In a dinner address in Winnipeg, Conrad Black told the audience who he knew Donald Trump to be, a depiction much different than the one given to CNN viewers..The 78-year-old entrepreneur and former media mogul credited Trump with “making billions of dollars as a quality builder, not a schlock builder like his father was ... in what must be the toughest real estate market in the world.”.In this way, “He accomplished more prior to being president than anyone in the history of that office, except those who made irreplaceable contributions to the founding of the country … and those who lead victoriously great armies in unjust wars, and that would be Grant and Eisenhower.”.Black, who made his comments May 4 at the Manitoba Club at the invitation of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, said Trump became “one of the most famous people in the country,” thanks to “this technique of seeking unlimited publicity, irrespective of how crass and tasteless it was. A great deal of it was the most unutterable hucksterism, shaving Vince McMahon's head in front of 96,000 people in the Pontiac Silverdome.”.The former media mogul had little esteem for Trump University, which he summarized as “a peppy speech by Trump and a diploma, and for that you paid a thousand bucks — not much of a university… Even gender studies counts for more than that.” .Black thought the “worst” Trump did was sell a life extension health plan through the Trump Network..“It consisted of vitamin pills and a quarterly urinalysis. They didn't need Donald for that, but he made a lot of money out of it..“He's a complete fraud in certain ways, but he is absolutely sincere as someone who identifies with the average person. That is not an affectation.”.The friendship between the billionaires dates back at least 30 years. .“He is not a snob. He is personally an extremely gracious person. We've had him to dinner a number of times. He was our neighbour in Palm Beach and in New York, and he's a wonderful raconteur, very polite, never tries to dominate conversation, never interrupts people.”.Black said Trump changed parties seven times in 13 years and regularly polled the public on his popularity even in the 1990s. He was waiting for the right opportunity when that section of people not getting ahead in America would be willing to support him..“No one knew that he was doing all this polling unless you knew him well,” Black said..The National Post founder served time in a US prison in Florida from September 2011 to May 2012 and said he will never forget how Trump stood with him at that time in his life..“And all the problems I had, he went out of his way to be supportive. Many times he said, publicly, positive things about me. He volunteered to give evidence at our kangaroo trial in Chicago. And he came to visit me when I was in a government guest house,” meaning the Sumter County Florida jail..“He’s a very loyal friend. And he has many fine human qualities,”.Read more: Conrad Black fondly recalls the Iron Lady..Trump rose to the presidency like a famous underdog, Black said..“He developed a new technique for becoming president by making himself an immense celebrity, and developing a direct pitch to that echelon of the electorate that was not participating adequately or fairly in the growth of America. He knew these people, he knew their problems, and he sincerely identified with them…".“We will all remember when he announced his candidacy and came down the escalator in 2018. The media just went absolutely into orbit. They thought they'd gone to heaven with the mockery they were going to make with this farcical campaign and the terrible hammering that Trump would take. And we all know what happened.”.The beating to Trump’s reputation during the 2016 election campaign was undeserved in Black’s view..“There were outrageous slurs against him as a racist and a misogynist — absolute rubbish. He was a lusty young man, there's no doubt about that, but he's not anti-woman and a woman was the director of the construction of the Trump Tower. He has absolutely nothing but good will and a sense of equality with women in the workforce. .“And there certainly is not a racist bone in his body. He couldn't care less if someone is white or yellow or whatever they are. His family is one-third Protestant, one-third Catholic, and one-third Jewish. He wouldn't care if they were Muslims. It absolutely doesn't register on any of that sort of thing. And the slurs against him in that regard are completely false.”.As a president, Black acknowledged Trump had “stylistic infelicities,” meaning an inappropriate way of doing things, but said that did not take away from the results..Black said Trump was “in policy terms an outstanding president” and “very successful” despite “a lot of awkward aspects to his presidency.” Before COVID-19 set the country back, America was surging and its enemies were less bold..“You had full employment. You had three-quarters of a million more jobs to be filled than there were unemployed people. You had a steadily growing workforce. He’d almost stopped illegal immigration, which is now six or seven thousand people a day. The North Koreans stopped firing missiles over Japan. China was behaving itself,” Black said..“Donald stopped all of that by the performance that he generated in his own country.”
