1980s: How Donald Trump Created Donald Trump | NBC News

before he was a presidential candidate and I've been saying for years keep the oil keep the oil don't let him have the oil before he was a reality TV star you fired Donald Trump was a New York tabloid fixture all through the 1980s Trump was busy building something new and it wasn't a skyscraper billionaire developer Donald Trump has put his name on a New York City hotel shopping center and apartment buildings as well as a casino in Atlantic City and now he's going to put his name on a big piece of Eastern Airlines Trump was

creating a public Persona one that could be both funny and demeaning arrogant and somehow in touch with the common man I sort of love and hate him at the same time I mean I think he has you know a Monumental ego he comes off as being very uh what's the word I'm looking for arrogant yeah he's he's he's arrogant I like him man got a made got everything he often did this by picking fights he said I think Donald Trump is an Artful liar I think think he is a greedy vicious and arrogant man well

I don't know is that supposed to be a compliment or not I'm I'm not sure he waged a yearslong battle with New York city mayor Ed cotch I I hope that New York City has a different mayor at some point because I think Ed cotch is a total disaster he's been a very bad May for the city he helped launch a competitor to the NFL called the US football league and then launched a lawsuit against the NFL when the usfl failed the jury in the case delivered its verdict it ruled the NFL did indeed monopolize

wi pro football but it awarded damages of just $1 and in one of his biggest fights of the 1980s he went up against media Mogul MV Griffin in a fight over a casino in Atlantic City people realize now that MV made a bad deal it's unfortunate that he's taken a fall but he has taken the fall nothing much I can do about it Donald loves that perception I won I won I won he is still you know a year later standing in New York going I won I won I won he wants to make sure

everybody in America knows he won but the Donald Trump we know today is more than just a boastful brawler that's because there's one more tactic that Trump apparently learned in the 80s and uses to great effect on the campaign Trail today keep people guessing about any long-term plans Mr Trump what's left in your life you're 33 years old you're worth all this money you say you didn't say that you want to be worth a billion doll no I really don't I just want to keep busy and keep active could a billion dollars buy the White

House what do you think money give I know a lot the politicians I like a lot of the politicians they're friends of M Trump carefully cultivated speculation about his future in 1987 he ran a fullpage ad in major newspapers that read like a political Manifesto a blow up of the ad is now on display at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue the ad was irresistible to the New York press and the move kept Trump's name in the news Trump has said quite seriously that he's a good enough Barger to negotiate a nuclear disarmament treaty with the

Russians this is not a wealthy country people think America you know wealth this and that the Japanese are saying that what a wealthy country I mean they're saying it and they're laughing country is losing $200 billion a year we ought to go in the next time they fire so much as a bullet at one of our ships we ought to go in and take over their Royal with each of these instances Trump refined his Playbook his attacks Steve you're going to have to start pushing these people now a little bit cuz it's getting a little

ridiculous as far as I'm concerned his boasts will probably sell an extra 10,000 season tickets and that's a lot of tickets and his shifting positions do you you have the the genes to be a successful politician well you never really know I I think I'm pretty outspoken and that's not probably a good thing in terms of a politician but it's a good thing if you ever got elected you can really do a job now even back in the 80s many found trumps over the-top personality distasteful what may be most discouraging of all is that Palm

Beach will accept almost anything if it's got enough money but somehow it will not accept Donald Trump but by playing the role of an unpredictable bully with the mightest touch Trump showed he couldn't easily be ignored I believe that perhaps I'm portrayed differently than I I actually am I believe I'm portrayed in a rougher sense than the actual product and I hope that's true because I hope the actual product is a lot more mellow than the portrayal and that may be his biggest asset of all when people attack Trump they reinforce the version of trump

that Trump wants people to see and inevitably that keeps Trump's name in the news that doesn't matter because I'm not running for [Music] office Hey NBC News fans thanks for checking out our YouTube channel subscribe by clicking on that button down here and click on any of the videos over here to watch the latest interviews show highlights and digital exclusives thanks for watching