The first thing I need to tell you is that my father was in World War I France and wounded as a member of a trench mortar battalion. As his son, I served in the Korean Theater during what the United Nations called “a police action.” When I married, his gift to me was an American flag.
That’s why I feel the way I do about the 20th anniversary of 9/11. And I tell you this because what follows will confirm what some of you believe and anger others.
President Joseph Biden and the First Lady will visit all three terrorist attack sites — in New York City, Shanksville, Pa., and the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will travel to Shanksville, the site of the United Flight 93 crash.
Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama will attend the remembrance ceremony at the site of the Twin Towers in New York. Former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush also will be in Shanksville for a ceremony honoring those who died on the flight they took down to save lives while sacrificing their own.
Former President Donald J. Trump and his son, Donald Jr., will be at none of those sites. Instead, on Saturday night— the 20th anniversary of the day when 2,996 Americans lost their lives in the largest terror attack on American soil — he and his son will offer what the promoter calls “the most anticipated fight of the decade,” a pay-per-view fight between 58-year-old Evander Holyfield and 44-year-old Vitor Belfort.
Trump Sr. will offer commentary. It should be billed as the P.T. Barnum Memorial, noting his oft-repeated quote that “there’s a sucker born every minute.”
“I love great fighters and great fights. I look forward to seeing both this Saturday night and sharing my thoughts ringside. You won’t want to miss this special evening,” said Trump, the man who brought the suckers to Trump University.
This isn’t the first time Trump missed a memorial of national significance. When he was president, he had been scheduled to lay a wreath and observe a moment of silence at the Aisne-Marne Cemetery and Memorial as France celebrated the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. That cemetery, where 2,289 American soldiers and marines were buried, was 50 miles away. He was expected to go.
But it drizzled all day in Paris. The Marine helicopter could not fly was the excuse given by Trump’s staff. “He was worried about his hairdo in the rain,” was whispered by anonymous intimates. But one thing is clear: The roads were open. White House chief of staff retired Marine Gen. John Kelly managed to get there in his place.
Let’s also not forget the lie that Trump told about seeing Muslims celebrating the fall of the towers in the hours after the 9/11 attack.
Saturday will not be Trump’s first meeting with Holyfield. In April 1991, Holyfield was scheduled to defend his heavyweight title in Atlantic City after Trump bought the site rights for his Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino.
A prominent New Jersey attorney named Patrick C. English of Dines and English LLC. represented Dan Duva and Bob Arum, who would promote the fight under the auspices of Duva’s Main Events and Arums Top Rank. What English saw and heard is a spectacular insight into the way Trump does business. Three casinos bid for the right to host the fight. The bidding was ferocious because at stake was the site gate for the casino but of more importance was the attraction of the high rollers who would come to the casino and gamble.
Trump won the bid for $11 million. But the promoters learned that Trump was using the Plaza to pay debts from his other non-profitable casinos. In other words, he might not actually have the money, so a new contract was negotiated as a favor to Trump.
In August of 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. On Jan. 16, the United States joined the Gulf War. On Feb 5, with no advance warning, Trump told Duva he would not honor his contract, citing a clause that stated:
“In the event that the fight was delayed or prevented by an act of God, fire, flood, war, power failure, public disaster, other calamity … promoter should attempt to reschedule to a date and time reasonably acceptable to the Plaza and the promoter … “
Trump was evoking the war as a cop-out to renegotiate yet again. He insisted the war was keeping foreign high rollers away from his casino. He sought to reduce the $11 million site fee by half.
Arum retorted that “it would take an invasion of Atlantic City by Iraq to invoke the war clause .”
Trump had already paid $1 million of the site fee and was due soon to make another $2.5 million payment to promoters. Still, Trump got a reduction and the fight went on.
Now back to the Trump & Trump Jr. show on Saturday. The bad news: It will cost you $50 to see this farce. The good news: You can save every penny of it by simply not watching.
