$83.3 Million verdict. I've been waiting for this moment since the early 80s.
Last edited Sat Jan 27, 2024, 09:45 AM - Edit history (1)
Donald Trump was introduced to New York City somewhere between 1983 and 1984 because of the local city papers, specifically Cindy Adams and Liz Smith. New York Magazine had a spread on him and his family. ("Meet The Trumps" )
Trump was portrayed as the Boy Wonder Millionaire with the Midas Touch. Everything he touched turned to gold. The Grand Hyatt. The Wollman Ice Rink. Trump Tower. He bought a yacht. He bought a plane and a helicopter. He bought The Plaza Hotel. Three casinos in Atlantic City. Mar-A-Lago. And he regularly stiffed contractors who went bankrupt.
Beautiful wife and still a "Ladies' Man". At one point, Ivana asked/demanded that he stop going around with other women and he outright refused because his image as a magnet to women was part of his "brand".
Caught with his mistress by his wife at a ski resort where he had arranged for both of them to stay, he was unapologetic. No shame, no excuses, no apologies.
Trump's divorce played out in NYC. Ivana got a chunk of his money despite Roy Cohn's attempt to stiff her with an updated pre-nup.
He went bankrupt several times and banks continued to loan him money on terms favorable to him.
Trump went on to buy more properties. Bedminster. Doral. Turnberry (Scotland).
And he made some enemies along his travels: Leona Helmsley, Mayor Ed Koch, Michael Cohen, Chris Christie, Jeff Flake, Dean Heller, and many more.
Yet, save for his divorce settlement with his ex-wife, Ivana, Trump has yet to be seriously held accountable for his destructive deeds and words.
A woman. Someone without power and influence. A woman he raped. Not molested. Raped. Who couldn't put him in jail but found perhaps a better way of retribution.
To quote Eddie Murphy in Trading Places, "You know, it occurs to me that the best way you hurt rich people is by turning them into poor people." Taking away money and power (and media attention) from Donald Trump is almost a coda to a Greek Tragedy. Icarus flew too high to the sun where the wax on his wings melted, and he plummeted to his death in the sea.
It's the justice -- and the money that makes yesterday's verdict memorable and historical.
= new reply since forum marked as read
You captured the essence of this asshole, and you can read that phrase any way you like. 
He was obviously such a bullshit Artist back then, and I was always appalled that so many people fell for it, but basically people to a fair extent are rubes. Carnival games or popular because the individual feels that they have some advantage. But the game is rigged and you almost cannot win without a great deal of luck versus skill. His game has been rigged since the day he left his mother’s womb.
Don't forget these (we had a sub with the NYT at the time and saw these) -
THE EMPIRE AND EGO OF DONALD TRUMP Aug. 7, 1983 (New York Times)
THE EXPANDING EMPIRE OF DONALD TRUMP April 8, 1984 (New York Times - written by William/Bill Geist, MSNBC's Willie Geist's father)
In retrospect, it appears to have been a planned P.R. move at the time.
When NJ legalized gambling and eventually opened its first casino in 1978, a whole new "thing" opened up, where he eventually dove in and battled the likes of Merv Griffin and Carl Icahn, buying and bankrupting Atlantic City casinos left and right. Since Philly provided South Jersey with news coverage as their media market, we had decades of him.
At this point, I would say the verdict, period, is what has been a 50 year ordeal. I.e., to get something to finally stick.
