June 30, 2020

The Trump Files: The Time Andrew Dice Clay Thanked Donald for the Hookers

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This post was originally published as part of “The Trump Files”—a collection of telling episodes, strange but true stories, and curious scenes from the life of our current president—on June 6, 2016.

On June 16, 1990, the day after Donald Trump missed a $43 million payment on bonds he used to finance Trump Castle, the mogul visited his Atlantic City casino for a blowout celebrating his 44th birthday. The party capped off a day that had started with a pro-Trump rally held by casino employees—”Let’s stand behind our Donald, because he’s the father of our babies,” one worker urged the crowd. The rally featured a “professional motivator” to whip up the audience, and one worker presented the tycoon with a gift: an eight-foot-tall “rug portrait” of Trump.

The party at the Castle’s Crystal Ballroom was an over-the-top bash with bands, confetti, and a cheering crowd. Robin Leach, the host of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, walked out of a fake Trump Shuttle to act as a hype man before other celebrities showed up in person and onstage. As then-Village Voice reporter Wayne Barrett described in his book, Trump: The Greatest Show on Earth:

Dolly Parton and Elton John appeared on giant screens to wish Donald a happy birthday, with Parton asking to work the Taj instead of her regular Castle gig and promising to charge only $100,000 a show. Joe Piscopo did his Sinatra imitation on the birthday song, followed by a string of Jap gags—oblivious to the presence of several Japanese high rollers in the front rows—even cracking that Atlantic City would be owned by the Japanese if it wasn’t for Donald. A George Bush imitator declared Donald should be President…A chorus line in skintight outfits gyrated around chairs singing longingly about Donald’s dollars. Then Andrew Dice Clay appeared on another giant screen to thank Donald for the Taj hookers, saying they had stamps on their asses to show they’d had their shots.

Sadly, Barrett couldn’t attend the event. He was arrested on his third attempt to get into the ballroom and cover the party. But his research assistant managed to enter the ballroom and cover the festivities.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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