“The Donald”
Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, December 16, 2016 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler
When Donald Trump assumes office January 20th as the 45th President of the United States, he’ll be 70 years old, the oldest person to be inaugurated as a first-term U.S. President since Ronald Reagan, and the wealthiest since George Washington. He describes himself as a conservative; scholars and commentators describe him as a populist, protectionist and nationalist.
Born June 14, 1946 in the New York City neighborhood called Queens, Donald was the fourth child of Fred and Mary Trump. His mother was born in Scotland, and his father’s parents migrated from Germany, so all his grandparents were born in Europe.
Because his brother died of alcoholism in 1981, Trump decided to abstain from alcohol and cigarettes, so the soon-to-be occupant of the Oval Office will be a tee totaller!
Sixteen years ago, Trump toyed with becoming a Reform Party presidential candidate, but withdrew before voting began. He considered, but decided against, a Republican run for the 2012 election, but in June 2015, finally, jumped in as a Republican candidate, and the rest is history.Although Trump did not nick-name himself “The Donald,” it served him well in his run for office. It’s catchy phrase that makes good copy for the media. New York Times reporter Maureen Dowd said, “The Donald’s strange pompadour and Hillary’s strange server have [overshadowed the other issues].” This is how Newsweek put it, “Fascination with The Donald has been sucking the life out of the other candidates.” The New York Post writer, probably, shrugged and sighed when he admitted, “I’m willing to concede that The Donald could become the GOP nominee ….”
But, who nicknamed him The Donald? It happened in 1989 when his second wife, Ivana, who speaks four languages, was learning English. She explained it this way: “When I came to live in New York, I really had to learn the language from the beginning almost, and for whatever reason, probably because I was going at my usual turbo speed, I started putting ‘The’ in front of most people’s names. ‘The Donald’ just slipped off the tongue, and now it seems to be making its way to the political history books.”
When he was asked about it, The Donald laughed and said he had “no choice,” but to accept the nickname. “I don’t mind that it stuck. I think it’s an endearment.” By the way, Ivana still calls him, “The Don!” For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent