Germophobe Donald Trump says he will shake hands

For the man who once wrote that "one of the curses of American society is the simple act of shaking hands," running for president poses a unique problem.

But real estate mogul Donald Trump-- an admitted germophobe who once distributed bottles of Purell hand sanitizer to reporters--appeared to casually suggest Thursday that he's going to grin and bear the germ-heavy custom of candidate hand-shaking if he does decide to seek the 2012 presidential nomination.

"I will meet many, many people--maybe all of the people" in Iowa, Trump told the Des Moines Register. "If I decide to run, I will be shaking hands with everybody."

Trump did not specifically address hands belonging to teachers, whom Trump once said he will never touch because they have "17,000 germs per square inch on their desk[s]."

Hat tip: GOP12

(Photo of Trump, right, with daughter Ivanka Trump: Charles Rex Argbogast/AP)