In an interview Friday with Greta Van Susteren on Fox News, Trump presented a truly unique view on what is going on in Libya and what the United States should do about it.
Queried by Van Susteren about Libya, Trump said, “I would go in and take the oil. I would just take the oil. We don’t know who the rebels are. We hear they come from Iran. We hear they’re influenced by Iran or al-Qaeda. And, frankly, I would go in, I would take the oil and stop this baby stuff. We’re a bunch of babies. We have wars and we leave. We go in, we have wars, we lose lives, we lose money and we leave. I would go in and take the oil and I’d clean up everything.”
Asked what he thought of President Obama’s policy in Libya, Trump said, “I think he’s weak and ineffective on almost every front, including Libya.”
It wasn’t clear where Trump got the idea there were Iranians in the Libyan fighting. There have been reports in far-right blogs that Iran has sent troops to Syria to defend the Syrian regime. It is possible Trump got Libya and Syria confused.
It also is not clear if Trump really believes some of the wild things he has been saying, like “take the oil.” Analysts are debating whether he is truly as unsophisticated as he comes across or if he is just trying to garner support from the far right of the Republican Party, the faction that generally turns out the most voters in primaries.
Trump has gotten the most attention for advocating the “birther” position that Obama was born in Kenya, despite the overwhelming evidence he was born in Hawaii. Trump denigrated the birther position a few years ago—that he has switched suggests to some he is picking positions for their appeal to the right.
No one has yet announced his or her candidacy for the GOP Republican presidential nomination. But about 10 figures, including Trump, have indicated an interest and are jockeying for position.