Reuters/Washington
Leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump showed again yesterday that he will not easily be bound to party orthodoxy, breaking from many of his rival’s policy stances on issues from the Iran nuclear deal to the gay marriage fight in Kentucky.
In an interview with MSNBC, one day after signing the party’s loyalty pledge to not run as an independent, Trump said he would work with the Obama administration’s nuclear agreement with Iran, nevertheless calling it “a disastrous deal” and “a horrible contract”.
Many of the 16 other Republicans seeking the party’s nomination for the 2016 presidential election have vowed to undo the agreement.
But Trump, a wealthy businessman, reiterated his view that too much money was at stake and his rivals were wrong to say they would rip it up.
“I love to buy bad contracts where key people go bust, and I make those contracts good,” he said, adding that he would strictly enforce the Iran deal.
Trump took a different tack on the Kentucky battle over gay marriage.
Some Republicans loudly backed Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, who opted for jail time rather than issue any marriage licences after the US Supreme Court’s June ruling in support of gay marriage, which goes against her religious beliefs.
“We are a nation of laws,” Trump said. “You have to go with it. The decision’s been made, and that’s the law of the land.”
Davis could authorise her deputies to sign the paperwork instead, he said. Her office began issuing licenses yesterday.
Public opinion polls show Trump leading rivals by double-digits.
“I’m not taking anything for granted,” he told MSNBC’s Morning Joe programme, acknowledging the wide Republican field. “I understand ... it is a marathon.”
On the European refugee crisis, Trump said while the United States had its own border and immigration problems, the situation was “horrible”.
Few Republican presidential candidates have spoken out on the crisis, and even the White House has acknowledged it without announcing any action.
The leading Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, has also called for United States and other nations to act.
Asked whether the United States should accept more refugees fleeing violence in the Middle East, Trump said: “Possibly yes” but noted limited US options to help.
On that point, he and other Republicans agree.
“We have our own problems; we have so many problems to solve,” he said. “Our country is broken.”