Trump: ‘Attacking me has not been a good idea’

Other highlights from Trump’s CNN interview

• On Syria: It's a total catastrophe, it's a total mess and we're helping make it a mess. Let Syria and ISIS fight. Why do we care?
• On Russian intervention in Syria: Let Russia take care of ISIS. How many places can we be?
• On Putin: I think I would get along very well with him.
• On his plans for the economy, which he said is "in his wheelhouse": The economy is going to just be absolutely like a rocket.
• On his tax plan: I will probably end up paying more money, but at the same I think the economy will do better, so I'll make it up that way.

Donald Trump appeared on CNN’s Erin Burnett Out Front Monday where he addressed a number of topics with generally less bluster and a few more specifics than usual.

On one topic, however, the billionaire didn’t hold back: his opponents in the Republican presidential race.

Host Erin Burnett asked Trump who he thought would be the next to drop out.

“Well you’ve got so many of them that are doing so poorly,” Trump replied. “Rand Paul is doing horribly. You know he was supposed to be a leader.”

“A guy like Marco Rubio is a lightweight,” he said. ” I can’t imagine he goes anywhere.”

Trump said the certain way for his opponents to get knocked out of the race is to come after him.

“So far attacking me has not been a good idea,” Trump said. “Everybody that’s attacked me, Bobby Jindal, Perry … all of these guys are out.”

Burnett did not point out that Jindal is, in fact, still in the race.

As for Hillary, “I don’t think she’ll be very difficult to beat,” Trump said.

“When we look at the job that Hillary did as secretary of State, she goes down as perhaps the worst secretary of State in history,” Trump said, adding the qualifier that Kerry may end up taking that title because of the Iran nuclear deal.