Op-ed by Summer Lane | Photo: Alamy
“I don’t want to be President. I’m one hundred percent sure. I’d change my mind only if I saw this country continue to go down the tubes.”
He never changes. No matter what happens in culture, no matter how significantly geopolitics and trends fluctuate, he remains unchanging – Donald Trump, a man of business, and a man of pragmatic common sense.
In 1990, the “Donald” sat down with Playboy for an extensive interview that focused on his background, his business, and his thoughts on how he, as a hypothetical American president, would tackle the job as a Commander-in-Chief.
How would President Trump approach the Executive Office in 1990? In his own words:
“He would believe very strongly in extreme military strength. He wouldn’t trust anyone. He wouldn’t trust the Russians; he wouldn’t trust our allies; he’d have a huge military arsenal, perfect it, understand it. Part of the problem is that we’re defending some of the wealthiest countries in the world for nothing…. We’re being laughed at around the world…”
If this jargon sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Trump’s message has remained largely unchanged for decades – he is a man who has long seen the disservice that foreign countries have done to America, and as a businessman, it seems apparent that he can’t help but consistently point this out.
His practical reaction to the failing state of the U.S. government and its approach to foreign affairs can be traced and tracked, unswerving. He told Playboy, “I think of the future, but I refuse to paint it. Anything can happen. But I often think of nuclear war.”
He continued, “I’ve always thought about the issue of nuclear war; it’s a very important element in my thought process. It’s the ultimate, the ultimate catastrophe, the biggest problem this world has, and nobody’s focusing on the nuts and bolts of it.”
Today, that same Donald Trump has ominously and repeatedly warned Americans about the threat of nuclear war as violence has escalated in Europe and the Middle East amidst Biden’s beleaguered presidency.
In 2023, Trump called Biden a “stupid fool” who was facilitating Iran’s goal of obtaining a nuclear arsenal. Trump warned, “Once they have them, which will be soon, all negotiations STOP. That’s when our incompetent fool of a President will drop to his knees and beg IRAN for mercy.”
China, Mexico, and toughness
On foreign policy and trade, Trump is currently pitching a hardline agenda of tariffing Chinese and Mexican imports and implementing the Trump Reciprocal Trade Act, which he has often summarized as a “you screw us and we’re gonna screw you back” approach.
He recently told TIME magazine that he was considering tariffing Chinese imports more than 60 percent, noting, “It may be more than that. It may be a derivative of that. A derivative of that. But it will be somebody—look when they come in and they steal our jobs, and they steal our wealth, they steal our country.”
The president’s comments today echo his comments of yesteryear, when he touted the same message of toughness, urging leaders to focus on holding a firm line with foreign countries and demand respect. In 1990, a hypothetical Trump administration would, he said, hold toughness in high regard. He explained, “A toughness of attitude would prevail. I’d throw a tax on every Mercedes-Benz rolling into this country and on all Japanese products, and we’d have wonderful allies again.”
Just last week, Trump zeroed in on the failing auto industry, which Joe Biden gleefully continues to cede to foreign countries. Trump explained, “China now is building plants in Mexico to make cars to sell into the United States. And these are the biggest plants anywhere in the world. And that’s not going to happen when I’m President, because I will tariff them at 100%.”
Decades of consistency
Trump’s present comments are nearly indistinguishable from the remarks he made years ago, before he officially jumped into the waters of national politics. In 1999, he explored the idea of running for president after exiting the Republican Party and jumping to the Reform Party.
That preliminary presidential bid was a foreshadowing of things to come. In 1999, his political approach was identical to what he brought to the table in 2016 – minus the glitzy buzz surrounding his multi-season hit show, “Celebrity Apprentice.”
On the subject of politicians, he said during a CBS interview profiling his bid for the Reform Party nomination, “I know these folks well, and some are dumber than a rock. And, I know who they are, I know the smart ones, I know the not-so-smart ones – and I know that I can do a very good job.”
On Inauguration Day in 2017, NPR even ran a story titled, “Donald Trump’s Been Saying The Same Thing For 30 Years.” The article, written by Don Gonyea and Domenico Montanaro, included a collection of Trump moments stretching back several decades.
In 1999, Trump told Larry King, “I think that nobody’s really hitting it right. The Democrats are too far left… The Republicans are too far right. I don’t think anybody’s hitting the chord. Not the chord that I want to hear and not the chord that other people want to hear.”
In 2024, Trump holds that same position, steering closer to populism than anything else. He told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” in March, “You know, people say, ‘You’re conservative.’ I’m not conservative. You know what I am? I’m a man of common sense. And a lot of conservative policies are common sense. We’re not going to have open borders. You’re going to have to come in legally.”
The working man
In his 1999 interview with Larry King, Trump correctly predicted that the working man would be most drawn to a hypothetical Trump candidacy, explaining, “The workers are the ones that really like me. I’ve often said, the rich people hate me, and the workers love me. Now, the rich people that know me, like me, but the rich people that don’t know me, they truly dislike me.”
Nine years earlier, in Playboy, he made the same observation. “Rich men are less likely to like me, but the working man likes me because he knows I worked hard and didn’t inherit what I’ve built,” he said. “Hey, I made it myself; I have a right to do what I want with it.”
Fast forward 34 years, and it is indeed the blue-collar working man who supports Trump’s current reelection bid. Just two weeks ago, he was flooded with support at an early-morning visit with union workers on the corner of East 48th Street and Park Avenue in New York, where throngs of hard-hat-wearing men sporting reflective vests chanted, “WE LOVE TRUMP!”
Once again, Trump was correct – his political instincts were right on the money thirty years ago, and nothing has changed. What has changed is the political apparatus in America. From the halls of justice to the White House to the mainstream media, a seismic shift has taken place over the past few years, and rather than idolizing “the Don” who glitzily built some of the most impressive buildings in New York, the denizens of power have turned against him.
The rich, the elite, and the political aristocracy have rapidly devolved, favoring communism and anarchy over capitalism and national strength. Trump’s full-throttle bid for the presidency in 2016 took the establishment by surprise, but for anyone who has spent time listening to the 45th president over the past few decades, his success is hardly a shock.
He is no different in 2024 than he was in 1990. Is he more battle-hardened? Absolutely. And, unlike in the late 1980s or early 1990s, he now has a political track record that Americans can compare against his long history of statements and actions. If anything, the Donald Trump of 2024 is in the strongest position he’s ever been in, politically, and widespread support and popularity certainly reflects that.
From the gilded golden doorway of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York to the elegant Oval Office in Washington, D.C., President Trump has proven that he is unchanging in the best way. Love him or hate him, you can’t help but respect him, and if there’s anything this nation needs in 2024, it’s a little bit more of Trump’s steady consistency.
