It was what I considered the gaping hole in a 43 year media career.
I have had the privilege and opportunity to meet and sit down and conduct personal interviews with world famous news figures, sports heroes, singers, actors and political figures. But the one interview I always wanted to do eluded me…..I had never met or interviewed a current or former President of the United States.
That hole has now been filled. I am thrilled to announce that I had an exclusive, one-on-one, personal sit down interview with President Donald Trump.
Okay. Full disclosure. That previous statement is a half-truth. But as we all know, in politics a half-truth counts as a fact.
I did indeed have an exclusive interview with Donald Trump. It just happened to take place 32 years before he was elected president. It was the Spring of 1984 to be exact.
Still, that was no small accomplishment. Even then Trump was a worldwide celebrity and media darling. National press was all over every move he made. Famous journalists whose names you would immediately recognize would have drooled over the same opportunity.
At the time, I was the sports anchor at Channel 13 in Birmingham, the NBC affiliate. Part of my beat was covering the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League, a new professional league going into its second year of existence. The USFL played its games in the spring to avoid competing against the established and powerful National Football League. The opening game of the 1984 season was to be against the New Jersey Generals, a team that just happened to be owned by…….you guessed it….Donald Trump.
As he is now, Trump then was already overcoming long odds and achieving things nobody thought he could pull off. He had shocked the sports world by outbidding the NFL on two Heisman Trophy winners, and convincing them to sign with his fledgling team. Herschel Walker and Doug Flutie immediately made the Generals the media epicenter of the young league.
The team was scheduled to arrive in Birmingham on Saturday, with the game to be played the following day. It is customary for the local media to camp out at the team hotel and interview players and coaches as they arrive. While my media brethren were focusing on trying to interview Walker and Flutie, I decided to try going higher.
Figuring Trump might accompany the team, I contacted the Generals publicity people days ahead and requested a personal interview with the owner. I knew it was a long shot. Like I said, he was turning down national media requests left and right. The chances of a local yokel like me landing him were about as good as my chances of getting President Ronald Reagan. (see what I did there?)
But I took my shot. I knew I had one thing going for me…..Trump’s ego. You see, Trump didn’t really want to own a USFL team, he wanted to own an NFL team. He wanted in to the most powerful and prestigious sports league in the world. But none of the current NFL owners would sell to him. His plan was to make the USFL so successful, and such a threat to the NFL, that it would force the established league to merge with them and take in their teams. It was the same plan successfully executed by the American Football League in the 1960’s.
I told the PR man that I would air the Trump interview and promote it heavily that night, which would generate more ticket sales to the game the next day, thereby providing a big crowd for national television, thereby making the league appear more viable. I had no idea if that would actually happen, but it must have sounded well coming out of my mouth because…..much to my surprise…..it worked!!!
The team got back to me and I was told Mr. Trump would sit down with me the afternoon of the day before the game. I arrived on time at the hotel and noticed no other media there at the moment. I was greeted in the lobby by a PR type who was the very personification of the slick, fast talking guys you would see playing the role of a boxing promoter in the movies. Cigar in his mouth, thick New York accent, and all.
He took me all the way up the elevator to the top floor penthouse suite. I had actually never been in one before and I was struck at how spacious and plush and beautiful it was. I had no idea such accommodations existed in Birmingham. I pictured Mr. Trump in there, enjoying a rare, quiet moment alone before resuming his busy schedule. But as I was led in, the suite was full of people. I guess it was the entourage. Men and women dressed in business attire. Trump was sitting at a table and people were all around him, tending to his every need and whispering things to him. The PR type informed me that I had 15 minutes.
TV newsrooms in medium markets like Birmingham are short on people on the weekends, so I wound up having to shoot the interview myself, carrying my own camera on my shoulder and rolling while holding the mic out in front of the interview target. Not exactly the three and four person sound crews Trump was used to working with! I was a little embarrassed and felt the people in the room snickering at me, but I pressed on.
The interview went very well. Trump was gracious and kind. He was in a good mood and did not blow me off with “yes” and “no” answers to get me out of the room, as I had expected. He tried very hard to give introspective responses. He was very complimentary of Alabama and its people and its proud football tradition. He was supremely confident and spoke in imperatives. “We WILL be a success. The fans WILL love the product. The NFL WILL sit up and take notice.”
I went way over my 15 minutes as the PR type wrung his hands and gave me the “wrap” sign. But….here’s a shock……Trump loved being on camera, and seemed willing to go as long as I wanted. We finally finished up. Trump shook my hand and said quite sincerely “Thanks for the interview. See you at the game tomorrow”.
The PR type quickly ushered me back to the elevator and thanked me as well, although I don’t think he made eye contact with me at any point. I did air portions of the interview that night. The following day a huge crowd of over 60,000 showed up for the game, by far the biggest crowd in the Stallions brief, 3 year history. Of course, my interview had nothing to do with that, but I love to entertain in my own mind that it might have.
So that was my encounter with a future president. As I watch Trump conduct himself in the White House, I recognize all the same characteristics I got to observe first hand. He hasn’t changed. He’s going to be himself.
As it pertains to politics, I have no strong feeling about President Trump one way or the other, unlike most people. I am taking a wait and see approach to his presidency. I desperately want this country to come together and mend its differences. Is he the man to do it? Time will tell.
But from my own meeting with him I can tell you this: He believes he will. He has no doubt whatsoever that he will be a success…..and he doesn’t care what people think. He is unaffected by the criticism. Just as he was unaffected by the criticism he took from the other USFL owners when he pushed to move the season to the fall to compete head on with the NFL, and then pushed the league to sue the NFL for monopolizing fall football.
I have no idea what the next four years have in store….but I have a feeling they will not be boring.