Donald Trump may continue to bully his way into the White House this November. Despite his anti-immigrant rants and inconsistent policies, however, the Donald continues to claim he’s a “nice guy.” In fact, he recently compared himself to Dwight Eisenhower – who was truly the epitome of presidential niceness.
While the Trumpster may love quoting President Eisenhower, Ike was certainly not a fan of the Donald’s dad, Fred. In fact, Eisenhower despised Fred Trump – who amassed his wealth via state and federal subsidies to build his real estate empire. Fred was also a crummy racist landlord who only cared about profit margins – and certainly not the welfare of his residents.
As the second-generation “King of Trumpery”, Fred was vindictive in nature and for all his good doings – was nothing more than a bigoted slumlord. Eisenhower hated “Old Man Trump” due to the racist codes he put in place to keep certain minorities out of his properties and buildings. This included both public and private venues, which could have benefited so many citizens had Fred curtailed his racist views.
Along with Eisenhower, revolutionary musician Woody Guthrie also despised Fred Trump for the same reasons as Ike. Eisenhower, however, was not exempt from public scrutiny as he too was labeled a racist to some degree. This was courtesy of his illegal Mexican deportation plan in the 50s, labeled “Operation Wetback”.
While the plan was initially introduced by the Mexican government to stop their laborers from illegally entering the U.S., it was Ike that took the brunt of the failed policy. In fact, several illegal Mexicans had died on land and sea – as they were forced back into the deepest parts of their home country.
Despite this controversial event, Ike remained steadfast in his hatred for Fred Trump. Again, this was due to Fred’s racist housing codes, as well as his misappropriation of FHA loan subsidies. While Daddy Trump set out to build affordable housing for military vets and other “desirables”, he pocketed countless amounts of money – and so did his fellow builders and developers.
So irate was Ike that he ordered an investigation into this housing scandal. The probe was lead by William McKenna, who was an esteemed attorney that specialized in housing fraud. As predicted by Eisenhower, the investigation cemented the fact that Fred and his buddies abused the housing program for their own monetary gains.
Image via: Wikipedia
