Predictably, the White House has denied that Trump made his contribution, even though his signature it is a perfect match for other letters he wrote in that era.
I looked through the book. (Briefly. Who has time for this crap?) Trump is also mentioned at least one other time. There is a picture of one of those giant novelty checks made out to Epstein for $22,500 and listing Trump as the person making the payment. (It’s not signed. His name is written in block CAPS.) “Jeffrey showing early talents with money + women! Sells ‘fully depreciated’ [woman’s name redacted] to Donald Trump for $22,500.” That’s some kind of lewd joke, and is impossible to interpret without knowing the context or whether the woman was in on the joke, but I’m sure that the internet nutbags will draw all sorts of sinister inferences and make plenty of wild-eyed claims.
Other people who made a contribution to the book include Alan Dershowitz and Bill Clinton.
Frankly, I have no idea why people think this is important, and I also have no idea why Trump would deny it. It’s ribald, but the words could have any number of interpretations, and I may have written similarly enigmatic crap when asked by my friend’s wives to do something for surprise parties.
I can remember one I did for a guy’s 50th birthday. I wrote: “I was supposed to say something good about Dick. Well, um, well there’s … um … there’s … oh, yeah … as I recall, he was a better-than-average speller.” The point is, when under the gun, what do you write when asked about things like this? The thing that Epstein and Trump had in common was that they were horndogs. They were also friends. Appropriately, the letter is both bawdy and affectionate. No surprise there. If anything, it shows Trump to be capable of friendship and affection. Who knew?
For the record, I think that message is much too clever to have been written by Trump. Would he have created an imaginary dialogue? Would he have been subtle and cryptic? I don’t think those arrows are in his quiver. The man is not exactly Eugene O’Fucking Neill. I assume he told an underling to “create something appropriate” and he just signed it.
The Onion’s take: “Trump Claims He Can’t Be Expected To Remember Every Birthday Card He Sends To Child Molesters”
The complete Birthday Book can be read or downloaded here. (It is “Request No. 1.pdf”)
Trump’s a rapist and a pedophile.
No doubt.
From The Atlantic:
Yes and probably. But like Scoopy sez, this isn’t usable evidence so yawn. OTOH, why lie? I guess for the same reason trump always lies – if 10% of the people believe him, he’s (in his alleged mind) ahead of the game.
He’s following Rule 2 of the Roy Cohn playbook:
1. Attack, attack, attack. Always go on the offensive. When accused, respond by immediately attacking your accuser or filing a countersuit. This puts your opponent on the defensive and shifts the focus away from your own alleged misconduct.
2. Admit nothing, deny everything. Never show weakness by admitting to anything. Whether facts are proven or not, always maintain your innocence and deny every accusation. Lie and change the story. According to reports, Cohn taught that it was possible to keep changing your narrative as long as you never admitted to changing it. When caught in a lie, simply replace it with another.
3. Claim victory and never admit defeat. Regardless of the outcome—whether it’s a court settlement or a public relations defeat—spin the result as a win. Cohn understood that the court of public opinion was often more important than a court of law.
Trust Scoopy didn’t rape underage girls….
From Investopedia: “A fully depreciated asset is a property, plant or piece of equipment (PP&E) which, for accounting purposes, is worth only its salvage value.” That is, a fully depreciated asset has reached the end of its useful life, making its value equal to their cost or salvage value.
I wouldn’t mind being remembered as a better-than-average speller. There are a lot of worse things to be remembered as. And personally, given what a mess English spelling is, it’s a decent compliment. I’d take it, if only it were true.
I mean, he straight up raped kids with documented evidence that someone went to prison for. I don’t think this matters.
“Underaged women” is a euphemism by the way. Since his supporters like blunt talk so much, call a spade a spade.