Donald Trump stumped when asked to name leader of Isis in awkward foreign policy interview

Donald Trump said he will know the difference between Hamas and Hezbollah 'when it's appropriate'

Alice Harrold
Friday 04 September 2015 12:20 BST
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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump

Donald Trump may have done his most awkward interview yet on live radio when discussing US foreign policy in the Middle East.

The Republican presidential candidate, who remains the front runner for the GOP, has signed a pledge that he will not run as an independent candidate if he loses the Republican nomination and will support whoever wins.

Mr Trump fumbled repeatedly in an interview on Thursday when asked to name the leaders of Isis, Hezbollah the al-Nusra Front, and al-Qaida.

Conservative talk show host, Hugh Hewitt, asked Mr Trump if he was already familiar with the heads of the world's most powerful Islamic terrorist organisations.

Mr Trump said that it was a "gotcha question" and unnecessary as by the time he would become president, "they’ll be all gone."

"The names you just mentioned, they probably won’t even be there in six months or a year," Mr Trump said.

Hezbollah has had the same Secretary General for the past 23 years.

When asked about Iran’s Quds Forces, Mr Trump said that he misheard the question and instead answered about the treatment of the Kurds four times during the interview.

Having first said he was familiar with Qassem Soleimani, head of the Quds Forces, Mr Trump failed to answer the question about him.

"The Kurds, by the way, have been horribly mistreated..." Mr Trump said.

Mr Hewitt corrected him: "No, not the Kurds, the Quds Forces, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Forces."

"Oh, I thought you said Kurds, Kurds," Mr Trump repeated.

The real estate mogul said that being questioned on the specific names of terrorist organisation leaders was "ridiculous" and "totally worthless".

Mr Trump said however that he was confident that he would be able to quickly gain all relevant knowledge of the situation if he became president.

"First day in office, or before then, right at the day after the election, I’ll know more about it than you will ever know. That I can tell you," he said.

"So the difference between Hezbollah and Hamas does not matter to you yet, but it will?" Mr Hewitt asked.

"It will when it’s appropriate," Mr Trump answered. "I will know far more than you know within 24 hours after I get the job."

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