Triumphant Donald Trump: "I can change the game"
Just hours after winning New Hampshire's Republican primary with 35 percent of the vote, front-runner Donald Trump weighed in on the current state of the GOP field in an interview with "CBS This Morning" early Wednesday.
"The people of New Hampshire were amazing," Trump said, adding that "I thought I'd do well there."
He weighed in on other Republican rivals, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush as a candidate who "just doesn't have it" and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie who he called a "friend."
"[Christie] did call me," Trump said. "He just congratulated me and said, 'It was just unbelievable what you've done, I mean, the numbers were fantastic.'"
When asked if he believed it was time for his New Jersey opponent to quit the presidential race, Trump responded: "I don't know... I'd like to see a lot of people to drop out."
"He's a friend of mine," Trump added. "I thought he was very effective. And I was surprised he didn't do better, frankly."
The GOP front-runner brushed aside comments that he has fundamentally changed American politics.
"I haven't done anything -- unless I win. And I mean, not the nomination. I mean win the whole thing. I haven't done anything," Trump said.
The businessman said he believes if you don't win in the end, "you're a failed candidate, even if you go to the final step."
He laid out his strategy after New Hampshire, mentioning his chances at winning some Democratic-leaning states.
"I have a chance of winning New York," he told "CBS This Morning" co-host Charlie Rose. "You know, you look at these politicians they always talk about the six states -- you've got to win this one, that one. You have to win Ohio, you have to win Florida.
"I can change the game because I really have a chance of New York, I'm going to win Virginia," Trump said. "I'm going to win Michigan, as an example."
Turning to foreign policy issues, when asked about the recent threat posed by North Korea after it launched a long-range rocket on Sunday, Trump suggested that he would force China to handle its neighbor.
"I would get China to make that guy disappear in one form or another very quickly," Trump said.
"How do you make him disappear?" host of "CBS This Morning" Norah O'Donnell asked. "Assassinate him?"
Trump shrugged, "Well, I've heard of worse things frankly."
"He's a bad dude, and don't underestimate him," he added. "China has control -- absolute control over North Korea...And they should make that problem disappear."
"China is sucking us dry. They're taking our money, they're taking our jobs. They're doing so much," Trump said. "I would force the Chinese to do it -- economically."
The GOP candidate also weighed in on other foreign rulers, including Russian president Vladimir Putin, who Trump has repeatedly said he had a "very good relationship" with.
"I love the fact that Russia is hitting ISIS," he said. "And as far as I'm concerned, they've got to continue to hit ISIS."
When asked if he would negotiate with Putin to pressure Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step aside, Trump said, "I don't think it's that important" to get rid of Assad.
"Let's say you get rid of Assad, you knock out that government -- who's gonna take over?" he questioned. "The people that we're backing? And then you're gonna have, like, Libya?"
The real estate mogul warned, "Look what happened when we got rid of [Libyan President] Qaddafi."
"To me it was a total mistake," Trump said of ousting the Libyan leader. Pointing to the 2011 terror attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, he added that the North African country is now "a mess."
Trump also suggested that the U.S. should not have been involved in toppling Iraq President Saddam Hussein.
"Had we not done anything - had our politicians gone to the beach and enjoyed the sun, we would be in a lot better position than we are right now," he added. "Saddam Hussein -- no good guy but Saddam Hussein killed terrorists."