Donald Trump promises "top of the line" national security team
Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump said on Monday that he'll soon roll out a national security team that will be "top of the line."
"We're going to be announcing something very soon," Trump said Monday to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. "So many great national security people, including generals, have come to us and called us - and at the top level - and they want to be involved. And I think they like what I say about other things, also. But they want to be involved, and we have a great team in place, or shortly will be in place."
Trump declined to name who will be on his team, but he promised Hewitt that national security-minded conservatives "will be very impressed by the team."
He added, "Again, you know, the most important is the person atop, because you have to know what suggestions to take. But I will tell you I think you will be very impressed by the team. But I think you'll be very impressed with the team, really top of the line."
Trump hasn't been shy about criticizing the way President Obama and his national security and military personnel have handled foreign engagements.
At a rally in Mobile, Alabama on August 21, Trump told the crowd, "We can't beat ISIS. I watched the general the other day on television, who's just retiring -- which is fortunate. How do you think we'll do against ISIS? 'Oh, I don't know. It's going to be very tough.' Can you believe this? General George Patton, General Douglas MacArthur are spinning in their graves as you listen to this. They're spinning in their grave."
When speaking to Hewitt on Monday, Trump repeated his often-used line about Generals Patton and MacArthur. This time, he used it to criticize the administration for telegraphing its actions in the Middle East. Hewitt asked Trump what he would do if Pakistan became unstable and its nuclear weapons were at risk, Trump said he prefers to stay "unpredictable."
"You want to have a certain amount of, you want to have a little bit of guesswork for the enemy," Trump said. "They have to be able to say you know, he's unpredictable. One of the articles came out recently about my business dealings, and a very respected man said that Trump is one of the greatest businessmen in the world, because he's totally unpredictable. We never know what he's going to do. And you know what? I want to be unpredictable with this, too."
Trump continued, "I don't want to be like Obama, where he's always saying you know, we're going to do, in two weeks, we're going to do this, and then we're going to do that. And I'm saying to myself, can you imagine General Douglas MacArthur or General Patton, they're spinning in their graves. So when you talk about Pakistan, and let's say they go rogue, I don't want to really be saying what my initial thought is."
