Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 7, 1990 TAG: 9006070159
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: C6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
"The Donald in disarray. Is this a great country or what?" asked Tony Kornheiser of The Washington Post in a column headlined "When Trump Went Thump."
"It's a cash flow problem. A slump de Trump. From `Trump: The Art of the Deal' to `Thump! My Life as a Shlemiel,"' the column continued.
Despite the mounting abuse, Trump maintained his silence Wednesday while negotiations continued between the developer and his creditors. "We won't be making any statements today," said Trump spokesman Dan Klores.
Trump, in need of cash to pay off a reported $30 million debt on June 15, could be forced to sell off some assets - the Trump Shuttle and the Taj Mahal casino have been mentioned - to make the payment. In April, Trump claimed he had no cash-flow woes; last month, that turned out to be untrue.
The real-estate magnate and casino operator has long been the target of Trump-bashing, even when things were going well. Spy magazine, which dubbed Trump "the short-fingered vulgarian," mounts monthly attacks at him.
But Trump's legal woes have stepped up the pace.
"At last, all of us who've so loved the game of kicking Donald Trump while he's up will have the fiendish thrill of kicking Donald Trump while he down," wrote New York Newsday columnist Robert Reno.
A New York Post cartoon showed a bedraggled Donald panhandling from inside the "Trump Carton."
Others suggested The Donald might have trumped up his money misfortunes to keep his estranged wife, Ivana, from getting too big a piece of the pie in any divorce settlement.
"A Trump Stunt?" asked the Daily News, which quoted an anonymous Ivana pal as saying, "He is just trying to convince Ivana that he has no money, so she'll soften up and go easy on him."
Newsday raised the same possibility in an editorial titled "Art of the Fall?"
"After all, there's always the possibility The Donald has pulled off the most artful deal of his career: Could it be an elaborate scam to keep the Empire out of Ivana's hands?" it asked.
Ivana's spokesman, John Scanlon, did not return phone messages left Tuesday and Wednesday asking her view on the situation. But she was not alone in refusing to kick Trump while he's down.
Ex-Mayor Ed Koch - a charter member of the "Down With Donald" movement - declined to join the Trump-bashers. While at City Hall, Koch constantly feuded with Trump and trashed the multimillionaire developer as "piggy, piggy, piggy."
"I don't believe in kicking someone when they are down, so I have nothing to say about Donald Trump," Koch said. "Call me when he's back on his feet."
by CNB