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https://ericzuesse.substack.com/p/when-trump-in-1980-first-thought

https://theduran.com/when-trump-in-1980-first-thought-about-becoming-president/

When Trump, in 1980, First Thought About Becoming President,

And Why Trump Has Always Hated Iran

18 June 2025, by Eric Zuesse. (All of my recent articles can be seen here.)

In 1980, when Donald Trump first thought about (but rejected) running for President, he displayed in an interview with Rona Barrett his basic values, which presumed that America should be running the world, and that he knew men whom he thought ought to be America’s President but were, like himself, too successful and busy doing things they loved to do, for them to be sufficiently interested in running for, or even being, President of the country. He felt that doing this would be too much of a personal sacrifice, not only for himself, but for the other men he knew whom he thought would be great at running the country, because they, like he, already ran large corporations and would therefore (he assumed) be up to the task. Then, in a puzzling passing reference, he mentioned Abraham Lincoln, who, prior to being President, had never run any sort of large organization, as having been a great President. Trump and his interviewer, the gossip columnist Rona Barrett, displayed the superficiality that Trump is now so famous for, but this at a time, 1980, when the born-multimillionaire Trump, who by then had already become perhaps a billionaire, was already being encouraged by other prominent individuals (including Barrett), to run for the U.S. Presidency.

At 39:15 in the video, till 41:00, Trump indicated his resentment against Iranians, because he felt that President Carter ought to have sent U.S. troops in to mow down the hostage-takers who had seized in the U.S. Embassy the American hostages. 

Everything in his presumptions was that “we” are good and “they” — if they don’t “respect” (by which he always seems really to mean, to “fear”) us — are bad and should be dealt with militarily. (To him, every international problem should be dealt with purely by force; diplomacy is useless except by means of using threats.) He ignored that in 1953, the U.S. Government had actually destroyed Iran’s then-budding but very real democracy, and imposed as America’s oil companies’ stooge head-of-state, the brutal Shah’s dictatorship — America stole Iranians’ oil, and stole their country, stole and ended their democracy, and so those Iranians who overthrew the U.S.-imposed regime were entirely justified in their contempt for the U.S. Trump ignored their viewpoint entirely. He showed, even that early, who he was (and is). But he covered himself over with self-worship — saying of the corporate owners such as himself (at 44:50), “they're extraordinarily brilliant, they're very very kind, competent, uh, they're leaders, they uh they have the respect of everybody.” It’s the traditional attitude of royalty, and of aristocrats (whom the royals actually represent). (And anyone who doesn’t bow down to them is “abusing us” and should be dealt with harshly.) That was, and is, his self-image: as being royalty.

At 38:43, he said, “I feel that this country with the proper leadership can go on to become what it once was,” so that his idea of progress is actually regress. He unquestioningly accepts the old ways, the ancient ways that the vast majority of America’s Founders had thought that they were risking their lives to overthrow, so that REAL progress would become possible — but Trump prefers, instead, master-versus-slave, noble-versus-serf, etc. The “old ways.” He represents what America’s Founders loathed.

So, here meet the younger version of our President:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apvHr6PALIc&t=2273s

https://web.archive.org/web/20240531163259/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apvHr6PALIc

“Interview: Donald Trump with Rona Barrett - October 6, 1980”

Roll Call Factbase Videos

90,731 views  Apr 20, 2024  TRUMP TOWER

Rona Barrett conduncted an interview with Donald Trump on October 6, 1980 in New York. The interview never aired. Video courtesy and copyright Copyright Reelin' in the Years Productions and Lola Clips. Uploaded to YouTube for archival purposes by Factba.se (https://factba.se). [I exclude the vast majority of this 49:12 interview by the Trump-hero-worshipping Barrett, and include only this 7:39 clip from it].

37:53

I just don't feel the country is going forward in the proper direction we could have we

37:57

could have made quick decisions and we would have been a lot better off than the way we've been sitting around over the last couple of years and just

38:02

watching everybody else do everything and we just sit back and take everybody's abuse, we uh it's a very sad

38:10

situation that somebody isn't there making the decisions and pushing the the right and proper I I don't want to use

38:17

the word buttons frankly but pushing the right levers so that we can go out and do things as we're supposed to be doing

38:23

them. BARRETT: You are a mover, you are a doer, if you you could make America perfect, how

38:30

would you do it? TRUMP:  Well, I think that America is a country that has tremendous

38:36

tremendous potential, I think that much like the mind I think that America is using very very little of its potential.

38:43

I feel that this country with the proper leadership can go on to become what it once was and I hope and certainly hope

38:52

that it does go to be what it uh what it should be BARRETT: What should it be? TRUMP: Well well it

38:57

should be a, it should really be a country that gets the respect of other countries today. BARRETT: Respect [is] the most

39:03

important thing in your opinion? TRUMP:  Well, respect can lead to other things. When you get the respect of the other

39:08

countries, then the other countries tend to do a little bit as you do, and you can create the right attitudes. The the

39:15

Iranian situation is a case in point. That they hold our hostages is just

39:22

absolutely and totally ridiculous, that this country sits back in allows a

39:28

country such as Iran to hold our hostages to my way of thinking is a

39:33

horror and I don't think they do it with other countries, I honestly don't think

39:38

they do it with other countries. BARRETT: obviously you're advocating that we should have gone in there with troops etc. and brought our boys out TRUMP: I

39:45

absolutely feel that yes. I don't think there's any question, there's no question in my mind, I think right now [we] would be

39:51

an oil rich nation and I believe that we should have done it and I'm very disappointed that we didn't do it,

39:58

and I don't think anybody would have held us in abeyance, I don't think anybody would have been angry with us,

40:04

and we had every right to do it at the time. I think we've lost the opportunity. BARRETT:  Donald would

40:09

you would you have wanted to be one of those men to have gone to Iran Iran and

40:16

have taken those fellows out? TRUMP:  No I wouldn't have wanted to be but I would have done it. BARRETT:  Would you? TRUMP:  Absolutely if I were the

40:22

age if I were in the military. BARRETT: There were a lot of those fellas who went for that aborted coup who were 34 years old and

40:30

older they were your age right? If you were called upon would you, I know it's easy to say yes of course I would go, but

40:37

if the phone rang right now and someone from the Selective Service had said Donald we're taking every young man 34

40:44

years of age, we're sending him to war, would you go to war? TRUMP:  No, I don't see a war, you see the war is is, this is not a

40:50

Vietnam situation fortunately. The war in fact with Iraq, there is a war waging

40:55

there right now, oh yes, there is a war, and and it's a war where nobody has any tanks, has any guns, it's a war where

41:01

everyone's standing around. That would have been the easiest victory we would have ever won in my opinion, I really when BARRETT:  I look at television I see men

41:07

being shot up legs being blown off TRUMP: You're talking about two non-existent armies, I mean Iran has an army composed

41:13

of American equipment without ports, and without anything else, and Iraq has a very weak army, and they're just really

41:19

fighting each other. I mean it's almost hand to-and-combat if you see now they've run out, it's it's a sad situation, Rona,

41:25

but it's a situation which ultimately is going to get much worse, that little sparkle of war that little sparkle is

41:32

going to lead in my opinion to a much much greater conflict, and I think that's very unfortunate and I think a lot of it

41:38

has to do with this country, and the fact that this country is not more involved in terms of setting policy in that area.

41:44

BARRETT: Do you think perhaps that the um the oil industry is responsible for this as the late Shaw once implied? TRUMP: Well I wouldn't

41:52

want to criticize the oil industry because I wouldn't know enough about it, but I can tell you that I think this

41:57

country is responsible for that war, by its own weaknesses. I don't think you'd have this war if we if they again using

42:05

the other word, if we were respected properly, respected as a country and as a people and as a nation. I don't think

42:11

that you would have the war going on right now between Iran and Iraq, I don't think that Iran would have our hostages

42:18

for 10 minutes if they respected this country, I don't believe they would have our hostages for 10

42:23

minutes. BARRETT: For some people the ultimate goal in life uh has been becoming the president of

42:30

the United States would you like to be the president of the United States? TRUMP: I really don't believe I would run it but

42:35

I would like to see somebody as the president who could do the job and there are very capable people in this country.

42:41

BARRETT: Most people who are capable are not running for office, most men are frightened of politics today. TRUMP:  It is a

42:46

shame isn't it? BARRETT: Yes. TRUMP: It is a shame. The most capable people are not necessarily

42:51

running for political office, and that is a very sad commentary on the country. They head major corporations and they

42:57

head this and that, but they are not running for political office. BARRETT: Why wouldn't someone like yourself run for political office, you have all the money

43:04

that you possibly need, you've accomplished a great deal even though you are only 34. I know there's a lot of

43:10

things that you possibly can do in the years ahead. Why wouldn't you dedicate yourself to public service? TRUMP: Because I

43:16

think it's a very mean life. I I would love and I would I would dedicate my life to this country, but I see it as

43:21

being a mean life, and I also see it that somebody with strong views and somebody with the kind of views that are maybe a

43:28

little bit unpopular, which may be right but may be unpopular, wouldn't necessarily have a chance of getting

43:34

elected against somebody with no great brain but a big smile, and that's a sad commentary for the political process.

43:41

BARRETT: Television in a strange way has ruined that process hasn't it? TRUMP: it's hurt the process very much. I mean the Abraham

43:46

Lincolns of the world — Abraham Lincoln would probably not be electable today because of television. He was not a

43:52

handsome man, and he did not smile at all. He would not be considered to be a prime

43:57

candidate for the presidency, and that's a shame isn't it? BARRETT: but if more men are like you, then when are we going to get

44:04

somebody who might be good? TRUMP: I don't know. I hope it's around the corner but I don't know. I really don't know. What I

44:09

would like to be involved in is trying to help choose somebody or working with

44:15

a group of people whereby they put up a candidate who would be acceptable to be

44:20

a presidential, you know to to be the president the country. If we had the one

44:25

man, and it's really not that big a situation, you know people say well what could anybody do as president —

44:31

the one man could turn this country around. The one proper president could turn this country around, I firmly

44:37

believe that. BARRETT You think there is one man? TRUMP: There is one man that can turn this country around, I could tell you I know a

44:44

number of people that would be excellent presidents. I will not tell you who they are but I know a number of people that could be excellent presidents of this

44:50

country, but they are not running for political office, they're not in political office, they're extraordinarily brilliant, they're very very kind,

44:57

competent, uh, they're leaders, they uh they have the respect of everybody and

45:03

they would be fabulous presidents, but they're not running for political office and I think that's very sad and I think you said it maybe television is the

45:09

thing that most hurt the political process in this country. BARRETT: If you lost your fortune today

45:16

what would you do tomorrow? TRUMP: Maybe I'd run for president, I don't know. BARRETT: You mean you

45:21

think you have to be uh bankrupt uh with not a dime in your pocket in order to to

45:27

uh be a a good president? TRUMP: No I'm only kidding … being facetious.

45:32

——

The Times of India had brought this interview to my attention when I read their 18 June 2025 article: “Why Donald Trump Has Always Hated Iran”

—————

Investigative historian Eric Zuesse’s latest book, AMERICA’S EMPIRE OF EVIL: Hitler’s Posthumous Victory, and Why the Social Sciences Need to Change, is about how America took over the world after World War II in order to enslave it to U.S.-and-allied billionaires. Their cartels extract the world’s wealth by control of not only their ‘news’ media but the social ‘sciences’ — duping the public.