Donald Trump has proved that a presidential candidate does not need many of the attributes conventionally thought necessary to lead the pack in the Republican race for the White House, blithely offending Latinos, women and his fellow candidates, all the while rising in the polls. Now he has proved he considers foreign policy knowledge largely optional, too.
In a discussion about Islamist extremism with the conservative talk-radio host Hugh Hewitt on Thursday, Trump was asked to identify the leaders of major militant groups, including General Qassem Suleimani of Iran’s Quds Force, Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah, al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, Nusra Front leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani, and Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Trump admitted he could not, and the discussion ended with Hewitt pushing the candidate on the topic, asking him: “So the difference between Hezbollah and Hamas does not matter to you yet, but it will?”
Trump replied: “It will when it’s appropriate. I will know more about it than you know, and believe me, it won’t take me long.”
Hewitt is set to co-moderate the next official Republican presidential debate on 16 September at the Ronald Reagan presidential library in California. He warned that this subject might be discussed in the debate, despite Trump’s prediction that the 16 other Republicans running for president would also be unable to explain the difference between Hezbollah and Hamas, except “maybe one who studied it”.
The billionaire property mogul is leading the Republican field with 14 months left until the November 2016 election.
“Do you know the players without a scorecard yet, Donald Trump?” asked Hewitt.
“No, you know, I’ll tell you honestly, I think by the time we get to office, they’ll all be changed. They’ll be all gone,” Trump replied.
“The names you just mentioned, they probably won’t even be there in six months or a year,” he added.
“I don’t know. Nasrallah’s got such staying power,” said Hewitt of the Hezbollah leader, who has led the group since 1992.
When Hewitt said these were not meant as “gotcha” questions, Trump responded: “Well, it sounded like gotcha. You’re asking me names that, I think it’s somewhat ridiculous, but that’s OK. Go ahead, let’s go.”
Trump added that when it came to individuals: “Of course I don’t know them. I’ve never met them. I haven’t been, you know, in a position to meet them. If, if they’re still there, which is unlikely in many cases, but if they’re still there, I will know them better than I know you.”
Earlier in the interview, Trump brought up the Kurds after being asked about the leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, before adding: “Oh, I thought you said Kurds, Kurds.”
He also confirmed that he owned a gun and a licence to carry a concealed weapon: “All I can tell you is that I am totally a second amendment person, and totally in favour of not doing anything.”
While failing to answer Hewitt’s questions about militant groups during the six-minute interview, Trump defended his leadership skills. “I will be so good at the military your head will spin,” he said.
Trump on the difference between Hamas and Hezbollah
Hugh Hewitt: So the difference between Hezbollah and Hamas does not matter to you yet, but it will?
Donald Trump: It will when it’s appropriate. I will know more about it than you know, and believe me, it won’t take me long.
HH: All right, that, I believe.
DT: But right now, right now, I think it’s just something that, and you know what, if you ask these candidates, nobody’s going to be able to give you an answer. I mean, there may be one that studied it because they’re expecting a fresh question from you. But believe me, it won’t matter. I will know far more than you know within 24 hours after I get the job.
Trump on the difference between Quds and Kurds
HH: Are you familiar with General Suleimani?
DT: Yes, but go ahead, give me a little, go ahead, tell me.
HH: He runs the Quds Forces.
DT: Yes, OK, right.
HH: Do you expect his behaviour …
DT: The Kurds, by the way, have been horribly mistreated by …
HH: No, not the Kurds, the Quds Forces, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Forces.
DT: Yes, yes.
HH: … is the bad guys.
DT: Right.
HH: Do you expect his behaviour to change as a result …
DT: Oh, I thought you said Kurds, Kurds.
HH: No, Quds.
Trump on extremist leaders
HH: But on the front of Islamist terrorism, I’m looking for the next commander-in-chief to know who Hassan Nasrallah is, and [al-Qaida leader Ayman al-] Zawahiri, and [Nusra Front leader Abu Mohammad] al-Julani, and [Islamic State leader Abu Bakr] al-Baghdadi. Do you know the players without a scorecard, yet, Donald Trump?
DT: No, you know, I’ll tell you honestly, I think by the time we get to office, they’ll all be changed. They’ll be all gone. I knew you were going to ask me things like this, and there’s no reason, because number one, I’ll find, I will hopefully find General Douglas MacArthur in the pack. I will find whoever it is that I’ll find, and we’ll, but they’re all changing, Hugh.
You know, those are like history questions. Do you know this one, do you know that one … But as far as the individual players, of course I don’t know them. I’ve never met them. I haven’t been, you know, in a position to meet them. If, if they’re still there, which is unlikely in many cases, but if they’re still there, I will know them better than I know you.
Trump on his military strategy
HH: OK, looking to Asia, if China were to either accidentally or intentionally sink a Filipino or Japanese ship, what would commander-in-chief Donald Trump do in response?
DT: I wouldn’t want to tell you, because frankly, they have to, you know, somebody wrote a very good story about me recently, and they said there’s a certain unpredictable, and it was actually another businessman, said there’s a certain unpredictability about Trump that’s great, and it’s what made him a lot of money and a lot of success. You don’t want to put, and you don’t want to let people know what you’re going to do with respect to certain things that happen. You don’t want the other side to know.
I don’t want to give you an answer to that. If I win, and I’m leading in every single poll, if I win, I don’t want people to know exactly what I’m going to be doing.
Reuters contributed to this report. The full radio interview transcript is here.
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