Donald Trump On 2016 Presidential Run: ‘I Can Do The Job’

Donald Trump is hinting once again that he may run for president in 2016. In a speech Saturday at the Iowa Freedom Summit, he maintained he could do the job that neither Mitt Romney, nor Jeb Bush can do.

CBS News reports Donald Trump told the conservative crowd in Iowa he is “seriously thinking about running for president because I can do the job.”

Trump also took the opportunity in his speech to slam Mitt Romney, saying it would be a mistake to nominate the former governor of Massachusetts as “he choked” during the last presidential election when he did not win the presidency. Trump insists Jeb Bush is not a good choice for the nomination, as “the last thing we need is another Bush,” and that it was Jeb’s brother, George W. Bush, that “really gave us Obama.”

Trump’s remarks Saturday do not come as a surprise after the comments he made in an interview with The Des Moines Register on Friday. In the interview, Trump said both Bush and Romney are doomed to fail if either are the 2016 Republican nominee. Being especially critical of Romney, Trump said the former governor has already been down this road and it did not end well.

“He failed. He choked. He’s like a deal-maker that didn’t close the deal. He shouldn’t be running again. He had a great opportunity to win against a president that was absolutely lame, and he didn’t do it…. The 47 percent statement, which was a disaster, is not going away. Romneycare is not going away. All of his problems are not going away. He should get out and get out quickly.”

Speaking on his 2012 failure to run, the billionaire businessman believes had he actually ran in the last election, he would now be President Trump.

“I was leading in every poll…. I regret that I didn’t stay in. I would’ve won the race against (President Barack) Obama. He would’ve been easy. Hillary (Clinton) is tougher to beat than Obama, but Hillary is very beatable.”

Although Donald Trump has thrown around the idea of running for president since at least 2000, he has never been an official candidate. He told The Des Moines Register he could not run in 2008 or 2012 because of his contractual obligations to NBC; however, the contract with the network ends at the end of this season of Celebrity Apprentice.

Will Donald Trump run for president? As with Sarah Palin, who recently admitted she too is interested in a 2016 presidential run, the American public will soon know. If Trump plans to run, he said he would officially announce his decision before June.

[Image via Gage Skidmore]