Thursday, 24th


May 2018


info@eastcorkjournal.ie


25 Questions I Would Like to Ask Donald Trump – Outsider Perspectives


Schooling I see


you went to a


by DR ROSARII GRIFFIN Introduction


I am curious about Donald Trump. I am curi- ous about his upbringing, his values, his education, what influenced him and what makes him tick. If I were a White House jour- nalist, allowed in the press- room, the following ques- tions are those I would like to put to him, if I only could! Therefore, what fol- lows are the dream ques- tions which any journalist or academic would, I’m sure, love to ask in order to find out: ‘what maketh the man?’


Upbringing Donald, I believe you


were born and raised in Queens, New York in 1946. Can you tell me please, what were


your


first memories as a child? How was your mother towards you growing up? What are your memories of her? How was your relationship with your father? Were you close? How was your parents’ relationship? Were


they


close? Did they ever argue or fight? Who was the boss in your home, or did your parents have equal status? Did you admire your Dad? Do you think he admired you, or how did he treat you? You are one of five siblings, in fact, you are the fourth of five siblings. You had three older sisters and a younger brother, Rob- ert. As a family, how did you all get along? Did you have a favourite brother or sister? Did you bond with any one in particular? Do or did you have a favourite auntie or uncle, if so why were they your favourite? Do you remember your grandparents? If so, tell me about


them. What


was special about them? Did you have a favourite grandparent and, if so, who was it and why were they your favourite? Do you have any stories to tell me about your early years or, indeed, early memories that stand out for you as a child?


school called ‘Kew-Forrest School’ from kindergarten to seventh grade. Did you like this school? If so, why? If not, why not? Did you have a favourite teacher? If so, why were they your favourite? Did you have any close friends from that time? If so, who were they? Why did you like them? For secondary school, you attended a New York Mil- itary Academy from the age of 13. Tell me about this secondary school ex- perience. Did you enjoy it? If so, why? If not, why not? What was your fa- vourite subject? Was there any teacher there who in- spired you? What hobbies did you enjoy participat- ing in? If any, do you still keep them up? Who was your first girlfriend? What was she like? Do you still keep in touch?


University Experience In 1964, you attended


Fordham University for two years. What did you study there? You then transferred after two years to Wharton school of the University of Pennsylvania to study ‘Real-Estate Stud- ies’. You did this to work in your parents’ ‘Elizabeth Trump and Sons’ real es- tate business. (You later went on to rename the family business as ‘The Trump Organisation’.) In 1968 you graduated with a Bachelor of Science in economics. Did you enjoy your College years? If so, why? What was the high- light of this time for you? Did you make any friends from this time that you are still in touch with? Despite the Military war going on in Vietnam, you did not serve in the military forc- es, despite being eligible to be conscripted. We un- derstand you received four deferments during your College years as you were studying. However, when you graduated in 1968, you were


designated as


eligible to serve in the war efforts. Why therefore did you not serve your coun- try?


Marriage You were married three


times. The first time to Ivana Zelníčková, a Czech model with whom you had three children-Donald Jr,


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Ivanka and Eric Trump. You divorced in 1992 fol- lowing an affair you had with American Actress, Marla Maples. You then had a daughter, Tiffany, with Marla in 1993 whom you subsequently married later on that same year. However, you divorced in 1999. Marla went to live in California where


she


raised Tiffany on her own. Then in 2005, you married your third wife, Slovenian model Melania Knauss with whom you had one son – Barron in 2006. Both your wives, who were models, were immigrants. Both eventually became naturalised American cit- izens: Ivana in 1988 and Melania in 2006. Don’t you think it is strange, therefore, that


you cur-


rently try to enforce such strong anti-immigration policies, especially when four of your five children are born of immigrants? In fact, your only wife who was born in America is the one you have least contact with now. Don’t you find that


rather ironic, given


your own personal stance on immigration?


Religion You were born into a


strong religious Protestant background. Your father – of German origin - was Lutheran and your moth- er, who was Scottish, was Scottish-Presbyterian. You were brought up in the Presbyterian tradition, into which Church you received your Confirma- tion. In fact, in the 1970s, your family joined the Mable Collegiate Church in Manhattan where the famous Pastor Norman Vincent Peale ministered. In fact, Norman Vincent Peale presided over your marriage to Ivana in 1977. Despite your widely-pub- licised divorce in 1992, Peale continued to be a mentor to you until his own death in 1993. How much did Peale have an influence on you? What was it about his philoso- phy that appealed to you? Do you think this is why the Evangelical Christians in America give you their unwavering support?


Book Success You proclaim the Bible


is your favourite book, and your own book, ‘The Art of the Deal’ is your sec-


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ond favourite book. What is it about your book that has widespread appeal, do


you ently, you co-wrote


think? Appar- the


book with ghost writer, Tony Schwartz. Later on, Schwartz claimed you played no part whatsoever in the writing of this book. Do you accept


this? In


fact, later on, he claimed if he were to re-write the book, he would call it ‘The Sociopath?’ - Why do you think he would say such a thing? Why do you think Schwartz is now donating all of his royalties, which he calls ‘blood money’, to assist the foundation: the ‘National Immigrant Law Centre’? Mr Trump, you also promised to give your own royalties to various charities, including ‘the homeless, Vietnam war veterans, AIDS, and MS’. Did this ever happen? In any case, despite the con- troversy, the fact remains that the book was number one on the New York best- seller list for 13 weeks and remained on the list for some 48 weeks. No doubt, the book helped make you a household name, did it not? And we will ignore, for now, the fact that Schwartz subsequent- ly said in an ABC inter- view on “Good Morning America’ in 2016 that he, in fact, ‘put lipstick on a pig’. Despite


the dispute


over how the book came to be written, it is listed as probably the fifth best sold book on business, the first of which is ‘How to Win Friends and Influence Peo- ple’.


Wealth You claimed your Dad


just started you off with ‘a small loan of one million dollars’, so how much is your net worth now? In 2018, Forbes estimated your net worth to be just over three billion US dol- lars. Given all the losses and bankruptcies you ex- perienced during the eco- nomic crash of 2008, how did you manage to bounce back so fast? On more than one occasion, the Justice Department


took


your ‘Trump Organisa- tion’ to task over screening out tenants on the basis of race (as opposed to low in- come as the organisation had stated), although you came to some settlement over these


allegations,


how much truth lies in these claims? Your wealth seemed to have come from your Manhattan develop- ments. Tell us about your key projects in Manhat- tan? Is your 50% share of the Empire State Building a key factor in your re- al-estate portfolio in New York? Or Trump World Tower which, at one point, was the tallest residential building in the world?


Business inside and outside the USA Your assets and influ-


ence, of course, extend beyond the USA. Tell us about your hotels outside of America, including parts of Canada, Hawaii, Turkey, the Philippines, India and Indonesia? The Trump Organisation also owns or manages about 18 golf courses, including three in Europe (Ireland and Scotland). Why do you have a particular in- terest in golf courses? Is it because you like to play golf yourself? Your hotel and casino businesses have also been declared bank- rupt at least six times. But in Newsweek in 2011, you are reported as saying, ‘I do play with the bankrupt- cy laws – they’re very good for me’ in relation to ‘trim- ming debt’ (Wikipedia). Do you think this is a good business mantra to have? Do you think it is good for your creditors? And what made the Trump casino bankruptcies, according to the Washington Post, ‘the most infamous flop’ of your business career? Can you tell me something about what went wrong here? You also acted as financial advisor (and sometimes promoter) to Mike Tyson (of whom you hosted some of his boxing matches). Do you think Tyson was happy with your advice?


Fun and Frolics Mr Trump, you hosted


the Miss Universe pag- eants from 1996 to 2015, and also Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. Is this something you are proud of? Would you like if your own daughter had been a participant in this? If so, why? If not, why not? (I know Ivana was involved in organising one of the Miss Teen USA shows). You also enjoy playing a


cameo role in films. You appeared in some capacity in about 12 films and 14 TV series. How did you get involved in this, and why do you enjoy it? And you appear to enjoy the company of Porn Stars, in particular a Miss Stormy Daniels, who alleges you had an affair with her fol- lowing the birth of your son Barron by your wife Melania. How true is this? Is this why Miss Daniels signed a non-disclosure agreement in return for $130,000? How does this square with your Chris- tian upbringing? Do you think Pastor Vincent Peale would approve were he alive today? Or, indeed, your parents?


President Since you, Mr Trump,


have come to office, you appear to be interested primarily in reversing the legacy of your prede- cessor, Barack Obama. How true do you think this statement is? Bear in mind, we are thinking of the main policy directives to do with the Trump Ad- ministration. The reversal of DACA (expediting the expelling of undocument- ed workers),


the reversal


of Obamacare; the move- ment


of the American


Embassy to Jerusalem; the pulling out of the Paris Declaration for climate change and the pulling out by the US on the Iran nuclear deal; the high tax cuts that mainly benefit the rich, to mention but a few? Would there be any truth in the allegation that many of your policies are


racially motivated,


based on an intense hatred which you harbour for the previous president of the USA, who happened to be black? Do you really believe all the science to do with Climate Change is wrong? Is that why you allowed the Arctic to be opened up again for fur- ther oil and gas explora- tion?


Congratulations or Collusion? Congratulations, Mr


Trump, you won the Presidency, much to the surprise of many. Unfor- tunately, your victory has been tainted with allega- tions


that you colluded


with Russia in relation to the hacking of data, and


the flooding of social me- dia sites with anti-Clinton rhetoric. How true is that, do you think? There are also many rumours that it was dirty Russian mon- ey that buoyed up your floundering businesses when they went bankrupt yet again and no bank could be found to lend you money. How true is that? As you know Mr Trump, these are treach- erous allegations. Do you think they will damage your candidacy if you run again for a second term of office? And in relation to your moves in the Middle East, do you think this will ensure support from the US-Jewish lobby to ensure financial support from this powerful lobby group when you run for a second term of office? Do you also think the NRA will support


your candidacy,


especially as you refuse to bring in any gun laws that will inhibit


the ongoing


sale of guns to American citizens over the legal age required? As for the mili- tary, for their ongoing sup- port, do you think it might be necessary to start a war just before the primaries, to ensure support from the American people for their President and homeland at war with another coun- try in the world? Would this be an important strat- egy for winning the next Presidential term of office, do you think? And final- ly, Mr Trump, President of the USA, how do you think you would like to be remembered? What


will


your legacy look like Mr Trump? How would you like that to be? We all very much look forward to a bright future Mr Trump, and we look on with in- terest to see how you can contribute to world peace and stability for every- one, not just the wealthy or ideologically driven in the USA. Here’s hoping anyhow. Thank you Mr Trump for a very enlight- ening interview, I’m sure. Profile: Rosarii is a


lecturer and research- er at UCC. She is also a Governor of UCC and Fellow of the London Royal Society of Arts. All opinions


expressed here


are entirely her own. She can be reached on info@ eastcorkjournal.ie or @ rosarii_griffin.


Tel: 021 463 8000 • Email: info@eastcorkjournal.ie • Web: www.eastcorkjournal.ie


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