Donald Trump talks taxes, ObamaCare, and his 'honorable' personality on 60 Minutes
Donald Trump revealed his idea for an ObamaCare alternative, two plans to defeat Islamic State, and that he's more popular than any supermodel during a wide-ranging interview on Sunday's 60 Minutes.
The Republican frontrunner told Scott Pelley that if he becomes president, he plans to lower taxes for the middle class and raise taxes for some of the "very wealthy." "People who are getting unfair deductions are going to be raised," he said. "I don't want certain people on Wall Street to get away with not paying taxes." He also said people in "low income brackets" will be exempt from paying taxes. Trump will bring jobs back to the U.S. from China and Mexico, and thinks NAFTA is a "disaster." "We need fair trade, not free trade," he said. He also wants to repeal ObamaCare, but will ensure "everybody's covered. I'm going to take care of everybody. I don't care if it costs me votes."
The country, he said, has "been decimated," and "our roads are falling apart, our bridges are falling apart, everything is falling apart." He said he'll be able to pay for new infrastructure by having an economy that will "expand so rapidly." As for undocumented immigrants, "we're rounding them up in a very humane way, a very nice way. They're going to be happy because they want to be legalized. I know it doesn't sound nice, but not everything is nice." Trump has two plans for ISIS in Syria — let them topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad, then have the U.S. go in and defeat ISIS, or have Russia take care of them. "What the hell do we care?" he asked.
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Pelley told Trump that listening to people talk about him "is oxygen to you," and asked what that says about his personality. Trump said he doesn't think he's different from anyone else, and plasters photographs of himself on his walls because "it's cheaper than wallpaper." As for all of his magazine covers, "I'm on a lot, maybe more than any supermodel. It's a sign of respect." He's not thin-skinned, he just can't handle "lies," and considers himself to be "very honorable." He also had no desire to enter the Republican race. "I didn't want to do this," he said. "I just felt our country was going to hell, and I had to do it." Catherine Garcia
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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