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"The fact is that they're gaming the system. I think that maybe we should just have no moderator. Let Hillary and I sit there and just debate," Trump said in a phone interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Monday morning.

The Republican nominee pointed to critics who said NBC host Matt Lauer was too soft on Trump during a national security town hall last week and argued that the next moderator will try to be overly tough on Trump to avoid similar criticism.

"I can see it happening right now," Trump said. "The new person is going to try to be really hard on Trump just to show, you know, the establishment what he can do. So I think it's very unfair what they're doing."

Trump in fact argued that Lauer wasn't easy on him, but that Trump simply answered questions better than Hillary Clinton. "I thought he was very professional, I have to be honest. I think he's been treated very unfairly."

His comments come a week after Trump told reporters on his plane that he respected the chosen moderators. "I like them. I respect the moderators. Yeah, I do respect them."

The first debate is set to take place Monday, September 26 at Hofstra University.

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PENSACOLA, Fla.--There may have been teleprompters, but the Donald Trump that took the stage hereon Fridaynight was a familiar one --unvarnished and unfiltered in front of a screaming horde of thousands. He spoke for almost an hour in a speech filled with his colorful malapropisms. He used the prompter as more of a suggestion than a strict road map for his verbiage.

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With less than two months until Election Day, the presidential candidates have shifted their attention to foreign policy. Hillary Clinton used he...

After promising to bolster the United States missile defense system, Trump had a message for Iran, bringing to bear the machismo that his supporters have come to know and love.

When they circle our beautiful destroyers with their little boats and they make gestures at our people that they shouldnt be allowed to make, Trump said, they will be shot out of the water. OK? Believe me.

The crowd did believe him and cheered accordingly.

He referred to his opponent for the White House, Hillary Clinton, as trigger-happy multiple times and also said, Personally, I think shes an unstable person. OK?

There was more. A lotmore.

She could walk into this arena right now and shoot somebody with 20,000 people watching right smack in the middle of the heart and she wouldnt be prosecuted, OK? Thats whats happened, Trump said.

Trump has made a similar outsizedclaim in a previous rally -- except it was usedto describe himself. In Iowa last winter, Trump said that he could go out on Fifth Avenue in New York City, shoot somebody and not lose any support.

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Donald Trump spoke to a gathering of social and religious conservatives Friday in Washington, DC. During the address, the Republican presidential...

The GOP nominee has run a relentless schedule of late but didnt show any sign of wear atFridaynights rally. He started the day in Washington at the Values Voter Summit. There, he told the Christian Broadcasting Networks David Brody that this election would be the last election if he didnt become president.

I think this will be the last election if I dont win, Trump said. I think this will be the last election that the Republicans have a chance of winning because youre gonna have people flowing across the borders. Youre gonna have illegal immigrants coming in, and theyre gonna be legalized,and theyre gonna be able to vote. And once that all happens, you can forget it.

In that same interview, Trump said he was the last hope for a Republican to win the White House ever again.

The exaggerations and Trump-speak carried on to Pensacola, Florida.

And by the way, were going to make education so good. You have to just take a look. And Common Core --boom! --out, Trump said.

There wasthe Trump classic (Youre gonna get so tired of winning.) and then there was a reference to nuclear warming.

Then [Clinton] gave up 20 percent of U.S. uranium to Russia, Trump said. You know what that means, right? In other word, nuclear, right? While those who benefited from the deal gave massive amounts of money to the Clintons. They get a 20 percent of the uranium! Uranium is big, big stuff because it means the ultimate. The ultimate is called nuclear. Not global warming. Its called nuclear warming. OK?

When Trump talked about his resistance to allowing Syrian refugees into the country, Trumpsaid:They wont talk about the Trojan horse in 500 years ago.Theyll be talking about what happened in the United States.

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Donald Trump heaped praise on Russian president Vladimir Putin during a national security forum Wednesday night. Hillary Clinton and Speaker of t...

He brought up Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying, Honestly, I dont know the gentleman, but you know what? Hes been nice to me. If hes nice to me, thats fine. Not gonna make a bit of difference. If we dont get great deals for our country, nothing matters to me. Its all about getting great deals.

Trump and his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, have come under fire in recent days for lauding Putin, a foreign leader who has seemingly delighted in antagonizing the United States. Trump also said that Russia and China would pillage the United States if Clinton was elected.

The bravado was on full display as another campaign week came to an end. Trump said that he would go to countries that we defend, some NATO countries and other major, major countries to ask them to up the ante.

And were gonna ask them in a very polite way,and Im sure theyll say absolutelybecause they cant believe what they are getting away with. OK? Trump said.

The billionaire received a boost this week as polls, both nationally and in swing states, started to tighten. He also received the support of a number of military figures earlier this week. But Trump seemed surprised by how high the number was.

I am proud to have the support of the retired generals and admirals who know how to win, Trump said. Andon Monday, were going to have 88 --88! --generals and admirals. I didnt even know there were that many. I figured [it] wouldnt be that many.On Monday, were getting 22 more!

He was in rare form. He seemed more akin to the fiery, unfiltered candidate that rose to the top of the Republican field in the primaries. Weeks of discipline -- discipline for Trump, anyways -- gave way to one night Trump being Trump.

The crowd stood and roared,and Trump hit the ropeline, telling at least one cameraman to make sure he shot his good side.

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Donald Trump: Clinton could "shoot somebody" and not get ...

Since the 9/11 attacks, there hasn't been a presidential nominee hailing from New York. But that changed this year, since the major party candidates have close ties to the state.

Donald Trump is a born-and-bred New Yorker who has extensive real estate interests in the Big Apple, which he still calls his home. Hillary Clinton represented New York in the Senate for eight years and has lived in a home in the state for 16 years.

Both candidates have talked about the attacks and their aftermath throughout this presidential campaign, but neither of them will be doing so publicly this weekend: Both have agreed not to campaign Sunday, on the 15th anniversary of the attacks.

A Clinton campaign aide confirmed today that she will be visiting ground zero on Sunday "to pay her respects."

While both have discussed their experiences in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism during various campaign stops, Clinton and Trump don't regularly talk about their whereabouts on that day.

Clinton was in D.C. at the time of the attack as one of New York's senators.

Members of Congress sang "God Bless America" on the evening of Sept. 11 on the steps of the Capitol, and immediately after that, Clinton was interviewed by ABC News' Jonathan Karl, who was working for CNN at the time.

"I don't think we even have an inkling of the devastation," she said in the interview.

"I'm very proud of New York City, the mayor, the police, the fire all the people working in the emergency front lines have done a superb job. But you know, New York is the global city. It is the symbol of American leadership, and these terrorists made a direct hit on who we are as a people, and New York has responded, and the national government has to stand behind us," she said.

Clinton toured the wreckage at ground zero with then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is now an active Trump surrogate, on Sept. 12.

There is footage of Trump doing a video interview with a German news station near ground zero a day later.

"I've never seen anything like it the devastation, the human life that's been just wasted for no reason whatsoever. It is a terrible scene. It's a terrible sight. But New Yorkers are very strong and resilient, and they'll rebuild quickly," he said during the interview.

On the day of the attacks, Trump has said, he was in his Manhattan apartment.

"I have a window in my apartment that specifically was aimed at the World Trade Center, because of the beauty of the whole downtown Manhattan. And I watched as people jumped, and I watched the second plane come in," he said during a campaign stop in Columbus, Ohio, in November 2015.

"Many people jumped, and I witnessed that. I watched that," he said.

Trump's claim that he saw television reports of people in New Jersey celebrating the attacks has been discredited.

He stood by that claim on the campaign trail last year.

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Where Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Were on 9/11

Kellyanne Conway told CNN's Chris Cuomo on "New Day" that the so-called birther controversy is over, following similar comments from Trump supporter and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani to that effect.

"He believes President Obama was born here," Conway said of Trump. "I was born in Camden, by the way, New Jersey. He was born in Hawaii."

Trump has been one of the biggest proponents of repeatedly debunked theories about Obama's place of birth, which prompted the President to release his birth certificate showing he was born in the US.

As recently as Tuesday, Trump declined to say Obama was born in the US.

But Conway was unequivocal.

"There's no question to me he was born in the United States, but he's not been a particularly successful President, and that's what this campaign is about," Conway said.

Asked why Trump doesn't say it himself, Conway replied: "You have to ask him."

The birther issue has come up again on the campaign because it has been a problem for Trump in the African-American community. Democrats, including Hillary Clinton and her former opponent Sen. Bernie Sanders, have denounced Trump's past questioning of Obama as racially motivated, using that on the trail to portray Trump as bigoted.

On Tuesday night, Trump was asked about it by Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, ducking the opportunity to outright state that Obama was born in the US. Trump said he had "no idea" if his comments were hurting him with African-Americans.

"I don't even talk about it anymore," Trump said. "I don't think so," he added of whether the comments hurting him.

Giuliani said on MSNBC on Thursday that Trump now believes Obama was born in the US.

"He has told me that he is proud of the fact that he finally got Obama to produce his birth certificate," Giuliani said.

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In a sit-down with CNN's Dana Bash at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, the GOP vice presidential nominee said Donald Trump was speaking "boldly" as did the 40th president of the United States.

"I think it's inarguable that Vladimir Putin has been a stronger leader in his country than Barack Obama has been in this country. And that's going to change the day that Donald Trump becomes president," Pence said.

But pressed by Bash on the difference between the two nation's governments -- namely that in the US democracy presidents share power with Congress, Pence acknowledged that Trump was not advocating for a dictatorship.

"Donald Trump said last night he doesn't particularly like the system," Pence said in reference to Russia.

The Republican governor was responding to comments Trump made the previous night at a "commander in chief forum" on NBC News.

"Certainly, in that system, he's been a leader, far more than our president has been a leader," Trump said, when asked about his repeated praise and kind words for Putin despite Russia's increasing aggression toward the United States.

Pence also defended Trump's comments that "the generals have been reduced to rubble" under the Obama administration, responding to critics that interpreted those words to mean Trump was putting down the US military.

"I think he was talking about the commander in chief reducing the influence of generals to rubble," Pence said. He added that Trump was describing a "sense that he got recently that in fact our President had not taken all of the counsel of our military advisers in confronting and defeating ISIS."

Trump has been focusing on his national security policy in the past few days, including announcing that his plan to combat ISIS would include ordering military generals to put together a plan to defeat the terrorist group in his first 30 days.

That has stood in contrast with statements Trump made last year that he had a "foolproof" plan to defeat ISIS already.

Pence refused to answer whether Trump has shared his secret strategy with his running mate: "I'll keep our private conversations private," he said.

But he did say that the military could do more under a Trump administration than it has under an Obama administration when asked why the military would have different ideas under Trump than it does now.

"The military commanders serve at the pleasure of civilian authority. The commander in chief makes the call," Pence said. "And I'm confident that our military commanders can bring forward the ideas once the commander in chief makes the mission clear, and Donald Trump has made the mission clear."

Pence refused to say whether Trump would consider sending in significant ground troops to the Middle East, saying he would not "signal to the enemy" his plans.

Throughout the interview, Pence compared Trump and Reagan, saying he believes they are similar leaders. He was at the presidential library to give a speech on the comparison between the two men.

"Their styles are different, surely, between Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, but I think both men are truth tellers," Pence said. "They speak plainly about the failings of the administrations of their time, but they also, I think they both give voice to the aspirations of the American people, that we can be better, we can bet stronger."

He added that comparison applies to one of his favorite adjectives to describe Reagan: "Humble."

As Bash questioned how that word could describe a man with his name on so many buildings, Pence said Trump reveals his "humility" in private.

"Ronald Reagan had his name on a lot of marquees. I think at their very core, both men are the kind of leaders that have a core of humility," Pence said. "Donald Trump is always the first person to say, when we say enormous crowds turn out for rallies ... he's always the first one to say, 'This is a movement. This is not about me. This is about the ideas we're advocating.'"

As the vice presidential nominee, Pence will have his own debate against his Democratic counterpart, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, this fall.

Pence said he's preparing "in a very traditional way," despite reports that Trump has eschewed any mock debates or typical debate prep.

"My running mate is a masterful debater," Pence said. "I'm confident he's going to acquit himself well."

As for Pence, he noted that he's been focused on his state as governor of Indiana, and is working to get up to speed on national and international policy.

"We're really taking some time to brush up," Pence said. "I want to make sure that I'm ready to tell Donald Trump's story to the nation."

And he confirmed that his camp has a stand-in for Kaine for mock debates.

"We actually do. I'll leak it to you later," Pence said.

Trump's first debate is September 26, while the sole vice presidential debate will be October 4.

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Mike Pence defends Donald Trump comments on Vladimir Putin ...