Donald Trump theorized that he might get away with running for office "because people tend to like me."
WASHINGTON -- Donald Trump's overwhelming lead in the race for the GOP presidential nomination was predicted by none other than Donald Trump -- some 20 years ago.
Granted, the real estate mogul typically can't go more than a minute without bragging about his huge, classy and beautiful -- in that order -- record on just about anything. So it's not totally surprising that he crowed about his prospects for the White House. But Trump may have tipped America off about his eventual run for president in a pair of books he authored in the 1990s.
In classic Trump fashion, he dismissed politics as a career path not worthy of man of his stature -- but not before noting that he "might just be able to get away with it because people tend to like me."
“People have always asked me if I’ll ever be involved in politics," he wrote in Trump: The Art of the Comeback. "It seems every so often there’s some unfounded rumor that I’m considering seeking office -- sometimes even the presidency! The problem is, I think I’m too honest, and perhaps too controversial, to be a politician."
"I always say it like it is, and I’m not sure that a politician can do that, although I might just be able to get away with it because people tend to like me," he added. "Honesty causes controversy, and therefore, despite all the polls that say I should run, I would probably not be a very successful politician."
The celebrity hotelier also addressed the prospect of jumping into politics in 1990's Trump: Surviving at the Top, which he wrote at a far more turbulent period in his life, facing a costly divorce battle and financial woes. Here, too, he described politics as an unseemly profession too beholden to elites and voters alike -- which is interestingly part of his pitch to "Make America Great Again."
“Whenever I’ve taken a stand like that in public, people ask me if I have any plans to run for elective office. The answer is no. I’m not a politician. I wouldn’t want to get involved in the compromises, the glad-handling, and all the other demeaning things you have to do to get votes," Trump wrote.
"But do I think I could get elected? At one time I would have said yes, probably. But now, since my marital problems and business pressures have been dragged through the newspapers, I’m less sure," he added. "In any case, I’d have to face one big obstacle if I ever did make a serious run for public office: Americans have become so accustomed to professional politicians that when they are faced with a strong personality -- a man or woman of action -- they are afraid, or at least very wary. The fact is that there is a certain logic in the professional politicians’ reluctance to take a strong stand. Toughness is scary.”
Apparently not so scary for Republican primary voters, who have largely stuck with Trump after controversial comments about Mexican immigrants and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a lackluster performance at the first GOP debate and his public feud with Fox News host Megyn Kelly.