The world, according to Trump

(Above) A sea of voters, and their cell phones, awaited Republican Donald Trump as he entered the Surf Ballroom Saturday afternoon.

-Reporter photo by Chris Barragy.

[caption id="attachment_14823" align="alignleft" width="270"] “We’re on the cusp of something so great,” Republican Donald Trump told a packed Surf Ballroom Saturday.-Reporter photos by Chris Barragy.[/caption]

Republican party’s front-runner makes a stop at the Surf

Donald Trump doesn’t want to just do well in Iowa.  He wants to win it.  And not surprisingly, he’s pretty confident it will happen.

The Republican party’s front-runner for the presidential nomination told a capacity crowd at the Surf Ballroom Saturday, he expects to win when Iowans caucus Feb. 1.

“The silent majority that they say I have struck a chord with is the noisy majority.  We’re all angry at what’s going on, but we want to get it fixed— and we will.  We’re on the cusp of something that’s so great,” said Trump.  “If we don’t win, I won’t consider just doing well a success because things won’t get done.”

Trump acknowledges rival Ted Cruz is challenging him in the Iowa polls.  He continued to harp on his belief that Cruz’s citizenship is in question.

 “Even though Ted is very glib and he goes out and he says, Oh, well, I’m a “natural born” citizen,’ the point is you’re not...You have to have the courts come up with a ruling or you have a candidate who just cannot run.” Trump said Cruz needs to get a judge to declare that he’s a “natural born” citizen and, therefore, eligible to serve as president.  “I say to Ted, and as a Republican I say it, because I think it’s very important, ‘You’ve got to get it straightened out.’  You cannot put somebody there, folks, that’s going to go in and he’s going to be immediately sued by the Democrats.  Who knows more about lawsuits than I do? I’m the king.”

“My primary opponent was totally opposed to ethanol and the ethanol industry because he’s with the oil industry. You know, he’s from Texas...and he was getting clobbered and all of a sudden he said: ‘Uh, oh. I’m for ethanol,’” Trump said in Ottumwa. “You

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can’t do that. You can’t do that with three weeks to go (until the Iowa Caucuses)...Nobody really believes it.”

Trump often referred to his business experience and commitment to strengthening the military, stopping illegal immigration as reasons Iowans should vote for him.

“When I’m president, our military will be bigger and better and stronger than ever before. No one’s going to mess with us,” he said. “Our military is not prepared.  We need strength.”

Trump was highly critical of the Obama administration in its dealings with ISIS, nuclear deal with Iran and trade agreements with world powers.

“We lost $505 billion in trade deficits last year.  There’s no reason for that.  We have the power over those countries.  We have incompetent people negotiating,” he said, pointing to the recent nuclear deal with Iran.  “Iran’s getting $150 billion and we don’t even get our prisoners back. We should have said at the beginning of negotiations we want our prisoners back.  If they say no, we get up and leave. Then we double the sanctions against them.”

Trump’s other campaign promises included making the country more secure and restructuring the Veterans Administration, which he calls corrupt. He defended his plan to build a wall along the southern border to address illegal immigration, as well as his plan to temporarily ban immigrants from coming into this country.  He also vowed to protect the Second Amendment and recent attempts to restrict gun ownership.  Gun-free zones would be a thing of the past, he said, calling them “bait to bad guys.”

“There’s many things our country can do,” Trump told the audience.  “We need to be smart… be vigilant.  What we’re doing is a movement.  It’s me, but it’s you.  It’s a movement to make America great again.”

Although protesters have been a regular occurrence at Trump events, there were none inside or outside of the Surf Saturday.

Denni Sue Erickson, from Clear Lake, had listened to Trump in person before and she said she was glad others had the chance to meet him in person Saturday.

“I’m so sick of news sound-bites,” she said.  “It’s important to hear what’s really being said-- and it’s far different from what’s being heard on the news.”

Erickson found herself becoming part of a piece about the Iowa Caucuses being filmed by a  British media outlet, ITV News. Crews filmed Erickson’s attendance at the Surf event, along with her comments on the political process.

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