[Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Do is take a look at a couple of things that Donald Trump has said out on the campaign trail about being against the Iraq war back in 2003, and being against the Iran nuclear deal as evidence of that. Now, obviously, Donald Trump has talked about a lot of different things on the campaign trail which has raised eyebrows. Among his foreign policy proposals or proposals that have foreign policy implications, he's talked about temporarily banning all Muslims into the United States, he's talked about building a wall on the U.S.Mexican border, deporting 11 million undocumented immigrants, taking out the families of terrorists in strikes on ISIS and renegotiate trade deals in Asia, which could, obviously, have major ripple effects around the world. Now, we should point out that Donald Trump was on CNN's "New Day" earlier this morning talking about what he's going to be laying out in this foreign policy speech. We don't expect him to offer a whole lot of specifics. But Chris Cuomo did ask Donald Trump whether he endorses the president's current plan to send in 250 additional special operations forces into Syria to take on ISIS, and Donald Trump did not immediately trash the idea. He said, it's an idea he could support with one qualification. Here's what he had to say.
[Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I don't agree with telling it to the world. I would send them in quietly because right now they have a target on their back. So I would agree with it much more I don't know what purpose they're being sent in for, but I would agree with it. I could live with it. But what I don't like doing is sending them in so, I mean, you know, with such fanfare. Let them go in, let them go in quietly, be unpredictable, but I just, you know, from my standpoint, I just find it very, very hard that every time we do something, we announce it for publicity reasons. And I think that's very negative. I think that's a I think that's a bad thing.
[Acosta:] Now, we should point out, Wolf, there are some interesting people who are expected to be in attendance for this. Not only the full display of Donald Trump's national security team, but Senator Jeff Sessions, who is a prominent endorser and surrogate for Donald Trump. We expect him to be here according to a couple of members of Donald Trump's national security team. I'm seeing the former congressman, Bob Livingston, here. He was almost the speaker of the House. As you know, Wolf, he's endorsing Donald Trump. And there are people from academia, from the military who are all endorsing and supporting Donald Trump's campaign. And it was one other thing that I think is interesting that we're going to hear in this speech that I just want to point out, and it goes to this issue of dealing with Russia. As you know, Wolf, President Obama has not been a big fan of the idea of working with Russia, working with Vladimir Putin to go after ISIS through counterterrorism operations. Apparently, during this speech, we may hear Donald Trump talk about doing just that. So talk about policies, specific that we have not heard a whole lot of during the course of this campaign. That might be one of them that we're going to hear from Donald Trump during the course of this speech. Of course, you know, we'll be listening in closely to hear exactly what Donald Trump has to lay out over the next 30 to 45 minutes. But given what we heard last night, Donald Trump was not exactly toning it down in terms of his rhetoric at that victory speech in New York. Perhaps that tone will be a bit more measured in what we're about to hear in just a few moments from now, Wolf.
[Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] And the campaign, Jim, says this is the first of several scripted policy speeches, foreign policy, domestic policy speeches, he's going to be delivering over the next several weeks to lay out his vision for a Trump administration, if you will. Is that right?
[Acosta:] That's right. And, remember, we heard Donald Trump talk about his policy when it comes to Israel and Palestine. That was at AIPAC earlier this year. But we're going to hear Donald Trump give a speech, a major speech, on the economy. And as Donald Trump was saying last night during his victory speech in New York, the economic policies that he's talking about during the course of this campaign also inform his foreign policy. When he's talking about ripping up trade deals with China, when he's talking about imposing tariffs on goods that are imported from Mexico, you know, by companies that used to be based in the United States, those are not only economic policies, those are policies that are going to have major diplomatic and foreign policy implications. From what Donald Trump has talked about so far in just dealing with Mexico has to have a lot of people on edge over at the State Department, Wolf, because that is going to be a major departure from what the Obama administration has been pursuing over the last eight years, Wolf.
[Blitzer:] All right, Jim Acosta is over at the Mayflower Hotel here in Washington. We're awaiting the start of Donald Trump's speech. We'll see who introduces him over there and we'll get back to you, Jim. Stand by. I want to get a little political assessment of what's going on right now. Gloria Borger, this is an effort, a clear effort, by the Trump campaign to show a more presidential side of this candidate.
[Gloria Borger, Cnn Chief Political Analyst:] Right, and I think they understand that he's not only been attacked by Hillary Clinton on his foreign policy views and that if he becomes the nominee he would be running against a former secretary of state and that contains certain vulnerabilities but also certain strengths, but that he's also been under attack by his own Republican Party on not only issues like trade, but issues like bombing ISIS, for example, issues like Iraq. You know, the neoconservative wing of the party believes that was the right decision. He believes it was the wrong decision to go into Iraq. On China, on NATO, on everything from on nukes, because he wants to thinks it wouldn't be a bad idea if Japan and South Korea had nukes. You can go down and down the list, as Jim was mentioning, immigration, temporary ban on Muslims. I'm not sure there's anything that he and either the establishment or the neocon wing of the Republican Party really
[Blitzer:] You know, it's interesting, following his five big wins yesterday, we just we did the math, our political unit. He is now winning, Trump, in the popular vote in all of
[Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] The establishment, I think that, probably. I think probably the better way to answer that is, it depends who you consider a part of the establishment and what you consider coming around, whether or not they're really there or they're still in a little bit of denial because there certainly is still that never Trump movement that they're going to put ads on TV in Indiana, they're going to continue to try to stop him. However, I do think that the numbers that you just talked about, the fact that he did so overwhelmingly well last night in these states, really it kind of crystallizes things for people and it makes the opponents to Donald Trump very frustrated. Just one quick thing, though, I want to say on the foreign policy. I think that what part of what has driven the support of Donald Trump isn't just like the "make America great" brand and things like that, but it's also that he he's he sounds very
[Blitzer:] But I think he will lay out what some are calling, maybe not an isolationist policy
[Bash:] Yes.
[Blitzer:] But more of a non-interventionist policy. You know, there are other countries in the world. Let them get the job done. The United States has a lot of pressing business right here at home.
[Mike Rogers, Cnn National Security Commentator:] Yes, I mean, I think his goal is going to be to at least try to take away that he is not ready for the foreign policy piece of the attack. I think that's exactly why he started on foreign policy. Everybody knows it's important. It's rising in voter appeal as far as candidates who can step in and handle that position. So I think this is a blocking and tackling speech. If he can stick to it, I think he can kind of lay out a plan that gets at least tempers some of the doubt if he does it correctly.
[Blitzer:] I want to bring Fareed into this conversation. Nic Robertson also. Because viewers around the world are obviously fascinated by what's going on here in the United States. A lot is at stake. What are people around the world saying, Fareed? What are they feeling when they see this presidential contest unfold? And it now looks like Trump has an excellent chance of being the Republican nominee.
[Fareed Zakaria, Cnn Host, "fareed Zakaria Gps":] Oh, they are they are very worried. I had the Italian prime minister on my show last Sunday. He essentially flatly came out and endorsed Hillary Clinton, saying from you know, markets fear and that is the way in which he is he is risen to prominence. We don't like this at all. Look, I think it's important to point out, Trump's rise to prominence is on foreign policy. That is to say it was the wall with Mexico that began Trump's rise to prominence. He then accelerated it with the the issue of the ban against all Muslims. So he has been playing foreign policy all along. What he has recognized, I think this is what Dana was saying, is that there is a very large group of Americans who feel who have a kind of Jacksonian impulse on foreign policy, which is, the whole world is bad, all these countries, enemies and allies, are to be deeply distrusted. We have to do what we need to do unilaterally. I don't think he will be quite isolationist. He will probably come out saying, we need to defeat ISIS, we need to beat up the bad guys, but then go home. In other words, no nation building, no policing, no engagement, no alliances. And there's a very deep strain of American politics, you know, Andrew Jackson being a proment part of it, that have often always felt like this. And what Trump has found is that he's stepped into that vein in the Republican Party and in the broader public. It is, in my view, deeply responsible because he can't actually can't run you know, can't engage in the world that way. You can't find a path to prosperity or security in that in that way. But it does appeal to people's gut instinct that is, why do we have to make all these deals with other countries? Why do we have to work with other countries? Can't we just go in, guns blazing, beat up the bad guys and go home?
[Blitzer:] You know, it's interesting. I want to bring Nic Robertson into this. Nic, you're back in London right now but you were just in Saudi Arabia. And Saudi Arabia, a very important country, obviously, to the United States and the rest of the world. How are they viewing Donald Trump?
[Nic Robertson, Cnn International Diplomatic Editor:] You know, with a lot of skepticism, Wolf. And he's called them various times big contributors towards global terrorism, yet in terms of how he's described at AIPAC in particular how he would deal with Iran, they might see a lot attractive in that for them. But, you know, I think fundamentally the Saudis and their gulf allies are in sort of a position where it doesn't really matter what the next U.S. president is going to do and say. They're kind of on their own path. Absolutely, they're interested in what Trump has said, particularly his comments about Muslims. I think this notion, the block and tackle here, that this is a speech that kind of can diffuse some of the criticism that may come from Hillary Clinton. I mean look at what the british prime minister has said about Donald Trump's views on Muslims. He's called them divisive, wrong, and stupid. There's been a lot of condemnation from leaders around the world. The pope's condemned the talk of the wall. And he said Trump should be building bridges. The only person that's come out and spoken positively about Trump has been the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, who's called him outstanding and talented. I mean how can any of that, you know, Putin on one hand, Kremlin on the other, stack up well in a debate on foreign policy? It doesn't look good. So this speech, while leaders like Cameron and Putin may be looking for details, they'll recognizes the speech is really aimed at domestic politics. But how it echoes back from them, how we hear these comments from the international leaders, is certainly going to be important as this campaign goes forward.
[Blitzer:] An important speech by Donald Trump. Nia, this is a group that's sponsoring this speech, hosting the event. It was originally supposed to be at the National Press Club but they needed a bigger location so they moved it to the Mayflower Hotel. The Center for the National Interest, a conservative think tank here in Washington, they have a publication, "The National Interest," pretty well known among conservative circles, and that underscores the political nature of this. He's trying to reach out to the Republican conservative foreign policy elite, if you will, and say, you know what, I've got some important ideas.
[Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] Yes, and he's done some of this. In some ways he made the speech at AIPAC and that was a teleprompter speech. They actually sent it out to reporters before he gave it. And he also named some foreign policy advisors, gave long interviews to "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post" on foreign policy. But, still, you have the establishment very much worried about where he would go in terms of foreign policy using words like dangerous, using words like unpredictable to describe his approach to foreign policy. And even in some of the debates, I mean those are big issues, particularly among Rubio and Lindsey Graham, who are more hawkish, who are more in the neoconservative kind of realm of the Republican establishment. Very much trying to draw Donald Trump out on some of these issues, on the nuclear triad, for instance, showing that he didn't really know what that is. So but, yes, I think this is, again, him sort of checking the boxes in some ways, giving signs to the Republican establishment that he's ready, that he's learning, right? And that he's making some progress in trying to be the presidential presumptive nominee of the party.
[Borger:] You know, nobody else has done a 100 minute interview with "The New York Times" on foreign policy. So I think you have to give him credit on that.
[Henderson:] Yes.
[Borger:] He's been out there with a bunch of his ideas. The problem I think he's had is that it's been ad hoc and often, at times, inconsistent. And so if you're going to have a doctrine, it has to be something that is thought through with a certain amount of consistency, rationale and I think that's what he's trying to do today because if you are not for the use of force, you think it's indiscriminate. You talk about, you know, bombing the hell out of ISIS. You have to people are going to ask questions. OK, which is it? And if you think going into Iraq was a mistake, what would you have done? So I think that there are questions that need to be answered because he has said so much over these months.
[Blitzer:] All right, everyone stand by for a moment. We're going to take a quick break. We're going to await Donald Trump, his speech on national security, foreign policy. A very carefully drafted speech. People are watching. They're listening. He is the Republican presidential frontrunner. We're awaiting Donald Trump. He's over there at the Mayflower Hotel right here in Washington, D.C., getting ready to deliver a major national security, foreign policy speech. He's going to go in-depth on a lot of his views. Jim Acosta is on the scene for us over at the Mayflower. Jim, I take it he's going to be introduced by a former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad. Is that what you're hearing over there?
[Acosta:] We are hearing that, Wolf. And we are also hearing that there are a number of members of Donald Trump's foreign policy and national security team here. I met a couple of them before the speech got going here and, you know, some of them are veterans of the Reagan administration and go back to previous Republican administrations. And so what Donald Trump is trying to do here is show, as others were saying just a few moments ago, that he has the foreign policy heft. And, you know, keep in mind, while Donald Trump has said things like he wants to bomb the hell out of ISIS and take the oil, and that might make the people in the think tank crowd here in Washington fidget in their seats a little bit, out on the campaign trail, lines like that, Wolf, are the reason why Donald Trump racked up those huge victories in those five northeastern states last night. People want to hear that kind of rhetoric, they want to hear that kind of language. As Gloria was saying, they want to hear that Donald Trump wants to bomb the hell out of ISIS. But at the same time, he has also said he's opposed to the Iraq War. So how do you square that circle? That those are some of the details that the public may be wanting. Maybe people in the Acela corridor may be wanting. But I'm told by advisors, we should not expect a whole litany of details and specifics in this speech. This is going to be broad outlines, thematic and getting back to some of the things that Donald Trump has already talked about on the campaign trail. You know, he has talked about whether NATO is obsolete. Donald Trump has said at numerous events that NATO has outlived its current usefulness and that it needs to be upgraded, perhaps take on more of a national security posture and counterterrorism posture, I should say. And those are things that Donald Trump says, you know what, I was right about that issue. And so you may hear a bit of that as well, sort of recapping some of the things that he's talked about. As Fareed said, he has been talking about foreign policy throughout the course of this campaign. And so I suspect you're going to hear a lot of Donald Trump going back and reviewing some of the things he's talked about during this GOP primary. A battle that we've seen unfold. But at the same time, you may hear a few new details here and there that might be very interesting, very tantalizing working more closely with Vladimir Putin and Russia. That is something I'm hearing may be involved in this speech. I think that will be very tantalizing to hear. But at the same time, Wolf, as some of the other folks were saying earlier, you talk to people inside the White House, what President Obama hears from just about every foreign leader around the country, what is going on with Donald Trump? And I would suspect that a lot of those foreign leaders are going to be watching and paying attention to what Donald Trump has to say in just a few moments, Wolf.
[Blitzer:] Yes, I think he will make some references to Russia. He's noted in the past that the Russians want to bomb ISIS in Syria, go ahead, let them do it. Let the United States stay out of it.
[Acosta:] That's right.
[Blitzer:] Let the Russians get the job done. We may hear that. Jim, stand by. Fareed, let's talk a little bit about some of the foreign policy positions he's outlined so far. I'll put a few of the headlines he's put out there over these past ten months or so. He supports a two- state solution between Israel and Palestine. Wants two states. He also has suggested, it's caused him some grief, that the U.S. should be, quote, "neutral" in trying to negotiate a deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians. He hates the Iran nuclear deal that the Obama administration worked out. he says it was the worst negotiated deal ever. $150 billion for the Iranians. He says the U.S. got nothing out of that. And as Jim Acosta just said, he's suggested several times that NATO may be obsolete right now. That other countries should be paying more of the price of NATO and playing a bigger role. Those are pretty controversial positions, Fareed. Your reaction?
[Zakaria:] They are controversial. Most particularly the last one because, as you know, Wolf, on Israel, Palestine, he started out he's been all over the place on many of these. He started out suggesting he was going to pressure the Israelis. Then he got some pushback. He went to AIPAC and said, no, no, all I mean is the kind of usual
[Blitzer:] That's a good point and we'll see what he says about that. I suspect he's going to make some reference to that in this speech that's coming up. Mike Rogers, you were chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. On terrorism, he said all sorts of things, and I'll put a few of the things he's said. As Fareed just said, ground troops. At some point he says, yes, the U.S. may have to deploy ground troops. Not for a long time, but to kill ISIS and destroy ISIS. He's gone further in saying air strikes, if necessary, if these terrorists are hiding among families, he wouldn't rule out necessarily going out and killing the families of terrorists if necessary to destroy ISIS. And as far as the water boarding policy, what some have called torture, he says water boarding would be fine. He would even go further. He says, ISIS, they behead people, they put them in cages, they drown them. The U.S. can't be tied with one hand behind its back. You've heard him say all of that and I suspect he may get into some of that in his speech.
[Rogers:] I have. You know, I hope so. And I think Gloria's right, he needs some consistency on his foreign policy. He suffers from drive-by briefings. To give you an example. On the NATO issue, I'm I'm positive someone went in and said, NATO isn't paying up their fair share to keep up their percentage as they agreed. He took that, poured gas on it and said, NATO's obsolete. And I'm setting them up to get a deal is what he said in that whole I think that whole exchange, meaning he's going to go get that extra 2 percent, or get them to meet their 2 percent.
[Blitzer:] Because only a few of the 20, what, 28 allies in the NATO alliance
[Rogers:] Yes.
[Blitzer:] Only a handful meet that 2 percent of their GDP threshold for defense spending.
[Rogers:] Exactly.
[Blitzer:] And he says, why can't all of them do that?
[Rogers:] Right. And so what he does is then ramps it up. And I think that's where Fareed is exactly right, he takes the populist position on what a position that every secretary of state for the last 20 years has taken, which is NATO, you need to meet your minimum obligation and defense needs. He took that position in that drive-by briefing and what came out was, you know, NATO's obsolete and then he came out and said, I'm just setting them up for the deal, all right, and then I'll get the deal. I'll get them at their 2 percent. It's dangerous when you do that. It sends really terrible messages to our allies and our adversaries, candidly. And this fits and starts in Syria has to end. We have a fits and starts policy now. It's not really working all that great. We need the next commander in chief to have a consistent policy, whatever that is, and implement it. He needs to do that if he's going to gain any of the folks who are serious about national security to say he might be able to be OK as commander in chief.
[Blitzer:] Dana, I what you to listen to what he said on "New Day" this morning, the interview he did right here on CNN, on this notion he should be more presidential. Listen to this.
[Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I'm not going to be changing. I'm presidential anyway. I mean, I can change to presidential, but I'm presidential anyway, I guess.
[Chris Cuomo, Anchor, Cnn's "new Day":] What does it mean when you say change to presidential? What do you think being presidential is that you're not right now?
[Trump:] Well, I
[Blitzer:] Some of his advisors have told him, tone it down a bit. But he's been reluctant to do so, especially when he's addressing 20,000 people at a stadium some place at a big rally.
[Bash:] Yes, I mean, and it's not just about using bad words that you don't want your kids to hear. It's about saying the kind of thing that he said at the end of what was a pretty magnanimous speech yesterday, for the most part, about Hillary Clinton, saying that she plays the woman card and she wouldn't get where she is if she's if she weren't a woman. I don't I don't think that most presidential candidates or even presidents, you know, if he wins, would say that. Having said that, that's his appeal to his supporters, the non- politically correct, you know, so on and so forth. But to that, sort of tying this into foreign policy, you know, we talking we're talking about the Trump doctrine. He said very explicitly last night that he doesn't want a Trump doctrine because he wants to be flexible.
[Borger:] Yes. Yes.
[Bash:] He wants to be able to kind of change with the times and see how things go in the world and so on and so forth. You're grimacing.
[Rogers:] Well, you can't you cannot send that message to your allies that maybe we'll be with you, maybe we won't be with you. Which is why every NATO country has expressed concern about his foreign policy position. They need to understand. So if you're those Baltic states, you need to understand, if Russia comes over the border, are you going to be here? Will you be here, as you have told you, the United States. If you have a president that comes in and said, well, maybe, maybe not, depends on how I feel that day.
[Borger:] But, you know, you know, people have accused President Obama of being unpredictable that way as well
[Rogers:] Yes, that's true too.
[Borger:] And not and not being a, you know, an ally that they can depend on. Right.
[Rogers:] Yes, I would say, I ditto. I agree.
[Borger:] But, you know, the red line, I go back to crossing the red line in Syria decision on chemical weapons.
[Bash:] Yes.
[Rogers:] Right.
[Blitzer:] You know what's interesting right now, is you see a lot of foreign policy ex government officials, academics, beginning to sense, you know what, this guy may be the Republican nominee
[Henderson:] Right.
[Blitzer:] And they're jumping aboard the ban wagon right now.
[Henderson:] Yes.
[Blitzer:] They're you'll see who's in the crowd over there today.
[Henderson:] Yes.
[Blitzer:] Not just Senator Jeff Sessions, who's an early supporter of Donald Trump, of Alabama, and I know that he and some former members of his staff have been very involved in helping Donald Trump, Steven Miller, for example, one of Donald Trump's national security advisers, used to work for Senator Sessions. But you're seeing a whole bunch of other think tankers, academics, former government officials already sensing, you know what, I'm going to go join his team because he may potentially be the president.
[Henderson:] That's right. I mean they see that this is a full bandwagon that's leaving the station, to mix metaphors, and they want to be on board. Thy want to see if they can be a part of a Trump administration or an advisor. As he is going about this campaign, they want to see if they can shape his foreign policy. I mean it's interesting that that's happening. But it will be interesting to see if we see this from elected officials, right? If they come out publicly and
[Blitzer:] All right, this is Zalmay Khalilzad, the former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq during the Bush administration, introducing Donald Trump.
[Zalmay Khalilzad, Former U.s. Ambassador To Afghanistan And Iraq:] In my recently publish memoir, "The Envoy," I tell the story of coming from Afghanistan to the United States legally as a teenager, and of my latest service as a U.S. diplomat in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the United Nations, analyzing what we did right and drawing lessons for the future. America gave me an opportunity to succeed and I tried to pay back a little by my service to the United States I mentioned in my book. I would like everyone to read it. And to borrow a phrase from Mr. Trump, "it will make your head spin." Today, as the primaries wind down, Donald Trump delivers a much anticipated speech on his foreign policy philosophy. This is a critical moment for America