Trump on Obama "He's totally a champion"

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KING: There are a lot of great topics. One of them is Barack Obama. In fact, the list at the back of the book on the topics, the number one is, "Barack Obama's election ushers in a different world."

How do you assess him?

TRUMP: Well, I really like him. I think that he's working very hard. He's trying to rebuild our reputation throughout the world. I mean, we really have lost a lot of reputation in the world. The previous administration was a total disaster, a total catastrophe.

And, you know, the world looks at us differently than they used to. And I think he's trying to restore our reputation within the world. And he was handed a pretty bad deck of cards. I mean, he was given a pretty tough situation.

And I'm not saying I agree with everything he's doing. I do agree with what they're doing with the banks. Whether they fund them or nationalize them, it doesn't matter, but you have to keep the banks going.

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KING: Why does he retain this incredible popularity?

TRUMP: Well, I think he's sort of a guy that just has a wonderful personality, a good speaker, somebody that people trust. And I also think that the comparison with his predecessor is so different -- it's so huge that it really has made a great impact on people.

I think that he's really doing a nice job in terms of representation of this country. And he represents such a large part of the country.

I mean, to think that a black man was going to be elected president -- I watched television for years where the great political analysts were saying maybe in 50, maybe in 100 years.

Here's a man that not only got elected, I think he's doing a really good job.

Now, the sad part is that he can't just do a good job. He's got to do a great job. Because if he does a good job, that's not good enough for this country. That's how bad the country has become.

KING: Do you assess him as a champion?

TRUMP: Oh, yes, he's a champion. I mean, he won against all odds. If you would have looked -- when he first announced, people were giving him virtually no chance. And he's just done something that's amazing.

KING: More on Donald Trump...

TRUMP: He's totally a champion.

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