Delivers Remarks to the Cuban-American National Foundation

HEADLINE: DONALD TRUMP DELIVERS REMARKS TO THE CUBAN-AMERICAN NATIONAL FOUNDATION; MIAMI, FLORIDA

BODY:

TRUMP: Thank you very much. Thank you very much. So what Jorge saying is that, when Cuba's free, I get the first hotel? Is that true? Sounds like a good deal to me.

Well, this all began as just a little talk. I was going to come down from Palm Beach real quick and speak in front of a hundred people, and this turned out to be thousands and it turned out to be lines that are waiting outside to get into the room. But we really didn't want to delay you, and I also didn't want to delay myself because it's time to go back.

I will tell you this, that Jorge Mas has done an amazing job for you folks. He is fighting endlessly and tirelessly, and he just doesn't stop. So I want to congratulate Jorge.

I've had a lot of offers—and sadly it's all been very recently—to go into Cuba on deals, business deals, real estate and other deals, and I've rejected them on the basis that I will go when Cuba is free. As you know—and the people in this room know better than anyone—putting money and investing money in Cuba right now doesn't go to the people of Cuba. It goes into the pockets of Fidel Castro.

He's a murderer, he's a killer, he's a bad guy in every respect, and, frankly, the embargo against Cuba must stand if for no other reason than, if it does stand, he will come down. He will tumble down, and it will finally happen. What a waste of energy and time and effort if this government opens up Cuba before Castro is gone. It's going to line his pockets, the country will become wealthy again, and it will have the same regime it's had for so many years, and that's a regime headed by Fidel Castro.

And it's inconceivable to me when I see the weak stance taken by our current administration, inconceivable that this can happen, especially with the spirit in this room because the spirit of the Cuban people is beyond any spirit that I've seen by any people, and I've been watching it for a long time. Things can change.

I'm in a city called New York City where I spend most of my time, and I'll tell you that, in the early '90s, New York City was in terrible, terrible shape. People would say, "What do you do?" and I'd say, "Well, I'm a developer in New York," and they'd say, "Gee, that's too bad." It had a terrible image, a terrible reputation, crime was through the roof, every problem you could have, it had, and now just really a few years later, we have the greatest and the hottest city in the world. Everybody wants to be there. Everybody loves it, and the change has been unbelievable.

In the early '90s—and I'll tell you this little story. I've said it a couple of times before but—not often, but in the early '90s, to show you how bad things were in New York, I was walking down the street with a young and very beautiful woman named Marla. Did anybody ever hear that name before? And I was on 5th Avenue and 57th Street, and I pointed to a man across the street right in front of the doorway to Tiffany, and I said, "Do you know who that man is?" and she said, "Yes. Isn't it a shame? He's a beggar," and I said, "Well, do you know that he's worth $900 million more than I am?" and she looked at me somewhat naively—although perhaps she wasn't as naive as I thought—and she said, "What do you mean, Donald? He's not worth $900 million, is he?" I said, "No. Let's assume he's worth nothing"—monetarily, of course—"but I'm worth right now minus $900 million," and, you know, she didn't run away. She didn't run down the street. Perhaps it would have been a good thing.

And that's where we were in New York. That was the early '90s. The city was a disaster. My company was in trouble. I was in trouble and, today, my company is much bigger and stronger, wealthier, more pow—any—by any definition you want to go than it was in the 1980s which everybody thought was such a good time. The point is that things can turn around, and they can turn around very rapidly.

I've gotten to know and become friends with a lot of people today, a lot of great people, a lot of people with tremendous spirit. I also, if I step back, watch and see our government policies, not only on Cuba but on lots of other things, and it's not policy by common sense because we don't have too much common sense in our government, and I see the spirit that we have with regard to Cuba, and then I see the politicians not only disregarding that spirit because sometimes you have to do that, but just totally going the wrong way on a policy that would be so simple—and, frankly, after many, many years, is ready to work—and that's the opening up of Cuba to investment by people such as myself and lots of others.

But we must not reward Fidel Castro with trade, hard currency, or respect. Castro's jails are full of dissidents, as you know very well, his graveyards are full of patriots, and his government is full of thugs, and we can't allow him to get away with this program of coming to this country, hiring our best consultants, hiring our best lobbyists, and all of a sudden, senators and various other people that we've been knowing about and hearing about for years miraculously are on the side of Fidel Castro and fighting Jorge and fighting all of the people that, frankly, were at one point doing perfectly.

And now the battle is almost getting tougher, and it should be a battle that would be won or almost won by now. So I believe the progress that's taken place due to people like Senator Bob Torricelli who I guess most of you folks know—and I believe that you will have victory. I believe you'll have victory sooner rather than later.

Now I saw—I saw Castro the other night on television, and he's not looking good. He's lasted a lot longer than a lot of you people had really hoped, but—he has lasted, but he's not looking good right now, and you will win. You are going to win, and I'm going to be down here, and I'm going to watch you win. I don't know what capacity I'll be—I'll either be the greatest developer in the country or the greatest president that you've had in a long time. I'm not sure.

I do know that if I could meet Castro right now, something I'd prefer not to have to do, but if I could meet Castro right now, I'd have personally two words for him, "Adios, Amigo."

This trip has been very unusual. I'm very spoiled. I live in a large house up the road in Palm Beach, and I came down—your police force has been phenomenal. I've never gone from Point A to Point B so quickly in my life. I didn't even know we were here. It was incredible, but they wanted—they have been amazing, and I want to just compliment them. Really professionals.

But I've learned a tremendous amount. Jorge has taken me to more—I have met more Cubans than I knew existed, and they are great people, and now I'm friends and I'm going to be here whenever you need me, and I just want to end by saying visi (ph) cuantdeos (ph), folks. We'll see you very soon. Thank you very much. Terrific people. Thank you.

END

NOTES:
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