WASHINGTON – "Our country is in very, very serious trouble," Donald Trump told an audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, D.C. today.
"Likewise, the Republican Party is in serious trouble," he added.
The outspoken real-estate mogul ticked off a list of concerns: The economy, illegal aliens, American Crossroads, Republicans and in particular the Obama administration.
"We're run by either very foolish or very stupid people," he said in his speech. "What's going on in this country is unbelievable. Our country is a total mess, a total and complete mess, and what we need is leadership."
Trump blasted the Karl Rove-founded super PAC American Crossroads and the failure of the candidates it backed last year.
"When you spend $400 million and it's a failure, and you don't have one victory, you know there's something seriously, seriously wrong," he said.
Trump also had some advice for failed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. He said Romney should have, like him, touted his business success.
"Republicans and Mitt, and I told him this, didn't talk enough about the things he did, the great things," he said. "They were in the defensive instead of taking that offense."
He also strongly warned the GOP "the Republicans need to be very careful" they don't grant amnesty and subsequent citizenship to the 10 million to 25 million illegal aliens residing in the United States.
Millions of new Democratic voters will be added to the rolls if President Obama succeeds in passing proposed immigration reform, Trump said.
“The truth is 11 million people will be voting Democratic,” he somberly informed the crowd. “Everyone of those 11 million will be voting Democratic. That’s just the way it works.”
Trump criticized the anti-European bias in the immigration system, which favors people from Mexico.
Trump said it is sad that the U.S. system encourages non-European immigration while discouraging European immigrants who "study at our universities" and then upon graduation leave and take their training to other nations "that compete against us."
Trump also spoke about the economy, calling for the re-industrialization of the U.S.
"We must take back our jobs from China" and "bring back manufacturing to this country," he said.
Trump spoke highly of the proposal by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to balance the federal budget in 10 years.
But he said, "The president should be the one to introduce a budget."
Trump called looming debate on the debt ceiling "a very powerful weapon" that Obama "will override" through federal mandate.
He additionally chastised the Republican Party, saying it has "so much power and they don't seem to realize it."
He said with "every day that goes by they lose power" and the GOP should use the debt ceiling as a "bargaining tool."
Trump also criticized the war in Iraq, lamenting the high loss of life and the financial burden, saying "we have nothing" as a result of the nine-year-long war.
He said America should take Iraqi oil to "pay ourselves back."
He also criticized America's hostile engagement with North Korea, asserting that the current policy "gains us nothing."
Following his speech at CPAC, Trump held a news conference where he answered many questions. It can be viewed in its entirety, below.