In 1980s America, one man’s name had become synonymous with the gratuitous pomp of a self-made billionaire. His casinos, hotels and skyscrapers were dotted along the East Coast of America; his then-wife was as much of an exhibitionist as he was (the pair reportedly spent $7million on gold leaf alone when renovating Mar-a-Lago, their Palm Beach palace) and he was in business with some of the biggest names in real estate. The man, of course, was Donald Trump. That year, he’d have an affair with a model 17 years his junior, and his subsequent divorce from first wife Ivana was juicy tabloid fodder.
In a 1989 Time magazine cover story, Trump boldly declared: “I love to have enemies. I fight my enemies. I like beating my enemies to the ground.” That mentality prevailed, and despite vocal opposition from liberal America, Donald Trump – the perma-tanned, bizarrely-coiffed, anti-choice, climate-change-denying, conservative caricature – was elected President of the United States.
