22 LISTENER MAY 26 2018
H
e came, he saw, he vowed to
learn te reo. On a wet and
blustery August morning
in 1993, Donald Trump
breezed into Auckland, a
business mogul in town to
push his company’s bid for
an Auckland casino.
The Donald stayed for nine hours. He
ate brown M&M’s, and a single piece of
fruit (a banana) from
the bowl in his lavish
presidential suite at the
Hyatt. He told reporters
that his central railway
station site would be an
“absolute diamond” in
the queen city’s crown.
“What a shame if this
site wasn’t chosen,” he
said. “It could bring vibrance. You have an
opportunity to do something dramatic.
The world could be talking about it,”
he said, in the same extravagant tones
he uses in his tweets as US President.
At that time, 46-year-old Trump was
a dark horse with flamboyant form. He
was a Big Apple tycoon, shaking off a
string of bankruptcies, but we knew less
about his business affairs than about his
divorce from first wife, Ivana. There had
been speculation he would bring his new
partner, Marla Maples, who was quoted
in a 1990 front-page splash in the tabloid
New York Post as saying her relationship
was the “best sex I ever had”, although
she has repeatedly denied saying it.They would wed that Christmas.
As Trump’s stretch limousine pulled
up at the Hyatt, New Zealand, grappling
with its own money problems, was
ready to listen to a passing billionaire.
The economy had been tanking for
two years, inflation stood at 10%, and
the numbers seeking work approached
280,000, a post-war high. The country’s
first casino, in Christchurch, was due
to open the next year,
and Auckland was
next cab off the rank.
Trump’s gambling
empire had a 25% stake
in Auckland Casino
Ltd’s high-profile but
ultimately unsuccess-
ful bid for an operator’s
licence. The consortium
had strong Māori links: it was a joint ven-
ture between the National Māori Congress
and heavy-hitting Hong Kong outfit New
World Developments.
Trump spent two of his nine hours
in Auckland giving evidence to the
Casino Control Authority as it met in a
boardroom above Symonds St to decide
which of three local applicants should
gain the coveted prize. Chairman Jock
Irvine would later declare that Trump was
“everything I expected”, but that the PR
razzle-dazzle swirling around him had not
influenced him or his peers.
Trump then made a courtesy lunch
call to Ōrākei Marae high above Okahu
Bay, which had been returned to NgātiThe day the
Donald did
Auckland
The property mogul and future President
spent nine hours in the Queen City
spruiking a casino bid. by REDMER YSKA
WHEN FAMOUS PEOPLE CAME TO TOWN
“We really do,
we have a great
group, New World
and the Māoris.”
- Trump on Fifth Ave, 1990. 2. With Marla
Maples at the US Tennis Open, 1991.
3. Maples on Dancing With The Stars, 2016. - Trump, lanked by Ngāti Whātua elder
Joe Hawke and Donna Hall, legal adviser
to the National Māori Congress, Trump’s
joint-venture partner in the casino bid.
Whātua in 1991. Leaving his loafers and
a red Trump Plaza cap at the door, Trump
pressed noses and was treated to a hangi
lunch. He said he hoped “one day” to be
able to understand and speak Māori.T
he flattery didn’t end there. He hailed
his hosts as fellow property wizards:
“It looks to me like you folks have
the top location and I say that as someone
who knows property really well.”
Later, at the Hyatt, he was still gushing