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0000017a-15d9-d736-a57f-17ff8d8c0001Click on a photo to find stories by candidate:0000017a-15d9-d736-a57f-17ff8d8c0002More Content:Our Voters Guide provides an overview of all you need to know about the 2016 N.H. Presidential Primary.Click here to explore a calendar of candidate visits and other Primary campaign events.Click here for our Money in Politics stories and data interactives.Visit our Where They Stand series for an overview of the candidates' positions on key policy questions.Visit our series Primary Backstage to learn about the people and places that make the N.H. Primary tick.To see NHPR photos from the campaign trail, visit our Primary 2016 album on Flickr.

Trump Tells N.H. Republicans Interest In Presidential Bid No Joke

Paige Sutherland/NHPR

Celebrity businessman Donald Trump joined fellow Republicans at a house party in Amherst, New Hampshire Thursday night while he continues to toy with the idea of running for president in 2016.

But this isn’t the first time Trump has flirted with the idea of running for President.

Credit Paige Sutherland/NHPR
Donald Trump addresses a room full of Republicans on Thursday night at N.H. representative Stephen Stepanek's home in Amherst.

Four years ago he visited New Hampshire, but this time he took a step forward by forming an exploratory committee and hiring  staff in early voting states.

At the Amherst home of state representative Stephen Stepanek, Trump told Republicans that he would "make America rich again."

“People are always saying, is he going to run? Is he going to run? You know I have a great television show, I do have a great life, I have a business that I love, but the country is going to hell," Trump said. "We have people who don’t know what they are doing in Washington.” "Honestly we are lead by a bunch of fools and that needs to stop."

Trump also stressed the need to better secure the border, criticized common core curriculum and most of all to make sure that Democrats don’t take the White House.

The potential candidate also said his business background would make the country so prosperous that there would be no need to reign in entitlement spending.

“I am the only Republican that says I am not cutting Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid, but I would make this country so rich that you wouldn’t have to cut it,” he said.

During the event Trump took a handful of questions from the crowd but mostly ignored those from the media. He did tell reporters though that it was a difficult decision to pull out of this season of "The Apprentice."

If Trump does decide to run, he could face a steep climb, with last month's UNH poll showing that 69 percent of likely GOP primary voters had a negative opinion of him.

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