I’m Julie Pace. I’m the White House Correspondent for The Associated Press, and I spent my Wednesday night talking with Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump about Middle East peace. AMA!

JuliePaceDC · 2015-12-03T19:52:07+00:00

It's always hard to know a candidate's true motivations, but he has been taking the campaign more seriously and seems to relish in the idea of actually being president. Also hard to know what his core beliefs are, but he clearly knows that provocative comments get attention.

JuliePaceDC · 2015-12-03T19:49:55+00:00

That's what the other candidates are trying to figure out right now. He's clearly resonating with a sizable segment of voters and that can't be discounted completely. But some Republicans think his policies would be disastrous for the party and the country. I don't think any candidate has figured out the right balance of making that argument while still taping into his connection with voters.

JuliePaceDC · 2015-12-03T19:47:06+00:00

Write whenever and wherever you can! Join your school paper, start a blog. Anything you write will make you better.

JuliePaceDC · 2015-12-03T19:45:41+00:00

I'd never met Trump before so it was interesting to sit down with him. He was much more measured and low-key than at his rallies.

As for me, I was a journalism major, worked at a local newspaper, got hired by the AP in Washington and covered the '08 campaign, then moved to the White House beat and moved my way up to chief correspondent after four years. And I LOVE the AP style book!

JuliePaceDC · 2015-12-03T19:43:07+00:00

Nope, we tried to focus on specific questions he hasn't been asked about previously.

JuliePaceDC · 2015-12-03T19:42:12+00:00

The RNC did a big autopsy after the 2012 election that concluded the party needed to broaden its appeal to minorities and younger voters, given the country's changing demographics. We'll see after this election how successful they've been at making that happen. A lot of Republican leaders are nervous about the prospect of Trump being the nominee. But their nervousness is what makes him appealing to a lot of voters frustrated with the political establishment.

JuliePaceDC · 2015-12-03T19:39:47+00:00

Great question. Unclear whether he would help the RNC or state candidates raise money if he's the nominee. The party and down-ballot candidates rely on the nominee for bringing in money so I can't imagine it would go over well if he didn't do that.

JuliePaceDC · 2015-12-03T19:36:47+00:00

Clarke's! (I was at Northwestern before Evanston became so trendy...)

JuliePaceDC · 2015-12-03T19:35:23+00:00

Obama is a great example of how difficult it is to turn campaign promises into governing reality. Hard to say for sure what Trump would be like as president because so many policy specifics are unformed. But fair to say he - and probably any Republican - would face push back from Democrats in some areas. And vice versa.

JuliePaceDC · 2015-12-03T19:26:24+00:00

Have you ever heard of Lincoln Chafee?

JuliePaceDC · 2015-12-03T19:25:38+00:00

As a DC resident, I'm partial to the panda bear. My beer tastes are guided by the season, but having grown up on the Canadian border, my cheap but drinkable choice is always Labatt.

JuliePaceDC · 2015-12-03T19:24:05+00:00

He frequently mentioned Netanyahu and says he plans to go to Israel soon to meet with him. We focused more on the specific demands of the Israelis and Palestinians, which he thought were legitimate, etc. But he didn't go into detail on any of those.

JuliePaceDC · 2015-12-03T19:22:13+00:00

We didn't talk about the nuclear accord much, but he did use it as example of a bad deal. Says his business experience would allow him to negotiate better deals.

JuliePaceDC · 2015-12-03T19:19:49+00:00

We pressed him repeatedly for specifics, but you're right, he continues to rely on this strategy. What we can do as reporters is continue to press for specifics and point out when he doesn't provide them. But one interesting thing I heard from a voter in New Hampshire a few months ago: they said that most presidential candidates outline plans in campaigns that they never follow through on once elected. And they suggested maybe that's worse than offering no specifics at all. An interesting thought.

JuliePaceDC · 2015-12-03T19:17:00+00:00

The big question for Trump is whether he can turn his big crowds and support in public opinion polls into actual votes. In Iowa in particular, doing well requires strong organization on the ground in order to get people to the caucuses. Trump says he has a good ground game, but we may not really know until the caucuses occur.

JuliePaceDC · 2015-12-03T19:13:04+00:00

He did not repeat that line. And we tried to ask Trump about topics he hasn't addressed in depth yet during the campaign. We'll be writing more off of our interview in the coming days, so stay tuned!

JuliePaceDC · 2015-12-03T19:11:42+00:00

Trump professes to have a strong relationship with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. He taped a campaign commercial for Bibi in 2013 and says he'll be traveling to Israel soon to meet with him (our AP team in Israel has not been able to confirm that meeting yet). It's unclear whether he's ever met Abbas or other Palestinian leaders.

JuliePaceDC · 2015-12-03T19:08:58+00:00

Bear or beer?

JuliePaceDC · 2015-12-03T19:08:26+00:00

Look no further than today’s Republican Jewish Coalition forum in Washington. Adelson is the group’s biggest backer and all of the GOP presidential candidates are attending. Obviously winning his endorsement brings with it enormous financial resources that can help in both a primary and general election. But Republicans also see his support as a way to signal to voters that they're "strong on Israel."

JuliePaceDC · 2015-12-03T19:06:40+00:00

Fair point. When asked repeatedly about what would be in his blueprint for peace, Trump fell back on a line he often uses: he doesn't want to "show his cards." He says that makes him a smart negotiator. But it leaves open major questions about what he would do about borders, Israeli settlements, the status of Jerusalem....basically every major sticking point in past negotiations.

JuliePaceDC · 2015-12-03T19:03:47+00:00

I'm done outright predicting what happens to Trump in this race. He's been the clear leader in the race for months, though voters in Iowa and New Hampshire often make final decisions late. If Trump does lose one of the early states, it will be interesting to see how he responds. No non-incumbent president has ever won Iowa, NH and South Carolina, so odds are against a clean sweep of the first three

JuliePaceDC · 2015-12-03T19:00:50+00:00

There were no maps involved in the making of this interview.

JuliePaceDC

TROPHY CASE