Republican Candidates

Donald John Trump is an American businessman, politician, television personality, and a candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2016 election. Immigration: "As has been stated continuously in the press, people are pouring across our borders unabated. Public reports routinely state great amounts of crime are being committed by illegal immigrants. This must be stopped and it must be stopped now." "We want people to come into our country but they have to come in legally." He will send 50,000 immigrants out, "There going to have to go out, they can come back but they have to go out." "For many years, Mexico's leaders have been taking advantage of the United States by using illegal immigration to export the crime and poverty in their own country (as well as in other Latin American countries)," Trump said. In a rambling, defiant speech delivered in this border state that has been the epicenter of the nation's divisive battle over immigration reform, Trump declared: "These are people that shouldn't be in our country. They flow in like water." Trump said if he's elected president he will "greatly strengthen our border, making it impenetrable, putting a stop to illegal immigration once and for all. I will bring jobs back to the United States." In Monday's statement, Trump doubled down on his commitment to "strong borders" that would keep illegal immigrants from "pouring across our borders unabated. Public reports routinely state great amounts of crime are being committed by illegal immigrants," he said. "The root cause of all the welfare payments to illegal aliens is the so-called 'anchor baby' phenomenon," he explains. "We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out, they will come back, some will come back, the best, through a process ... it may not be a very quick process, but I think that's very fair and very fine," said Trump. "I've talked to the greatest legal people, spoken to the greatest security people. There's absolutely no way of saying where these people come from. They may be from Syria, they may be ISIS, they may be ISIS related," Trump said. Defending his plan to deport 11 million illegal immigrants, Trump warned that we will "become so politically correct as a country that we can't even walk. We can't think properly. We can't do anything." "The border is a disaster, Bill. People are pouring in, and I mean illegal people, illegal immigrants -- 300 and some odd thousand are in your state jails right now, according to Homeland Security." "We cannot allow illegal immigrants to pour into our country," he continued. Abortion: "As far as Planned Parenthood is concerned, I'm pro-life," Trump asserted on the debate stage at the University of Houston. Trump also wrote: "Public funding of abortion providers is an insult to people of conscience at the least and an affront to good governance at best." "I'm pro-life, but with the caveats. It's: Life of the mother (very important), incest and rape," Trump said. "Look, Planned Parenthood has to stop with the abortions," he told host Chuck Todd on NBC's "Meet the Press." Trump, explaining why he was inspired to change his position on abortion, spoke of watching an unnamed friend decide against ending a pregnancy: "It was going to be aborted and that child today is a total superstar. It is a great, great child." "I am against abortion... and that is a tremendous amount of the work they do," he said in regards to whether or not he is against defunding Planned Parenthood. Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" with Chuck Todd, Trump said, "Planned Parenthood does a lot, a really good job in a lot of different areas, but not on abortion." "I hate the concept of abortion," Trump said in the full clip. In an op-ed published on the Washington Examiner's website on Jan. 23, Trump wrote that his views on abortion were changed by a "personal experience that brought the precious gift of life into perspective for me." Again in 1999, Trump stated to the Associated Press, "I believe it is a personal decision that should be left to the women and their doctors." "I'm not supporting Planned Parenthood," Trump quipped back. Sixteen years later during the Fox News debate on Aug. 6, he said, "I am pro-life .... I hate the concept of abortion. And then since then, I've very much evolved. I am very, very proud to say that I am pro-life." Asked by Todd if he'd shut down the government over Planned Parenthood's abortion services, Trump said, "I'd have to think about it. It bothers me greatly that they're doing the abortions." Gun Patrol: "The right of self-defense doesn't stop at the end of your driveway. That's why I have a concealed carry permit and why tens of millions of Americans do too. That permit should be valid in all 50 states," he wrote. During his kickoff speech in June, Trump vowed to "fully support and back up the Second Amendment." Trump says there's another way to fight crime - by empowering "law-abiding gun owners to defend themselves." "We love the Second Amendment, folks. Nobody loves it more than us, so just remember that," Trump said to cheers and applause from his supporters who were gathered at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. "I support the ban on assault weapons and I support slightly longer waiting periods to purchase a gun," said Donald Trump in 2000 in his book, The America We Deserve. "We need to protect our Second Amendment right," he said while pointing out into the audience. "You have the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. You have that right and they want to take it away," Trump said. "Well, I'm a big Second Amendment person, big, as you probably know," said Trump. "If you had more guns, you'd have more protection because the right people would have the guns," he said. Citing violence in Chicago and Baltimore, Trump said "a lot of the places where you have the biggest problem is where they have the strongest laws," but he demurred when pressed on national gun laws. In the wake of America's most recent mass shooting, Republican front-runner Donald Trump said, "It's not a gun problem, it's a mental illness problem." For the former, he stated, "I am very pro Second Amendment," referring to "just released papers" on the subject at donaldtrump.com. He called for an expansion of treatment programs, citing "red flags that were ignored" that led to recent shooting incidents, and noting that law-abiding gun owners are "blamed by anti-gun politicians, gun control groups and the media for the acts of deranged madmen." "Opponents of gun rights try to come up with scary sounding phrases like 'assault weapons', 'military-style weapons' and 'high capacity magazines' to confuse people," Trump wrote Friday. "Trump told crowds, I was talking to some of the people before what would you like me to focus on and they said second amendment, second amendment," explained Trump. Taxes: However, Trump conceded, "I try and pay as little tax as possible, because I hate what they do with my tax money. I hate the way they spend our money." In terms of taxes, Trump has said, "I know people making a tremendous amount of money and paying virtually no taxes, and I think it's unfair." "By my calculations 1 percent of Americans who control 90 percent of the wealth in this country would be affected by my plan -- the other 99 percent of the people would get deep reductions in their federal income taxes," Trump said in a statement introducing his plan in November 1999. "We will bring a lot of additional companies in because our tax rates are going way down," Trump said. Republican candidate Donald Trump said in a statement that "we need leadership in Washington to get the tax code changed so companies will be coming to America, not looking for ways to leave." "When you have a hedge fund guy who's making $200 million a year and ... he's paying a very low rate of taxes, it's not fair and I think it says a lot," he said. "Simplifying the tax code and cutting every American's taxes will boost consumer spending, encourage savings and investment, and maximize economic growth," added Trump. During a news conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan, Trump declared that his proposal will "provide major tax relief for middle-income and for most other Americans." As Trump noted (at about the 3:25 mark) in the same interview, support for a graduated income tax -- as we currently have -- "doesn't mean a raise in taxes. That means rich people might be paying less than they are paying right now." "If you make $200 million a year you pay 10 percent, you're paying very little relatively to somebody that's making $50,000 a year and has to hire H&R Block because it's so complicated," Trump said of a flat tax. On taxes he said he would "start off by simplifying our current system. Put H & R Block out of business ... make it nice and easy for people to understand and reduce taxes." The other Trump said on Fox News earlier this year that he favors "a fair tax, a flat tax or certainly a simplified code." He said he would raise taxes on unfair imports, then, "The lobbyists are going to come and see me, but I don't give a s-- about lobbyists." "No business of any size, from a fortune 500 company to a mom-and-pop shop to a freelancer living from gig to gig, will pay more than 15 percent of their business income in taxes," Trump said. "A lot of families go through hell over the death tax," Trump said. "I want the hedge fund guys to pay more in taxes," he said, as he worked the crowd on his way out of the event. Budget and Spending: "We are going to cut the Department of Education," Trump said when asked if he would cut spending to curb the national debt. Trump added that as a result of the funding plan, Americans will have to "absorb higher deficits, greater debt, less economic liberty, and more corporate welfare." Trump, asked for details of his budget plan, said, "We will cut so much, your head will spin." National Security Trump argued in a USA Today op-ed published last weekend that he "would support and endorse the use of enhanced interrogation techniques if the use of these methods would enhance the protection and safety of the nation. The military under Trump, he said, will "be so big, so strong, so powerful, nobody is going mess with us." "We need much tougher, much smarter leadership - and we need it NOW!" Trump said on Twitter. "I will build a military so strong that we'll never have to use it because they are going to be saying, 'I'm not going to mess with that guy,' " he said, without explaining how he would bolster America's defense. Mr. Trump said he would like to "build a safe zone in Syria, build a big, beautiful safe zone, and you have whatever it is, so they can live." "We have to have a strong military so people don't mess with us," Trump said. Economy and Jobs: "Raising the prevailing wage paid to H-1Bs will force companies to give these coveted entry-level jobs to the existing domestic pool of unemployed native and immigrant workers in the U.S., instead of flying in cheaper workers from overseas," wrote Trump. H-1B visa. The US H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields such as in architecture, engineering, mathematics, science, and medicine. "This country is dying. And our workers are losing their jobs," Donald Trump declared. And last month, Trump slammed Apple's foreign manufacturing, vowing, if elected, to make the company "start building their damn computers and things in this country instead of in other countries." "You see our businesses moving over to Mexico. You see other people are moving into Mexico. Mexico is going to become the next China on a smaller level," Trump says. "I will bring jobs back from China, I will bring jobs back from Japan. I will bring jobs back from Mexico," Trump said. "If you're going to create 10,000 jobs for a town that's in trouble and you need a piece of property, I'll tell you what folks, I want to create jobs and I want to give the people that own that property more than it's worth," he said, suggesting a price structure at odds with the one he tried to use in 1994. In the Derry event referenced above, Trump went into a familiar riff: "China is killing us! They've taken so much of our wealth. They've taken our jobs. They've taken our businesses, they've taken our manufacturing." Trump said the numbers will work out as long as "the economy grows the way it should grow, if I bring jobs back from China, from Japan, from Mexico, from so many countries." Asked why, Trump responded, "Because it wouldn't work, because it's too much. You have to bring in jobs you have to take the jobs back from China, you have to take the jobs back from Mexico." "I will create jobs like you've never seen," Trump told reporters before his speech. He promised to "take jobs back from Japan. I'm going to take jobs back from Mexico. I'm going to take jobs back from Vietnam." In an op-ed piece in last Tuesday's Wall Street Journal, Trump asserted that "the worst" of Beijing's "sins" is the "wanton manipulation of China's currency, robbing Americans of billions of dollars of capital and millions of jobs." Health Care: "I would end Obamacare and replace it with something terrific, for far less money for the country and for the people," said Trump. "We're going to repeal and replace the horror known as Obamacare, it is a horror," said Trump. "I want to get rid of Obamacare and get you something great," Trump vaguely offered. Today Trump said there are people who desperately need care and "you can't let em die in the streets." But in the 2011 volume, Trump complained that Obamacare was a scheme by liberals "to drag America closer to a so-called 'single-payer system,' otherwise known as total government-run health care." Bot of course, Trump thinks Obamacare is "a big, fat, horrible lie" and "a total catastrophe," which he's promised "is going to be a disaster." Foreign/ISRAEL POLICY Trump said as president, "there's nothing I would rather do than bring peace to Israel and its neighbors, generally. I think it serves no purpose to say you have a good guy and a bad guy." Says Trump in a campaign ad: "I will...quickly and decisively bomb the hell out of ISIS, will rebuild our military and make it so strong no one -- and I mean, no one -- will mess with us." He said he wants U.S. troops on the ground in Syria, but more importantly, "I want other countries to get on the ground fighting ISIS." Frontrunner Donald Trump offered his own strategy for dealing with Islamic State extremists and President Assad: "Let them fight each other and pick up the remnants." "Israel is safe with this one," Trump declared, poking his chest. He termed Riyadh the "world's biggest funder of terrorism," complaining that "Saudi Arabia funnels our petro dollars, our very own money, to fund the terrorists that seek to destroy our people while the Saudis rely on us to protect them." Decades ago he called on the United States to "stop paying to defend countries that can afford to defend themselves." "He made statements over the last couple of days that are incredible, trying to justify the war in Iraq. It can't be justified," Trump said, pointing most notably to a "skin in the game" reference Bush made in a foreign policy statement. Civil liberties: LAST TIME TRUMP WAS TALKING ABOUT THIS HE ASKED THE PEOPLE TO RAISE THEIR HAND IF THEY WERE READY FOR THIS HE ROSE HE HAND AND EVERYONE ELSE DID THIS MADE PEOPLE THINK THAT TRUMP WAS TRYING TO BE LIKE HITLER. NEVER COMPARE ANYONE TO HITLER TRUMP'S DAUGHTER MARRIED A JEWISH MAN SHE CONVERTED SHE IS A RELIGIOUS JEW AND HE IS HAPPY FOR ISRAEL HE WANTS MUSLIMS NOT GONE BUT HE WANTS MUSLIM TERRORISTS GONE THANK YOU. "These people always hit me with eminent domain, and frankly I'm not in love with eminent domain," Trump said. Trump added that "when eminent domain is used on a person's property, they get a fortune. And if they're smart they'll get two or three times the value of their property." He also cites a 2000 interview in The Advocate, in which Trump emphasizes his support for workplace discrimination protections and "strong domestic-partnership law that guarantees gay people the same legal protections and rights as married people." "I'M READY FOR SURVEILLANCE ARE YOU" Energy: "I'm in favor of nuclear energy, very strongly in favor of nuclear energy," Trump said. "We are going to bring the coal industry back 100 %" Trump said. "Energy independence is a requirement if America is to become great again," Trump said Tuesday. Trump suggested clean energy policies to reduce CO2 emissions would "imperil jobs" and "the middle class and lower classes." He discounts the "negative impact of natural gas, oil, and coal." He writes that sources of "green energy" are "really just an expensive way of making the tree-huggers feel good about themselves." And Donald Trump said Ohio's prosperity under Gov. John Kasich was a stroke of luck, "John got lucky with a thing called fracking, ok, he hit oil," he said. "I consider climate change to be not one of our big problems," Trump said Thursday, when asked about the debate's concluding exchange on climate change. Crime and safety "If they make one mistake its on your newscasts all night, all week, all month. The police in this country have done an unbelievable job of keeping law and order," Trump said. "I have to say that the police are absolutely mistreated and misunderstood," Trump said. "Police and law enforcement, I will never, ever, let them down," Trump said at the candidate forum, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader. The video begins with the now infamous remarks Trump made last month during his presidential launch speech, in which he said: "When Mexico sends its people, they're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime. They're rapists." The Washington Post's Charles Lane, a regular "Special Report" pundit, faced off against radio host Laura Ingraham over Trump's June 16 comments, in which he said, among other things: "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best...They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists." "Our police officers have been treated horribly," Trump told ABC News aboard his private jumbo jet Wednesday.