[Begin Video Clip] I am going to be the greatest jobs president that God ever created. Remember that. If I get elected president, we will make America great again. The weakest person on this stage by far is Jeb Bush. You want to talk about weakness? It's weak to disparage women. It's weak to disparage Hispanics. Donald has this weird pattern. When you point to his own record, he screams, "Liar, liar, liar." This guy will say anything. This guy lied about Ben Carson when he took votes away from Ben Carson in Iowa. Building a hotel overseas is not foreign policy. Every guy that attacked me so far, they've all gone done. We've got to keep it that way, right? MSNBC presents an exclusive town hall with Donald Trump. Here now are Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. [Applause] [End Video Clip] Good evening, and welcome to an exclusive MSNBC town hall event. We are here in Charleston, South Carolina, where in just three days the voters of this state in the first-in-the-South primary will choose who they want to be the Republican nominee for president. Boy, Mika, this is about as big as it gets. It is. New Hampshire was big. This is going to determine so much. Well, tonight we sit with the front runner in that Republican race, who despite a debate performance that some analysts, including us, called disastrous... I thought it was terrible. ... he's still a strong favorite. I thought it was terrible. I thought his head was going to explode. Seriously, I was really -- I thought it was horrible. Really surprised. But, he's a favorite here in the Palmetto State. Joining us now, the Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump. [Applause] All right. Great to see you, Donald. Good to have you. I thought I did great in that debate. I actually thought I had a great... I just didn't think it was good. I was like, what is going on? A meltdown. I thought -- nah, I thought it was good. I mean, I was being hit from every side. It was tough. I mean, I was -- you said I was too tough, but I thought I had to be tough. I thought I did well. Let's start with this question. Now that as we said this morning on the show, if you look at a lot of the polls, a lot of people are starting to say you could be the Republican nominee. So we need to step back and ask a lot of questions... OK. ... a lot of questions about your general philosophy. Why is it that you feel it's necessary to attack Jeb Bush, to attack John McCain, to attack all these people? I don't attack John McCain, actually. I do attack people when I'm attacked. I have -- I don't care too much about Jeb, except he spent $22 million on negative ads. I mean, every time I turn on a television, I see a negative ad. He's got money from all of the different donors and special interests and lobbyists. And they've put a lot of negative ads, and that's Jeb, more so than anybody else. So I hit Jeb because he's sort of easy to hit, to be honest with you. If he weren't doing the negative ads, I wouldn't even be talking about Jeb, to be honest with you. Now, you know, Ted, I -- we go back and forth, but Ted -- what he did to Ben Carson I thought was disgraceful in Iowa, where he said he was out of the race. Essentially, he said he was out of the race and this race is over, come with me, come with me. I thought that was bad. I thought the voter violation fraud document that he did was -- I thought it was horrendous. And he's told lies. I mean, he tell lies. In fact, Rubio, he came out and he accused Ted of being a liar. Right. And I said, oh good. That's good, because now I can do it, also. It's just perfect. So let's go over some polls and we'll follow up with some of these questions. There's a brand new Monmouth University poll out. It actually finds you with a 16 point lead in South Carolina, 35 percent to Cruz's 19 percent, to Marco at 17. A new Bloomberg Politics South Carolina poll that was just released tonight puts you ahead of Ted Cruz 36 percent to 17 percent, with Rubio again in third place at 15 percent. However, a new NBC News-Wall Street Journal national poll that was taken after Saturday night's debate... National poll. It's a national poll showing Ted Cruz with a slim 2 point margin, 28 to 26 percent, with Marco Rubio in third at 17. Are things closing in here in South Carolina? Well, I think most of these polls were taken after the debate, and they worked out good for me. And it was taken after the debate. I have never done well in the Wall Street Journal poll. I think somebody at Wall Street Journal doesn't like me, but I never do well with the Wall Street Journal poll. So I don't know. They do these small samples, and I don't know exactly what it represents. But I am really honored by those poll results. Those are great poll results overall. Today Ted Cruz came out and attacked you and said that you were the king of frivolous lawsuits. And, Mika, what exactly did he say? He says, "I have to say, Mr. Trump, you have been threatening frivolous lawsuits your entire life. Even in the annals of frivolous lawsuits, this takes the cake." Well, look, you know, I've had great success in business. I've had great success with lawsuits. I've had great success in things I do, and I don't know that we're going to have a lawsuit, but we certainly want to keep somebody honest. And, you know, when he makes statements about -- like, as an example, I'm pro-life and he said he's not pro-life. He can't say that. [Crosstalk] But your opponents would say, though, you haven't always been pro-life. No, that's true, and so was Ronald Reagan likewise, so... Right. So what happened? When did that change come? It changed years ago. And what happened is I saw things with people and people that I know and people that I respect that made me change. Ronald Reagan changed. If you look at Reagan... Right. You know, he said he evolved. He used that expression. Right. Ronald Reagan actually used to be a fairly liberal Democrat, and he began a fairly conservative conservative. I mean, fairly. But he became a great president. But Ted Cruz says, we can't count on Donald Trump in the future, especially in picking Supreme Court justices... Well... ... if he's changed in the past. So how do you convince... I'm the only one -- by the way, during the debate... How do you convince a Republican like me... That's fine. ... that if you were nominated... Good. ... you're not going to nominate the type of Supreme Court Justice that always seems to flip? OK. So if you look at me as a conservative, OK, and I'm not sure that that's necessarily the most important word, but I say I'm a commonsense conservative. I'm the most conservative on the border. Nobody tougher than me on the border. In fact, Sheriff Joe just endorsed me from Arizona. And when he endorses you, you're pretty conservative, you're pretty good on the border. I think I'm the strongest on the military, most conservative on the military, strongest on the military, the best with the vets. I have more veteran support than anybody else by far. We're going to get rid of Common Core. I'm very conservative on that issue. Common Core is going. We're going to have local education. It's going to be much better, much less expensive. On the Second Amendment, I am absolutely the strongest in the group on the Second Amendment... So let me stop you there. The second amendment, very important in this state. Heller, the decision that the Supreme Court passed that -- or decided on actually found out that the Second Amendment -- ruled that the Second Amendment went -- meant what a lot of people have long believed that it meant, that Americans have a right to keep and bear arms. Right. Will you make upholding the Heller decision a litmus test in Supreme Court nominees... Yes, I would... ... that you send? Yes, I would. And I talk about it all the time. So you -- so you won't nominate... Absolutely... ... somebody to the Supreme Court unless they agree with Scalia on the Heller decision... Correct... ... that the second amendment means Americans... Correct... ... have the right to keep and bear arms? I give that commitment right now, absolutely. And I've been very strong. I'm a member of the NRA. My sons, Don and Eric, are members of the NRA for a long time. They're hunters. They're great members of the NRA. Right. You know, if in -- if you take California, if in California we had somebody having guns on the other side, where you had the two radicalized people, and if we had guns on the other side, bullets coming the other way, you wouldn't have had the 14 people killed. I mean, the best example is not this country. Paris has the toughest gun laws in the world, they say. France has the toughest gun laws as a country, they say. If you take France and all the bad guys have the guns, nobody had guns in the room, they sent into the various rooms people, 130 people killed. It was like, "Come on over here, boom. Come on over here, boom." If people on the other side had guns, Joe, it wouldn't have been that way. And, you know, people really seriously wounded. You know, it was many more people in Paris. But you look at it, if they had guns on the other side with the bullets flying the other way -- and I have this argument with people all the time from New York, because a lot of New York, they say, "Get rid of the guns." The fact is, they can't argue. They can't beat me in the argument. It's impossible to beat. And then the next day, I'll say, so did I convince you? They always say no. They always say no. So we're going to get deeper into your policy positions coming up. OK. Want to get a sense of the state of the race, though, as we move on here. President Obama even talked about you saying, "I continue to believe Mr. Trump will not be president. And the reason is, I have a lot of faith in the American people, and I think they recognize that being president is a serious job. It's not hosting a talk show or a reality show. It's not promotion. It's not marketing. It's hard." The sitting president, Mr. Trump, thinks your candidacy is an aberration or a joke. I don't think he does at all. I tell you what, if I would have run four years ago, he wouldn't be president right now. I don't think he thinks it at all. You know, it's very interesting. It's very interesting with President Obama. Going to go down as one of the worst presidents in the history of this country. He was -- has been a disaster on the military. You look at what -- we can't beat ISIS. He's been a disaster on health care, because Obama's got to be repealed and replaced. And I'm just talking about not even from my standpoint. Rates are going up. Your premiums are going up, 25 to 35, 45, 55 percent. People are getting killed... So you're going to repeal Obamacare? He lied about -- repeal and replace. Absolutely. What do you replace it with? Health care savings plans, one way. We have to get rid of the lines between states. I do tremendous health care. I have so many employees. I have thousands of employees. I've employed tens of thousands of people. I built an unbelievable business. And one thing that has come out, when I filed the documents with the FEC in terms of my business... Right. ... I built an unbelievable business. So I have tremendous numbers of people... So let's clarify... Joe, we have to get rid of the lines. We have artificial lines. Right. So you're talking about letting people shop from one state to another... We have to. ... to get insured. So let me ask you this, though. There is a guarantee now that all Americans get health care. This has been -- well, in New Hampshire, it was supposed to be a big problem for you... [Crosstalk] Are you going to guarantee all Americans health care? Joe, Americans aren't getting health care right now. You know, people tell me that all the time. No, no, no, but I'm asking -- but that's just what I'm asking you. Just like you've guaranteed -- what you've guaranteed on the Second Amendment. This has been a fight within the Republican Party and what it means to be conservative. Sure. Sure. But you have constantly said, even in New Hampshire, the Live Free or Die State, that every American should get health care. Is that your position? Let me tell you, no, that's not what I said. That's not what I said. Here's what I said. We're going to have great plans. They're going to be much less expensive, and they're going to be much better, because the Obama plan is unaffordable and it's a disaster. And by the way, in '17, it's going to die, unless the Republicans continue to fund money like -- it's not affordable by the country, not affordable by people. But what I say is this: We're going to have great plans. But there will be a group of people that is not doing well, that has no money. We cannot let them die in the streets. Right. And we'll work out either through Medicare, which we'll save, or something. We will work out a plan where instead of having people dying in the streets -- and I say to the Republicans all the time. And by the way, I get standing ovations from Republicans, from Republican groups. I got one yesterday. I said we can't let people die in the streets. We got to work out a deal with the hospital or with somebody in that community, where if somebody is sick, and really sick, and they don't have housing, and they don't have... Right. ... all -- we can't let them die. We're going to take care of them. So all Americans will get health care of some sort... We're going to take care of them. We have to take care of them. Now, that's not single-payer. That's not anything. That's just human decency. And I'll tell you what. Every single time I say that, I say to people in the audience -- I say, "So what do you think?" They all stand up and give me a standing ovation, OK? All right. So some people will take that and they'll say, "Oh, that's terrible, that's terrible." What we're going to have is we're going to have private plans. We're going to have maybe the health care savings plans, which are very good. We're going to get rid of the lines. You know what happens when you get rid of the lines? You have tremendous competition, and the price goes way down. The reason the lines are there is because the insurance companies are making a fortune having monopolies in the various states and make a fortune. All right. So we're going to get back to that. We're going to ask how you pay for that and a lot of other things, but we need to go to break. [Crosstalk] We're just getting started here in Charleston. When we come back, we're going to be asking Donald Trump about how he would handle the FBI [Inaudible] to break into one of the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone. You're watching an exclusive town hall with Donald Trump here on MSNBC. [Applause] [Commercial Break] [Applause] Welcome back to our town hall with Donald Trump. We are taking questions from the audience. We're going to go to Barbara, who is an independent. Barbara? Hi, Mr. Trump. Hello, Barbara. Hi. I wanted to ask you, when will we ask our allies to help fund the U.S. troops stationed in their country for protection? Oh, I talk about it all the time, Barbara. We have so many countries -- South Korea -- you know, I order thousands of television sets a year for different projects, and they're all made in South Korea, other than Sony, which is Japan, but, I mean, for the most -- LG, Samsung -- it's such a great question, because these countries are making a fortune. And we take care of Saudi Arabia. We take care of Japan. We take care of Germany. We have -- you know, when you look at our budget, for military, it's 10 times higher, it's so much bigger than anybody else in the world. But what do we do? We take care of all these other countries. The question is such a great question. I talk about it, and I just can't even understand. Saudi Arabia was making a billion dollars a day, prior to the oil collapse, so now they're making half, OK, they're making plenty. And yet we take care of them. They pay us peanuts. [Crosstalk] So should we force Germany and Japan to start carrying their load, build up their own military, and start funding their own defense, instead of the United States? Well, at a minimum -- Joe, at a minimum, I think it's fine what we're doing, but they have to at least pay us for it. They have to pay us so we don't lose tremendous amounts of money. We have... If you go in and fight, have the country -- our country lead the war against ISIS... Right. ... as you've said you're going to do, will you do what Bush 41 did and force countries like Japan to write checks? I would do that. And I would want other countries -- you know, the Gulf states, if you look, the Gulf states aren't doing anything, and they're big beneficiaries, and they have more money than anybody else. We have $19 trillion in debt. It's going to be $21 trillion because of the horrible budget that was just passed four weeks ago, which is shocking that they just did that, so we're going to have $21 trillion in debt. We can't keep doing this. And if we're taking care of Saudi Arabia, they're going to have to pay us. And if we're taking care of South Korea, which makes a fortune -- you know, it's an economic behemoth... Right. ... and we have the madman right next to him, and we have 28,000 soldiers on the line, we're going to have to do something. I've got to ask you -- I know we've got to go to the studio audience. I wish we had three hours, we don't, so I'm going -- I've got to dig into a couple of things you've said here really quickly. OK, go ahead. First of all, you talk about the $19 trillion national debt. If I listen to the people I've been listening to for years on these issues, they tell me that your policies would add another $10 trillion, $11 trillion to the national debt. They're wrong. I mean, they're wrong. How are they wrong? All I'm saying is, my policies, I'm going to reduce taxes, OK? And the taxes is going to bring jobs back, and we're going to bring jobs back into the country, big league, and we're going to have a dynamic economy again. You know last quarter... But are you going to cut spending, too? Joe, we had no growth. Joe, we had no growth. Are you going to cut spending? I'm going to cut spending. We're going to cut spending big league. I mean, you look at some... Where? Where? Where is that? So many -- Department of Education. We're going to cut Department of Education. We spend more money per pupil than any country in the world by far, and we're ranked number 30 in the world. You have all of these countries, whether it's... Bless you. Oh, I thought she was a -- she sneezed. It wasn't a protester. [Laughter] You're so used to protestors, somebody sneezed, and you're ready to throw them out. No, I immediately said the camera's going to go over there and show what a big crowd I have. That's the only way to show a big crowd. That was a healthy sneeze. She's a healthy person. Yes. [Laughter] But you look at -- we're number 30 in the world, Department of Education cuts, because I said, we're going to bring education back... But, I mean, that won't balance the budget, though. [Crosstalk] You've got to look at entitlements, though, too, do you not? Joe, what we're going to do more than anything else, we're going to bring, we're going to cut -- we're going to cut tremendous amounts of money -- let me give you an example. Drug companies. Now, you take somebody like Woody Johnson, good guy, Johnson & Johnson. These people are in charge of -- meaning Woody -- is in charge of Jeb Bush's campaign finance, OK? He's the head of campaign financing. Jeb Bush raised $148 million, total waste of money. He might as well throw it out the window. Wouldn't it have been nicer if instead of running a failed campaign, he gave it to the Wounded Warriors or gave it to somebody? But the problem is, we don't negotiate -- we're the largest drug producer, and -- we're the largest drug buyer in the world. We don't negotiate. We don't negotiate. You pay practically the same for the country as if you go into a drug store and buy the drugs. If we negotiated the price of drugs, Joe, we'd save $300 billion a year. OK. Now, these candidates -- I self-fund, I'm going to do it. These candidates are all controlled by the drug companies, the lumber companies. They're never going to do that. They're never going to do it. Sorry, let's... Just one thing. [Crosstalk] There's tremendous fat. Joe, there's tremendous fat in our budgets. Tremendous fats. Beyond belief. But the candidates are all controlled by the people that make money off the fat. Really quickly -- and I know I've got to go to the audience, but entitlement reform, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid... Right. ... combined. Right. ... are going to consume every dime that goes to Washington, D.C. Waste, fraud and abuse. Well, that's not going to take care of it by itself. It's a huge number. It's a huge number. Waste, fraud -- you know people have paid... What about raising the retirement age? Hey, Joe, I'm not going to... People are living older than they ever have. I'm not doing it. Let me just say. Waste, fraud and abuse is massive in Social Security and Medicaid. So why aren't you going to -- why wouldn't you raise the retirement age, if Americans are getting older and are living longer and longer? Because people didn't -- I'm not doing it. I don't want to do it. I don't want to do it. Two reasons. Number one, I don't want to do it. And, number two, the Democrats aren't going to do it. You know, the Republicans also have to get elected? You do know that. And if you watch Bernie and if you watch Hillary, they don't want to only not cut, they want to increase Social Security. All right. Now, I'm not doing it for that reason. I'm just saying this. We don't have to do it. We're going to make our economy strong; we're going to make our economy rich. And we're not going to have to do it. You know, tonight I know, Mika, why we have the three-hour program... Yeah, I know. There's not enough time to follow up. The two of you. But we have -- this is Kevin McCarthy. Not that Kevin McCarthy. Well, it's not -- yeah, exactly. But Kevin McCarthy. Republican. Mr. Trump, jobs are a big issue you talk about a lot. Some of these trade agreements like NAFTA and others have been very destructive for the working class. My question is what specific steps would you take to help renegotiate those deals or help protect American jobs? Our trade agreements are a disaster, partially because, again, contributions to the various people that run things, like the senators, et cetera. TPP, Trans-Pacific Partnership, is a disaster because they don't talk about monetary manipulation and devaluation. They don't talk about it. The number-one way that countries are killing us is with devaluations of their currencies, and our companies can't compete. You take a look at what's happening in Japan with the devaluation of the yen, just look at this. Caterpillar is having such a hard time competing with Komatsu, which is a big tractor-maker from Japan. The -- a friend of mine bought all Komatsu. All his life, he's bought Caterpillar, big contractor, big contractor. He bought, his whole life, he bought Caterpillar. Now he's buying Komatsu, not because he wants to. He said they devalued the yen to such an extent that it's absolutely impossible to compete. So he bought it, and he's very unhappy about it. The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a disaster, and it shouldn't be signed. The NAFTA agreements and trade agreements that we have generally will be fully renegotiated by me. We have right now a deficit with Mexico, a -- trade deficit, $58 billion, with Mexico. We have a $500 billion deficit with China. You can't have this. We will renegotiate. And, you know, Carl Icahn came out, he endorsed me, said Trump is the one that knows what the hell's going on. We have another problem. We have corporate inversions, where you have companies that are leaving our country... Let... That's a big -- that's a big problem. It is a big problem. Let's talk about China, though, for a second. You've talked before about slapping tariffs, 40 percent, 45 percent on China, if that's what it took, but wouldn't... It's not actually what I said. The New York Times said I said that, but honestly, I was at a meeting with the New York Times. I didn't say that. OK. I said it is a threat that I would use against China. OK, but... For instance, China can solve the North Korea... Do you understand though that if we get into a trade war with China, that that could hurt a lot of working-class Americans who depend on cheap products from China to be able to get by? It's going to hurt China more than it's going to hurt anybody. We have all the keys, we have all the power. Look, China has absolutely -- it's been one of the great thefts of all time, what they've done to the United States. And I have great relationships -- I sell condos for tens of millions of dollars to Chinese. I have the largest bank in the world which is from China as my tenant in one of my buildings in Manhattan. I bought a building -- I have a building through China, the Bank of America Building in San Francisco. I mean, I do a lot of business with China. So they're pulling me to break. I want to ask you something, though, because before we go to break... We can't let China continue to get away with what they're doing to our country. So are you talking about with China -- whether we're talking about tariffs -- are you talking about more threats than action? It's a threat. No, no, it's a threat, but you have to be able to put it in place. What China has done to us with devaluation of their currency is unbelievable. And nobody thought they were going to do it again, and then four months ago they had the largest devaluation that they've had in 20 years. The largest in 20 years. Now they're going to do it again. Our companies can't compete. They are devaluing their currencies. Our company can't compete. OK. All right, we're going to take a break. They are just days away from heading to the polls here in South Carolina. [Applause] And, you know, half of votes have yet to make up their minds. When we return, we're going to hear more questions from the audience. And we'll dig into Donald Trump's economic plan to see if the numbers add up. You're watching our exclusive town hall with Donald Trump, right here on MSNBC. [Applause] [Commercial Break] They are just days away from heading to the polls here in South Carolina. [Applause] And, you know, half of votes have yet to make up their minds. When we return, we're going to hear more questions from the audience. And we'll dig into Donald Trump's economic plan to see if the numbers add up. You're watching our exclusive town hall with Donald Trump, right here on MSNBC. [Applause] [Commercial Break] And we're back here in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina. We're taking questions from voters ahead of Saturday's primary here. So, Donald Trump, we have Cullen Baldwin who is joining us. He's an independent, correct, Cullen? Yes, ma'am. OK, Cullen, take it away. Mr. Trump, multiple past presidents have attempted to establish a peace agreement between both sides of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. And the one common theme is that they've all been unsuccessful. What specific steps would you take to establish an agreement between both sides? OK, I think it's probably the toughest agreement of any kind to make. It has been going on for many years. Many friends of mine have been involved. They're very, very good businessmen, good negotiators. A lot of people say an agreement can't be made, which is OK. I mean, sometimes agreements can't be made, not good. But, you know, you have both sides, really, but you have one side in particular growing up and learning that these are the worst people, these people are the worst people, et cetera, et cetera. It is a very, very tough agreement to make. I was with a very prominent Israeli the other day, says it's impossible because the other side has been trained from the time they're children to hate Jewish people. But I will give it one hell of a shot; that I can tell you. But of all agreements -- I would say if you can do that deal, you can do any deal. But that's probably the toughest deal in the world right now to make, and it's possible, it's not makeable, because -- don't forget, it has to last. You know, it's wonderful to make it and it doesn't work. But it has to last. To make lasting peace there, probably the toughest deal of all, but I'm going to give it a shot. Whose fault do you think it is [Inaudible] You know, I don't want to get into it. You think Israelis or the Palestinians? I don't want to get into it for a different reason, Joe, because if I do win, you know, there has to be a certain amount of surprise, unpredictability. Our country has no unpredictability. If I win, I don't want to be in a position where I'm saying to you and the other side, now say, "We don't want Trump involved, we don't want" -- let me be sort of a neutral guy, let's see what -- I'm going to give it a shot. It would be so great; I would be so proud if I could do that. I don't know if it's doable. I have friends of mine that are tremendous businesspeople, that are really great negotiators, they say it's not doable. You understand, a lot of people have gone down in flames trying to make that deal. So I don't want to say whose fault is it; I don't think it helps. All right. We're going to take a question now from Stephanie Brumit. She's an independent. Stephanie? Hi, Mr. Trump. Hi, Stephanie. Thank you for being here. Thank you. My question is in regard to political civility. So we have -- I think you've been really successful in tapping into the kind of voter who wants a politician to tell it like it is, wants a politician to be honest. And so I think you've done a successful job of tapping into that passion. My question is, where do you think the line is between boldness and honesty, and disrespect and rudeness? And does that line change... I think she's alluding to your cursing. [Crosstalk] But it's -- you know, a lot of -- I'll give you an example. One of the speeches, we're having a great time -- I never said the word. I went like -- I opened my mouth, and they go -- all of your networks go, "Beep," and they thought I said this terrible word. I didn't say the word. That was a real bad word. I didn't say it at all and the place... [Crosstalk] But you whispered it, Donald. I never whispered it. You whispered the word. The other one, I actually, you know, you can give me a negative credit on this one. I actually repeated a word. I said, "I didn't say this word, I didn't say this word," and then I was... [Crosstalk] You called that a retweet. I'll give -- but hold a second. No. Let's talk, though, about civility, though, towards other people... OK. .... because you like hammering other people. As a politician, I always had a rule, you couldn't be at war with more than one person at a time. Your rule seems to be you have to be at war with at least a dozen people at a time. What happens if you're president of the United States and... Changes. ... and -- you look at Barack Obama, one of his problems, biggest problems, people on the Hill, Democrats and Republicans will say, is that he doesn't have friends on the Hill. He doesn't have friends. [Crosstalk] Are you going to have friends on the Hill? Yeah. I started out -- I was one of 17 people, and we're not including the Democrats. It was coming at me from every which way. I was very strong and very bold, and I hit a lot of people. I knocked out Lindsey Graham. I knocked out Perry. I knocked out a lot of people, Walker, we knocked out a lot of people... You're still hammering people. And now I have to, because I still have six left. OK, but if you knock everybody else out, and you're president of the United States, then you have to deal with 535 people that are going to be hammering you every day. Do you have the temperament? The problem -- I have a great temperament. Do you have the temperament to be the president of the United States? I have a great temperament. I think my biggest strength is... [Crosstalk] Jeb Bush would disagree. Jeb Bush -- look... Lindsey Graham would disagree. Jeb is a sad case, OK? It's sad. See, there you go again. Donald. [Crosstalk] There you go again. I'm not saying anything -- I'm just saying it's a very sad thing. I said he's a low-energy person. Look, people... You walked right into that. In a year from now, people will respect what I did. I had Lindsey Graham, he was at 7 percent. After I hit him, he was at nothing and he left the race. Now he's an angry person. I see him on television saying things, it's like -- I mean, he's like an insane person. [Laughter] Again. You're not proving... [Crosstalk] Joe, our country doesn't win anymore. You're so worried about being nice and being politically correct. So what would you rather have me do? Be nice to everybody and now instead of all those people getting out they're still in, still hammering me? You get up. You have to win. It's not what I want. It's not what she wants. Our country is not winning. The question is, do you have the temperament... Yes. Yes. ... to deal day in and day out with 535 people... I think I have a great temperament. Finger on the button. Finger on the button, OK, finger on the button. OK, because during the debate, I was thinking, should this guy have his -- the finger on the button? During the debate? I was being hit by the announcers, John Dickerson. I was being hit -- you know, everybody was really being sort of culled to go after Trump... [Crosstalk] But you're going to get hit by world leaders. They were asking, your brother was told to do this and this by Donald Trump, and they have to respond. I was being hit by everybody. Finger on the button. I'm the one, the only one that said don't go into Iraq. So don't tell me about finger on the button. I want to build our military so strong, so powerful that nobody's going to mess with us. So what does that mean? Is that more money, too? No, it's more money, but it's cheap compared to what we're doing right now. Nobody respects us right now. They don't respect us... But are you talking about bigger defense budgets? Because right now, we're already spending over $500 billion... I'm talking about better negotiated defense budgets. Do you know that we're buying equipment that the generals and the colonels and the people in the field don't want because these companies have political contacts? So much of it has to do with the fact that I'm self-funding my campaign, I can do whatever I want. We're buying equipment that we don't even want because certain companies have better political skills. And you see it all the time. They're getting a plane, they don't want it. They want the other one, or they could have gotten it cheaper, but they get this one because -- we are going to have a better, stronger military. And we're going to watch it so much, we will save so much money. Joe, there is so much corruption. There is so much waste and abuse in the military and elsewhere. But we're going to build our military strong. It's the cheapest thing we can do. All right. All right. Nobody's going to mess. When we come back, our final questions and thoughts here. You're watching a special edition, an exclusive MSNBC town hall with Donald Trump from Charleston, South Carolina. [Applause] [Commercial Break] Welcome back to our town hall event with Donald Trump in Charleston, South Carolina. We have a few final moments with Mr. Trump. I wanted to describe a candidate to you. The candidate is considered a political outsider by all the pundits. He's tapping into the anger of the voters, delivers a populist message. He believes everyone in the country should have health care, he advocates for hedge fund managers to pay higher taxes, he's drawing thousands of people at his rallies, and bringing in a lot of new voters to the political process. And he's not beholden to any super PAC. Who am I describing? Or any special interest or any donors. You're describing Donald Trump. Actually, I was describing Bernie Sanders. [Laughter] Well, that's good. Is it insulting... Well, I'll tell you... There are some similarities. We're different in one primary -- I'll tell you, there's one thing that we've very similar in. He knows that our country is being ripped off big league, big league, on trade. The problem is, he can't do anything about it, he's not going to be able to do, whereas I'm going to do things. Why not? Because he doesn't understand it. I mean, he doesn't understand what's happening. But he does know that China and these other countries are ripping us off -- Mexico. You see Carrier moving down, they're moving down to Mexico. Nabisco is moving. The whole thing is crazy, what's going on with Mexico. He does understand that, much more so than many people, but he'll never be able to do anything about it. Would you rather run against Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton? Well, it's a great question. I think I'd rather run against Hillary, just because I'd love to beat Hillary. I think I can beat Hillary so easy. [Laughter] But -- but honestly... [Applause] ... I -- I don't know. I mean, I'm pretty good with the legal stuff, and I don't know how she gets out of that quagmire of the e- mails. I think it's a... Do you think -- do you think she'll be indicted? I think maybe she will, but I think if she isn't indicted, the only reason is because the Democrats are protecting her. She is being protected 100 percent. Because you look at General Petraeus, you look at all the other people that did a fraction of what she did... Would you ever consider -- speaking of General Petraeus, would you ever consider General Petraeus possibly as a vice presidential candidate if you won the nomination? We can't, now. He's been so badly hurt. What about a general? He's been so horribly -- well, look, he did a nice job. But he's been -- it was just -- he had bad judgment. But she has much worse judgment than he had, and she's getting away with it. It's unfair to him. And by the way, I came out -- they wanted to take away further rank, they want -- and I was, for the last month and a half, I was saying leave General Petraeus alone, he's suffered enough. Leave him alone. And now they're -- I said go get ISIS, don't get General Petraeus. Donald, you have said you're going to build a beautiful wall and Mexico is going to pay for it. Right. Right. But you never say how. It's so easy. You say believe me, they are. It's so easy. Believe me is not an answer. How? Believe me. Let me tell you. Believe me. How are you going to make Mexico pay... Can I tell you? Can I tell you? You have to stop, and I'll tell you. Tell me. [Crosstalk] Right. We're going to have a trade deficit this year of $58 billion, OK? The wall is going to cost a fraction of that, maybe $10 billion or $12 billion, and it's going to be a real wall. It's going to be a high wall. It's going to be a beautiful -- it's going to be a wall that works. How do you get Mexico to pay for it? Very simple. You have five different ways. Number one -- here's the key. They are making, right -- if you look at it a company -- $58 billion. The wall is a -- a year. We have a trade deficit with Mexico of $58 billion. All I have to do is start playing with that trade deficit, and believe me, they're going to pay for the wall. You watch. You're talking about a possible trade war with Mexico? I'm talking about negotiating with them. I'm not talking a trade war with -- I'm talking about Japan. We have all the cards, Joe. If we -- I was in Los Angeles. I see these massive ships coming in with cars. We have all the cards. We don't play them. We don't have the politicians that know how to play them. We're negotiating against great negotiators. China, Mexico, Japan, believe me, we're going to start doing great with those -- that trade. And that's the thing. Bernie Sanders can't do it. The bottom line is, I think he would be easier to beat than Hillary... OK. ... because I always wanted to run against a socialist in this country. I can't imagine it. But I think he'd be easier to beat. So let's get some final questions from our audience. Rebecka is a Republican. Rebecka, take it away. Hi. Hi, Mr. Trump. I was just -- I'm a college student, so education is really important to me. And I was just wondering, since there's so much going on right now in the rest of the campaign, I was just wondering how you are going to -- what -- like, what are your thoughts on Bernie's higher education plan and how he's going to reduce the cost -- The problem with Bernie -- thank you. That's a very good question. The problem with Bernie's plan is everyone's going to pay 95 percent taxes. I mean, you know, you have that and you have all the other things that he wants to do, and you're going to have... So then let's talk about the cost then. ... you're going to have a tax rate of 95 percent. So how do we reduce the costs for colleges? It's insane, the inflation rate... You're right. ... for higher education is... You know why? ... is absolutely insane. Because the students are a conduit to get all this money to the colleges. The colleges have gone crazy. You look at the fees they're paying, you look at the kind of numbers that the administrators make. Colleges have gone up practically more than anyone, because the students, they're the real losers in this thing. They go borrow the money from the government, and the colleges charge more and more and more, disproportionately more. They have to bring down their costs. We have to help the students, Joe, because what the colleges have done, their costs have gone up more than anything, because the government basically gives them the money to do that through the students, but the students have to pay back the money. It's not fair to the students. All right. OK. We've got -- we've got Hiral now... Good question. Thank you. ... who has a question. He's a Democrat. Hiral, take it away. Hello there, Mr. Trump. Thank you for being here. My question is, you're facing stiff competition from Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. How do you think you will set yourself apart from those two candidates? And how are you going to go and win the general election against, say, Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton? Well, I think I will set myself apart because my policies are better, I'm a much better businessperson than they are. They've never employed anybody, ever. I think I'm a better leader. I'm going to bring the country together far better than they're going to do, far better than they're going to do. You look at a guy like Ted Cruz, he's a nasty guy. He can't even -- he doesn't have one Republican endorsement from the Senate and he works with the Senate. Think of it. Hard to believe. Not one senator has endorsed him, and he's a senator. And it's fine to stand on the floor of the Senate for a day or two days and have everybody else in the Senate laughing at you and you do nothing. I mean, he accomplished nothing with that. He went out and he, you know, talked and talked for two days, he filibustered for two days, he got nothing out of it. I will bring the country together. I will take care of our country. I'm going to make our country rich again, and then I'm going to make our country great again. But we have to become solvent. We have to become rich again before we become great. We owe $19 trillion. We've got to start paying it down. We've got to start balancing budgets. All right. Our final question is from Brenna. Brenna, take it away. Hello, Mr. Trump. Hi. My question for you is, why did you decide to run for president? My theme is make America great again. I want to make America great again. Why? I want to make it strong -- because I love the country. I didn't need this, Joe. Believe me, I have a wonderful life, I have a wonderful company, I have a wonderful family... Is it worth it? Well, look, it's been certainly interesting. It's not easy. It's a lot of work. I mean, I'm here. I could be someplace else, to be honest with you. OK, I'm being drilled by the two of you. I could be someplace else. [Laughter] But so far, I think it's really been worth it. It's been one of the most interesting experiences -- probably the most interesting experience of my life. I've enjoyed it. I think I've done well. And we'll see what happens. That does it for us here in Charleston. Thank you, Donald. Thank you. We appreciate it. Thank you to the audience. Thank you, guys. We appreciate it. Thank you so much. [Applause] A great audience. Our thanks to Donald Trump for taking the questions. Thank you very much. [Applause] We're going to be back with you live, starting at 6 o'clock Eastern tomorrow, live from Charleston here. "The Rachel Maddow Show" starts right now.