In 1997, New Yorker journalist Mark Singer followed Donald Trump for weeks to get a glimpse into his life.
Now, 28 years later, portions of his in-depth recollection of Trump’s day-to-day dealings, ranging from meetings with Russian politicians to flights aboard his Boeing jet with Ghislaine Maxwell in tow, have resurfaced.
Conversations about expanding his real estate empire into Moscow, showing off Shaquille O’Neal’s massive shoe and bragging of connections with royalty provided a glimpse into the then-mysterious life of Trump.
The drama surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein files, attempts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, and increasing tensions with Venezuela have overshadowed the US president’s return to office.
Yesterday, Trump sent special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, a real estate developer and investor, to Russia, where they spoke with Putin in hopes of ending the nearly four-year war.
Sending Kushner has raised eyebrows, given that Trump spoke of his real estate aims in Moscow almost three decades ago in an interview with The New Yorker, and Kushner is also involved in real estate. Could the article provide insight into Trump during one of the most tumultuous times in his presidency?
Aims to build skyscrapers in Russia
Journalist Mark Singer was present for a meeting between Trump and Aleksandr Ivanovich Lebed, a Russian politician who was hoping to get the presidency in the 1990s.
Before they spoke about business, Trump showed off a shoe given to him by basketball star Shaquille O’Neal and a replica of Mike Tyson’s heavyweight-championship belt.
The pair reportedly spoke of expanding Trump’s real estate empire into Russia.
Trump said: ‘We are actually looking at something in Moscow right now, and it would be skyscrapers and hotels, not casinos. Only quality stuff.
‘I’ll soon be going again to Moscow. We’re looking at the Moskva Hotel. We’re also looking at the Rossiya. That’s a very big project; I think it’s the largest hotel in the world.
‘And we’re working with the local government, the mayor of Moscow and the mayor’s people. So far, they’ve been very responsive.’
Lebed said in response: ‘I think you are a litmus testing paper. You are at the end of the edge.
‘If Trump goes to Moscow, I think America will follow. So I consider these projects of yours to be very important.’
Though Trump never made any real estate deals in Russia, he still has ties to the country through his ventures in property. Russians invested in many Trump properties, and it’s alleged he borrowed money from sources in the country when he was facing bankruptcy.
A Royal wanting to buy a Trump Tower apartment
One of the more bizarre details observed by Singer in 1997 was that a spokesman for the Trump organisation had leaked that a member of the British Royal Family wanted to buy an apartment in Trump Tower.
Though this was never confirmed, many readers after the fact connected the dots and suggested this Royal could have been former Prince Andrew.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had his titles revoked and was evicted from the Royal Lodge this year.
His name has also surfaced multiple times in connection with Jeffrey Epstein – but he denies all allegations against him.
Other royals surfaced during Singer’s article. In Mar-a-Lago, Trump reportedly claimed that the then-Prince and Princess of Wales had joined the Palm Beach club, without providing evidence.
A plane ride with Ghislaine Maxwell and Trump
While writing about his trip to Mar-a-Lago with Trump, Singer detailed the ‘solid-gold’ sinks, seat belts, door hinges and screws onboard his plane.
Also mentioned were the passengers with him.
Ghislaine Maxwell, who Singer described as ‘the daughter of the late publishing tycoon and inadequate swimmer Robert Maxwell’, was ‘bumming a ride’ to the Palm Beach resort.
Maxwell is now serving a 20-year prison term for trafficking young girls for Jeffrey Epstein for more than a decade.
Also onboard were Eric Javits, a lawyer, Trump’s head of security and his son, Eric Trump, then just 13 years old.
Plans for a partially Russian-gifted statue in New York
As Singer was with Trump in his office, a New York Times reporter at the time rang Trump, asking him to confirm something he’d heard from a source.
Reporter Michael Gordon was told by Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli that Trump wanted to create a statue of Christopher Columbus that was six feet taller than the Statue of Liberty.
‘Yes, it’s already been made, from what I understand. It’s got forty million dollars’ worth of bronze in it,’ Trump told him.
He also said the head of the statue was already in the US,but the body of it was going to be donated as a gift from the Russian government.
‘The mayor of Moscow has written a letter to Rudy Giuliani stating that they would like to make a gift of this great work by Zurab,’ Trump told Gordon.
‘It would be my honour if we could work it out with the City of New York.’
If the statue came to fruition, New York’s skyline would look very different.
Why has the article resurfaced?
Trump’s comments about his aim to expand in Russian real estate and the plane ride with Ghislaine Maxwell have been cause for conversation since the article came out.
Whichever way one looks at the nearly three-decade-old article, it provides a unique insight into Trump’s mindset.
Or as Singer put it: ‘All along there have been several Trumps: the hyperbole addict who prevaricates for fun and profit; the knowledgeable builder whose associates profess awe at his attention to detail; the narcissist whose self-absorption doesn’t account for his dead-on ability to exploit other people’s weaknesses; the perpetual seventeen-year-old who lives in a zero-sum world of winners and “total losers,”… in sum, a fellow both slippery and naïve, artfully calculating and recklessly heedless of consequences.’
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