Trump Discussed U.S. Foreign Policy, Running for President in This 1988 Oprah Interview
During an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 1998, real estate titan Donald Trump hinted at much of the anger with the American people that might lead, one day, to a candidate like him seeking the highest elected office in the land.
This clip is remarkable for a few reasons. First of all, check out how eerily similar 1988 Trump talks like 2016 Trump. “I’d make our allies — forget about the enemies, the enemies you can’t talk to so easily — I’d make our allies pay our fair share. We’re a debtor nation,” he tells Oprah in the clip, scantily touching on his foreign policy know-how.
Next, the comparison between Japan then and China today (in Trump’s world) is virtually identical. Although Trump’s nasally-infused “CHY-NA” today is the stuff of viral internet glory, he said to Oprah in 1988, “If you ever try and go to Japan right now and try to sell something, forget about it Oprah, just forget about it.”
He continued:
TRUMP: “It’s almost impossible. They don’t have laws against it, they just make it impossible. They come over here, they sell their cars, their VCRs, knock the hell out of our companies. And hey — I have tremendous respect for the Japanese people. I mean you can respect somebody that’s beating the hell out of you. But they are beating the hell out of this country. In Kuwait — they live like kings! The poorest person in Kuwait, they live like kings [sic]. They make it possible for them to sell their oil. Why aren’t they paying us 25% of what they’re making? It’s a joke.”
WINFREY: “This sounds like political, Presidential talk to me, and I know people have talked to you about whether or not you’d like to run. Would you ever?”
TRUMP: “Probably not. But I do get tired of seeing the country get ripped-off.”
Trump weighed in on the 1988 Presidential race, and also discussed what it would take for him to toss his hat into the White House ring: “If I ever saw it get so bad, I would never want to rule it out totally.”
And finally, in an impressive showing of Trump bravado even by today’s standards, 1988 Trump told Oprah that “I think I’d win” if he ever did run for the Presidency. “I wouldn’t go in to lose, I’ve never gone in to lose in my life. And if I did decide to do it, I think I’d be inclined — I would say, I would have a helluva chance of winning.”
“I can tell you one thing. This country would make one hell of a lot of money from those people who for 25 years have taken advantage. It wouldn’t be the way it’s been. Believe me,” he finished, in what is perhaps the most confusing question in the Did Trump Say This in 1988 or 2016? game.
[image via screengrab]
