Donald Trump, who has repeatedly praised Hillary Clinton going back to when she was First Lady, described Clinton as recently as 2014 as "very smart" and "tough to beat."
"Very smart, she's going to be, in my opinion, she's going to run, she's going to be the Democratic nominee. She's gonna be tough to beat. Unless the Republicans have somebody very tough and very smart, they're not gonna win," Trump said to Ireland TV3's Colette Fitzpatrick in May of that year.
Trump added, "I think I could beat her if I ran."
In the same interview, Trump said he'd released his tax returns if he ran for president. "If I decide to run for office I'll produce my tax returns. Absolutely. I would love to do that," he said.
Trump has said this year that he will not be releasing his tax returns, claiming he cannot because of a mysterious audit.
Trump was asked about his returns in the context of his 2011 promise to release them if President Obama released his birth certificate. Obama did release his long form birth certificate, but Trump, in the interview, cast doubt over whether it was legitimate.
"A lot of people feel it wasn't a proper certificate," Trump said.