NY1 Exclusive: Donald Trump Slams "Evil" Bush, Praises Obama. Say What?

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By: Dominic Carter

In an exclusive interview with NY1, real estate mogul Donald Trump harshly criticized President George Bush and said that Barack Obama could "go down as a great president."

 

If there's one thing certain about real estate mogul Donald Trump, it's that he likes to win... even though he endorsed John McCain for president.

"McCain, really, that was almost an impossible situation," said Trump. Bush has been so bad, maybe the worst president in the history of this country. He has been so incompetent, so bad, so evil that I don't think any Republican could have won."

Among other topics, Trump talks about term limits and calls the Freedom Tower a “white elephant” and an upcoming "catastrophe" for the New York real estate market.

During an exclusive interview with NY1 in his Midtown office on Fifth Avenue, Trump slammed President George Bush's foreign policies.

"You know, you can be enemies with people, whether it's Iran, Iraq, or anyplace else and you can still have dialogue. These people wouldn't even talk with him. It's terrible," said Trump.

While he had harsh words for the outgoing president, he had a much different opinion of President-elect Barack Obama.

"I think he has a chance to go down as a great president. Now, if he's not a great president, this country is in serious trouble," said Trump.

"I think [Obama's] going to lead through consensus," continued Trump. "It's not going to be just a bull run like Bush did. He just did whatever the hell he wanted. He'd go into a country, attack Iraq, which had nothing to do with the World Trade Center and just do it because he wanted to do it."

Trump was then asked if he ever thought he would see an African-American president in his lifetime.

"They always said 100 years before a black man or woman could be elected president. And the 100 years turned out to be, like, one year. He's done an amazing job," said Trump.

An Associated Press GFK poll released Tuesday shows that a majority of people share Trump's approval of Obama.

A total of 72 percent of those surveyed say they are confident the president-elect will do what it takes to revive the economy, while 68 percent say Obama will be able to carry out his campaign promises.

Strengthening the economy is a top priority for 61 percent of those surveyed.

The poll was conducted from November 6-10 by telephone interviews with more than 1,000 adults. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Meanwhile, no interview with the man they call "the Donald" would be complete without a little bragging.

"I'm in many, many rappers' songs. And I know them," said Trump. "50 Cent is sort of a friend of mine. I mean, he likes me. He just did a show, it was a copy of 'The Apprentice.' It will fail because he's not Trump, but he's actually a nice guy."

But to a degree, that ego may be well-earned. Trump confirmed reports that he sold a single home in West Palm Beach, Florida for nearly $100 million before the market crashed.

http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/88778/-i-ny1-exclusive---i--donald-trump-slams--evil--bush--praises-obama/