Trump: 'I'm doing good for the Muslims'

"I'm doing good for the Muslims," Trump told Don Lemon in an interview for "CNN Tonight." "Many Muslim friends of mine are in agreement with me. They say, 'Donald, you brought something up to the fore that is so brilliant and so fantastic.'"

Among those reaching out to thank him, the Republican front-runner said, was "one of the most important people in Middle East" — Trump didn't reveal the name — who called on Wednesday to say, "Donald, you're doing a great service."

"I have many friends who are Muslims," Trump told Lemon. "They're phenomenal people. They are so happy at what I'm doing."

The feeling, he said, is mutual.

"I love the Middle East," Trump declared. "I love the people of the Middle East."

Trump also said his plan had been misrepresented and explained that the immigration ban may not last long.

"It could go quickly, but it's a subject that has to be discussed," he said, adding that there would be exceptions for Muslim athletes and diplomats.

Trump pinned the fierce backlash that followed his call for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States" on Republican establishment figures and his primary opponents.

On a possible independent run for the White House

Trump said he was not likely to wage a third-party candidacy, but the billionaire businessman would not rule it out.

"I think it's highly unlikely unless they break the pledge to me, because it's a two-way street," Trump said. "They said they would be honorable. So far, they, I can't tell you if they are, but the establishment is not exactly being very good to me."

He added, "If they don't treat me with a certain amount of decorum and respect. If they don't treat me as the front-runner...If the playing field is not level, then certainly all options are open. But that's nothing I want to do...I'll know that over a period of a couple months. We'll go through the primaries. We'll see what happens, and I'll make a determination."

On being likened to Adolf Hitler

Trump said the comparisons, which have become increasingly direct, did not upset him.

"You know where things bother me?" he asked. "If things are true. If that were true, it would bother me tremendously. But of course if you were a racist you probably wouldn't care. But if things are true, it would bother me. But if it's so false, and honestly I don't hear it often."

On 'stupid' President Barack Obama

Trump was harshly critical of the President's strategy for fighting ISIS.

"We have a president who is a stupid person," Trump said, slamming Obama for making public his plans to send special forces to Kurdish-held territory in Syria near the Iraq border.

The White House announcement put a target "on their hearts," he said. "If I win, I want to be unpredictable."

(CNN)