Trump Believed The Date For Hitting The Debt Ceiling “Was An Artificial Deadline” Set By Tim Geithner. VAN SUSTEREN: “At the risk, though, of putting us into passing that ceiling because the Republicans and Democrats were at each other's throats, essentially, and if there were no agreement, we would have gone past the deadline for the debt ceiling.” TRUMP: “Well, that was an artificial date. That was a date -- That was a date set by Geithner, and I think it was totally artificial. But I don't think the president would have allowed that to happen. If they asked for a tougher deal -- you know, I heard on your show, and many other shows, frankly, $4 trillion, $5 trillion. Well, it's nowhere those numbers. And those are the kind of numbers you needed.” [On The Record, Fox News, 8/3/11] Donald Trump Said That Instead Of Raising The Debt Ceiling, He Would Like To Cut Government Waste, Make Better Trade Deals, And Not Rebuild China. “TRUMP: I would like to see them [Republicans] not have to do it [raise the debt ceiling]. I think there is so much waste, and there is so much actually scandalous waste in Washington that you should haven't to do it…. If they had people that knew how to cut and knew how to make deals with others -- if you look at what's going on our trade deficits with all of these countries that we're actually rebuilding, we're rebuilding the world. We're rebuilding China. You look at what's happening there. But short-term, maybe it's going to happen [raising the debt ceiling]. I would not be a very easy one to do it, however.” [Interview CNBC/Dow Jones Business Video, 8/26/15] TRUMP HAS REPEATEDLY ADVOCATED USING THE DEBT CEILING AS A WEAPON IN NEGOTIATION Trump Said He Would Have Included Obamacare As Part Of A Debt Ceiling Deal. TRUMP: “I would have done a much different deal. First of all, I would have had ‘Obama care’ as a part of it. I would have gotten rid of ‘Obama care.’ And if they didn't want to do that -- because that is going to be very destructive for our country. ‘Obama care’ is a disaster. I have people that are going to close up their businesses, friends of mine. So I would have gotten rid of that. And I would have gotten much bigger cutting.” [On The Record, Fox News, 8/3/11] Trump Said He Would Support Fighting The President Over The Debt Ceiling Increase. “While Trump's position on taxing hedge fund managers at a higher rate is similar to the views expressed by Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, his stance on whether Congressional Republicans should battle President Obama over raising the nation's debt ceiling is anything but. ‘I would say that it's worth the fight, because honestly there's so much fat in Washington, that if you had the right people in there you could cut it and there would be no problem,’ Trump said. Still, Trump acknowledged that while he believed that Republicans should attempt to stand their ground, the reality is that the ceiling would once again be lifted. ‘Short term, maybe it's going to happen,’ Trump said.” [Bloomberg, 8/26/15; WADR, Bloomberg TV, 8/26/15] Donald Trump Said The Vote To Raise The Debts Ceiling Was A “Tremendously Powerful Weapon,” But That Republicans Were “Terrible Negotiators.” “TRUMP: Well, John, if you go back and check, I have been saying this for three years. All right? That`s a tremendously powerful weapon, if they knew how to use it. The problem is, you will have 70 percent of the Republicans saying, we`re not closing government. Now, when you say that -- you know, I wrote ‘The Art of the Deal.’ When you say that, and the other side says, well, we got 70 percent of the people say it`s not going to happen, the other 30 percent are -- essentially, they`re rendered useless. It`s really very unfair to them, because they`re left out there hanging. So you need somebody that can unify, can be tough and can win against the Democrats and against Confidential Page 105