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Just months ago, many political observers thought it highly unlikely that Donald Trump could sustain his lead in the polls. However, on the eve of 2016, the perennial frontrunner commands 39 percent of support from Republican-inclined voters, a CNN/ORC poll released Wednesday has found. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz trails at 18 percent - an improvement since the last CNN/ORC poll in November, but still a distant second to Trump. Ben Carson and Marco Rubio have 10 percent apiece. The rest of the candidates are in single digits. (full article at link below) http://www.theweek.com/speedreads/595882/donald-trump-leads-by-more-than-20-points-new-national-poll

(CNN) -- Donald Trump is heading into 2016 with a commanding lead over the GOP field at 39% support, more than double that of his closest competitor, Ted Cruz, a new CNN/ORC poll out Wednesday has found. Cruz picked up 2 percentage points and now sits at 18%, while both Ben Carson and Marco Rubio have lost ground. (complete article) http://www.wyff4.com/politics/urgent-cnn-orc-poll-donald-trump-dominates-gop-pack-heading-into-2016/37098116

Nearly 24 hours after he said that Hillary Clinton had been "schlonged" by Barack Obama during her failed 2008 presidential campaign, Donald Trump took to Twitter to defend his comments. Schlonged, the Republican businessman said in a tweet, was not a vulgar reference to a penis. Instead, he argued, he meant "beaten badly." Once again, #MSM is dishonest. "Schlonged" is not vulgar. When I said Hillary got "schlonged" that meant beaten badly. - Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2015 Trump went on to defend his comments, saying that NPR's Neal Conan had once used the phrase to refer to...

Let me make a post-Las Vegas Republican debate prediction: After beating Hillary Clinton like a drum, Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States. At this point, it's become pretty clear that only Donald Trump can defeat Donald Trump. And despite what at times has appeared to be his best efforts to do just that, his support only seems to be getting stronger and wider. Newt Gingrich is fond of saying that real change requires real change. Hard to imagine any more real change than putting "TRUMP" over the North Portico entrance of the White House. Of...

A word of caution to those Democrats, particularly those supporting Hillary Clinton, openly rooting for Donald Trump to win the Republican presidential nomination. Yes, his campaign has been six months of ugly, gasp-worthy rhetoric that should make the Republican Party a no-go zone for a majority of the American electorate on Election Day 2016. But folks like it. And that is reason to worry. What if radio talk show host Michael Smerconish was right ? What if Trump's numbers are really higher than the polls show because folks are lying to pollsters? What if a Trump vs. Clinton race isn't...

Republican candidate and current front-runner Donald Trump responded Sunday [December 20, 2015] to Hillary Clinton after she declared that ISIS was using Trump's strong comments on Muslims as a force for recruitment. It was during the Democratic presidential debate the previous evening [December 19, 2015], that Clinton claimed Donald Trump's call to ban Muslims from entering the country and other comments were making him "ISIS' best recruiter." "They are going to people showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists," the Democratic front runner said. Donald Trump didn't miss his chance to...

Business magnate Donald Trump recently shared his outlook on the US economy and according to him, it isn't pretty. Presidential race front runner and Republican Trump never fails to make waves, and his latest declaration comes on the back of some murmurs in the market, creating a perfect platform for his views. Speaking at a rally in Iowa, Trump said that he would be the first to tell it like it is and that it looked like dark days ahead for the US economy. Trump told his audience of over a thousand that he saw a rocky road ahead and...

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump will join Fox News for its New Year's Eve countdown special, hosts Eric Bolling and Kimberly Guilfoyle revealed. "Trump is going to ring in the new year with us," Bolling said on The Five. The GOP candidate will join the broadcast from Florida, at his Mar-A-Lago estate. (full article at link) http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2015/12/22/trump-joining-fox-for-new-year-s-eve.html

If recent polls from more than half a dozen reputable polling organizations are to be believed, of the six leading Republican candidates for president Donald Trump is the one least likely to defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 general election. Polling can be and has often been wrong, sometimes spectacularly so, but Trump's electability gap has been a consistent feature of his primary campaign as a fire-breathing self-funding willing-to-say-anything non-politician politician. However, even if you believe (as I do) the conventional wisdom that Hillary Clinton is "clearly itching to run against Mr. Trump," he nevertheless poses a substantial threat to...

Toward the end of my third campaign interview with Donald Trump, I finally got a glimpse into why he spends so much time and energy attacking journalists. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I told the Republican front-runner in our Trump Tower sitdown on Friday that he has every right to hit back at media people who criticize him, and there's been no shortage of harsh criticism. What I wanted to know is why he's so obsessive about it. Why he's calling out lesser-known reporters at rallies. Why he's using Twitter to slam cable news commentators and guests around...

Kenny Rogers is a fan of Donald Trump. The legendary country star shared his political leaning -- and much more -- in an interview with the U.K.'s Guardian newspaper. "I really like him," Rogers said of the controversial POTUS candidate who has riled Mexicans and Latinos and earned disapproval from numerous artists, from Rick Ross to Ricky Martin and Neil Young. "I think his problem is that he says what everyone wants to hear, but he doesn't say it well. I love what he says, I have to admit. He can be president and not owe anybody anything; hess one...

The unique base of support that has pushed Donald Trump to the top of the Republican presidential field in national polls is also likely to give him boost this spring when the campaign shifts to the South. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has drawn wide attention for his own efforts in Southern states, many of which will vote as part of the big, March 1 "SEC Primary" when more convention delegates will be awarded than on any other day. Mr. Cruz, who is surging in the polls, is focusing on evangelical Christian voters and other social conservatives, which form the...

"Good morning, m'am" a member of the uniformed Secret Service once greeted Hillary Clinton. "F— off," she replied.

We'll kick off the weekend with the latest Fox News poll of the Republican primary race. And yes, let's all say it together right at the top: National Polls Don't Mean Anything. (Or so we are assured every time one of these pops up if we don't like the result.) According to the standard rules of engagement, business mogul Donald Trump has done just about everything "wrong" that someone could possibly do when seeking national office. And each time he's accused of doing the aforementioned wrong things, he simply doubles down on them. So how's that working out? One month...

Leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's popularity rating has soared to a new height as the New York-based real estate tycoon gained 11 points in the last one month to have his popularity at 39 percent, reports the Press Trust of India (PTI). The 69-year-old Trump's gain of 11 percent came after his comment on temporarily banning the entry of all Muslims into the US. (full article at link) Read more: https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/323951#ixzz3ulv27Bvz http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/323951

San Francisco (AFP) - Apple chief Tim Cook emphatically rejected accusations that the world's richest company is sidestepping US taxes by keeping bundles of cash overseas, suggesting that the claim was politically motivated. (if you say so Tim) http://news.yahoo.com/cook-bashes-talk-apple-dodging-taxes-220436981.html

Real-estate tycoon Donald Trump expressed disgust with the "gross incompetence" of congressional Republican leadership in an interview that aired Thursday night. The Republican presidential front-runner said he was outraged after Fox News host Sean Hannity asked him about the budget deal reached on Capitol Hill this week. "You look at what's going on with our budget process, it's a disaster. It's a joke. It's a joke. If it weren't so hurtful, you'd all start laughing right now," Trump said. (full article) http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-paul-ryan-budget-deal-2015-12

Republican frontrunner Donald Trump said Friday that he appreciated Russian president Vladimir Putin's endorsement of him in spite of his aggression against other countries and reported violence against political foes, saying "at least he’s a leader." Putin praised Trump this week as "bright and talented," and Trump released a statement of gratitude about the former KGB agent. Upon calling into MSNBC's Morning Joe, Trump was asked again about the warm words. "When people call you brilliant, it's always good, especially when the person heads up Russia," Trump said. (full story at the link) http://freebeacon.com/politics/trump-likes-putin-endorsement-despite-his-thuggery-at-least-hes-a-leader/

Republican US presidential front-runner Donald Trump is apparently "honored" that Russian President Vladimir Putin considers the real-estate magnate a "flamboyant" and "very talented" man. "It is always a great honor to be so nicely complimented by a man so highly respected within his own country and beyond," Trump said in a statement, according to Politico. He continued: "I have always felt that Russia and the United States should be able to work well with each other towards defeating terrorism and restoring world peace, not to mention trade and all of the other benefits derived from mutual respect." (full article at...

When Donald Trump called for a "total and complete shutdown" of allowing Muslims to enter the US last week, he was quickly condemned by several of his opponents in the Republican primary and top officials within the party. As it turns out, a majority of Republicans surveyed in an ABC News/Washington Post poll support Trump's proposal. The poll's results were released Monday. (full article) http://www.businessinsider.com/a-majority-of-republicans-support-trumps-proposal-to-ban-muslims-from-the-us-2015-12