 Real estate mogul Donald Trump said he hopes to endorse a candidate for the Republican nomination within the next "three or four weeks" but has not ruled out an independent bid if primary voters choose someone who can't win. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich, who is now leading in the most recent Iowa poll, said he will participate. Included in his new book, Time to Get Tough Making America #1 Again, are the financial disclosure forms that Trump would have filed if he had decided to run for president this year. After boasting of his own accolades — he writes, “I was quickly #1 in the polls,” as well as, “I am a ratings machine” — Trump offers his personal impressions of the candidates. Trump writes that Mitt Romney has been “spectacular” in the debates and that the former Massachusetts governor is “a much different guy” in private than he is in public, describing him as “warm and engaging.” 
 
 “He gets criticized for changing his opinions, or ‘flip flopping,’ but over a lifetime I’ve seen many people who don’t change and they always get left behind,” Trump writes. “If you have a concrete wall in front of you, you can’t just try to run through it,” Trump said. Chapters are entitled “Get tough,” “Take the Oil,” “Tax China to Save American Jobs,” “A Safety Net, Not a Hammock” — all hitting on the same protectionist, smaller government themes that Trump strummed when he toyed with a presidential run back in the spring, harnessing a take-the-fight-to-Obama message that left an imprint on how the GOP primary candidates have campaigned. Everybody changes.” 
 
 
 
 Trump writes that he found Texas Gov. Rick Perry is "different from the debates" and "is forceful and strong" off camera. “The reason they come to see me isn’t just because I am a nice person but because millions of people listen to what I say and know I ‘get it.’ Some magazines have said I am the single most important endorsement a presidential candidate can have. You are getting killed in the debates.’ But he repeated, ‘Donald, they are just not for me.’ 
 
 Trump describes Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) as “a real worker bee.” He notes that she visited his office “more than once” and that “no matter what happens with her run for the White House she’s got a great political future ahead of her.” 
 
 One candidate who hasn’t visited Trump is former Utah governor Jon Huntsman Jr. Indeed, Huntsman made a public show of not wanting or needing to see Trump, and last week declining an invitation to a debate Trump is moderating two days after Christmas in Iowa. I mean I didn’t know that he had an ability to lay on hands, you know, and anoint people.” 
 
 In the interview, Trump said he plans to endorse a candidate “over the next month or so” and that he would consider making an independent run next year if he is not satisfied with the Republican nominee. "It's hard for Trump to run and have somebody who is struggling say I'm going to send him $100 or $1,000," Trump said, referring to himself in the third person three times. He estimates his net worth at $7 billion, including a “brand value” he assesses at $3 billion. Trump writes at length about NBC, which airs his show, “The Apprentice.” He criticizes its decision to change the time of Jay Leno’s show: “I warned them it would be the first time in history somebody’s going to be taken out of the #1 position and moved.” 
 
 Trump also writes about his beefs with marquee talent in the network’s news division. Trump also calls himself ratings gold, evaluates the GOP hopefuls and suggests his own endorsement is the one worth waiting for. The book reads like a Trump interview on TV — he volunteers to show the reader proof that Jon Huntsman called him and asked to speak with him, questions why President Barack Obama gets so much credit for Osama bin Laden’s death and begins sentences with, “Here’s the deal.” 
 
 He claims credit for creating Lady Gaga. The president was making fun of Trump and the outsize role he was playing in the GOP race.
– One thing is certain: Donald Trump has no shortage of self-esteem. In his new book, out this week, he takes credit for making Lady Gaga "a big star," hypothesizing, "maybe she became a star because I put her on the Miss Universe Pageant. It’s very possible, who knows what would have happened without it, because she caused a sensation. … I really believe I had at least something to do with it." More from Time to Get Tough: Making America #1 Again from Politico, the Washington Post, and USA Today: On his endorsement: "The Republican field has several good candidates in the race—most of whom have come to see me at my office in Trump Tower. The reason they come to see me isn’t just because I am a nice person but because millions of people listen to what I say and know I 'get it.' Some magazines have said I am the single most important endorsement a presidential candidate can have. I don’t know if that’s true but it wouldn’t surprise me." On Osama bin Laden: "It’s wonderful that we got him, but what sane person would have decided otherwise? Why does Obama get so much credit? I know that’s not politically correct to say, but if somebody can explain that to me, I would be very grateful. Our military deserves all the credit, not Obama." On the president's mockery of him at the White House Correspondent's Dinner: "While I shouldn’t admit this, I don’t mind being the center of attention, especially on such an evening. I loved it!" he writes. "I didn’t quite know how to react. Should I be laughing? Smiling? Frowning? I wasn’t sure so I decided to keep a straight face, with a few little smiles every once in a while because I knew the cameras were on me." On Rick Perry: "Every time I speak to him he is so forceful and strong that I have actually said to him: 'Rick, why can’t you act this way during the debates?' He said, 'Donald, the debates are just not my thing.' So I said, 'Why don’t you pretend you are someplace else? You gotta act different. You are getting killed in the debates.'" More choice quotes about himself: "I was quickly No. 1 in the polls." "I am a ratings machine." "It is very hard for a truly successful person to run for office." In interviews with all three publications, the Donald did not rule out re-entering the presidential race as an independent, and even went so far as to say he would consider an independent run if he doesn't like the Republican nominee.