Donald Trump called the Stern School of Business “a very high-quality place” in an interview with the Daily Mail announcing Barron’s decision to attend NYU. The former president added that this year’s presidential election will be a “complicating factor” in his son’s experience.
“We like NYU,” Trump said in the interview, which was publicized Wednesday. “I’ve known NYU for a long time.”
In 2004, Trump — known at the time for his NBC show, “The Apprentice” — spoke to 300 master’s students at Stern, advising them to “be paranoid,” “get even” and “always have a prenuptial agreement.” At the invite-only talk, he referenced that year’s presidential election, noting that he was “too honest” to be a politician. Trump also touted his education at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, telling students that “a lot of you probably couldn’t get in.” In the recent video, Trump also mentions Wharton, praising both schools’ high rankings.
Last December, a pro-Trump political action committee paid an accounting professor at Stern almost $900,000 to testify for Trump at a New York civil trial. The professor, Eli Bartov, told the jury there was “no evidence whatsoever” of fraud in Trump’s accounting, and that the Trump Organization — convicted of asset inflation in February — had provided an “awesome amount of information” in its financial documents.
In April, the former president said that pro-Palestinian demonstrations at “Columbia, NYU and others” were a “disgrace to our country” and “all Biden’s fault.”
FOX Business Network anchor Maria Bartiromo, who sits on NYU’s board of trustees, has become a face of pro-Trump media, known for perpetuating conspiracy theories relating to the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. John Paulson, NYU megadonor and namesake to the university’s $1.2 billion Paulson Center, has also proclaimed support for the candidate and hosted a fundraiser that garnered more than $50 million for his campaign. Reports that Paulson would be Trump’s Treasury secretary if he wins this year’s election began to circulate in March. However, recent developments have pointed to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon as a more probable pick for the role.
Contact Dharma Niles at [email protected].
