IT
  
Attualmente si sta visualizzando la versione Italy del sito.
Volete passare al vostro sito locale?
145 TEMPO DI LETTURA MIN

The Twisted Gay Man Who Made Donald Trump

For the next two decades, Trump was represented by Roy Cohn, a closeted gay, right-wing lawyer who taught him all the tricks that would later help him lie, intimidate and bully his way into the US Presidency. Feature by Andrew M Potts.

A rare image of Cohn and Trump together, possibly at the opening of Trump Tower.

NEWS FEATURE

In 1973 a 27-year-old Donald Trump, fresh in the public eye, needed a lawyer and fast.

Managing his father’s property empire of more than 14,000 apartments across the New York boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island had landed him in hot water with the US Justice Department over allegations that his company had violated the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against African-American renters.

After receiving complaints, the Justice Department had sent white and black “testers” to apply to rent apartments in more than a dozen buildings owned by the Trump Management Corporation and found that black applicants were either falsely told that apartments were no longer available when they applied to rent them or were offered different rental terms and conditions to whites.

“The government contended that Trump Management had refused to rent or negotiate rentals ‘because of race and colour,’ ” the New York Times reported in October of that year.

“The company… had misrepresented to blacks that apartments were not available.”

Trump’s response to the charges? “They are absolutely ridiculous,” he told the Times. “We never have discriminated, and we never would.”

Trump had just 20 days to respond to the Justice Department’s charges against the company. He turned to the notorious anti-communist witchhunter turned New York power lawyer, Roy Cohn.

Trump first met Cohn at the exclusive Le Club on New York’s East Side where both were members. Cohn advised Trump to hit back hard against the government with a countersuit demanding $100 million dollars – a ridiculous sum of money in the 1970s: over half-a-billion in today’s dollars.

Cohn also called up the head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division and demanded that the lawyer who had brought the case be fired. The threat was not well received, but they knew Trump and Cohn meant business now.

The judge eventually dismissed the countersuit as a waste of time and the Trump Management Corporation settled the case with the Justice Department two years later – but Trump avoided any admission of personal culpability in the agreement.

Trump claimed the settlement as a victory to the New York Times because it did not require the Trump Management Corporation to “accept persons on welfare as tenants unless as qualified as any other tenant”.

Forty-one years later, after winning the 2016 US election, Trump would claim another settlement as a victory – agreeing to pay $25 million to former Trump University students to avoid having to stand trial while holding the office of the President. Trump spun the settlement as a win on Twitter, claiming that the payout was only “a small fraction of the potential award,” adding that he would have liked to continue fighting the case had he not won the election. In actuality, it’s unlikely that the total pay-out to students would have been more than $15 million had he proceeded and lost the case.

Looking back over four decades, Tony Schwartz, the ghost writer of Trump’s bestseller The Art Of The Deal, sees the 1973 case and his involvement with Cohn as a pivotal moment for Trump that shaped the man we see today.

“This is a classic example of where Trump begins to demonstrate something he talks about all the time today, which is that he’s a counterpuncher,” Schwartz told PBS’ Frontline in July.

Sbloccate questo articolo e molto altro con
Si può godere di:
Godetevi questa edizione per intero
Accesso immediato a oltre 600 titoli
Migliaia di numeri arretrati
Nessun contratto o impegno
Prova per €1.09
ABBONATI ORA
30 giorni di accesso, poi solo €11,99 / mese. Disdetta in qualsiasi momento. Solo per i nuovi abbonati.


Per saperne di più
Pocketmags Plus
Pocketmags Plus

Questo articolo è...


View Issues
DNA Magazine
DNA #204 - Travel Issue
VISUALIZZA IN NEGOZIO

Altri articoli in questo numero


Regulars
Travel Tales Tall And Small
SOMETIMES THE SMALLEST MOMENTS CREATE THE STRONGEST MEMORIES.
burnttoast@dnamagazine.com.au
INSIDE THE MINDS OF DNA READERS! EMAILS, LETTERS, TWEETS, FACEBOOK POSTS, CARRIER PIGEON DISPATCHES AND RAMBLINGS
Summer Stunners
STAND-OUT STYLES FROM THE DOWN UNDER SUMMER…
THE STUFF WE’RE LOVING…
Trevor Ashley’s much-loved Diamonds Are For Trevor
MUSIC REVIEWS
What’s not to love about good golly Mr Olly? The 32-year-old
Come Blow Your Horn!
CABARET RETURNS TO PROVIDE A TIMELY ANECDOTE FOR A WORLD IN DISARRAY.
Dear Diva
Mama’s got something to say on your current situation!
Plunge In!
OUR PICK OF SUMMER’S BEST READS…
FIRM AND FRUITY
THIS MONTH, JORDAN’S PISTACHIO AND CRANBERRY BISCOTTI
NUTTIER THAN A SQUIRREL TURD
“The Rainbow Jihad’s bloodlust is insatiable… They
PARTY PILL POPPING
IT’S SUMMER, THE PARTY AND MUSIC FESTIVAL SEASON. THAT MEANS DANCING ALL NIGHT AND DAY AND THE NEED TO BE REALISTIC ABOUT PARTY PILLS, SAYS DR ZAC.
CURRENT AFFAIRS COMMANDO!
From war zones and red carpets to hosting The Today Show with brother Karl, Peter Stefanovic has seen more than your average journalist. He tells Matt Myers about life in the firing line.
Samples
ME, MYSELF, WE
Trinidadian singer Kryon We’s Dear Single Me fuses reggae and urban grooves. The video is an unabashed skimpy-swimwear affair! He tells Marc Andrews about his singledom and how Oprah helped shape his life.
TRAVEL T IPS FROM THE FAST LANE
AN AUSSIE SUCCESS STORY, ANTHONY AND CHRIS OF LQD SKIN CARE LAUNCHED THEIR RANGE IN BLOOMINGDALES IN THE USA LAST YEAR. THEY SPENT 13 OF THE LAST 16 WEEKS TRAVELLING FOR BUSINESS, SO WE FIGURED THEY’D HAVE SOME USEFUL TRAVEL TIPS. WE WERE RIGHT!
Facing Up To Party Season
SUMMER DOWN UNDER MEANS HARSH SUN, SALTY WATER AND THE PUNISHING PARTY SEASON. WE ASKED GLOBAL MAKE-UP ARTIST AND NAPOLEON PERDIS ACADEMY GRADUATE RAJJA RICHANI WHAT A BOY HAS TO DO TO SURVIVE?
Fashion
A NIGHT IN THE RED LIGHT
MARCO MARCO REVEAL HOT NEW LOOKS WITH A FEW DRAMATIC TWISTS.
PIN-UP BOY!
2016 YEAR OF THE AUBERGINE
As others reflected on 2016 with insightful analysis of the US election, the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, Cassini’s final, dying orbits of Saturn, or the tiring marriage equality debate in Australia, here we’d like to reflect on the real trend of 2016: the “leaked” celebrity nude. Nothing keeps one in the public eye like a nob-out Snapchat post of one’s self! Oops, did I really post that?
ENJOY EXTRA DNA
Discover the extended content of the Digital version
Supadupa Shorts
We’d like to invite you to have a look at Supawear’s
Photography
Golden Boy
Regular DNA readers will recognise Calum Winsor from
Travel
THE PRINCESS TRAVEL DIARIES
“I have always known my partner was a bit of a princess
20 Best Gay Travel Destinations, 2017
Pack your snorkel. And your skis. And your stock whip. And your cock ring! There’s so much on the gay calendar for 2017 you’ll hardly be home at all. Feature by Xax Judd.
REDISCOVERING PETRA
A GREAT METROPOLIS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD, ONE OF THE NEW SEVEN WONDERS AND ABOUT AS CLOSE AS YOU CAN GET TO STEPPING BACK IN TIME, PETRA IS A BUCKET-LIST DESTINATION, AND BEST TACKLED ON FOOT RATHER THAN DONKEY!
DOING THE CIRCUIT 5TH-17TH AUGUST, 2017
BARCELONA’S LEGENDARY CIRCUIT FESTIVAL CELEBRATES ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY IN 2017 AND THAT CAN ONLY MEAN ONE THING – A MIGHTY BIG BIRTHDAY PARTY!
Is That The Eiffel Tower Or Are You Just Pleased? To See Me.
Is That The Eiffel Tower Or Are You Just Pleased? To
Features
Am I F*ck-able?
LET’S CUT TO THE CHASE. YOUR ATTRACTIVENESS TO OTHERS ISN’T JUST ABOUT THE SIZE OF YOUR PECS. YOUR EMOTIONAL AND MENTAL WELL-BEING COUNT, TOO. BUT BUILDING A BETTER BODY CAN HELP KICK START THE JOURNEY.
THE FIRST… AT LAST!
Chansey Paech is 29, a proud Territorian and the first out gay Indigenous person elected to a parliament in Australia. “It’s very exciting, and I wear it with pride,” the new Labor MP for the huge Northern Territory electorate of Namatjira told DNA when we called to congratulate him. “It’s an honour, and comes with a very big responsibility!” Interview by Matt Akersten.
Chat
X
Supporto Pocketmags