Presidency not running business, needs governance with heart: Trump

Team Udayavani, Jan 31, 2018, 8:49 AM IST

Washington: A year after he was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, a billionaire real estate mogul-turned-politician Donald Trump today said he has realised that presidency is not running a business and it needs governance with heart.

The burning immigration issue is a case in point, Trump told a group of news channel anchors during a luncheon with them at the White House, hours ahead of his maiden State of the Union Address later today.

“I’m telling you, the immigration is so easy to solve if it was purely a business matter, but it’s not. And I think that’s something that I’ve learned, maybe more than anything else,” Trump said in response to a question.

“You govern with all of the instincts of a businessperson, but you have to add much more heart and soul into your decisions than you would ever have even thought of before,” he said. Trump said he has learned a lot during the first year of his presidency.

“I think really learned a lot. You know, governing — when you’re a businessperson, you don’t have to worry about your heart, the heart. You really do what’s best for you, for almost purely monetary reasons,” he said.

“You make your money. You competing against people. In many cases, you don’t like them, you want to beat, and all that stuff. And I build a great company — far better than anybody at this table says. I mean, I have some of the greatest assets in the world,” he said reflecting on his days as a successful businessman.

Trump noted that in dealing with some of the much talked about issues such as immigration, “a lot of compassion and heart” is involved and “it is far beyond money”.

“If I was doing this purely from an economic standpoint, I would sit down and tell you in one second what I’d be doing, okay? It’s so simple. But I’m not. I’m doing it because millions of people are affected,” Trump said. He said that it is great to have a successful business background but decisions differ in governance.

“I put myself in their position. Millions and millions of people are affected. So it’s much different in that way than I thought it would be. So having a business background and a successful business background is great, but oftentimes you do things that you would never do in business because you have to also govern with heart,” Trump said.