Former Wharton Admissions Officer Says Trump Benefited From Family Connections
When Donald Trump is praising himself for being a “very stable genius,” he often cites his attendance at the Wharton School of Business as proof.
Trump got his degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s business school in 1968, and he still brings it up as evidence of his intelligence.
“I went to the Wharton School of Business,” he’ll have you know. “I’m, like, a really smart person.”
However, a former admissions officer at the school said that the president got into the prestigious school mostly due to his genes rather than his genius.
James Nolan told the Washington Post that he was working in the admissions office in 1966 when a good friend, Fred Trump Jr., called asking for a favor.
“He called me and said, ‘You remember my brother Donald?’ Which I didn’t,” Nolan, 81, told the paper in an article published Monday.“[Trump Jr.] said, ‘He’s at Fordham and he would like to transfer to Wharton. Will you interview him?’ I was happy to do that.”
Nolan recalled that when he met with the future president, he saw no signs he was dealing with a world-class intellect.
“I certainly was not struck by any sense that I’m sitting before a genius,” he said. “Certainly not a super genius.”
Nolan said he wrote a report about Trump and said he doesn’t remember the details, but “it must have been decent enough to support his candidacy.”
Although it was common for children of wealthy and influential people to be admitted before other applicants ― especially if there were big donations made to the school ― the Post said there is no evidence that Fred Trump Sr. made a large donation to the school to help his son.
Still, the interview is just another example of how Trump, a self-proclaimed self-made man, benefited greatly from family connections and wealth.
Last year, the New York Times reported that, contrary to the president’s claims that he transformed a “small loan” of $1 million from his father into a “massive empire,” Fred Trump Sr. actually loaned his son at least $140 million in today’s dollars.
Trump’s dad also helped his son avoid financial ruin more than a few times, such as in 1990 when he sent one of his bookkeepers to Atlantic City in 1990 to buy $3.5 million in casino chips so his son could make a bond payment.
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He Has 9 Billion Dollars
In a tasteless boast, Trump went on to reveal he refused a bank's loan of $4bn. He said: “I don’t need it. I don’t want it. And I’ve been there.”
While millions of Americans continue to suffer the effects of sluggish economic growth, Trump is blissfully unaffected. Well, that's how he makes it sound.
But He's Never Used A Cash Machine
During an appearance on 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien', Trump said that he'd never seen the need to use ATMs, all the while hinting at his extraordinary wealth.
He Gets Super Defensive About Money
But unlike those struggling to make ends meet, Trump is more concerned with the perception of his wealth, which he says is "more than $9 bn".
When an author suggested Trump had a net worth of less than $300m, the property tycoon sued him for libel.
Yet during testimony, Trump admitted his own estimations depend on his "feelings".
It was reported Trump said: "Yes, even my own feelings (guide estimates of my wealth), as to where the world is, where the world is going, and that can change rapidly from day to day."
Trump lost the libel case.
He's Leading A Fact-Free Campaign
In a remarkable exchange with FOX News host Bill O'Reilly, the famously impertinent presenter took exception to flawed statistics banded about by Trump.
O’Reilly: This bothered me, I gotta tell ya. You tweeted out that whites killed by blacks — these are statistics you picked out from somewhere — at a rate of 81 percent. And that’s totally wrong. Whites killed by blacks is 15 percent, yet you tweeted it was 81 percent. Now …
Trump: Bill, I didn’t tweet, I retweeted somebody that was supposedly an expert, and it was also a radio show.
O’Reilly: Yeah, but you don’t wanna be. … Why do you want to be in that zone?
Trump: Hey, Bill, Bill, am I gonna check every statistic? I get millions and millions of people, @RealDonaldTrump, by the way.
O’Reilly: You gotta, you’re a presidential contender, you gotta check ’em.
He Takes His Name Way Too Seriously
J. Taikwok Yung, a self-described "domainer" from Brooklyn, NY, was hauled before judges after Trump noticed he'd bought up a huge amount of his brand online.
Trump sought the maximum damages allowed - $100,000 for each of the four Trump-related domain names bought by Yung.
And he had legal grounds: Trump is a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Organisation and is adorned on many a high-stakes casino, and several hotels.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
