Lawyers seek ‘Apprentice’ tapes in Donald Trump immigration suit
Lawyers suing President Donald Trump over his decision to end special protections shielding certain immigrants from deportation are seeking unaired footage from his reality TV show “The Apprentice” to try to bolster their case alleging the move was racially motivated, the attorneys said Wednesday. Lawyers for Civil Rights, which sued Trump in February, has issued subpoenas to MGM Holdings Inc. and Trump Productions LLC demanding any footage shot during the production of the show in which Trump “uses racial and/or ethnic slurs” or “makes remarks concerning race, nationality and/or ethnic background.” Former White House staffer and fellow reality-TV star Omarosa Manigault Newman claimed without evidence in a book released in August, “Unhinged,” that a tape exists of the president using the N-word on the reality show’s set. Trump has denied the existence of such tapes, tweeting that the show’s producer told him “there are NO TAPES of the Apprentice where I used such a terrible and disgusting word as attributed by Wacky and Deranged Omarosa.” “I don’t have that word in my vocabulary, and never have,” Trump said. The case filed in Boston’s federal court centers on the Trump administration’s decision to end temporary protected status for thousands of immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and Honduras. Temporary protected status provides safe havens for people from countries experiencing armed conflicts, natural disasters and other challenges. Lawyers for Civil Rights says in the lawsuit that Trump’s move to rescind the program was rooted in animus against immigrants of color, citing comments he made on the campaign trial and in office. “Access to these videotapes will help further demonstrate that Defendant Trump holds racially biased views that impact his policy and decision making,” attorney Oren Nimni said in a written statement. The subpoenas also seek any relevant outtakes, audio clips and transcripts made during production of the show. Emails seeking comment were sent to an MGM lawyer, a Trump Production official and White House officials. A federal judge in July denied Trump’s request to throw out the lawsuit and rejected the administration’s bid to remove Trump as a defendant in the case. In a different case in California, another federal judge last month issued a temporary injunction that bars the Trump administration from ending the protections, saying there is evidence that president “harbors an animus against non-white, non-European aliens which influenced his … decision to end the TPS designation.” The Trump administration is appealing that ruling. Pressure on producers of the “The Apprentice” to release unaired footage of the show intensified during the 2016 presidential campaign after The Washington Post published a 2005 “Access Hollywood” recording of Trump boasting about aggressively groping women. MGM, which owns “The Apprentice,” said at the time that it couldn’t unilaterally release any unaired, archived material because of contractual obligations. The show’s producer, Mark Burnett, also said he didn’t have the ability or right to release footage. A former contestant on “The Apprentice” who has accused Trump of unwanted groping and kissing has also sought footage through a lawsuit against the president, but it’s unclear whether she has received any. The subpoena issued by Summer Zervos‘ attorney in May sought any “Apprentice” material that features Zervos, or Trump talking about her or discussing other female contestants in a sexual or inappropriate way. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Donald Trump’s Walk Of Fame star destroyed, police investigate
Los Angeles police are investigating the vandalizing of Donald Trump‘s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Det. Meghan Aguilar says investigators were called to the scene before dawn Wednesday following reports that the presidential candidate’s star was destroyed by blows from a hammer. A man who identified himself as Jamie Otis says he’s responsible for the damage. Otis tells Deadline Hollywood that he originally intended to remove Trump’s star. He says he wanted to auction it off to raise funds for the 11 women accusing the presidential candidate of groping them. Trump has denied the groping allegations. Aguilar says she’s aware of the Deadline report but couldn’t comment on whether Otis is a suspect. Trump’s star was dedicated in 2007 in recognition of his work on NBC’s reality TV show “The Apprentice.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
In Donald Trump’s ‘Apprentice’ run, reality wasn’t what it seemed
The skyline shimmers, the music pulses and Donald Trump‘s helicopter swoops in for a landing. Oozing authority, the billionaire strides purposefully — in slow-motion, for added impact — toward some important matter of business in “New York, my city,” as Trump calls it. Week by week, year by year, 14 seasons of “The Apprentice” or “Celebrity Apprentice” served as a grand homage to all things Trump, running from 2004 to 2015. Donald Trump the actor made Donald Trump the businessman seem pretty fabulous. Americans never saw what was taking place behind the scenes. The show offered Trump the ultimate opportunity for product placement: Contestants fawned over Trump’s gilded-to-excess Fifth Avenue apartment, his casinos, golf courses, even his girlfriend and later wife Melania. They promoted his modeling company, his water bottles and other Trump-branded businesses, as the man himself spun out bits of business advice known as “Donaldisms” and bemoaned the daunting task of telling eager young dreamers, “You’re fired.” This picture of Trump as smart, decisive, blunt, benevolent, rich — really rich — and never wrong turned out to be the ideal launching pad for his improbable presidential campaign. That it didn’t always jibe with reality didn’t seem to matter to the millions of Americans who turned “The Apprentice” into a national phenomenon. Or to NBC, which reveled in the show’s sky-high ratings early on, and kept tinkering with the formula in an effort to revive them in later years. It turns out that the unseen side of “The Apprentice” was darker: Show insiders have told the AP that in his years as a reality TV boss, Trump repeatedly demeaned women with sexist language, rating female contestants by the size of their breasts, and talking about which ones he’d like to have sex with. And one former contestant, Summer Zervos, said Friday that Trump made unwanted sexual advances toward her in 2007 when she met with him at a Beverly Hills hotel to talk about a potential job. Zervos, who had competed on the show in 2006, said Trump became sexually aggressive during their meeting at the hotel, kissing her open-mouthed and touching her breasts. Speculation about what kind of Trump conduct might be lurking in video out-takes from the show has swirled in recent days, since the release of “Access Hollywood” footage showing Trump joking about grabbing women by the genitals and kissing them without asking. But the owners of the “Apprentice” production company say they cannot legally release footage from the show. Trump’s boorish behavior toward women wasn’t apparent to viewers of the reality TV show. And for all of the snickering about the silliness of reality TV, pop culture expert Robert Thompson says, the show was “very, very important to shaping, framing and establishing the person of Donald Trump who would then go on to become the GOP nominee.” “If ‘The Apprentice’ had never happened, I don’t think Donald Trump would be where he is right now politically,” says Thompson. Trump already had an outsized reputation when he launched “The Apprentice” in January 2004. By that point, the businessman with a knack for self-promotion had already soared high, fallen from grace, become something of a punchline and was back on the rebound, more focused on licensing his name than building things. He’d eagerly done any number of cameos in movies and TV shows to promote himself as a titan of business. “My name’s Donald Trump and I’m the largest real estate developer in New York,” Trump declared as he launched Season 1, Episode 1 of “The Apprentice” with trademark immodesty. “I’ve mastered the art of the deal and I’ve turned the name Trump into the highest quality brand. As the master, I want to pass along my knowledge to somebody else.” That was a fact-check-worthy way to start things off, and Trump’s hometown newspaper, The New York Times, obliged by pointing out that while the audacious star of “The Apprentice” might have had the highest profile among the city’s developers, plenty of others were doing more and bigger deals. Trump had been approached with reality TV proposals before, but nothing clicked until “Survivor” producer Mark Burnett came to him with the idea of a show set in the “urban jungle” of New York. The original idea was to have a different business executive serve as host every season, with Trump the first, says Jeff Gaspin, head of program strategy at NBC Entertainment in 2001-2002 and later chairman of NBC Entertainment. “His role was originally fairly small — introduce the challenge then appear in a brief boardroom scene,” Gaspin said in an interview. “Donald turned out to be a natural and really loved being on camera. The boardroom scenes were expanded to almost one-third of the show.” People gravitated to Trump’s persona as a tough, decisive, and irreverent boss who offered “at least the illusion of a pathway to success,” says Yale’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, an associate dean who wrote public critiques of the show for newspapers. He got to know Trump after the businessman called to complain about the academic’s harsh reviews of Trump’s on-air business practices. To many Americans, says Sonnenfeld, Trump represented the “embodiment of the American dream,” harking back to the “Daddy Warbucks” imagery of decades past. It made for good TV — never mind the reality that Trump got ahead with inherited money, that his casinos were headed for more bankruptcies, that his deals often weren’t as lucrative as he’d suggested or that his projects left behind a trail of contractors saddled with unpaid bills. Beyond of all of that, there are the new revelations about Trump’s vulgar comments about women contestants and crew members, and Zervos’ allegations that Trump made sexual advances toward her. Trump himself initially seemed almost gob-smacked by how quickly the show took off. “I go into the boardroom, I rant and rave like a lunatic to these kids, and I leave and I go off and build my buildings,” Trump told CNN’s Larry King in 2004. “And then it gets good ratings, and they pay
More women accuse Donald Trump of unwanted sexual touching
Two more women came forward on Friday to accuse Donald Trump of unwanted sexual touching, including a former contestant from a reality show that starred the Republican presidential nominee. The latest accounts come after several women reported in recent days that Trump groped or kissed them without their consent. At a campaign rally in North Carolina on Friday, Trump sought to discredit his accusers. He said because there were no witnesses to the interactions, the allegations were not credible. “Right now I am being viciously attacked with lies and smears,” Trump said at an outdoor amphitheater. “It’s a phony deal. I have no idea who these women are.” Trump also suggested the women who have come forward to accuse him were not physically attractive enough to merit his attention. “Believe me, she would not be my first choice, that I can tell you,” he said when speaking of one of the women. Summer Zervos, a former contestant on “The Apprentice,” said Trump made unwanted sexual advances toward her at a Beverly Hills hotel in 2007, while photographer Kristin Anderson alleged Trump sexually assaulted her in a New York nightclub in the early 1990s. Zervos, 41, appeared at a news conference Friday with Gloria Allred, a well-known Los Angeles attorney who has previously represented women who have accused celebrities of sexual misconduct. Zervos was a contestant on “The Apprentice” in 2006 and said she later contacted Trump to inquire about a job with one of his businesses. Zervos said she had an initial meeting with Trump, where he discussed a potential job with her. When they parted, he kissed her on the lips and asked for her phone number, she said. She said weeks later Trump called to invite her to meet him at the Beverly Hills Hotel, where she said she was expecting to have dinner with the New York billionaire. Instead, she described a series of unwanted kisses and touching by Trump, which she said she repeatedly rejected. “He tried to kiss me again … and I said, ‘Dude, you’re tripping right now,’ attempting to make it clear I was not interested,” she said. Zervos said Trump eventually stopped and began talking as if they were in a job interview. She said she was later offered a low-paying job at a Trump-owned golf course. At the time, Trump had recently married his third and current wife, Melania Trump, and the couple had an infant son. Zervos said she is a Republican and has no political agenda in coming forward. Allred said her client told her parents and others about the incident shortly after it occurred. In a story published online Friday, Anderson told The Washington Post that she was sitting on a couch with friends at a New York nightclub in the early 1990s when someone’s hand reached up her skirt and touched her through her underwear. Anderson, then in her early 20s, said she pushed the hand away, turned around and recognized Trump as the man who had groped her. Then recently divorced, Trump was then a frequent presence in the New York tabloids, and he was regular presence on the Manhattan club scene. “He was so distinctive looking — with the hair and the eyebrows. I mean, nobody else has those eyebrows,” Anderson, 46, told the newspaper. She said the assault was random and occurred with “zero conversation.” Anderson did not immediately respond to a phone message from The Associated Press. She told the newspaper said she does not back Trump or Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee. At the time of the incident, Anderson was trying to start a career as a model while working as a makeup artist and restaurant hostess. She said the episode lasted no more than 30 seconds. Anderson told the Post that she and her companions were “very grossed out and weirded out” and thought, “OK, Donald is gross. We all know he’s gross. Let’s just move on.” The Post said it contacted Anderson after a friend she had told about the incident recounted it to a reporter. Other friends also told the Post that Anderson recounted the same story to them years ago. At the North Carolina rally, Trump physically acted out two of alleged incidents. “Somebody that you’ve never seen that said, ‘Oh, in 1992, he went like this,’” he said at one point, appearing to mimic pawing at a woman’s chest in a downward motion. Anderson’s decision to speak publicly about her experience follows last week’s disclosure by the Post of a 2005 video in which Trump boasted that his celebrity gave him the ability to grab women “by the p—-. You can do anything.” Trump apologized for those remarks, but also dismissed them as “locker-room talk.” Anderson disagreed that Trump’s behavior is harmless. “It’s a sexual assault issue, and it’s something that I’ve kept quiet on my own,” she told the Post. “And I’ve always kept quiet. And why should I keep quiet? Actually, all of the women should speak up, and if you’re touched inappropriately, tell somebody and speak up about it. Actually, go to the authorities and press some charges. It’s not OK.” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
MGM says: We own ‘Apprentice,’ can’t easily release tapes
With public clamor growing for the release of footage from Donald Trump‘s reign on “The Apprentice,” entertainment giant MGM said Wednesday that it owns the reality TV show, not the program’s executive producer Mark Burnett, and could not unilaterally release any unaired, archived material due to existing contractual obligations. MGM attorney Marvin S. Putnam said in a statement that such agreements “typically contain provisions related to confidentiality and artists’ rights.” He said MGM, which purchased Mark Burnett Productions in December, would honor those rights. In the same joint statement, Burnett said he has never been a supporter of Trump’s candidacy. He said he felt compelled to issue that statement because of what he called “false media reports” about his supposed support. He said that he and his wife “reject the hatred, division and misogyny” that have been “a very unfortunate part” of Trump’s campaign. On Monday, in a joint statement, Burnett said that he doesn’t have the ability or the right to release footage from the long-running show hosted by the Republican presidential nominee. MGM said, “Various contractual and legal requirements also restrict MGM’s ability to release such material.” Wednesday’s statement came in response to repeated Associated Press requests since Monday for elaboration of why the footage was still being kept private. The AP previously had asked Burnett to provide original “Apprentice” footage for review, and asked again last week, after publishing a story detailing statements by former cast and crew that Trump frequently used lewd, demeaning and sexist language while on set and pointed out which contestants he would like to have sex with. MGM and Burnett also did not answer questions regarding whether Trump has any contractual or rights-related authority that would prevent release of any unaired material. Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks did not respond to emails and calls seeking information about whether Trump had any control over the footage. In the meantime, public pressure continued to mount from former contestants, Democrats and a prominent attorney for someone to release whatever raw footage exists from 14 seasons of programming. The call for disclosure has been gradually increasing since Friday’s release of a separate recording on which Trump talks about aggressively groping women on a different show, “Access Hollywood,” as the candidate prepared to appear on a soap opera. On the tape, the married Trump brags about kissing and trying to have casual sex with women, even ones who are married. He also used vulgar slang to describe how, if you are a star, you can grab a woman’s genital area. Trump has since apologized, but also described his comments as “locker room talk” and dismissed them as a distraction. A petition posted on MoveOn.org by the national women’s advocacy organization UltraViolet Action calling for the footage to be disclosed had gathered more than 180,000 signatures by Wednesday afternoon. A Hillary Clinton supporter has offered to pay leakers’ legal fees, while more than 1,000 supporters had given $33,000 to a separate crowdfunded campaign to compensate possible whistleblowers by Wednesday. Attorney Gloria Allred, who has represented many women making sexual abuse claims, including Bill Cosby accusers, delivered a letter Wednesday asking for a meeting with Burnett and MGM executives to discuss any legal restrictions on why unaired footage from “The Apprentice” could not be released. The letter states that the unaired footage would show Trump’s conduct while filming the NBC series, and its contents are of “extreme public importance.” Allred, a Democrat, said women had contacted her about inappropriate conduct by Trump before and after the “Access Hollywood” footage surfaced Friday Allred said she could not discuss the women’s allegations because they had not given her authorization to do so. It could not be determined which, if any, of the incidents described by former contestants and crew in the original AP story had been recorded or occurred when cameras were not operating, or whether any comments that could have been recorded still exist in an archive. NBC has stated that it does not own the “Apprentice” footage, and only licenses it from Burnett for broadcast. A spokeswoman previously said she did not know if NBC had any footage in storage, but that if the network did, it could not legally release it. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
How Donald Trump’s ‘Apprentice’ moved from capitalism to sexism
In his years as a reality TV boss on “The Apprentice,” Donald Trump repeatedly demeaned women with sexist language, according to show insiders who said he rated female contestants by the size of their breasts and talked about which ones he’d like to have sex with. The Associated Press interviewed more than 20 people — former crew members, editors and contestants — who described crass behavior by Trump behind the scenes of the long-running hit show, in which aspiring capitalists were given tasks to perform as they competed for jobs working for him. The staffers and contestants agreed to recount their experiences as Trump’s behavior toward women has become a core issue in the presidential campaign. Interviewed separately, they gave concurring accounts of inappropriate conduct on the set. Eight former crew members recalled that he repeatedly made lewd comments about a camerawoman he said had a nice rear, comparing her beauty to that of his daughter, Ivanka. During one season, Trump called for female contestants to wear shorter dresses that also showed more cleavage, according to contestant Gene Folkes. Several cast members said Trump had one female contestant twirl before him so he could ogle her figure. Randal Pinkett, who won the program in December 2005 and who has recently criticized Trump during his run for president, said he remembered the real estate mogul talking about which female contestants he wanted to sleep with, even though Trump had married former model Melania Knauss earlier that year: “He was like ‘Isn’t she hot, check her out,’ kind of gawking, something to the effect of ‘I’d like to hit that.’ “ The Trump campaign issued a general denial. “These outlandish, unsubstantiated, and totally false claims fabricated by publicity hungry, opportunistic, disgruntled former employees, have no merit whatsoever,” said Hope Hicks, Trump’s campaign spokeswoman. “The Apprentice was one of the most successful prime-time television shows of all time and employed hundreds of people over many years, many of whom support Mr. Trump’s candidacy.” She declined to answer specific questions that were emailed and declined an interview request. Former producer Katherine Walker said Trump frequently talked about women’s bodies during the five seasons she worked with him and said he speculated about which female contestant would be “a tiger in bed.” A former crew member who signed a non-disclosure agreement and asked not to be identified, recalled that Trump asked male contestants whether they would sleep with a particular female contestant, then expressed his own interest. “We were in the boardroom one time figuring out who to blame for the task, and he just stopped in the middle and pointed to someone and said, ‘You’d f… her, wouldn’t you? I’d f… her. C’mon, wouldn’t you?’” The person continued: “Everyone is trying to make him stop talking, and the woman is shrinking in her seat.” Other cast and crew interviewed said they had positive, professional experiences with Trump, and added that they had never heard comments that made them uncomfortable. “He was extremely supportive. You could tell there was so much respect there on all sides, especially with the female athletes,” said contestant and U.S. softball star Jennie Finch, a two-time Olympian. “Obviously, he was complimentary, but never in an inappropriate way.” Contestant Poppy Carlig, who performed the twirl, said she considered Trump’s request “playful banter.” She added: “I don’t immediately jump to the conclusion that people are having bad intentions with what they are saying. He said I reminded him of his daughter and I thought that was really touching because I know how much he values his family.” Twelve former contestants or members of the crew spoke on the record about what they described as Trump’s inappropriate behavior. Another nine spoke to the AP about their concerns regarding Trump’s treatment of female colleagues but said they did not want to be identified because they signed non-disclosure agreements, or were concerned about wrecking their careers or retaliation from Trump. Most offered no opinion on the November election in the course of their interviews, but the majority of those who did said only that they were not supporting Trump. Trump points to his record of hiring women, but he has often been accused of sexist behavior; at the first Republican debate, in August 2015, Fox anchor Megyn Kelly asked whether a man who has called women “fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals” has the temperament to be president. After that debate, Trump attacked Kelly and her questioning, “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.” The remarks of former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, who said Trump called her “Miss Piggy” because she’d gained weight during her reign, became campaign fodder last week following the first presidential debate. Trump used to own the pageant. NBC, which broadcast the hit series, referred questions to executive producer Mark Burnett, whose studio referred calls to a public relations firm. The public relations firm did not respond to multiple voicemails and emails seeking comment. AP previously asked Burnett to provide original footage for review, but those calls were not returned. Debuting in 2004, “The Apprentice” and a spinoff, “Celebrity Apprentice,” propelled Trump to national stardom following a string of bankruptcies and bad business deals in the 1990s that had splintered his New York-based real estate empire. The series, meant to showcase Trump’s business acumen, became a major hit and Trump’s name became a global brand that helped launch his political career. But on the set, usually inside Trump Tower, the former cast and crew members say, the businessman’s treatment of women was sometimes far from professional. Walker, who said she was the only high-level female producer during the first season, said Trump turned to her during a break outside of the control room to ask who he should fire. Walker demurred, she said, but noted that team members had told her one contestant had caused her team to lose their business task. Trump raised his hands and cupped them
Donald Trump reaches the magic number to clinch nomination
Donald Trump reached the number of delegates needed to clinch the Republican nomination for president Thursday, completing an unlikely rise that has upended the political landscape and set the stage for a bitter fall campaign. Trump was put over the top in The Associated Press delegate count by a small number of the party’s unbound delegates who told the AP they would support him at the national convention in July. Among them is Oklahoma GOP chairwoman Pam Pollard. “I think he has touched a part of our electorate that doesn’t like where our country is,” Pollard said. “I have no problem supporting Mr. Trump.” It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination. Trump has reached 1,238. With 303 delegates at stake in five state primaries on June 7, Trump will easily pad his total, avoiding a contested convention in Cleveland. Trump, a political neophyte who for years delivered caustic commentary on the state of the nation from the sidelines but had never run for office, fought off 16 other Republican contenders in an often ugly primary race. Many on the right have been slow to warm to Trump, wary of his conservative bona fides. Others worry about his crass personality and the lewd comments he’s made about women. But millions of grass-roots activists, many of them outsiders to the political process, have embraced Trump as a plain-speaking populist who is not afraid to offend. Steve House, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party and an unbound delegate who confirmed his support of Trump to the AP, said he likes the billionaire’s background as a businessman. “Leadership is leadership,” House said. “If he can surround himself with the political talent, I think he will be fine.” Trump’s pivotal moment comes amid a new sign of internal problems. Hours before clinching the nomination, he announced the abrupt departure of political director Rick Wiley, who was in the midst of leading the campaign’s push to hire staff in key battleground states. In a statement, Trump’s campaign said Wiley had been hired only on a short-term basis until the candidate’s organization “was running full steam.” His hiring about six weeks ago was seen as a sign that party veterans were embracing Trump’s campaign. A person familiar with Wiley’s ouster said the operative clashed with others in Trump’s operation and didn’t want to put longtime Trump allies in key jobs. The person insisted on anonymity because the person was not authorized to publicly discuss the internal campaign dynamics. Some delegates who confirmed their decisions to back Trump were tepid at best, saying they are supporting him out of a sense of obligation because he won their state’s primary. Cameron Linton of Pittsburgh said he will back Trump on the first ballot since he won the presidential primary vote in Linton’s congressional district. “If there’s a second ballot I won’t vote for Donald Trump,” Linton said. “He’s ridiculous. There’s no other way to say it.” Trump’s path to the Republican presidential nomination began with an escalator ride. Trump and his wife, Melania, descended an escalator into the basement lobby of the Trump Tower on June 16, 2015, for an announcement many observers had said would never come: The celebrity real estate developer had flirted with running for office in the past. His speech then set the tone for the candidate’s ability to dominate the headlines with provocative statements, insults and hyperbole. He called Mexicans “rapists,” promised to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and proposed banning most Muslims from the U.S. for an indeterminate time. He criticized women for their looks. And he unleashed an uncanny marketing ability in which he deduced his critics’ weak points and distilled them to nicknames that stuck. “Little Marco” Rubio, “Weak” Jeb Bush and “Lyin’ Ted” Cruz, among others, all were forced into reacting to Trump. They fell one-by-one — leaving Trump the sole survivor of a riotous Republican primary. His rallies became magnets for free publicity. Onstage, he dispensed populism that drew thousands of supporters, many wearing his trademark “Make America Great Again” hats and chanting, “Build the wall!” The events drew protests too— with demonstrators sometimes forcibly ejected from the proceedings. One rally in Chicago was canceled after thousands of demonstrators surrounded the venue and the Secret Service could no longer vouch for the candidate’s safety. When voting started, Trump was not so fast out of the gate. He lost the Iowa caucuses in February, falling behind Cruz and barely edging Rubio for second. He recovered in New Hampshire. From there he and Cruz fiercely engaged, with Trump winning some and losing some but one way or another dominating the rest of the primary season — in votes or at least in attention — and ultimately in delegates. Republican leaders declared themselves appalled by Trump’s rise. Conservatives called the onetime Democrat a fraud. But many slowly, warily, began meeting with Trump and his staff. And he began winning endorsements from a few members of Congress. As with other aspects of his campaign, Trump upended the traditional role of money in the race. He incurred relatively low campaign costs — just $57 million through the end of April. He covered most of it with at least $43 million of his own money loaned to the campaign. He spent less than $21 million on paid television and radio commercials. That’s about one-quarter of what Jeb Bush and his allies spent on TV. Trump entered a new phase of his campaign Tuesday night by holding his first major campaign fundraiser: a $25,000-per-ticket dinner in Los Angeles. Trump, 69, the son of a New York City real estate magnate, had risen to fame in the 1980s and 1990s, overseeing major real estate deals, watching his financial fortunes rise, then fall, hosting “The Apprentice” TV show and authoring more than a dozen books. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Donald Trump’s wife remains private despite prospect of presidency
First lady Melania Trump. If that prospect evokes no clear image, that’s no accident. Donald Trump‘s wife has said little in the campaign about the type of first lady she’d like to be should her husband win the Republican nomination and the presidency. The distance, she’s said, is intentional so she can focus on the couple’s 9-year-old son, Barron. But should he become the GOP candidate for the fall, the Slovenian-born model, mother and multilingual speaker would face big decisions about her family, her life and her potential position in American history. The presidential voting starts when Iowans caucus Feb. 1. For now, Melania Trump is her husband’s top supporter at events, a striking brunette swathed in couture, frequently seen but seldom heard. Her first campaign turn came in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in November, as the candidate called his family on stage during a rally. Turning to Melania, his third wife, Trump asked if she’d like to say something. She stepped to the microphone and cocked a manicured thumb over an elegant shoulder. “Isn’t he the best?” Mrs. Trump, 45, asked the crowd in heavily accented English. “He will be the best president ever. We love you!” Like her husband, she is not given to understatement. As his supporters roared, Donald Trump gave her a kiss and could be heard saying: “Thank you, honey. Very nice.” It was the barest of glimpses into the life of a couple who celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary Friday. Their relationship began at least six years earlier, dating back to the 1998 party in Manhattan when the newly separated Trump asked then-model Melania Knauss, 24 years his junior, for her telephone number. She rebuffed him because he was with a date that night, she has said. By the next year, they were a couple. Trump was seeking the Reform Party nomination in the 2000 presidential election. His girlfriend was asked how she viewed herself if ever she became first lady. “I would be very traditional,” she told The New York Times. “Like Betty Ford or Jackie Kennedy.” Neither woman was all that traditional of course: Betty Ford, wife of Gerald, championed the Equal Rights Amendment. Jackie Kennedy, wife of Jack, let Americans into the first family’s life in White House through television. Now in the age of social media, would Melania Trump stay as far above the political fray as the couple’s triplex overlooking Central Park? That’s largely up to the Trumps, but they’re in no hurry to decide. Through a spokeswoman, Mrs. Trump declined an interview request from The Associated Press. A sketch of what we know: __ WHAT’S UNPRECEDENTED In many ways, Melania Trump would be a first in American history: She’d be the only first lady who is the third wife of a president, and the first to be born and raised in a communist nation, according to Carl Anthony, historian at the National First Ladies’ Library. She almost certainly has shown more skin than any other U.S. first lady — that was her in 2006, very pregnant, in a gold bikini on the steps of her husband’s private jet in Vogue magazine. WHAT’S NOT By 2016, Melania Trump has gotten married, had a child and adopted a much more traditional posture as a candidate’s spouse. She wouldn’t be the first president’s wife to be born in another country — that would be Louisa Adams, born in England. Nor would she be the first first lady to have married a divorced man — hello, Nancy Reagan. And she’d be the third first lady to have worked as a professional model, after Pat Nixon and Betty Ford. MELANIA’S ROLE Experts on first ladies said Melania Trump is being smart by laying low now, especially if she is not comfortable talking about politics and policy. But eventually, they said, she’d be wise to build on what she knows. Melania Trump studied design and architecture at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia — so perhaps advocating for historical preservation would suit her. Maybe she’d expand her charity work. Even her model-perfect poise and ability to speak multiple languages could be an asset to her English-only husband during state dinners and other White House social events. “It’s best when they draw from their experience, and marry that up with the overall focus of their husbands’ administration,” said Anita McBride , who was chief of staff to first lady Laura Bush. Anthony said: “I think she is a great emotional support to him or a ballast for him.” DELEGATING DUTIES Donald Trump has signaled that his daughter, Ivanka, might be unusually prominent for a president’s daughter. He volunteers Ivanka’s name when asked whose advice he values. It was she, not Melania, who introduced her father when he announced his campaign. During breaks in Republican debates, it was Ivanka, one of Donald Trump’s five children, with whom he huddled. NOT ARM CANDY For all of her public discretion, Melania Trump has been consistently public about one thing: She’s more than an accessory. “I have my own mind,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in an interview published this month. “I am my own person, and I think my husband likes that about me.” Note to Washington power snobs: Don’t expect Melania Trump to put up with condescension. On a visit to the Trump triplex above Manhattan, one of the contestants on his show, “The Apprentice,” says to Melania: “You’re very, very lucky.” “Thank you,” Melania, holding a glass of champagne, says with a glittering smile. “And he’s not lucky?” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Donald Trump’s unorthodox campaign takes new twist on ‘SNL’
Donald Trump‘s unorthodox campaign for president will take another unusual step this weekend when he takes a break from typical campaigning to host “Saturday Night Live.” The appearance will put the billionaire businessman and reality TV star in rare company: Only eight politicians previously have hosted “Saturday Night Live” in its entire 40-year-old history. And only one of those politicians-slash-guest hosts was an active presidential candidate — the Rev. Al Sharpton, who was seeking the Democratic nomination when he hosted in December 2003. The appearance is the latest example of how Trump — who first guest hosted “SNL” in 2004 just weeks after the show he helped create, NBC’s “The Apprentice,” began airing — has been able to capitalize on his celebrity throughout his campaign, which has translated into record ratings for networks on each of the three Republican debates. Trump has repeatedly bragged about the attention his appearances have been generating, predicting the show will have its highest ratings ever with him at the helm. Throughout its history, “SNL” has poked fun at political figures — both via cast impersonations and with guest appearances by the politicians themselves. It and other late-night television shows also give candidates the chance to show off their less serious sides and connect with a new and generally younger audience than the usual early-state rallies and debate stages. Sharpton said his whole campaign team had opposed the idea when he was invited to host by “SNL” executive producer Lorne Michaels, but he decided an appearance could help humanize his persona. “I was known in America at the time as a civil rights leader and protest leader, and I wanted to show that I could laugh at myself, I had a sense of humor, and be self-effacing, and that I could be comfortable with a broader audience,” he said in an interview, adding that the appearance yielded tangible results, with people bringing it up constantly as he campaigned. The challenge for Trump, whose invitation has provoked an outcry from groups concerned about what they perceive as an anti-Latino bias by the candidate, would be making a similar connection, Sharpton said. “We know him as this brash, bombastic, self-important person. But can he laugh at himself? Can he relate to the average guy in a bowling alley?” posed Sharpton. “I think that he has the opportunity or the risk of establishing that tomorrow night.” In the 2004 host appearance, Trump opened his monologue by joking about his star power: “It’s great to be here at ‘Saturday Night Live,’ but I’ll be completely honest, it’s even better for ‘Saturday Night Live’ that I’m here. Nobody’s bigger than me. Nobody’s better than me. I’m a ratings machine.” Trump echoed those words earlier this week in an appearance on CNN when he said “nobody gets ratings like me.” He said he initially had been asked to be in a single skit this week, but then Michaels urged him to guest host instead. NBC has refused to comment on the objections to Trump’s appearance on the show. Earlier this week, “SNL” released several promotional spots featuring Trump, including one in which he refers to a Republican opponent, Ben Carson, as “a complete and total loser.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
