“I
TRUMP APPEAL From left: Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, and Herman Cain all have sought Trump for his endorsement. Far right: Trump endorses Mitt Romney in Las Vegas, pictured with Mitt and his wife, Ann.
do nothing but fire people on television, and yet millions across America respect my po- litical opinions. I don’t know if they like me per- sonally, but I have political influence because people respect what I say and how I say it.” The speaker is Donald J. Trump, the billion-
aire developer, and host of the top rated TV real- ity show Celebrity Apprentice. We are in his office on the 26th floor of Trump Tower, overlooking New York’s fashionable Fifth Avenue. The space is testimony to Trump’s phi- losophy: If you’ve got it, flaunt it. The walls are plastered,
floor to ceiling, with framed copies of magazine covers featuring Trump’s face. His desk and credenza
er countrymen can lay claim to — already at the top of the game in business and entertainment, he could add politics to his regal rings. Trump may prove that aside from political power, he can play actual kingmaker too. For sure, Trump has flirted with politics be-
fore. In 1988 and 1999, he sent up smoke signals that he might make a presidential bid. But in 2011 the idea seemed to become real, when in- terest in him as a presiden- tial candidate first began to percolate and then burst into a boiling cauldron. Soon after Trump said
Edward Klein has been editor- in-chief of the New York Times magazine, foreign editor of Newsweek and is now contributing
are overflowing with tro- phies and plaques com- memorating his triumphs in the fields of business, sports, gaming, entertain- ment, and philanthropy. Trump has made a career out of defying ex-
editor of Vanity Fair. He has authored numerous best-selling books including his latest, The Amateur, about President Obama.
— to Newsmax and other media — that he had real intentions of running. Then he catapulted to the lead of a presumed field of GOP candidates. In April 2011, a Rasmussen poll had Trump leading the field of choices with 19 percent, followed by Mitt Romney
pectations, building a family-owned real estate business into a multibillion-dollar, five-star global brand that runs the gamut from luxury hotels to the Miss Universe contest, from golf clubs to skating rinks, from a men’s clothing line to a winery. Not to mention 15 books he has authored about business. And if November’s election goes the way
Trump is hoping, he may soon become the Tri- ple-Crown winner in American life that no oth-
with 17 percent, and Mike Huckabee in third with 15 percent. The mainstream press didn’t cotton to the
idea of a President Trump, to say the least. Trump found himself under attack from web- sites such as The Huffington Post, which tried to make a joke of his candidacy. In the end, Trump indicated pressing busi-
ness commitments prevented him from run- ning himself, but he promised that he would remain a force in this year’s race, claiming in a Newsmax interview that President Obama “is
42 NEWSMAX | AUGUST 2012
PG.40,41: DIANE BONDAREFF / PG.42: KLEIN/ZUMA PRESS/NEWSCOM / PERRY,GINGRICH/AP IMAGES / CAIN/SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES
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