Donald J. Trump. Thank you for joining us, Mr. Trump. Great to be with you both, wow. You will know that there has been a tragic shooting today in Virginia, -- Yes. -- two people killed, three people shot on live TV. Do you have any thoughts about that piece of news? Well I haven't seen it yet because I have been in the office all day. But I have been hearing about it and it's just horrible. And it's almost got to be a first. It was literally on live television, what a shame, what a shame. I want ask you about your presidential campaign and show you some vintage footage of Donald Trump from about two months ago in this building. We talked to you the day after you announced. I want to show you one of the questions we asked you, and your answer. Okay. [Begin Video Clip] What are the odds Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States. I'm running against political people that do it all their lives. I've never done this before. I don't do this. 50 to 1? I create... I would say anywhere from 10 to 20 percent. [End Video Clip] So then you said 10 to 20 percent. What are the odds today you're the next President of the United States? Maybe 21 percent? No. [Audio Cuts Out] never like saying it. If I have a deal that's ready to be done, literally, if have a deal, and by the way this is double in my ear. I'm going to have to take this out -- And take that out. -- because it's about five sounds I hear on there. But if I have a deal that's going to be done and it's ready to be signed, and you way what are the odds, I say 50. You gave us odds two months ago. You said 10 to 20 percent. Well I mean they're up. What are the -- The polls are so good. But how high? And just give us the numbers again, straight talk. How many -- what are your odds that you're the next President of the United States? Let's say maybe 25 or 30 percent. 25 or 30. Maybe. That's still pretty low. I think it's very low. I want to be conservative. So if you're president, I want to ask -- Be conservative. -- if you're president I want to ask you if that's something you'll face President Obama is facing is this year. Every president, President Reagan and others, have dealt with having to raise the debt ceiling. That's an issue that divides the Republican Party. Should Republicans this -- later this year agree to raise the debt ceiling, or is there too much of a danger to the economy if they don't agree to raise it? I would like to see them not have to do it. I think there is so much waste, and there is so much actually scandalous waste in Washington that you should haven't to do it. But be realistic. If they had people that knew how to cut and knew how to make deals with others -- if you look at what's going on our trade deficits with all of these countries that we're actually rebuilding, we're rebuilding the world. We're rebuilding China. You look at what's happening there. But short-term, maybe it's going to happen. I would not be a very easy one to do it, however. So do you think it's worth playing a game of chicken with President Obama, and not raising the debt ceiling and dealing with the market [Inaudible]? I would say that it's worth the fight, because honestly, there is so much fat in Washington that if you had the right people there you could cut it and you would have no problem whatsoever. And you wouldn't miss a thing. So, again, just to clarify. So you agree with those Republicans who say don't necessarily raise the debt ceiling. Take the risk. Make President Obama make a compromise on the budget. I do. I do. Okay. There is a lot of fat. You could do a lot of cutting. So in recent days you got some attention for some comments about the hedge fund industry, where you said they were getting away with murder because they pay lower taxes on carried interest. Hillary Clinton has proposed that we should get rid of that carried interest loophole and tax carried interest at the same rate as ordinary income. Right. Do you agree with her? Well I'll tell you this. And the answer is, yes, the carried interest is really a tremendous burden on the country. I have friends that are make -- and enemies, mostly enemies, frankly, otherwise maybe I wouldn't be saying this, but I am saying it for the good of the country. And none of them are going to support me, and I don't want their support, although I could get it if I want it. And, speaking to that, Hillary Clinton has many hedge fund people supporting her. Right. So in the end, I would say that the hedge fund people make a lot of money and they pay very little tax. I'm about the middle class. I want the middle class to be thriving again. We're losing our middle-class. So change the tax code? I would change it. I would simplify it. I would -- But in this respect, you want to tax carried interest in the same way as ordinary income is taxed. I would take carried interest out, and I would let people that are making hundreds of millions of dollars a year pay some tax, because right now they're paying very little tax, and I think it's outrageous. I want to lower taxes for the middle class. I want to lower taxes for people that are making a lot of money that need incentives. So that would affect not just hedge fund people. That would also affect people in limited real estate partnerships, of which you are in a fair number. I'm okay. So you're proposed -- you're proposing that you'd like to raise taxes on yourself in this instance. That's right. That's right. I'm okay with it, ready, willing. And you've seen my statements. I mean I do very well. I don't mind paying some tax. The middle class is getting clobbered in this country. The middle class built this country, not the hedge fund guys. But I know people in hedge funds, they pay almost nothing, and it's ridiculous, okay? There's another thing that's you've been -- there has been some discussion of this week. There's a story in "The New Yorker Magazine" that talks about -- long story, talks about your appeal, and talks about extent there to which there is support for you among people who are members of white supremacist groups. At the same time we've heard this week that David Duke has come out, former leader, or the Grand Dragon Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan come out and said he supportive of your candidacy. So my first question is why do people like that like Donald Trump? And, second, how do you feel about the David Duke quasi endorsement? I don't know the answer to the first. Who knows why, but I don't need his endorsement. I certainly wouldn't want his endorsement. I don't need anybody's endorsement. I'm not looking -- Would you repudiate David Duke? Sure. I would do that if it made you feel better. I would certainly repute -- I don't know anything about him. Somebody told me yesterday, whoever he is, he did endorse me. And actually I don't think it was an endorsement. He said I was absolutely the best of all the candidates. But I wouldn't want it. But if you read this story and read a lot of people who are white, and organized white supremacist groups talking ebulliently about you, talking why they about -- why they like you so much, would that trouble you at all? Does that give you pause, make you wonder about your message? Honestly, John, I would have to read the story. A lot of people like me. In the poll that just came out in New Hampshire, where I am a very high number, 35 percent, the people like me across the board. Evangelicals like me. The Democrats like me. Liberals like me. Conservatives like me. Absolutely. Everybody likes me. And this is only, obviously only a -- this is only a small subset, but hearing that doesn't make you worry that there is something in your message that's striking a chord with the wrong kind of people? Well I hope there is not. I hope there is not, but I haven't read the story. I haven't seen it. So the next debate is coming up, and one of the things you said about the first debate was you got the hardest questions. I want to ask you a question that was asked of a different candidate, and see how you would answer. This was asked of Governor Kasich. He said -- the question was if you had a son or daughter, I'll expand it to a grandchild as well, who was gay or lesbian, how would you explain to them your opposition to same-sex marriage? So don't tell me why you support your position. How would you speak to a child or grandchild who was gay? Well it's the way it is. I wouldn't speak to them at all about it, other than they are who they are. And I want them to be happy, and I will love them and I will cherish them. But how can you explain your personal opposition to same-sex marriage if they're -- and you had a gay son, daughter or grandchild who said I want to get married, but you don't want it to be legal. How would you explain it to them? Well I thought actually Governor Kasich's answer was a very good one. He went -- he has gone to gay weddings. I have gone to gay weddings, I have been at gay weddings. I have been against from the standpoint of the Bible, from the standpoint of my teachings as growing up and going to Sunday School and going to church, and I have been opposed to it. And we'll just see how it all comes out. But if I was ever in that position I'd just have to explain it. Okay. You mentioned the Bible. You've been talking about how it's your favorite book, and you said I think last night in Iowa. And some people are surprised that you say that. I'm wondering what one or two of your most favorite Bible verses are and why. Well I wouldn't want to get into it because to me that's very personal. And when I talk about the Bible it's very personal. So I don't want to get into verses. There's no verses. And I don't want to get into -- There's no verse that means a lot to you that you think about or cite? The Bible means a lot to me, but I don't want to get into specifics. Even to cite a verse that you like? No. I don't want to do that. Are you an Old Testament guy or a New Testament guy? Probably equal. I think it's just an incredible -- the whole Bible is an incredible -- I joke very much so. They always hold up "The Art of the Deal," I say my second favorite book of all time. But I just think the Bible is just something very special. Have you ever read the Quran? Do you have a view of that as a book? I have not. I have not read that. What's your view of that as a piece of important world history? Well, it's certainly a piece of world history, and lots of things are happening, but it's not something that I have a lot of interest in. I would like to find out what's happening, why there is such hatred, why there's -- I mean you look at what's going on in the world, and it's wonderful to say, hey, let's not look at Sweden, and let's not look at Norway and let's not look at different places, but you look at what's happening with the Quran, it's a pretty scary thing. Scott Walker the other day made a comment about -- he said there are a handful of moderate Muslims who are not attracted to the more Jihadist ideologies of terrorists. Do you agree with that? Well I don't know. And I'm not sure he knew exactly what he meant. Define it. Well I'm not sure exactly what he meant either, but he used that. And that's the problem. Nobody knew what he meant. Only a handful of moderate Muslims. Would you agree with that, or not? Well I think you have more than a handful of moderate Muslims, but you certainly have a problem with Muslims. And I think he probably misspoke, as Bush would say, because every time he makes a mistake he goes out and he says that he misspoke. I think Scott probably misspoke. Did he corrected his statement? He later tried to. Yes, because you do have much more than a handful, but at the same time we have problems. Right. Do we all agree? I mean there are certain problems. Let me ask you two historical questions right now. Do you believe that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone? I believe he acted alone, yes. You do. I believe he acted alone. No conspiracy theories for you. I don't know -- no, not for me. I think he probably acted alone. Who knows? Okay. But I, in my opinion, he acted alone. And my, well my second historical question, between Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill, who do you believe in their account of that controversy? I really have a lot of respect -- I like Clarence Thomas a lot, and I will go with Clarence Thomas. I think he's really been a very -- his decisions are, in terms really of conservative decisions, he is probably about the best there is on the Supreme Court, certainly one of them. So you think Anita Hill lied when she said that he had made unwanted -- I'm not -- -- and engaged in inappropriate activity. What do I know? I just respect Clarence Thomas. I don't know Anita Hill. I'd met Clarence Thomas on a number of occasions. I thought he was terrific. I think he's a terrific person. So what do I know? I mean you're asking me a question like that's sort of a crazy question. Well it was a question that divided the country for a period of time, and over which there still is a lot of division. People have taken sides in that debate for a long time. I'm happy he was appointed to the Supreme Court, and I think his decisions have been terrific decisions, from my way of thinking. I want to ask a couple more historical things. You were a Democrat. Now you're a Republican. And do you recall who you supported in 1992 when it was George Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot? I liked -- I actually liked Ross Perot a lot. And I thought he was great. And then I think he went off, a little bit off the deep end, unfortunately, but I thought he was good. I will say this, had he not existed, you don't -- you're not talking about Bill Clinton and you're not worried about Hillary Clinton right now. But do you recall who you voted for? I don't know. I think I probably voted for Bush actually. For Bush, okay. But I respected Perot. I think Perot really hit something. Had he not gone out and come back in, and a lot of crazy things happened, I think he probably would've had a number that was substantially better. And you said probably though, so you don't remember which of those three? You're not clear about which of them? Yes, I do remember. I don't like to talk about who I voted for. In this case I voted for Bush. All right. I know you said you didn't like to, but let me ask you about one more, 2004 versus the other Bush, do you remember who you supported in that election? Bush. Bush. Yes. Why? Bush. I was hoping he would do a good job, okay? What didn't you like about Bush? Well I don't like what he did with the war. I think Iraq was a -- Well what didn't you like about it? Why did you choose Bush over Gore? I became more and more conservative. He was certainly more conservative. I mean who wasn't than Gore? But Bush was somebody that I was very disappointed in. As you know, in 2003 and 2004 I said Iraq is a mistake. I'm a person who believes strongly in the military. I would have a very, very powerful, strong military that nobody is going to mess with us, believe me. But to do Iraq was a terrible mistake in my opinion. The way we got I was another mistake also, because I said we should have kept the oil. But these are things that I say, and some people agree, and some people agree strongly and some people don't agree at all. But I was very disappointed with him, but I voted for him. All right. Mr. Trump, you're going to stay right here. You're not going anywhere? No. Earlier today, Jeb Bush, someone you have been talking about, and he's been talking about you over the last couple days, talked about you and immigration. We want to have you look at that. [Begin Video Clip] Do it as a conservative, for crying out loud. I don't think we should spend hundreds of billions of dollars with an impractical solution. This guy is now the front runner. He should be held to account, just like me. He should be asked, as he was yesterday, how are you going to pay for it. Explain how you're going to stop all the remittances without violating people's civil liberties. Go through these questions and what you'll find is this guy doesn't have a plan. [End Video Clip] So one thing you have been saying about him is that he is low-energy. Did he seem low-energy? No. He seemed a little bit more dynamic. Yes. And you can't force that, and it was a little bit forced. But how are you going to pay for it? We're spending $130 billion right now on illegal immigration. We are spending a fortune not only the crime and all the problems that is being caused, but we're spending a minimum of $130 billion. You're going to pay for it because we're not going to be spending that kind of money. That's one way we're going to pay for it. One thing that happens in presidential campaigns, as you know, is candidates try to get under each other's skin, right? You seem to have gotten under the skin of some people. Does something like that get under your skin at all? No, not at all. I mean it's one of the things. It's -- I'm not a politician, haven't been a politician. He is a person, and I guess he is trying very hard, because I used the term low-energy. He is a low-energy person by nature, and that's okay. There's nothing wrong with that. I know some wonderful low-energy people. In fact they're some of the nicest people I know. But that doesn't mean that they are going to be good at negotiating with China, bringing back our jobs, bringing back our money, et cetera, et cetera, Japan, everybody else. You look at the Iran deal. I don't know. Is he going to make a much better deal than Barack Obama? I probably tend to doubt it. Is he the most likely Republican nominee besides you at this point? I don't know. I see he is way down in the polls and I'm a little bit surprised. I have been hitting him because I assumed he probably would be -- he seems to be like an establishment guy. The last thing we need is another Bush. I feel strongly about that. I was not happy with the last one. That I can tell you. Read my lips, I wasn't happy with that either. So there was a big problem. Read my lips? That was not -- that was his father, who is a lovely man, who I knew, who is a lovely man, but the last thing we need is another Bush. I would say that maybe if you would have asked me that question two, three weeks ago, maybe in our last meeting, I would have said maybe he would be the most likely one, but I'm not sure. Now who would you say who is more likely than Bush? There's a group of them. Really there's sort of a group that seems to be forming. But so far they're way behind. Jeb Bush recommended the other day you should read his book on immigration. You going to do that anytime soon? No, I don't think so. Why not? Because I have other things to do that are I think much more important. He got a little tangled up in this question about anchor babies, right? Terrible. What do you think he has gotten wrong about that? Well I read the "New York Times" editorial today. I mean he took the Hispanics, and all of a sudden he changed Hispanics and Mexicans with the Asians. And now the Asian community is furious at him, and they're really angry at him. I have seen -- there's protests going on about what he said. So he thought he would get out of that by talking about Asians, and that was terrible. I mean that was terrible. And that's not a word -- that's not a phrase that you have any hesitance about using about throughout this campaign. No. I'm using it. Right. And nobody has complained about it when I use it. They complain about it because they don't expect he would be using that. He actually signed a memo saying, do no use anchor babies. You know that, right? He signed a memo saying, don't use anchor babies, don't use the phrase. It's not appropriate. And then he uses it. Now he uses it because I'm using it. And I think he has to want to -- maybe he wants to keep up with it. I'm not sure why. Maybe he shouldn't be using it, but I am going to. Would you consider him as your running mate? I just don't want to talk about running mates right now. I like to do one thing at a time. So let's talk about this. Right now I'm looking good. I want to keep looking good. I'm not talking about running mates. So let's talk about the Supreme Court. If you're president that's one of the big responsibilities, the president nominating justices. Is there somebody you have in mind, either a current or past justice who would be kind of a model for you? I would have had Justice Roberts not come out with that horrible decision on Obamacare, which was a disaster. He should have ended Obamacare. I really liked his gait. I really liked his thought process. I liked his background, but he is not at -- I'm not at all a fan. No, I would say very smart, great levels of intelligence, great temperament. Temperament is very important. Believe it or not, I have a good temperament. Some people say, gee, his tone is a little bit tough, but I actually have a very good temperament, or you wouldn't be in places like this. Yes. And you've mentioned -- you've talked about Carl Icahn and other people you might want in your administration. Yes. Is there someone out there today who you says isn't on the court, but say this is the kind of person I would consider for the court? Well I don't want to mention names. I think it's inappropriate to mention names, and certainly at this stage where it's so early and a long way to go. How about your sister? Well my sister is great. I have a sister who is on the court of appeals and she is fantastic. Would she be a good Supreme Court Justice? I don't -- I think she would be phenomenal. I think she would be one of the best, but frankly I think she is -- we'll have to rule that out now, at least temporarily. But I do have a sister is very smart and a very good person. Yes, but you would say -- And by the way, you mentioned Carl Icahn, John. I just spoke to him. Yes. And he said such a big problem, corporate inversion. Yes. Where we $2.5 trillion sitting outside, can't come in. And now what's happening is companies are leaving this country. It used to be you leave New York for Florida, or you leave New Jersey for Texas or something. It used to be state to state. Now it's country for country. We have companies with thousands and thousands of jobs that are leaving this country -- So what's the Trump -- -- to go out and get their money. So what's the Trump proposal to handle the question of inversions? Let the money come in. Tax it at a much lower rate and let the money come in. It's $2.5 trillion we think. They don't even know what it is. It could be more than that. And this is money that could be spent in this country. They can't get it in. Part of the problem with politics, and it's so crazy, is that Democrats and Republicans for two years I have been hearing about this. They always agree and they still haven't gotten it done. Companies are leaving this country in order to go outside and get their money. So they're taking the money, and they're going to the money. And we're losing thousands and thousands of jobs. And, by the way, it's getting worse. There are so many big companies looking at going outside to get that money right now. You have been expressing a lot of concern about the Chinese currency devaluation. Big, big concern. It's the case when the currency is devalued that the price of Chinese goods goes down, which means Americans pay less for the goods that we buy from China. It means we also make less because we're not making our own profit. But are you against the notion of lower prices for American consumers? No. What I am against is when they devalue their currency, and I've been -- this has been a big thing for me for a long time. Not only that, Japan -- Japan is doing the big devaluation now. And so it's impossible for our companies to compete. The other thing is if you look at, as an example, get off China for one second, you look at Japan, they sell cars, millions and millions of cars to this country. You look at the imbalance between what we give them and what they give us, tax-free here. It's very hard to get in. When we sell them beef, they don't even want it. They fight it. Let me ask you. We've just got a minute left. So you announced for president right down there just over two months ago. Does it seem longer than that? It seems longer, but it's gone fast, nevertheless. I'm so happy with the way it's -- Yes. What's been the single highlight and the single lowlight since you announced? Well I think the lowlight was when I was attacked for the words illegal immigration. And it's turned out to be maybe also the highlight because now people are saying, you know, he was right. You had that horrible story with Kate, and so many people, Kate from San Francisco, so many people were so badly hurt. I mean what's happened is incredible. So I think that was maybe a highlight. And it was also a lowlight. I think it may have been the word rapist, though that got you into more trouble than illegal immigration. Well there's plenty of that too. You have criminals coming. Look just the other day in California, and a man came over, illegal immigrant, 66-year-old, raped her, killed her, sodomized her, tortured her, raped her. I mean you have that too. I mean we can be babies and we can say it doesn't exist, tremendous crime coming in. I think I have done a great service, frankly. I hope I have. Mr. Trump, thank you for hosting us today. Thank you very much. Thank you. And we'll see you out on the campaign trail. Thank you, Mark. Thank you, John. We appreciate it.