Donald Trump, big and brash like his hometown, now avoids NYC
For decades, Donald Trump‘s identity was interwoven with his hometown of New York City: big, brash and dedicated to making money. Manhattan was the imposing backdrop as Trump transformed himself from local real-estate developer to celebrity businessman — skyscrapers and gossip pages featured his name — and during last year’s presidential campaign he’d fly thousands of miles to sleep in his own bed at Trump Tower. But since his inauguration more than two months ago, Trump has not set foot within the city limits. The Republican president received only 18 percent of the vote in the decidedly liberal city. Frequent protests now clog Fifth Avenue outside Trump Tower. A date for a return trip has yet to be scheduled. Though Trump is expected to travel to New York in the coming weeks, he is unlikely to receive a hero’s welcome. One of his sons says that while the president will enjoy making trips to his hometown, his relationship with the city has changed. “When he was in New York, his No. 1 thing was work. This was where work was,” said Eric Trump in an interview. “He was home. He took the elevator to his office. At the end of the day, he went back up. He did it every day of his life.” “Now his focus isn’t work, but being president, so his attention is elsewhere.” Trump was last in New York Jan. 19, the day before he took office, when he left Trump Tower, his home of 30-plus years, and flew to Washington. His wife, Melania, and their 10-year-old son, Barron, who attends a private Manhattan school, have remained behind, as have Trump’s two adult sons who are now tasked with running their father’s sprawling business interests. During the presidential transition, speculation swirled that Trump, a famed homebody and creature of habit, would return to Manhattan frequently. But while the president has repeatedly left Washington on weekends, he heads south instead, to his palatial Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Mar-a-Lago closes for the season later this spring. Trump has given no indication he will keep it open — he didn’t last year during the campaign — and he is expected to head north for weekend trips, either to his Manhattan high-rise or his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Allies say New Yorkers should be excited about his presence even if they may disagree with his politics. “As someone who loves history, I am excited to go to the Martin Van Buren House in Kinderhook, New York, and New Yorkers should be thrilled to have this president’s house right here in New York City,” said Joe Borelli, a co-chair of Trump’s campaign in New York state. “He’s a quintessential New Yorker. This is going to remain his home.” But Borelli is just one of just three Republicans on the 51-person New York City Council, pointing to the lopsided political divide in the nation’s largest city. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 6-to-1 margin and Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, has denounced many of Trump’s views as “‘un-American.” “I don’t think there’s any doubt that the mayor believes the president is significantly out of step with the values of New York City,” said Erik Phillips, de Blasio’s spokesman. “That said, the mayor’s attitude also is that he wants the president to feel and see the potential impacts on his hometown of some of these budget cuts he’s talked about.” Another of de Blasio’s concerns: the cost of safeguarding the president in the 58-story skyscraper on one of Manhattan’s busiest streets. The New York Police Department estimated that it cost their agency about $24 million to protect Trump Tower when the president-elect stayed there between Election Day and the inauguration 73 days later. That works out to about $328,000 per day; when it’s just Melania and Barron Trump in the building, the cost to the NYPD drops to about $127,000 to $146,000 per day. The police department is seeking federal reimbursement. Secret Service expenses also balloon while Trump is in town. Eric Trump said his father is mindful of the impact of his presence in New York, particularly on traffic. But when asked this week if Trump is concerned about criticism of the cost of his trips, White House press secretary Sean Spicer responded, “No, he feels great.” Many who worked with — or against — Trump in New York have expressed surprise he’s stayed away so far. Trump was born in Queens but didn’t want to stay there, pushing his family’s development firm into the glitzy and cutthroat Manhattan market. He rehabilitated dilapidated city landmarks — like Central Park’s ice skating rink and a 42nd Street hotel — and gained a reputation as a publicity-hungry celebrity in a town that celebrated success. He’d frequently call into the city’s tabloids, sometimes adopting an alias to act as his own spokesman. “For all his braggadocio, he was kind of a likable guy if you didn’t pay any attention to the truth,” said George Rush, longtime gossip columnist at the New York Daily News. “He’d love to say, ‘This is off the record but you can use it,’” said Rush, who recalled Trump’s tireless efforts to make himself part of the city’s celebrity firmament. “You couldn’t turn the corner without running into his name — and needing to put on sunglasses because of the sun’s glare off the bronze,” Rush recalled. “But he’s always someone who needed to be loved and he’s not loved here now. He’s become sort of the prodigal son of New York.” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
For Donald Trump, the 1980s still hold relevance
Bobby Knight. Don King. Sylvester Stallone. Many of President-elect Donald Trump‘s cultural touchstones, which he’d frequently name-drop at campaign rallies and on Twitter, were at their peak in the 1980s — the decade Trump’s celebrity status rose in New York, Trump Tower was built, “The Art of the Deal” was published and he first flirted with running for public office. The “Go Go 1980s” of New York were spurred by Wall Street’s rise. It was a brash decade in which excess was the norm and ostentatious displays of wealth and power were celebrated in pop culture and among Manhattan’s elite. And while much of what defined the 1980s has since gone out of style, Trump has seemingly internalized its ethos, which is reflected in the decor of the Trump Tower lobby and the celebrities he stood alongside during the campaign. An outer-borough New York developer trying to prove himself across the East River, Trump always sought approval of Manhattan’s ruling class and was eager to make a name for himself, according to those who tangled with him during that formative decade. “He would relentlessly promote himself in the newspapers or on TV. He knew how to get press and squash his enemies,” said Geoge Arzt, press secretary for former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, who served from 1978 to 1989. The me-first attitude that defined the 1980s “has long been a part of who Trump is,” Arzt added. In the 1980s, as Trump came of age as a public figure, he opened up a refurbished Grand Hyatt on 42nd Street, took over the long-stalled renovation of Central Park’s ice skating rink and purchased the New York-area team in the fledgling United States Football League. He fashioned himself into a regular in the gossip pages, playing the city’s tabloids off each other as he promoted his personal brand. He also took his first steps onto the national media stage, making his debut on “60 Minutes” in 1985. The long-running news magazine broadcast has continued to hold a special place in his heart. Several times at rallies, Trump invoked a “60 Minutes” segment he had just watched and he gave his first post-election interview to the show last month. That show was at its apex in the ratings in the 1980s. Time Magazine, which also wielded significant clout in the 1980s, also has remained an obsession for Trump. The celebrity businessman, who complained in recent years that he wasn’t named the magazine’s Person of the Year, received the award in 2016. He called it a “very, very great honor.” That marked his eighth time on the cover this year alone — something that Trump would brag about during campaign rallies. He has taken to giving out autographed copies of the cover to visitors, including rapper Kanye West. But while West is a current megastar, Trump mostly chose to trot out 1980s celebrities during his campaign, even if many of them had seen their star fade in the ensuing 30 years. Knight, the former Indiana University basketball coach who captured college basketball national titles in 1981 and 1987 but was later fired for attacking a student, became a favorite sidekick. He first appeared with Trump during the spring’s Indiana primary and reappeared at rallies in the Midwest during the general election stretch run. “One of the reasons I won: Bobby Knight! That’s the gold standard, right?” Trump exclaimed in August. King, the flamboyant boxing promoter who hyped Mike Tyson‘s 1980s fights, was also saluted by Trump as “a phenomenal person” despite a conviction for manslaughter. King appeared with Trump in September at a Cleveland church and stood with the president-elect last week while Trump was answering questions from the press at his Palm Beach resort. Trump has been drawn to other 1980s stars. Tyson endorsed the celebrity businessman. Actor Scott Baio, an outspoken Trump supporter, reached the zenith of his fame in the 1980s with the shows “Happy Days” and “Charles in Charge.” And on Saturday, actor Sylvester Stallone — who starred in three “Rambo” movies and two “Rocky” sequels in the 1980s — was a star guest at Trump’s New Year’s Eve bash at Mar-a-Lago, the lush Florida estate Trump bought in 1985 two years after he opened Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York. Much of Trump’s political philosophy was formed in the 1980s too. In 1987 as he first floated running for president, he took out a full page ad wondering why the U.S. was “paying to defend countries that can afford to defend themselves.” His frequent depictions of inner cities as dangerous and crime-ridden seem to harken to the crack-plagued life of urban areas in the 1980s, more than the largely safer big cities of today. In “The Art of the Deal,” he voiced positions on trade he still holds today. That book, which made him a household name when it was published in 1987, also holds many of the principles that guided Trump’s business career — and, decades later, his bombastic campaign for the White House. “I play into people’s fantasies,” he wrote. “People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. That’s why a little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Donald Trump’s hands-on management style to be tested by presidency
President-elect Donald Trump looked at hundreds of marble samples before selecting one for the lobby of Trump Tower. He can recall, in painstaking detail even decades later, how he stood in the cold and oversaw the ice-making process at Central Park’s rink. And, during the campaign, he personally reviewed every single campaign ad, rejecting some over the smallest of perceived flaws. The hands-on, minutiae-obsessed management style that Trump has relied on for decades in the business world will now be tested by the presidency, an overwhelming job in which his predecessor says only the most challenging decisions even make it to the Oval Office. “Somebody noted to me that by the time something reaches my desk, that means it’s really hard,” President Barack Obama has said. “Because if it were easy, somebody else would have made the decision and somebody else would have solved it.” The president-elect, at times, has been reluctant to delegate. But while his multinational business is indeed vast, the scope of the federal government exceeds any of his previous endeavors. Those close to him are gently suggesting that he will have to do some more delegating given the sheer volume of decisions needed to get his administration up and running, according to a person familiar with private discussions but not authorized to speak about them by name. Trump has chafed at that, but he has signaled willingness to relinquish some personal control. Over his career, Trump has been highly involved with the decisions he cares deeply about. When building Trump Tower, the Manhattan skyscraper he calls home, he settled upon a rare marble, Breccia Pernice, for the building’s lobby. But when he inspected the pieces that had been tagged for use, he found some blemishes — prompting a personal trip to Italy. “So we ended up going to the quarry with black tape and marking off the slabs that were the best,” Trump wrote in his 1987 book, “The Art of the Deal.” ”The rest we just scrapped — maybe 60 percent of the total. By the time we finished, we’d taken the whole top of the mountain and used up much of the quarry.” At the New York State Republican Dinner in April, Trump stood in front of a group of tuxedo-clad, moneyed, Manhattan peers, confidently pointing out the details in the Grand Hyatt hotel ballroom’s ceiling, remembering how he oversaw the construction process. He then recalled his push to fix Central Park’s Wollman Rink, going into remarkable detail about the contract negotiations, the depth of the concrete, the need to switch from copper piping to rubber hose to keep the ice frozen, and even the conversation he had with the Montreal Canadiens’ head ice-maker to make sure the process went smoothly. “I hope that’s an interesting story,” Trump told the crowd. “Who the hell wants to talk about politics all the time, right? Politics gets a little boring!” But Trump almost certainly won’t be able to exert that same of control over his new employees: The federal workforce is more than 2 million people. Obama frequently cites an observation by his first defense secretary, Robert Gates: “One thing you should know, Mr. President, is that any given moment, on any given day, somebody in the federal government is screwing up.” While Obama praises federal workers, he adds: “Even if you’re firing at a 99.9 percent success rate, that still leaves a lot of opportunity for things not to go as planned.” Other aspects of Trump’s management style may also not easily translate to the White House. His inner circle is famously small, consisting of longtime allies and his grown children, and his first key West Wing hires — chief of staff Reince Priebus and chief strategist Stephen Bannon — bring no policy experience to their new roles. Trump works long hours and expects those around him to do so as well. He can be quiet and disengaged in discussions about subjects with which he is unfamiliar but is prone to flash his temper and bark at aides. He is also known to go with his gut, is often swayed on positions by the last person he spoke to, and sometimes swoops in late and orders a change in plans, blowing up a travel schedule or policy rollout. Aides also often float suggestions to him through the media, knowing that Trump is a voracious watcher of cable TV and might be persuaded by what he sees and hears. Trump, whose TV catchphrase was “You’re fired,” is prone to pitting staffers against each other in both the business world and during his insurgent campaign. Over the summer, he hired Paul Manafort to prepare for the GOP’s convention and watched as staffers loyal to his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, repeatedly clashed with Manafort’s allies. Lewandowski lost the power struggle and was fired. Later, Manafort was dismissed, too, replaced by Bannon and Kellyanne Conway. Trump, in his 2004 book “How to Get Rich,” described his intense, loyalty-driven style. “I rely on a few key people to keep me informed,” he wrote. “They know I trust them, and they do their best to keep that trust intact.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
