Flashback to 1987: TV, Trump and Russia
Was Trump just selling books or testing the political waters?
“The United States, if it were a corporation, would be bankrupt…why aren’t these countries – these wealthy money machines – paying us for the defence of their freedom?” – Donald Trump, speaking to CNN’s Larry King in September, 1987.
Almost 38 years on and it seems like the track hasn’t changed from Trump. The now two-term US President shocked the Western world after he berated Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office over the weekend.
The war-tired leader had managed to trigger a series of Trump’s pet peeves: he wasn’t overly positive, he didn’t wholly agree with the Republican leader and, in the eyes of the Commander-in-Chief, he was in the wrong clothes. “He’s a picky eater who hates sloppy dressers,” Trump’s ex-butler once warned.
Though the interaction made for grizzly and very undiplomatic television, long-term watchers of Trump wouldn’t be that surprised by this behaviour. The cameras, the persona and even his foreign policy stance go back decades.
If you took just one year in Trump’s life which might explain all of this, I would look no further than 1987.
January, 1987
Trump headed into 1987 with many media and political plaudits under his belt. He had successfully opened New York’s Wollman Rink in November 1986.
The project was originally intended to be completed in 1982, but it faced a series of embarrassing bureaucratic setbacks. Then New York Mayor Ed Koch would praise Trump after he completed construction of the ice rink in a matter of months.
That positive momentum continued into January 1987 thanks to two other developments for Trump. Media goliath NBC had announced that Trump’s proposed ‘Television City’ plan on the Upper West Side of Manhattan was one of three sites it was considering for its potential move away from the Rockefeller Center (link). The campus would host 30,000 workers and include the world’s tallest building.
The real estate mogul also received a letter from Yuri Dubinin, the Soviet ambassador to the United States, in January 1987. Dubinin wanted Trump to visit the Russian capital that July to pursue a “venture to construct and manage a hotel in Moscow”. More on that later.
February, 1987
In February, Trump funded a parade up New York’s Fifth Avenue for the Stars & Stripes sailing team, the new America's Cup winners. Skipper Dennis Conner and his crew would stop in front of Trump Tower for a presentation of the trophy. A major backer of the team, Trump would pose alongside the team.
March and April, 1987
In March and in April, Trump attempted to buy real estate and casino company Resorts International after its founder James Crosby passed away. Though others beat his $135 per share offer, Trump built up good relations with Crosby’s family and he had promised to finish James’ pet project, The Taj Mahal Casino (which opened in 1990). The Crosby’s went with Trump in the end.
April also saw Trump show-off as a boxing promoter. He spoke at a press conference hosted at his Grand Hyatt Hotel for the Gerry Cooney vs. Michael Spinks fight. The heavyweight bout was scheduled for June at The Trump Plaza (Convention Center), Atlantic City. “I got a little lucky with this one. It’s turned out much, much bigger than we anticipated,” Trump said after the fight. Spinks’ victory set-up a super fight with Mike Tyson in 1988.
May, 1987
Further progress was made at the Trump Plaza on the Boardwalk, with the opening of 1,200 new parking spaces in May. But Trump’s ambitions would be dented later that month after a visit to Mayor Koch’s office. He wanted a 20-year tax abatement deal for his 100-acre TV City site in Manhattan.
“NBC stood to save up to $2 billion over a twenty-year period by moving to New Jersey. I suggested a deal under which I’d build NBC’s headquarters myself, at a cost of between $300 million and $400 million. I’d also subsidize NBC’s rent for thirty years by charging only $15 a square foot, which is less than half the break-even rent,” Trump later wrote. The dispute went public, with Trump calling Koch a “moron”.
June, 1987
In June, Ronald Reagan visited the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin, delivering his famous “tear down this wall” speech aimed at Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. A reformist, Gorbachev’s economic initiatives (perestroika) included a joint-venture law which enabled foreign companies to partner with the Soviet state.
The legislation came into effect in June. Trump, meanwhile, continued his public feud with Koch, while New York State Republican Party Chairman, Anthony Colavita, made overtures to Trump in the press. “'He could finance a campaign and he's got good name recognition,” Colavita said of Trump as a mayoral candidate.
Roger Stone, then known as the successful Northeast and Midwest organiser for the ‘84 Reagan Presidential campaign, later met with Trump to discuss the idea of taking on Mario Cuomo for the Governorship of New York. Trump rejected the idea.
July, 1987
The Russia trip finally came around on 4 July. Trump and his then wife, Ivana, who was also the Executive Vice President of The Trump Organization and a Czechoslovakian refugee (of sorts), visited Moscow and Leningrad as part of a three-day tour of the country hosted by Intourist, the state-controlled tour operator.
“It's a totally interesting place,” Trump said at the time (link). “I think the Soviet Union is really making an effort to cooperate in the sense of dealing openly with other nations and in opening up the country.” The couple popped into Paris on the way back to New York.
Back in the United States, veteran GOP operator, Mike Dunbar, was attempting to organise a petition of 1,000 Republican voters to place him on the Presidential primary election ballot in New Hampshire for 1988. Dunbar thought that then Vice President George H. W. Bush was “boring” and Senator Bob Dole had a poor record on taxation.
September, 1987
In September, Dunbar’s dream started to become a reality. Trump bought full-page advertisements in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Boston Globe for almost $100,0000 to outline his foreign policy views.
He also told the media that he would visit New Hampshire in October. A statement issued by a Trump spokesperson further stoked media speculation: “There is absolutely no plan to run for mayor, governor or United States senator. He will not comment about the Presidency.''
The ads, meanwhile, headlined with ‘There's nothing wrong with America's Foreign Defense Policy that a little backbone can't cure’ criticised successive US governments for funding Japan and questioned the country’s role in the Persian Gulf. The American Navy had to intervene to protect shipping lanes during the Tanker Wars of the 1980s. The conflict was part of the larger Iran–Iraq War.
The stunt got Trump on Larry King, where he claimed he didn’t want to be president (link). He was also quizzed by a caller on the US’ financial commitments to NATO. “If you look at the payments that we’re making to NATO, they’re totally disproportionate to everybody else's – it’s ridiculous,” he added.
October, 1987
On October 19 the stock market crashed. Trump later claimed that he had sold all of his shares a month before the mass sell-off on Black Monday (link). Just days later Trump, then 41, would step out of his helicopter to give his first political campaign speech at a Rotary Club luncheon in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. “I want someone who is tough and knows how to negotiate. If not, our country faces disaster,” he declared.
November, 1987
The pseudo-campaign went nowhere. But it did allow Trump to gain a lot of publicity for his first book, The Art of The Deal, released in November. The part memoir, part business advice book became a bestseller, with Trump featuring on Letterman, 20/20 with Barbara Walters and The Phil Donahue Show in December. The latter appearance prompted Richard Nixon to write to Trump, sharing his wife’s praise of the businessman’s performance.
December, 1987
Trump ended the year with a party to celebrate his book’s success at Trump Tower in December. Amongst the guests were Al Sharpton, boxing promoter Don King and actor Michael Douglas.
The TV would play a major role in the 1988 election, with Roger Ailes (later of Fox News fame) and Lee Atwater commissioning negative ads against Democratic hopeful Michael Dukakis. Trump sat the contest out, while “boring” George H. W. Bush won the White House.
The Political Press Box
Find my latest long-form audio interviews of political communicators here. Please like, subscribe and listen.
📧 Contact
For high-praise, tips or gripes, please contact the editor at iansilvera@gmail.com or via BlueSky (link). Follow on LinkedIn here.
218 can be found here
217 can be found here
216 can be found here
215 can be found here
214 can be found here