"I was intrigued by Trump, a hustler entrepreneur, and his unique, carefully nurtured persona, designed even then to manipulate others with precision and a touch of ruthlessness," Woodward wrote.
"Here, in this interview 35 years ago, we see the origin of Trumpism in the words of Trump himself."
Woodward revealed the interview about a year after finding the audio cassette in a battered envelope in a warehouse filled with hundreds of old files, the journalist explained.
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The recorded interview took place in the former president's Trump Tower in New York City and touched on construction, friendship, make-up, and a public persona the mogul admitted was faked.
“Much more interestingly would be the real act as opposed to the facade,” Trump said about himself. When Woodward asked about “the real act," Trump replied, “It’s an act that hasn’t been caught."
Trump admitted his future could lead him into the public realm and echoed rhetoric he uses today, comparing the world of politics to professional fighting.
He detailed watching an underdog win against a champion in an Atlantic City match and said he was impressed by the fighter's explanation of his tactics.
"He said, ‘I just went with the punches, man. I just went with the punches,'" Trump said. "I thought it was a great expression...because it’s about life just as much as it is about boxing or anything else. You go with the punches.”
Trump turned to boasting when it came to his business prowess even going so far as to compare a deal to a physical attack on a famous talk show host and media mogul.
"I beat the s--- out of a guy named Merv Griffin,” Trump said. "He came in with makeup and he was on television, you know, he comes into my office. He made a deal to buy everything I didn’t want in Resorts International...All of a sudden, it turns out to be an incredible deal for me."
Trump also went on several tangents.
When asked what he read, Trump wound up telling Woodward and Bernstein about his decision to buy his Florida social club.
“[I was] talking to a cabdriver and asking him, ‘What’s hot in Florida? What’s the greatest house in Palm Beach?’” Trump said. “Oh, the greatest house is Mar-a-Lago,” the cabdriver said. “I said where is it? Take me over.”
Then what begins as a tutorial on coping with Brooklyn building inspectors ends with Trump making a blunt comparison between workers unions and organized crime.
Trump explained that, when faced with violations from those inspectors, he's simply reply "F--- you."
“You can say the same thing with the mob," Trump said. "They might try and put pressure on you at the beginning but in the end they’re going to find an easier mark because it’s too tough for them. Inspectors. Mobs. Unions. Okay?”
Wrote Woodward, 35 years later, "This was Trump’s basic philosophy."
