So I actually got the one from the Health Department, which is the perfect one. Because they were saying the one I gave yesterday wasn't good enough, so I got the other. People have birth certificates. He doesn't have a birth certificate. He may have one but there's something on that, maybe religion, maybe it says he is a Muslim. I don't know. Maybe he doesn't want that. Or he may not have one. But I will tell you this. If he wasn't born in this country, it's one of the great scams of all time.
O'REILLY: Absolutely. But I don't think that's the case.
TRUMP: You don't, but I'm starting to think.
O'REILLY: I don't think you believe that either. I think it's provocative, you get a lot of attention raising the question. But I don't think you believe it either.
TRUMP: Two weeks ago I felt like probably he was born in the country. Today it's possibly. I'm telling you it's changed. I have seen too many things.
O'REILLY: Why did Whoopi Goldberg get so angry about it?
TRUMP: I don't know.
O'REILLY: Didn't you ask her?
TRUMP: Then she said to me. She likes me, she said, "Donald, I love you but" -- she actually said, if it were a white man. Now, I know they asked for Bush's birth certificate. I know for a fact they asked for John McCain's birth certificate.
O'REILLY: So why did she make it racial? Why did she…
TRUMP: I don't know. She brought race into it. She brings race into it. What can I tell you?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'REILLY: All right. So, I misspoke. We are going to have that tax thing tomorrow and then we're going to go to Libya tomorrow and Afghanistan and all of that with Trump, so we hope you tune in. It gets even more flamboyant.
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