Donald Trump: My past is fair game

Donald Trump says the seamy details of his contentious divorce are within bounds for his critics.

The GOP presidential poll leader and business tycoon told NBC's Chuck Todd in a taped interview that his divorce has long been tabloid fodder and that he expects it to reemerge, especially if he assails Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton for her husband, Bill Clinton's, extramarital affairs and allegations of assault.


"No. 1, it's fine," he said in the interview, which aired on "Meet the Press." "You know what? I wasn't the President of the United States. And I wasn't dealing in the Oval Office, all right? A big difference. I wasn't the president."

Clinton has ripped Trump as sexist, and Trump has warned that if the criticism continues, he'll go after her for standing by her husband's behavior.

"I had to bring it up," he said.

Trump and his first wife Ivana were divorced in the 1990s, and a report of the trial reveal that she accused Trump of violating her during a 1989 sexual encounter. But Ivana Trump has since spoken out in defense of her ex-husband, a fact Donald Trump pointed out to Todd.

"And my first wife thinks I'm great ... I'm not saying don't bring anything up with me," he said.