Donald Trump can set aside any lingering doubts about
his chances of becoming president -- at least if it's the
presidency of ex-Soviet Georgia he wants.
In the midst of flirting with a 2012 White House run, the
developer and brash reality TV star won an unexpected vote of
confidence Thursday during a New York meeting with Georgian
President Mikheil Saakashvili.
"If he decides to run for president in Georgia, he might win,"
Saakashvili joked in answer to a reporter's question to Trump about
his will he/won't he US presidential plans.
Trump, sitting next to Saakashvili in Manhattan's Trump Tower,
was more coy, saying that he is seriously considering a bid to
unseat President Barack Obama, but that there will be no decision
before June.
"I'm seriously considering it because of what's happened to our
country that I love," he told reporters.
Trump even touted his meeting with Saakashvili, where the
developer signed an investment deal for Georgia's Black Sea resort
of Batumi, as proof of his made-for-the-presidency foreign policy
credentials.
"Of course. I am dealing with one of the great leaders of the
world," Trump said, looking over at Saakashvili.
He added that his investment dealings in other countries also
served as foreign policy education. "I have a lot of relations with
many of the leaders of the world. We are doing a lot of
projects."
Trump has seen mixed polls and analysts are hesitant about his
chances of winning the Republican nomination. "The Donald," as he
is widely dubbed, is best known for his business acumen, loud-mouth
persona, spectacularly maintained hair-do, and colorful married
life.
But with his enormous personal wealth and forceful, populist
attacks on OPEC, China and what he called Thursday a lack of
"proper leadership" in Washington, he has his fans.
Saakashvili, himself a larger-than-life kind of leader, may be
the most ardent.
The Georgian leader gushed about meeting Trump in a New York
elevator while working as a young lawyer and described his latest
encounter -- along with the development deal for Batumi -- as one
of life's "benchmarks."
"What really moves the world is personality and this is one of
the greatest personalities in the world," Saakashvili said.
This is "the moment you understand you made it," he said about
their meeting.