Say what you want about Donald Trump, there’s no denying his run for presidency has captivated the world’s attention and the publicity machine shows no signs of slowing down.

His latest triumph is landing the coveted front cover of TIME magazine, an interview titled ‘The Donald Has Landed – Deal With It’. That photoshoot has to be seen to be believed so let’s take a quick peek at that…

Now up top we have that video of Trump telling anyone who will listen he isn’t a puppet. I might disagree – put a sock on your hand, stick some orange rug on the top of it, say a load of nonsense and you basically have the Donald – but let’s see what he had to say during that interview then:

“I don’t think the people running for office are real,” Trump continues, speaking now of his competition, whom he keeps finding new ways to diminish. “They have to throw a lot of consultants away and be themselves. I think it is one of the things that has helped me”…

“When was the last time that you saw this country have a victory? We don’t have victories,” he tells reporters. “What things am I going to do different? Almost everything.” And then, on his plans for a great wall on the southern border, which he says he can threaten Mexico to fund: “Nobody is going through my wall. Trump builds walls. I build walls”…

“I’m just as disappointed with the Republicans as I am the Democrats,” Trump says. “It’s just so false and so phony and they can’t move—it’s moribund. They become weak and ineffective, except with one thing, getting themselves re-elected. That’s the one thing they’re good at”…

“Every time somebody says I made a mistake, they do the polls and my numbers go up,” Trump says. “So I guess I haven’t made a mistake”…

Then this pearler as the interview winds down, talking about how his appearances on CNN have brought huge viewership numbers, the next debate on September 16 set to rack up massive numbers:

Here’s my question: So if I go to CNN and I say, Look, you’re going to have a massive audience, and if I say to them, I want $10 million for charity, nothing for myself, what happens? I’m not showing up, right?” he says. It’s a rhetorical question, the wheels of entrepreneurship are turning, the joy of being Trump dancing on his face. “I’m not showing up unless you give $10 million to cancer, to this, to that. You pick 10 great charities, $1 million per.” He’s not sure just how far the rules of democracy can bend, how big his ambitions can grow. “If I’m in it, they’ll get this crazy audience, and they’re going to make a fortune since they’re selling commercials every time we take a break. Would you ever say to them, would you ever say, I want $10 million for AIDS research, for cancer, for this type or not, or is it too cute?”

You selfless, selfless man. Maybe the world has you all wrong, or maybe you could take that $10 million from your estimated $4 billion fortune, closer to $9 billion if you ask the man himself, and cut out the need to hold CNN ransom.

Just a thought.

[source:time]