Dumbo Books of Brooklyn: June 1990

Sunday, June 10, 1990

CNN Report From June 1990: How Richard Grayson Rescued Donald Trump From Disaster

Miami Herald Article About Donald Trump's Business Failures Mentions Richard Grayson's Trump Rescue Fund

Today, Sunday, June 10, 1990, on page 17 A, The Miami Herald has a story by Dave von Drehle, "Trump's Lumps Good for a Thousand Laughs," which features an account of writer Richard Grayson's Trump Rescue Fund.

The article begins:

NEW YORK--Billionaire. . .er, embattled billionaire. . . make that, embattled former billionaire. . .heck, just call him Donald Trump.

He's in trouble. Trouble with the wife, trouble with the bond-holders, trouble with the banks. Trump's got them lowdown cash-flow blues.

But you know that already. What you may not know is that, in an incredible outpouring of warmth and sympathy, America's comics, cartoonists and commentators are rallying to the side of the wounded entrepreneur, comforting him in his sorrows even as they once rejoiced in his successes.

Just kidding.

They're loving every minute of the Trump Slump. The Donald is down, and they're kicking him like crazy.

. . . Coming on the heels of his much-publicized separation from his wife, Ivana, and in the fading spotlight of his most recent Grand Opening -- of the garish Taj Mahal casino resort in Atlantic City -- Trump's business problems have been a godsend to hungry comedy writers and gag peddlers from coast to coast. Johnny Carson, David Letterman and the rest of the nightly talk-show hosts have all chimed in gleefully.

But New York has a special relationship to Trump -- as shown by writer Richard Grayson's campaign to raise money for the Trump Rescue Fund. All last week he worked the streets, tongue firmly in cheek, soliciting funds to help the Baron of Blowhards through difficult times. So far, no one is chipping in.

Meanwhile, headline writers at The New York Post, the city's sauciest tabloid, are in heaven. The day of Trump's announcement, they came up with this for the front page: UH-OWE!