This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," May 29, 2012. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.  GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Right now, Donald Trump is here, and there is blood on the floor. Donald Trump is headlining a brutal verbal boxing match, and Governor Mitt Romney is betting on the Donald. Trump is at the center of a new fight in the presidential race. Here is Donald Trump.  VAN SUSTEREN: Donald, nice to talk to you.  DONALD TRUMP, TRUMP ORGANIZATION (Via Telephone): Hello, Greta.  VAN SUSTEREN: I have a lot of things I want to talk to you about, including one that's apparently electrifying everybody, but I'll get to that one in a second.  But first I want to talk about tonight's event with Governor Mitt Romney. It's in Vegas, this fund-raiser. Why Vegas? Any particular reason?  TRUMP: Well, I think it really represents something. If you remember, when Obama came out very, very negative to Nevada and to Las Vegas, and it was a terrible thing and it really had a huge impact and a negative impact, Don't go to Las Vegas, and it was a disaster.  And I don't know why in particular this location was chosen. It wasn't chosen by me, but it does represent lots of jobs, a big industry, the tourism industry, and I think it's probably a very appropriate place. We have a very, very successful evening, and it's really something I think that's going to be very special.  VAN SUSTEREN: Well, I note that Vegas has been particularly hurt by the downturn in the job market. Or in fact, Las Vegas last in March had a 12.4 percent unemployment rate, which is above the national average, and there's no secret that Vegas has -- that Nevada in particular has been hit hard. So I wondered if that was the particular theme, but apparently not.  TRUMP: Well, it was very badly hit when the president came out and said, you know, Don't go there. And I will tell you that had a very, very negative impact on Las Vegas and Nevada. And you know, it was a pretty shameful thing, I think. And he's been trying to recover, but he has never really recovered from that.  VAN SUSTEREN: Well, is there any money to be had in Vegas for a fund- raiser if everybody's hurting? I guess there's some big high rollers. But tell me, I mean, how much money do you expect to get tonight?  TRUMP: Well, we're going to raise a lot of money tonight, millions. And I think it's going to be a terrific evening. I think it's also going to be really very helpful to a person who's a very, very fine person, a very good person, a -- is going to be a wonderful candidate and a fantastic president.  VAN SUSTEREN: Why do you like him so? You say he's a fantastic person. I mean, there are a lot of nice people in this country, but you know, that's not a reason to vote for somebody. You know...  TRUMP: Well, that's true. By the way, that is absolutely true. But I've just gotten to like him over a period of time. I like what he stands for. I like his values. I like what he represents. I like very much the fact that he understands what China is doing to this country, understands what OPEC is doing to this country. They are really, really hurting us badly. And I think that, you know, more than anybody else, Mitt Romney understands that.  VAN SUSTEREN: All right, he understands that. He doesn't agree with you about everything. He made that very plain in a sound bite, where he said that he doesn't agree with everybody who supports him and he doesn't expect everyone who supports him to agree with him.  So let me turn to the sort of the electrifying issue, and that's this whole issue about birther. You and I have disagreed about this in the past, and I assume that Governor Romney has, as well.  What has brought this back up on the radar screen? This has been pretty silent for a while.  TRUMP: Well, it wasn't brought up by me. It was brought up by somebody releasing a statement from the 1990s by Barack Obama, when he was not even thinking in terms of the presidency, and strongly stated that he was born in Kenya and that he was raised in Indonesia.  So after that came out by Breitbart and some others who did actually a pretty good job on it, I must tell you -- but when that came out, everybody started calling me and I gave my 2 cents. I mean, I've always felt that there were a lot of holes in this whole situation.  But he made that statement himself. And the publisher wrote it, and he wrote it down, and he -- it was -- it was going to be part of a brochure to sell a book. That's a pretty strong statement. And that was made by somebody that wasn't running for president and probably had no intention of ever running for president. So I think it probably a very honest statement.  VAN SUSTEREN: All right, well, as I've noted, you and I disagree about it. And recently, there was a fuss about whether or not President Obama would be on the ballot I think in Arizona, and there was another sort of round that preceded this business about the brochure.  And Hawaii apparently convinced Arizona, if Arizona had any doubt about it, at least the representative, that he was born in the United States. Does that -- are you still not satisfied? I mean, what is it that you want to be satisfied?  TRUMP: Well, look, it's not up to me. It has nothing to do with me. But the fact is, if he wasn't, he's not allowed to run for president. He's not allowed to be the president. So this is not up to me.  This was something that came out last week. People called me about it. I gave my 2 cents. There's a lot of questions as to the authenticity of the birth certificate. So you can believe it or you don't have to believe it, but certainly, there are many, many questions.  You have had people on your show. You've heard people. There are many, many questions as to that. And we'll just have to see where all the chips fall.  I can tell you that this is not an issue, despite what he says, that President Obama likes. This is hitting very close to home. This is not something that he enjoys.  With all of that being said, I think it's much more important at this point to talk about what's going on with OPEC, what's going on with China, what's going on with virtually every country in the world that is just ripping the United States and making it to a point where we can in many cases not properly function.  We have $16 trillion in debt soon to be, and we have to do something about it. And I would much prefer -- and you know this because I've told you this many times. I would much prefer discussing that than discussing anything else. And that's also my expertise.  VAN SUSTEREN: But see, I think, though, that the campaign, that the President Obama campaign actually enjoys that this issue gets up and gets pinned to you.  TRUMP: I totally disagree with you. I think they hate the subject.  VAN SUSTEREN: Well, I'll tell you why.  VAN SUSTEREN: I'll tell you why. Because they released a statement - - Stephanie Cutter, who is the deputy campaign manager, just released a very strong statement referring to you as talking about disgraceful conspiracy theories, demonstrating your lack of moral leadership, calling you a charlatan and pinning that to Governor Romney as though -- as though -- because you said it that it's pinned on Governor Romney because you hold the fundraiser.  TRUMP: I totally disagree. I think they hate it. I think they don't like it at all. And what they're doing is saying, We love it. And frankly, I think they hate the subject, and I -- you know, I actually sort of semi know for a fact that they hate the subjection. This is not a subject that they want brought -- now, in politics...  VAN SUSTEREN: Well, wait a second. But wait a minute...  TRUMP: ... as you know, you're talking about...
Donald Trump responds to Obama campaign attack ads that revive his birther charges, his feud with George Will and his campaigning for Mitt Romney.