𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐏 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐄𝐗𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐋𝐘 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓’𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 — 𝐈𝐍 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟕 This is a clip from a 20/20 interview with Barbara Walters in 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟕 — 39 years ago. Trump, who wasn’t running for anything at the time, laid out an Iran strategy that sounds like it was written yesterday. “𝘐’𝘮 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧.” He said allies were part of the problem, but the “𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘐𝘳𝘢𝘯.” Walters pushed back: “Would you send in the Marines? Would you take a chance in a war?” Trump didn’t flinch: “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺, 𝘨𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘰𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴.” Walters asked what happens if the Soviets intervene. “𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵”, Trump said. He was right — the Soviet Union collapsed four years later. Then he dropped the line that aged like prophecy: “𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬.” He added: “𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘌𝘢𝘴𝘵.” The same man who said that in 1987 is now sitting in the Oval Office executing the exact strategy he described to Barbara Walters before the Berlin Wall came down. Take the oil. Project strength. Don’t be weak. Whether you call it conviction or foresight, the man hasn’t changed his position on Iran in 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬. Most politicians change theirs between breakfast and lunch. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 ’𝟖𝟕. 𝐇𝐞’𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 ’𝟐𝟔. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫.
