Donald "Worst Nightmare" Trump told the Wall Street Journal yesterday that he'd "probably" run as an independent if he doesn't get the nod from the GOP, declaring, “I hate what’s happening to the country." But, unlike Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney, Trump won't decide until this summer—see, even though he hates what's happening to this country, "I can’t run during the airing of [Celebrity Apprentice]. I’m not allowed to." Hmm, will the Republicans beg NBC to order another few seasons of the show to run back-to-back for a while?
The Wall Street Journal explains, "Mr. Trump’s candidacy would complicate matters for the GOP as it looks to front someone who can unite the fractious party and mount a serious challenge to President Obama’s reelection bid. A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC poll recently found Mr. Trump tied for second place with former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee among likely voters in a GOP primary. Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who moved a step closer to formally declaring his own candidacy Monday, is still the frontrunner, though not by a wide margin." Trump also confirms this hypothesis, "I think the Republicans are very concerned that I [may] run as an independent." Yeah, he sorta owns the birthers and the Tea Partiers!
Some more if I-were-president Trumpisms: He's “only interested in Libya if we take the oil," "I would not leave Iraq and let Iran take over the oil," and he hates China, "I would tell China that you’re either going to shape up, or I’m going to tax you at 25% for all the products you send into this country."
In the meantime, he's been complaining about a Vanity Fair online blog post by critiquing it with a marker ("And who is Ben Smith?") and mailing it to VF editor Graydon Carter. This reminded us of the NY Times' Gail Collins' memory of when she once wrote about The Donald for the Times, "During one [of Trump's] down period[s], I referred to him in print as a 'financially embattled thousandaire' and he sent me a copy of the column with my picture circled and 'The Face of a Dog!' written over it.'"
