The Best Quotes From Donald Trump’s NBC Interview

The Best Quotes From Donald Trump’s NBC Interview

The Donald did not disappoint.

Katy Tur of NBC News, who is following Donald Trump’s campaign, questioned him this afternoon, mostly about his comments regarding Mexico and immigrants. Trump, as expected, barked back, reiterating his wealth and negotiation prowess and both insulted Mexico and praised the country in the same breath. He also revealed that he has a gun permit and a gun, though of course he wouldn’t say what he actually uses his gun for. (He’s a big Second Amendment guy, don’t you know.) The interview, which ran unedited, is pure Trump – a bloviating, dumb hypocrite. Here are a handful of choice quotes:

On Mexico:

“The Mexican government forces many bad people into our country because they’re smart. They’re smarter than our leaders and their negotiators are far better than what we have.”

“We are taking Mexico’s problems. Mexico is beating us on trade and they’re beating us at the border. But Mexico doesn’t want to take these people, so what do they do? They send them to our stupid politicians and we have sanctuary cities and all of this nonsense.”

“I have great respect for the country of Mexico. I love the Mexican people and their spirit. But the country of Mexico is killing us. The country of Mexico is taking our jobs. They’re killing us at the border. They’re taking advantage of the fact that we have stupid negotiators. We have very stupid people in our country negotiating for us. And we have leaders that don’t know what they’re doing. So I respect that. I’m not angry at Mexico. I’m angry at our leadership for not putting our right people to negotiate this.”

“I have a great relationship with the Mexican people. I have many people working for me…I have many legal immigrants working for me. Many of them come from Mexico. They love me, I love them.”

“I built a great empire through negotiation. You have to be able to negotiate. Mexico is making a fortune off the United States…I would get them to pay for the wall… Believe me, they would pay for the wall.”

“I would make that wall impenetrable. Impenetrable. You don’t have to worry about how high it will be. And Mexico will pay for that wall.”

“Don’t try and convince me that there’s no crime, that it’s wonderful. The people that are being forced in and these aren’t just Mexicans…They’re forcing them into our country and we’re taking them and putting them in our jails and hospitals and paying them money though different sources. It’s a disgrace. Don’t tell me about safety. Are you trying to justify safety at the border? I don’t think so.”

Continue reading: What he stands for

What he stands for:

“I’m about jobs. I’m about security. I’m about fixing the military. I’m about taking care of our vets. I’m really about economic development and I’m about jobs and that’s what we have to start talking about. And I’m about beating ISIS momentarily and not acting like a bunch of babies like we’re acting right now.”

“I would knock the hell out of the oil areas because they’re as rich as can be….they have nothing but money, it’s coming out of their ears.”

“I’m more into the military than anybody.”

“If you bomb the hell out of it, you bomb the hell out of it. You’ve gotta stop their wealth. They have tremendous wealth.”

“I’m concerned about everything. Our country’s going to hell.”

“I’ll take jobs back from China. …I’ll take jobs back from Japan, where they’re making…millions and millions of cars. I’ll take jobs back from Mexico.”

“We need somebody that can make great deals with China, with Japan, with Mexico. I actually think I’ll be the jobs president but I actually think I’ll be even better in terms of the military. I will create a military where nobody will mess around the United States.”

“I don’t need this. What I’m doing is for the country. I want to make American great again. If we keep going this way America will be permanently scarred.”

“I tell the truth. I say what’s happening. I made a tremendous fortune. That’s the kind of mentality we need in this country.”

Continue reading: On his electability

On his electability:

“I’m the most popular person in Arizona because of my stance.”

“I listen to the people. I get the biggest crowds, I get the biggest standing ovations.”

“I will win the Latino vote because I’m going to put them to work. I’m going to be able to get them jobs… Latinos will have jobs they don’t have right now…I have thousands of them working for me at different places that I have all over the country. I will win that vote… I’ll do better with that vote than anybody.”

“I’m actually No. 1 in Huffington Post and some others and the new polls that haven’t even come out yet.” [Editor’s note: He’s not.]

“I made my presidential announcement right here in this building…Everybody gave me great reviews, some great, great reviews, some good reviews…it wasn’t only until a week later that people started criticizing that one statement.”

“I have great relationships. If you look at Businessweek magazine, they did a story on the 10 things that China most wants. One of the 10 things? Anything Trump.”

“I’m a nice person, believe it or not. I mean, I have a heart.”

Continue reading: On the other candidates

On the candidates running against him:

“Hillary Clinton is not going to be able to create jobs. Neither is Jeb Bush going to be able to create jobs. I will create jobs.”

“Hillary Clinton was the worst Secretary of State in the history of the United States. Hillary was the worst. In the history of the U.S. there’s never been a Secretary as bad as Hillary. The world blew up around us, we lost everything including all relationships. There wasn’t one good thing that came out of that administration or her being Secretary of State.”

“Jeb Bush will never take us to the promised land. He doesn’t have it. Hillary will never take us to the promised land. Hillary will be a disaster as a president. Jeb will be very poor as president. No energy.”

“Hillary would be a terrible president. Hillary would let everybody come in — killers, criminals, drug dealers. If you listen to Hillary, she is so weak on immigration we will have a crime rate like you’ve never seen.”

Continue reading: He insults Katy Tur

His insults to reporter Katy Tur:

Referring to statistics that say immigrants commit few crimes: “It’s a wrong statistic. Go check your numbers. It’s totally wrong. It sounds good, but it’s a wrong statistic. Check your numbers.”

“Don’t be naïve. You’re a very naïve person.”

On her comments regarding his crusade for the birther movement: “According to you it’s not true. I don’t know. If you believe that, that’s fine. I don’t care. It’s an old subject.”

“You don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

Continue reading: On his conservative critics

On his conservative critics:

Charles Krauthammer, who called him a “rodeo clown”: He’s “a totally overrated person who dislikes me personally. I’ve never met him. He’s a totally overrated guy, doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

Jonah Goldberg, who said he’s a “failed man who mistook flattery for insight”: “I’m worth a fortune. You know, it’s interesting. I went to the best school, got great marks, everything else. I went out, I made a fortune, a big fortune, a tremendous fortune… bigger than people even understand. I have a book called The Art of the Deal. I do The ApprenticeThe Art of the Deal was like the No.1 business book of all time or just about, I think it was…Then I get called by a guy that can’t buy a pair of pants, I get called names? Give me a break.”

Screenshot: Donald Trump makes no apologies. (NBC News)

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