It may be the ugliest election in US history. And Donald Trump is the reason why. He’s selling himself as America’s strong man and saviour. One thing is certain – no-one breathes fire like Donald Trump. The Fifth Estate: The Rise and Rage of Donald Trump – The Fire Breather, CBC 2016
The front page of the New York Daily News depicted Trump in clown face. ibid.
Donald Trump is a natural at the blame game. ibid.
For all his claims of being a self-made man, it was a silver spoon that got him launched. ibid.
The violence and vulgarity seem to be hallmarks of Trump rallies alone. ibid.
Moscow: When Donald Trump came to town. It was November 2013 and Trump had brought the diamond tiara of his business empire to Russia – the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow for the first time. The Fifth Estate: The Conspiracy Files: Putin, The FBI and Donald Trump, CBC 2017
One of the most notorious criminals in the world [Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov]: Why he was on Donald Trump’s red carpet raises intriguing questions about the Russian connections and the company kept by the man who would become the 45th American president. ibid.
Why has Donald Trump been so uwilling to accept the word of the intelligence community he will now have to work with? ibid.
For Canadians the past two years have been like eavesdropping as the neighbours’ marriage falls apart. Hearing the raised voices next door … Our friends south of the border may be destined for a very nasty divorce from their president. The Fifth Estate: The End of Trump, CBC 2019
‘There’s a Sophomore quality that is entertaining about Mr Trump.’ Donald Trump: Make America Hate Again I II, Rand Paul, Youtube 2016
‘My IQ is one of the highest.’ ibid. Trump tweet
‘The incidents of violence and verbal abuse hurled in the direction of protesters at Donald Trump rallies … the growing list of avowed white supremacist neo-nazis and white nationalists who have thrown their support behind Donald Trump …’ ibid. news
‘How do you feel about waterboarding? I said, I feel great about it … I think we should go much much much further than waterboarding …’ ibid. Trump
‘I would bomb the shit out of them.’ ibid.
‘I believe that it’s very important that you have free trade.’ ibid. early Trump
‘He [Obama] founded Isis.’ ibid. rallying Trump
The tactics we are seeing follow a script; they are not original. It’s a script that is familiar from other countries that have had rapid changes, rapid reforms, imposed on them in the midst of crises. Naomi Klein, lecture This Changes Everything, San Miguel Writer’s Conference, Youtube 1.05.54
A handful of career politicians who have been put in charge of agencies seems to have been selected explicitly because they do not believe that these agencies should even exist. ibid.
In 2016 Donald Trump pledged to build a wall between the US and Mexico. The issue has divided America and deeply offended its southern neighbour. Trump’s War on the Border, Channel 4 2017
The US/Mexican border spans 2,000 miles of rivers, mountains and inhospitable desert. Half a million illegal immigrants cross into the US every year. 46,000 border agents have the job of trying to stop them. ibid.
There are currently over 600 miles of fence, much of it running through border towns leaving families divided either side. ibid.
Arizona Border Recon – a group of vigilantes who defend the border. ibid.
Since 2001 over 2,500 human remains have been recovered from the desert. ibid.
The most powerful man on Earth has one of the most extraordinary life stories … It’s a story of politics, power and celebrity. And it’s a story of five decades of American history through the man who rode its undercurrents all the way to the White House. Trump: An American Dream I, Channel 4 2017
Donald was one of five children. He inherited a fortune from his father but it came with some dark clouds. ibid.
The decision all came down to this meeting in City Hall: should they allow the Trumps not to pay taxes on the Commodore Hotel for the next 40 years? ibid.
If Donald Trump went unnoticed in the ’70s, that wasn’t true in the ’80s. ibid.
On 14th May 1984 Trump opened his first casino – Trump Plaza. A year after his first casino Donald opened a second – Trump’s Castle. Trump: An American Dream II
Between 1983 and 1988 Donald Trump bought an airline, a yacht, an American football team … and a private jet. ibid.
In March 1988 he paid over $400 million for the Plaza Hotel in New York; it was his most expensive purchase yet. ibid.
The Trump brand started to take off. ibid.
‘Get yourself a different woman.’ Trump: An American Dream IIII, Trump’s advice for Citizen Kane
1990s: Americans were gripped by a real-life soap opera … Ivana: ‘Donald doesn’t want me any more.’ ibid.
Forbes magazine splashed their [financial] investigation on the cover … Trump had gone on one of the world’s biggest spending sprees but it was all now catching up with him. ibid.
What Trump did next would become the subject of his new book The Art of the Comeback. ibid.
Donald and Marla: It’s Over. ibid. New York Post
At the end of the 1990s Donald Trump had battled his way back from bankruptcy. But he seemed a bit washed up. Trump: An American Dream IV, Channel 4 2017
The world of wrestling was always pleased to be associated with Donald Trump. ibid.
By 1999 Donald had a new woman in his life. ibid.
‘A constant need to be loved … Cosmic ability he has to live in his own reality.’ ibid. Timothy O’Brien, author TrumpNation
The Apprentice brand went from strength to strength. ibid.
In the end Barack Obama released his birth certificate. ibid.
Later that week Trump and Obama would be in the same room at the White House Correspondents’ dinner. ibid.
In 2014 Trump told his advisers that he had decided to run. ibid.
My name is Roger Stone and I’m an agent provocateur. Get Me Roger Stone, 2017
Donald Trump’s campaign makes a ton more sense once you know Roger Stone is advising him. ibid. Vox online article 28 July 2015
It is better to be infamous than never to be famous at all. ibid. Stone’s rule
He understands politics and he understands politicians. ibid. Trump
I was a Watergate figure at 19 years old. ibid. Stone
You have to be outrageous to get noticed. ibid.
The Rise and Gall of Roger Stone. ibid. The Washington Post article
In 1987 I suggested that Trump should explore a bid for the presidency. ibid. Stone
Reinvent Yourself. ibid. Stone’s rule
Trump is the only one who can clean it up. ibid.
Did Roger Stone Jump, or Was He Pushed from Trump’s Campaign? ibid. The New York Times online
To win you must do everything. ibid. Stone’s rule
United States president Donald Trump is the most powerful, controversial and talked-about man in the world. President Trump: The Piers Morgan Interview, ITV 2018
It’s been one year since Donald Trump became president of the United States, a year that many describe as the most divisive, shocking, turbulent, and unpredictable in presidential history. ibid.
‘If it’s fake, I don’t like it.’ ibid. Trump
… And those re-tweets from the racist group Britain First … ibid.
‘I’m a 2nd amendment person.’ ibid. Trump