WarSclerotic

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has many critics, including his rival candidates, the Republican establishment and the media. But at the same time, he also has many supporters, including a strong plurality of voters in the Republican primaries and former Republican presidential candidates Chris Christie and Ben Carson. And Trump also has the support of an old friend, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

The legendary Giuliani — who cleaned up crime in the Big Apple and guided the city during the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks — believes Trump is the right man at the right time to succeed Barack Obama as president next January.

When I met with Giuliani two weeks ago in Las Vegas, he told me that one of the main things that sets Trump apart from Obama and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is that Trump is not afraid to tell it like it is — that is to say, Trump is willing to use the words “Islamic terrorism.”

This week, Giuliani visited Israel after joining the international law firm Greenberg Taurig LLP as global chair of the firm’s cybersecurity and crisis management practice and senior advisor to the firm’s executive chairman, Richard A. Rosenbaum. Greenberg Taurig LLP’s Tel Aviv office is run by Gary M. Epstein, who divides his time between Tel Aviv and Miami. That is the same Miami that Trump is seeking to conquer in Tuesday’s Republican primary in Florida.

On Sunday, I met with Giuliani again, this time at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. While he did not have one good thing to say about Obama, he did explain to me why Trump is his candidate, why Marco Rubio’s campaign foundered and why Clinton should not be president.

Here is a challenge for you. Be Trump’s lawyer and defend him against the charges of racism he has faced and the comparisons of him to Adolf Hitler.

“That’s the typical very extreme left-wing way of dealing with any Republican they are afraid of. The comparison to Hitler is appalling. Trump has not killed anyone, he is not against a particular group of people and he does not want to hurt anyone. Those making this comparison should be ashamed. It’s always the left side of the Democratic Party — people like Bernie Sanders who support socialism or people like Hillary Clinton who want four more years of the Obama administration.

“Trump has very strong views. I agree with most of them, not all of them. But he is a very good man. He has been an enormously successful businessman. That does not mean he has never failed, but compare his failures to those of Clinton, who has never succeeded at anything. As first lady, her one initiative — Hillarycare — failed. And is there any Democrat who can point out something in the world that improved during her term as secretary of state? Every situation got worse. Obama and Hillary drew lines in the sand: ‘If [Syrian President Bashar] Assad uses chemical weapons, we will do this and this.’ And we did not do anything. We let [Russian President Vladimir] Putin become a key player in Syria and this led to Syria coming under the control of Iran and Russia, with the U.S. being pushed off to the side. Clinton’s record as secretary of state was one of the worst of any secretary of state in history.”

Are you an adviser to Trump or just a friend?

“I’m a friend and an informal adviser. Sometimes he listens to me and sometimes he doesn’t, but he always takes my words into account. Maybe because of his background as the host of reality TV show, I think he has sort of developed a television personality that is prone somewhat to exaggeration. The real Trump is not like that. The real Trump is thoughtful, intelligent and very well-educated. He has extensive political knowledge and he chooses to support good people, so I don’t understand all the fear about him. Here on the one hand, we have a candidate for president [Clinton] who is under an investigation by the FBI for criminal violations, for revealing hundreds of top secret documents and she has conflicts of interest. The press ignores that and what do they concentrate on? That Donald Trump may have said something a little offensive. Here is what I’ve learned in politics. The people that don’t offend, stand for nothing.

“If you’re a strong person and you believe things need to change, there will be people who’ll get angry at you. When Trump says, ‘I’m self-funding, no one can buy me,’ this causes concern among many. They’ve been in control of the situation for a long time and now they’re starting to get dirty, so Donald must get used to this.”

Do you agree with Trump that his political success is based on the anger many Americans feel today?

“Yes. Americans are disappointed, angry and very depressed. The economic recovery has been anemic. There was a terrible recession. After past recessions, there were cycles of tremendous growth which meant many people returned to work. But after the past crisis, Obama’s policies kept growth at around 2%, which means many were left behind. They are making less money and there are fewer good jobs. The country appears to be recovering, but they are not, and this leaves them frustrated and angry.

“I think Americans do not like to see our country being dragged along. We did not take a strong position to help [ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak] and we toppled [the late Libyan leader Moammar] Gadhafi. What do we have now in Libya? A haven for terrorists. We lost four Americans, including our ambassador, and we still don’t know where the president and Hillary Clinton were when that happened. America is used to being the leading country in the world. We are proud of that because we think we’re a good country and we think we offer better solutions than do Iran, Russia or China. If we don’t do that, they move in. [During Obama’s time in office] we’ve weakened our country and our economy. We want someone completely different. Trump presents someone who is very different — a man with a tremendous understanding of economics who can be trusted to create jobs because he has done this in his business and a man who will be stronger in regards to our enemies and better to our friends.”

If Trump wins in Ohio and Florida on Tuesday, do you think he will have the nomination wrapped up?

“If he wins only one of the two, he probably still will get nominated, but it will be a very long race. If he wins both of them, then he shortens it quite a bit and we probably have a nominee within a month.”

And if no one has 1,237 delegates heading into the Republican convention in July?

“Then we’ll have to go with the person who received the most votes. That will likely be Trump. There is a small chance Ted Cruz could do it. I still see Cruz as a possible nominee.”

What happened to Rubio?

“Marco Rubio is a very good man, a very intelligent man. He just never caught on. Somehow, his position on immigration confused people. I think he would say he made a mistake when he tried to imitate Trump. There’s only one Trump. Don’t try to imitate him.”

Two weeks ago, you were in Nevada. People asked you, “You were a wonderful mayor, why aren’t you running for president this time?” Do you ever think to yourself, my God, I could beat these people if I ran?

“No, I don’t operate that way. I made a decision not to do it because I thought it would be impossible to get through the primaries given my views on social issues, which are much more moderate than the other Republican candidates. My views are a recipe for almost certain defeat in places like Iowa, South Carolina and Mississippi, and in many other places where Trump won.”

If Trump wins the nomination, do you think the Republican establishment will rally behind him?

“They’re all going to get behind Donald Trump. Here is one thing we’re all united about — we do not want Hillary Clinton as president of the United States. She would continue four more years of Barack Obama. Sixty-five percent of Americans don’t trust her. She received millions of dollars for the Clinton Foundation by doing ‘favors’ for donors — this is not a woman who should be president of the U.S.”

It’s always a pleasure to see you in Israel. What brings you here this time?

“I always enjoy being in Israel. I’m here with the law firm I joined, Greenberg Taurig LLP. We help Israeli companies interested in reaching America and American companies interested in reaching Israel. More business ties between us can be beneficial for both your country and my country.”