Trump Revealed

by Michael Kranish

  “not a matchmaker”: Letter from Tony August to President Clinton, April 2, 1993, Clinton Presidential Library, Donald J. Trump collection.

  prominent officials: Jonathan P. Hicks, “After Skipping President’s Talk, Giuliani Meets Clinton in Private,” New York Times, March 11, 1994.

  Clinton’s personal secretary: Clinton Presidential Library, Donald J. Trump collection.

  “How about me with the women?”: Glenn Kessler, “Trump’s Flip-Flop on Whether the Bill Clinton Sex Scandals Are Important,” Washington Post, May 24, 2016.

  this could be Trump’s moment: Roger Stone interview with Robert Samuels, Washington Post, May 2, 2016.

  was still popular: http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1992.

  particularly familiar with the rise of Jesse Ventura: CNN Tonight, CNN, August 18, 2005.

  previous two presidential elections: http://www.fec.gov/press/bkgnd/fund.shtml.

  “spirit has to be brought back”: Larry King Live, CNN, October 8, 1999.

  Oprah Winfrey: Larry King Live, CNN, October 8, 1999.

  publicity stunt: Al D’Amato interview with Robert Samuels, Washington Post, May 20, 2016.

  “divide our country”: Paul Alexander, “Trump Towers,” Advocate, February 15, 2000.

  renegotiation of trade agreements: Larry King Live, CNN, October 8, 1999.

  Trump interrupted: Meet the Press, NBC, October 24, 1999.

  partial-birth abortion was: Roger Stone interview with Tom Hamburger and Mary Jordan, Washington Post, May 11, 2016.

  “Let’s cut to the chase”: Trump, The America We Deserve, 15.

  “a woman’s right to choose”: Ibid., 30.

  election campaign awaited them: Phil Madsen interview with Robert Samuels, Washington Post, April 30, 2016.

  “Just be honest”: Dean Barkley interview with Robert Samuels, Washington Post, April 28, 2016.

  Trump expressed concern: Ibid.

  “Are these people stiffs”: Cragg Hines, “Trump, Ventura Stir Political Pot,” Houston Chronicle, January 8, 2000.

  an op-ed in the New York Times: Donald J. Trump, “What I Saw at the Revolution,” New York Times, February 19, 2000.

  He won both: http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2000/2000presprim.htm.

  graciously let it pass: Judith Hope interview with Shawn Boburg, Washington Post, May 19, 2016.

  “in my business”: Trump interview with Fisher and Kranish, June 9, 2016.

  He also invited: Joshua Gillin, “The Clintons Really Did Attend Donald Trump’s 2005 Wedding,” PolitiFact, July 21, 2015.

  joined the Democratic Party: New York City Board of Elections voting history.

  “said to myself”: Trump interview with Boburg, O’Harrow, Goldstein, Markon, and Harwell.

  policing and the commercialization: Fernando Ferrer interview with Shawn Boburg, Washington Post, May 17, 2016.

  eve of the runoff: Michael Cooper and Randal C. Archibald, “Runoff Campaign Turns Confrontational and Strange as Candidates Trade Charges,” New York Times, October 10, 2001.

  wondering to himself: Fernando Ferrer interview with Shawn Boburg, Washington Post, May 17, 2016.

  handwritten letter: Interview with Eliot Spitzer, Washington Post, May 19, 2016.

  slammed Spitzer: Donald Trump, Twitter account, July 10, 2013.

  “I give to everybody”: YouTube, presidential debate, August 6, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiwMCAkK9uE.

  “give not to show up?”: Frank Sanzillo interview with Marc Fisher, Washington Post, April 2016.

  Trump and his major companies: Analysis of New York City, New York State, and federal campaign finance data, Alice Crites, Washington Post.

  “The only thing”: Charlie Rangel interview with Robert Samuels, Washington Post, May 9, 2016.

  a “disaster”: Trump interview with Robert Samuels, Washington Post, May 25, 2016.

  Five days after the invasion: Michelle Ye Hee Lee, “A Timeline of Trump’s Comments on Iraq Invasion: Not Loud, Not Strong, No Headlines,” Washington Post, February 25, 2016.

  Recalling the 2004 vote: Trump interview with Samuels.

  “wonderful qualities”: Maureen Dowd, “Trump Fired Up,” New York Times, December 23, 2006.

  voted for him: Trump interview with Samuels.

  changed parties: Voter registration records, New York City Board of Elections. Information on Trump’s historical party registration is based on a document provided by the Board of Elections in the City of New York. The document, a description of “Activities to the Voter Record,” contains internal coding corresponding to changes in Trump’s voter registration since 1992. A spokeswoman at the Board of Elections declined to explain the coding, but Jerry Skurnik, a New York City–based political consultant who cofounded a company, Prime NY, that collects and distributes information on agency records, examined the document at the request of the Washington Post.

  “make friends”: Trump interview with Fisher and Kranish, June 9, 2016.

  Trump’s celebrity: Jonathan Weisman and Scott Greenberg, “NBC/WSJ Poll: A Donald Trump Surprise,” Wall Street Journal, April 6, 2011.

  Among Tea Party: “NBC/WSJ Poll: Trump Tied for 2nd in 2012 GOP Field,” www.nbcnews.com, April 6, 2011.

  a “job killer!”: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/131778860189626369?lang=en.

  “one of the greatest threats”: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/137640805908234240?lang=en.

  “show his birth certificate”: Seamus McGraw, “Trump: I Have ‘Real Doubts’ Obama Was Born in U.S.,” Today News, April 7, 2011.

  Obama announced that: Karen Tumulty and Anne E. Kornblut, “Obama, Frustrated by ‘This Silliness,’ Produces Detailed Hawaii Birth Certificate,” Washington Post, April 27, 2011.

  “phenomenal”: Roxanne Roberts, “I Sat Next to Donald Trump at the Infamous 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” Washington Post, April 28, 2016.

  “greatest passion”: Lisa de Moraes, “Donald Trump: I Will Not Be Running for President,” Washington Post, May 16, 2011.

  “contract with The Apprentice”: Trump interview with Marc Fisher, Washington Post, December 2015.

  “something great”: Rachel Weiner and Phil Rucker, “Donald Trump Endorses Mitt Romney,” Washington Post, February 2, 2012.

  $5 million to a charity: “From the Desk of Donald Trump: Major Announcement,” posted October 24, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgOq9pBkY0I.

  Obama ignored the request: CBS News, “Donald Trump 5m Offer to President Falls Flat, Joke to Many,” October 25, 2012.

  “felt good”: Gayle Fee, Laura Raposa, and Megan Johnson, Boston Herald, November 7, 2012. Trump also described his attendance in Boston, and his frustration at the loss in an interview with Jenna Johnson, Washington Post, May 13, 2016.

  “total sham and a travesty”: Donald Trump, @realdonaldtrump, November 6, 2012, https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/266035509162303492?lang=en.

  “Let’s fight like hell”: Trump, November 6, 2012, https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/266034957875544064?lang=en.

  “Our nation is totally divided!”: Trump, November 6, 2012, https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/266034630820507648?lang=en.

  CHAPTER 17: THE WORTH OF A MAN

  $8.7 billion: Donald J. Trump Summary of Net Worth as of June 30, 2014.

  “amazing job”: Transcript of Donald Trump presidential announcement speech, June 16, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/06/16/full-text-donald-trump-announces-a-presidential-bid/.

  “TEN BILLION DOLLARS”: “Donald J. Trump Files Personal Financial Disclosure Statement with Federal Election Commission,” Trump press statement, July 15, 2015, https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-releases/donald-j.-trump-files-personal-financial-disclosure-statement-with-federal.

  every December: State of New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety Division of Gaming Enforcement Report to the Casino Control Commission, October 16, 1
981, 35.

  paid no income tax: Ibid., 37. Drew Harwell, “Trump Once Revealed His Income Tax Returns. They Showed He Didn’t Pay a Cent,” Washington Post, May 21, 2016.

  from his father: State of New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety Division of Gaming Enforcement Report to the Casino Control Commission, PDF32.

  Atlantic City debt: Ibid., 25.

  “keep score” in life: Donald Trump tweet, September 13, 2014, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/510935518360895488.

  about $500 million: Randall Lane, “Inside the Epic Fantasy That’s Driven Donald Trump for 33 Years,” Forbes, October 19, 2015.

  “divide whatever [Trump] said”: Harold Seneker interview with Allan Sloan, Washington Post, 2016.

  “breaking every record”: Jennifer Wang, “The Ups and Downs of Donald Trump: Three Decades On and Off the Forbes 400,” Forbes, March 14, 2016.

  “won’t lose a dollar”: Robert Lenzner, “He’s His Own Trump Card: New York’s Biggest Wheeler-Dealer Looking for Bigger, Better Deals,” Boston Globe, October 23, 1988.

  “I hope so”: David Letterman interview with Donald Trump, November 10, 1988, at the eighteen-minute mark, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmNN2MCJ-7U&feature=youtu.be&t=16m12s.

  “your own lap”: MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour interview with Abe Wallach, 1989. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlwCXgZwSCc (10:05).

  defamation of character: Interview with Abe Wallach, 2016.

  did not recall: Trump interview with Fisher and Kranish, June 9, 2016.

  Trump himself called: Abe Wallach, “How to Get Hired by Donald Trump,” unpublished manuscript.

  offered him a job: Ibid.

  calculated his net worth: State of New Jersey Casino Control Commission Report on the Financial Position of Donald J. Trump, April 15, 1991; Wallach unpublished manuscript provided to Washington Post.

  “additional source of coin”: Richard L. Stern and John Connolly, “Manhattan’s Favorite Guessing Game: How Rich Is Donald,” Forbes, May 14, 1990.

  $500 million: “Trump Loses Billionaire Status, Forbes Says,” United Press International, April 27, 1990.

  six consecutive years: Wang, “The Ups and Downs of Donald Trump: Three Decades on and off the Forbes 400.”

  “very inaccurate survey”: Glenn Plaskin, “Playboy Interview: Donald Trump,” Playboy, March 1990.

  “net worth”: Trump and Leerhsen, Surviving at the Top, 30.

  $832 million in debt: State of New Jersey Casino Control Commission, Trump Petition to Transfer Casino Security and Equity to banks, August 16, 1990, 37.

  due diligence: Interview with Abe Wallach, 2016.

  informal financial statement: Ibid.

  the building for renovations: Bloomberg Business News, “40 Wall Street Is Sold to Trump,” December 7, 1995, as published in the New York Times.

  “turned down the heat”: Trump interview with Fisher and Kranish, June 9, 2016. Wallach gave a similar account in the “40 Wall Street” chapter of his unpublished manuscript.

  at least $500 million: Steve Cuozzo, “Donald Trump Could Sell 40 Wall St. to Fund His Campaign,” New York Post, May 23, 2016.

  “many years”: Trump interview with Fisher and Kranish.

  $214 million: Trump financial disclosure form.

  “control his image”: Robert Slater, No Such Thing as Over-Exposure: Inside the Life and Celebrity of Donald Trump (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2005), xiii–xxiv.

  “last minute”: Robert Slater speech at the Library of Congress, “The Hazards and Joys of Writing Books on Donald Trump and Martha Stewart: One Author’s Perspective,” October 25, 2005, http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/transcripts/2005/051025slater.txt.

  punish those who questioned: Abraham Wallach with Robert O’Harrow Jr. and Drew Harwell, Washington Post, May 2016; Wallach unpublished manuscript.

  1,900 lawsuits: Nick Penzenstadler and Susan Page, “Exclusive: Trump’s 3,500 Lawsuits Unprecedented for a Presidential Nominee,” USA Today, June 2, 2016.

  complex business deals: Roger Parloff, “Highlights in Trump Litigations,” Fortune, http://archive.fortune.com/2016/highlights-in-trump-litigations/.

  “sue the ass off”: Jerry Useem, “What Does Donald Trump Really Want?,” Fortune, May 3, 2000.

  What was he really worth?: Timothy L. O’Brien and Eric Dash, “Is Trump Headed for a Fall?,” New York Times, March 28, 2004.

  Trump Taj Mahal: Ibid.

  success or not?: O’Brien interview with Drew Harwell and Robert O’Harrow, Washington Post, May 2016.

  fall of 2005: O’Brien, TrumpNation: The Art of Being The Donald (New York: Warner Business Books, 2005).

  weekend meeting: O’Brien, TrumpNation, 153.

  net worth came up: Ibid., 154.

  “gross misrepresentations”: Jason D. Greenblatt, Trump v. O’Brien, on appeal, Appendix to brief of plaintiff/Appellant Donald J. Trump, Volume VII, pdf 315.

  “riches are hard to find”: O’Brien, “What’s He Really Worth,” New York Times, October 23, 2005.

  $5 billion: Donald J. Trump v. Timothy L. O’Brien, Brief of Defendants/Respondents in Opposition of Appeal, 9 (001 O’Brien Appeals Brief).

  litany of questions: Trump deposition, 19.

  “my own feelings”: Ibid., 10.

  “I don’t say anything”: Ibid., 27.

  “People can form”: Ibid., 26.

  line of credit: Ibid., 35.

  “aware of that”: Ibid., 36.

  $788 million: Ibid., 37.

  “assets are worth”: Ibid.

  as high as $2.5 billion: Ibid., 66.

  March 20, 2009: Brief of Defendants/Respondent Timothy L. O’Brien et al., 1–2, doc 001.

  “ability to close deals”: On December 16: Brief in Support of Plaintiff/Appellant Donald J. Trump in Support of Appeal, 7, doc 000.

  “Given the vast”: Brief of Defendants/Respondent Timothy L. O’Brien et al., 1–2, doc 001.

  “billionaire’s club”: Trump v. O’Brien et al., Appellate Division decision, September 7, 2011, http://law.justia.com/cases/new-jersey/appellate-division-published/2011/a6141-08-opn.html.

  “low-life sleazebag”: Trump interview with Harwell, O’Harrow, Boburg, Goldstein, and Markon.

  “unbelievably dishonest”: Ibid.

  filed for bankruptcy: Jeffrey McCracken, “Trump Feud Faces a Court Threat,” Wall Street Journal, February 14, 2009.

  “worthless to me now”: Drew Harwell, “As Its Stock Collapsed, Trump’s Firm Gave Him Huge Bonuses and Paid for His Jet,” Washington Post, June 12, 2016.

  Atlantic City: Drew Harwell, “Inside the Rocky Billionaire Bromance of Donald Trump and Carl Icahn,” Washington Post, April 30, 2016.

  quality and success: Ibid.

  “how come they went bankrupt”: Alexandra Berzon and Christina S. N. Lewis, “Debating the Value of Trump Name,” Wall Street Journal, February 26, 2010.

  sold Trump Castle: Drew Fitzgerald, “Landry’s Buys Trump Marina Hotel in Atlantic City for $38 Million,” Wall Street Journal, February 14, 2011. “Trump’s Castle Is Shifting to Publicly Held Company,” Bloomberg Business News, June 26, 1996. (Sold in 1996 for $525 million.)

  four of the city’s twelve casinos: Brent Johnson, “Which Atlantic City Casinos Have Closed and Which Are Still Open?,” Star-Ledger, June 3, 2015.

  Icahn reemerged: Carl Icahn interview with Drew Harwell, Washington Post, 2016.

  questions about his net worth: Donald J. Trump Summary of Net Worth as of June 30, 2014, https://www.scribd.com/doc/296070432/Donald-J-Trump-Summary-of-Net-Worth-as-of-June-30-2014.

  two properties: Interview with Actovia Commercial Mortgage Intelligence founder Jonathan Ingber, May 3, 2016.

  Vornado: “Vornado to Acquire 70% Controlling Interest in 1290 Avenue of the Americas and 555 California Street,” press statement, March 16, 2007, http://www.vno.com/press-release/clndi9rcjl/vornado-to-acquire-70-controlling-interest-in-1290-avenue-of-the-americas-and-555-california-street.


  Trump Palace: Interview with Ingber, 2016.

  more than $50 million: Donald Trump personal financial disclosure filed with the FEC in 2015, 22.

  $1.4 million: Drew Harwell, “Trump Once Revealed His Income Tax Returns. They Showed He Didn’t Pay a Cent.”

  Every major party nominee: Glenn Kessler, “Trump’s False Claim That ‘There’s Nothing to Learn’ from His Tax Returns,” Washington Post, May 12, 2016.

  “nothing to learn”: Julie Pace and Jill Colvin, “AP Interview: Trump Says Big Rallies His Key Campaign Weapon,” Associated Press, May 10, 2016.

  little as possible: Trump interview with Chuck Todd, Meet the Press, January 24, 2016, http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-january-24-2016-n503241.

  “It’s ridiculous”: Trump interview with Face the Nation, CBS, August 23, 2015.

  “ardent philanthropist”: 2014 archive of Trump website biography, http://web.archive.org/web/20140721012816/http://www.trump.com/Donald_J_Trump/Biography.asp.

  charity auctions: David A. Fahrenthold and Rosalind S. Helderman, “Missing from Trump’s List of Charitable Giving: His Own Personal Cash,” Washington Post, April 10, 2016.

  Serena Williams: Ibid.

  charity that bore: Ibid.

  “No, I don’t want to”: Trump interview, May 13, 2016.

  until four months later: David A. Fahrenthold, “Four Months after Fundraiser, Trump Says He Gave $1 million to Veterans Group,” Washington Post, May 24, 2016.

  “nasty guy”: Ibid.

  $6 million: David A. Fahrenthold and Jose A. DelReal, “Trump Rails against Scrutiny over Delayed Donations to Veterans Groups,” Washington Post, May 31, 2016.

  “continue to attack”: Ibid.

  “representing Donald Trump”: Trump interview with Robert O’Harrow and Drew Harwell, Washington Post, May 2016.

  CHAPTER 18: “TRUMP! TRUMP! TRUMP!”

  season of missteps: Ed O’Keefe, “Jeb Bush Announces Presidential Bid: ‘We Will Take Command of Our Future Once Again,’ ” Washington Post, June 15, 2015.

  had been lured: Ben Terris, “Donald Trump Begins 2016 Bid, Citing Outsider Status,” Washington Post, June 16, 2015.

  a little different: Corey Lewandowski interview with Dan Balz and Jenna Johnson, May 19, 2016.