Donald Trump said yesterday he would not rule out a U.S. military first strike to stem North Korea's missile production.
The potential Reform Party presidential candidate also called Russian President Boris Yeltsin "a disaster."
In a wide-ranging interview that touched on Trump's views about U.S. foreign policy and his own prospects for the presidency, he said on CNN's "Late Edition" that he will decide soon whether to run.
Trump said Patrick J. Buchanan has "no hope" of winning the presidency, and he predicted that Buchanan's Reform Party campaign would attract enough Republicans to let Democrats win the election.
Trump said he supports amending the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and negotiating with North Korea because the United States needs a missile-defense shield.
Asked whether he would rule out a military strike against North Korea, such as Israel's attack in 1981 to halt the completion of a nuclear reactor in Iraq, Trump said, "You can never rule it out."
"What Israel did was fantastic," Trump said. If such a strike were ruled out, he said, North Korea would have no reason to talk.
Trump complained that Russia is "out of control" with a leader who is "a disaster." He said U.S. aid "would probably stop if it were me, until they straightened out their act." He contends Russia is using the aid "on developing more nuclear" weapons.
He said that he would probably decide by February whether to run for the Reform Party nomination and that if he did he would spend close to $100 million of his own money on a presidential campaign.
Trump, a billionaire, also said he never took drugs, drank alcohol or coffee, or smoked cigarettes.