Trump at Tea Party Rally:Boca Raton:Video!

By Charles Elmore
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Updated: 10:08 p.m. Saturday, April 16, 2011
Posted: 5:43 p.m. Saturday, April 16, 2011


BOCA RATON — Not yet officially a candidate, Donald Trump sounded a lot like a man on the stump at an outdoor gathering of tea party enthusiasts Saturday.

Trump cast himself as a pro-life, pro-guns dealmaker who will negotiate better trade terms with rivals such as China.

Wearing a blue blazer and tie, part-time Palm Beacher Trump also declared himself the man best suited to ousting President Obama in 2012.

Just mentioning the words "our current president" brought boos and catcalls from the crowd. At least three older attendees were treated by paramedics for fainting on a warm afternoon.

"They all want me to say, 'You're fired,' " Trump said, referring the catchphrase of his TV show Celebrity Apprentice. There's a long way to go before that happens, he said, but "I've got it in the back of my mind."

Trump pledged to "fight to get rid of Obamacare, which is a total disaster."

The real estate mogul and TV personality renewed "birther" questions about where President Obama was born, though Fox News pundit Bill O'Reilly among others have found allegations he was not born in Hawaii lacking in merit and officials in Hawaii have affirmed his birth there.

His trademark hair barely moving in an afternoon breeze, Trump went on to pronounce Obama as the worst president in U.S. history. In 2007 Trump said then-president George W. Bush, a Republican, was possibly the worst.

Trump presented himself as the man to get the job done where Washington has failed.

"Considering the shape the United States is in right now, we need a competitor and a highly competent person to deal with what's going on," Trump said.

He added, "If I run and win, our country will be respected again."

South Florida Tea Party chairman Everett Wilkinson estimated a throng of at least 2,000 filled Sanborn Square in Boca Raton.

"The crowd was so enthusiastic for Donald Trump," Wilkinson said.

Tea Party member Carlene Starace of Boca Raton said she wouldn't mind hearing more specifics, such as how Trump would deal with government budget problems and spending on programs like Medicare.

"He needs to lay out more on other issues before it's clear how people will align with him," she said.

Trump has said he will announce his intentions before June.

A CNN poll last week showed Trump tied for the lead among potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates. He has also discussed running as an independent if he does not receive the GOP nomination.

In the crowd before the speech, Marie DiFini of Boca Raton said she is ready to listen to Trump on issues like the national debt and trade because "he knows how to deal with it. He's a businessman."

John Ortman of Boca Raton was less impressed with Trump's chances.

"No chance of getting in because he doesn't know all the issues," he said.

No one was happier to see Trump's flirtation with a candidacy than Evan Smith of Sarasota. He printed up buttons with "Trump '12" and other messages -- independently of Trump's organization, he said -- and sold them 3 for $10. He estimated he moved about 500 buttons on the day.

"Today was worthwhile," Smith said. "I thought his speech was great."

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