Trump delivers heated rhetoric in Iowa

OSKALOOSA, Iowa - Donald Trump brought his quixotic, populist campaign for the presidency here Saturday, airing a litany of grievances with different politicians and institutions and pledging to "take back this country."

Speaking to an audience of about 1,500 people, including hundreds in an overflow room at a high school here 60 miles southeast of Des Moines, Trump declared the political system was broken, controlled by lobbyists and other influence-peddlers who wouldn't buy him - because he's so rich.

"A guy like Bush, a guy like Walker: All of these people are controlled by the people that give them the money," Trump said, referring to the former Florida governor and the current governor of Wisconsin. (He later added Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, to that list.)

Trump, whose inflammatory remarks and meteoric rise to the top of the polls has dominated the headlines at this stage of a GOP primary field that includes 15 other major declared candidates, delivered a meandering hourlong speech that touched on everything from Japanese cars to the Mexican drug trade to China's currency devaluation.

He lashed out at the Des Moines Register newspaper, which had published an editorial calling for him to drop out of the race ("super liberal rag," he said); the political press ("so dishonest; so terrible"); and politicians in Washington ("How stupid are we? How stupid?").

He bashed President Obama's accord with Iran on its nuclear program.

"If they were a stock, I would buy so much of Iran right now," Trump said to laughter.

"We have made them a tremendous power, an extraordinarily rich country," he said, referring to the deal's lifting of sanctions.

Trump offered little on specific policy proposals. He said he would bring back jobs from abroad, but when asked at a news conference how he would do that, he said: "It's called negotiation. It's not so much details."

Nevertheless, the message seemed to resonate. "He speaks the truth," said Richard McDonald, 57. "You can't buy Mr. Trump."