I know what America needs now: a fighter and an innovator

Businessman Phil Ruffin’s speech at the 2016 GOP Convention

I’ve known Donald Trump as a friend and a business partner for over 20 years. You can’t be my friend and my business partner for long if you’re not honest with me, and good to your word. I can tell you Donald Trump is both.

He’s been an innovator and an entrepreneur: no one in our business works harder, or smarter, than he does. Professionally I have seen time and again how he can see what others cannot, and how he has taken properties others took a pass on and made something incredible out of them.

As a result of his vision and hard work he has put tens of thousands of our fellow Americans to work, created amazing spaces and places, and made money for himself, and his partners. He has done this in many of our nation’s greatest cities such as: Chicago, New York, Miami, and Las Vegas.

Let me tell you about one of the deals we did together. About ten years ago, he and I developed Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. As with so many Trump properties, this has innovative design, and attention to detail. Buyers liked it, and it seemed it would be another tremendous success: it was under budget and on time, however, in 2008 the recession hit, and the banks would not finance any additional units. This left us with about 75 percent unsold, and more than a half billion dollars in debt. Ninety-nine percent of people and investors would have walked away: Donald would not give up.

He is a fighter, and he saw its incredible potential.

I believed in him, and for three tough years we worked together to keep it afloat. Through it all, Donald always paid his bills promptly, with no discounts.

Due to Donald’s persistence and faith, and my faith in him, we turned it around. Today it has become a huge success.

This is just one example.

I have seen him do this time and time again.

He has put money on the line, both his and mine. He is a developer. He is an entrepreneur. He is an innovator. And he is a leader.

He now wants to turn around Washington. When he first told me he was going to run for President, I told him I did not think it was a good idea.

I asked him why he wanted to do this, and he simply replied, “I love America.

Our system is broken, and I am going to fix it.”

This is the Donald I know, and I know what America needs now: a fighter and an innovator.

He sees the potential and he knows what our great country can be if we come together.

Donald Trump will fix what is broken in Washington, and Make America Great Again, and you can bet on that.