Birther Trump joins row over Obama’s past

American billionaire and possible Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump appears to have joined the ranks of the notorious 'birthers', conspiracy theorists who do not believe Barack Obama was born in the USA and is therefore ineligible to be president.

Trump's stance has added to Democrat concerns that whoever wins the Republican nomination will fight the next election on the issue of whether Obama is 'American'.

In an interview with American TV show Today, Trump told presenter Meredith Vieira that he had a team of researchers in Hawaii trying to find proof that Obama was actually born there and implied that they were having trouble doing so.

"If he wasn't born in this country, he has conned the whole world," said The Apprentice star, before adding: "It's very simple. I want to see the birth certificate. How come his own family doesn't know which hospital he was born in?"

He then told Vieira: "I have people that actually have been studying it... And they cannot believe what they're finding. And I'm serious."

It's not Trump's first dalliance with the birthers. Last month he told Fox News: "Why can't he produce a birth certificate? I brought it up just routinely, and all of a sudden, a lot of facts are emerging and I'm starting to wonder myself whether he was born in this country?"

His high profile questioning of Obama's background seems to be playing well with the Republican faithful. Trump tied with Mike Huckabee in second place in a poll of likely GOP 2012 presidential primary voters. Mitt Romney was most popular, but Sarah Palin was down in fifth place.

Intriguingly, Huckabee has also been making claims about Obama's past. Last month he claimed in a radio interview that the president "grew up in Kenya", prompting political commenters to wonder whether such incorrect statements might be part of the Republican "playbook" for the 2012 election.

Trump's popularity might also be based on his extreme hawkishness. Asked by Vieira about the American military presence in Iraq, 'The Donald' said: "I would take the oil. To the victor belong the spoils. You know, in the old days, you'd have a war. And you'd be in there. And you'd win. And you'd take over the country. Whether it's oil or gold or whatever. You take over the country." ·