Donald Trump appeared on the "Today" show on Thursday morning to talk to Meredith Vieira in another stop on his media blitz tour, and this time, he discussed his possible presidential run, aligned himself with the "tea party," disputed Obama's birth certificate and created quite a stir on Twitter, quickly becoming one of the big trending topics there. As Vieira quipped, "He's certainly not a shrinking violet."Asked if he considered himself part of tea party, Trump said, "I think so. I'm very proud of some of the ideas they put forth. They want to stop this ridiculous, absolutely killer spending that's going on. What's going on in this country — the way we're spending money like drunken sailors — we are absolutely, we're going to destroy our own freedom."
He also continued to quibble with Obama's birth certificate, suggesting that Obama may have been born in Kenya: "I'm starting to think that he was not born here. ... I have people that actually have been studying this [in Hawaii], and they cannot believe what they're finding. I would like to have him show his birth certificate, and can I be honest with you? I hope he can, because if he can't and if he wasn't born in this country ... then he has pulled one of the great cons in the history of politics and beyond."
Vieira wondered whether, if he were president, he'd keep a military presence in Iraq. "I would absolutely, without question, not leave that section of that country," he said. "I would take the oil. To the victor belong the spoils. You know, in the old days, you'd have a war. And you'd be in there. And you'd win. And you'd take over the country. Whether it’s oil or gold or whatever."
What does he think, generally, about this great country? "I love this country," he told Vieira. "But this country is going to hell."
Vieira said that Trump said if and when he officially announced his presidential run, it would be on the "Today" show. Until then, we'll keep up with his Trump-isms right here on Showtracker.
-- Melissa Maerz
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2011/04/trump-on-the-today-show-im-with-the-tea-party.html
