Trump won't 'rule out' reversing 2012 prez run decision

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By Juana Summers
NBC New York

Don’t count Donald Trump out of the presidential race yet: A week after ending his would-be candidacy, he said on Monday that he might consider getting back in later in the year if he doesn’t like the GOP field.

“Stranger things have happened,” Trump said.

After expressing deep dissatisfaction with what he sees as a weak group of Republican candidates in an interview on Fox News on Monday, the real estate developer and reality television star teased the idea that he could still get into the race.

“I would not rule it out, no,” Trump said on Fox News on Monday. “I can’t rule out anything. It’s vital that we choose the right person, and at this moment, I don’t see that person.”

While Trump said the right candidate could beat Obama in 2012, he said none of the current candidates — including Tim Pawlenty, who will enter the race officially today — make the cut.

“The ones that have announced, I just don’t see it,” he said. “At this point in time, they’re not going to be beating Obama.”

The media mogul had no praise for another businessman, Atlanta’s Herman Cain, who announced his presidential campaign with a Georgia rally Saturday.

“I know nothing about him,” Trump said. “He seems like a nice guy, but you can’t comment too much when you have absolutely no idea who a person is.”

Trump, who kept up with his schedule of weekly Fox & Friends appearances on Monday despite pulling out of a number of events since leaving the race, said he did not feel the criticism he endured during his high-profile flirtation with a GOP presidential bid had hurt his personal brand.

“I don’t think so. I’ve been attacked all my life,” he said. “But you give up so much when you do this, and it was just a decision I made.”

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