Trump’s Saddam comments are the latest in his praise for dictators

Trump: “Putin has been a very strong leader for Russia. I think he has been a lot stronger than our leader, that I can tell you.” TAPPER: “Mr. Trump, some of your Republican critics have expressed concern about comments you have made praising authoritarian dictators. You have said positive things about Putin as a leader and about China’s massacre of pro-democracy protesters at Tiananmen Square… How do you respond?”… TRUMP: “As far as Putin is concerned, I think Putin has been a very strong leader for Russia. I think he has been a lot stronger than our leader, that I can tell you. I mean, for Russia, that doesn’t mean I’m endorsing Putin.” [Republican Presidential Debate, Miami FL, 3/10/16; VIDEO]

Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin is getting an “A” for his leadership. “During their interview Tuesday night, O’Reilly pressed Trump on his recently released tax plan and about Russian President Vladimir Putin supporting Syrian President Bashar al Assad. ‘I think in terms of leadership, he’s getting an A and our president is not doing so well—they did not look good together,’ Trump said before adding that there’s ‘very little downside’ to Putin fighting ISIS in Syria.” [Politico, 9/29/15; The O’Reilly Factor, Fox News, 9/29/15; VIDEO]

Donald Trump defended Vladimir Putin on charges he killed journalists — “in all fairness to Putin … have you been able to prove that? … I haven’t seen any evidence that he’s killed anybody in terms of reporters.” GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: “One final question about Vladimir Putin. When you were pressed about his killing of journalists, you said, ‘I think our country does plenty of killing too.’ What were you thinking about there? What killing sanctioned by the U.S. government is like killing journalists?” … DONALD TRUMP: As far as the reporters are concerned — as far as the reporters are concerned, obviously I don’t want that to happen. I think it’s terrible — horrible. But, in all fairness to Putin, you’re saying he killed people. I haven’t seen that. I don’t know that he has. Have you been able to prove that? Do you know the names of the reporters that he’s killed? Because I’ve been — you know, you’ve been hearing this, but I haven’t seen the name. Now, I think it would be despicable if that took place, but I haven’t seen any evidence that he killed anybody in terms of reporters.” [This Week, ABC News, 12/20/15; VIDEO]

Trump on Kim Jong-Un: “You’ve gotta give him credit… he goes in. He takes over. He’s the boss. It’s incredible.”TRUMP: “If you look at North Korea, this guy, he’s a maniac. OK? And you’ve gotta give him credit. How many young guys — he was like 26 or 25 when his father died — take over these tough generals. And all of a sudden — you know, it’s pretty amazing when you think of it. How does he do that? Even though it’s a culture, and it’s a cultural thing. He goes in. He takes over. He’s the boss. It’s incredible. He wiped out the uncle, he wiped out this one, that one. This guy doesn’t play games. And we can’t play games with him.” [Campaign Rally, Ottumwa IA, 1/9/16; VIDEO]

Trump: “[Assad] looks a lot better than some of our so-called friends.” O’REILLY: “Syria, are you going to violate their territory?” TRUMP: “No, interestingly Syria’s supposed to be our enemy. Iran and Russia are protecting Syria and it’s sort of amazing that we’re in there fighting ISIS in Syria so we’re helping the head of Syria who is not supposed to be our friend although he looks a lot better than some of our so-called friends. It’s really rather amazing.” [The O’Reilly Factor, Fox News, 6/16/15; VIDEO]

Trump: “We would be so much better off if Gadhafi were in charge [of Libya] right now.” “TRUMP: But let me just tell you, Syria, he’s saying that I was in favor of Syria. He said I was in favor of Libya? I never discussed that subject. I was in favor of Libya? We would be so much better off if Gadhafi were in charge right now. If these politicians went to the beach and didn’t do a thing, and if we had Saddam Hussein and if we had Gadhafi in charge, instead of having terrorism all over the place, we’d be — at least they killed terrorists, all right?” [CNN-Telemundo Republican debate, 2/25/16; VIDEO]

Trump on Chinese Government at Tiananmen Square, 1990: “They were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength.” “[TRUMP:] That’s my problem with Gorbachev. Not a firm enough hand. PLAYBOY: You mean firm hand as in China? TRUMP: When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength. Our country is right now perceived as weak….as being spit on by the rest of the world” [Playboy, 3/1/90]

Trump praised Saddam Hussein’s handling of terrorism: “There were no terrorists. He would kill them immediately. He didn’t do it politically correct.” TRUMP: “What did we get by knocking out Saddam Hussein? Saddam Hussein was a bad guy. But Saddam Hussein would keep Iran under control because the armies were the same; the military strength and power was about the same. He’d keep them under control. And frankly, in all fairness, there were no weapons of mass destruction. But what did we get out of it. Saddam Hussein killed terrorists. He would kill them. There were no terrorists. He would kill them immediately. He didn’t do it politically correct; he found a terrorist, and they were gone within five seconds, okay. With us, we find a terrorist, it’s going to be 25 years and a trial. And by the way, by the way, for South Carolina, we are not moving any people from Gitmo to South Carolina. That I can tell you—none, none. We’re keeping Gitmo open. It’s cheaper to keep it open. And we’re gonna load it up with bad dudes—if they make it there.” [Campaign Rally, Greenville SC, 2/15/16; VIDEO]