Blogs and Twitter

Trump University Blog

• 2005: Trump first began writing on the internet through a blog published on the website of Trump University. “Wanna read something unintentionally funny? Check out Palm Beach king Donald Trump's new blog on his Trump University Web site. Choice lines: ‘The glamour and grandeur of my buildings and my life are no mere trappings. Beauty and elegance ... is a product of style, and it comes from deep inside.’ Oh, brother!” (Palm Beach Post, August 14, 2005)
• 2005: Before he was active on Twitter, Trump used to post his opinions about politics and current events on a blog maintained by Trump University’s website. “It is impossible to read Donald Trump's blog without hearing his voice and picturing him typing away in his Turnbull & Asser pajamas, sleep still in his eyes. Otherwise, ‘The Trump Blog’ seems a lot like most other blogs. Which is to say, lightweight and highly egocentric. The Trump Blog is featured on the Web site for Trump University (trumpuniversity.com), which is basically a series of seminars on how to get rich. Mr. Trump and ‘his circle of experts’ run the blog, though The Donald himself ducks in only occasionally. […]On those occasions when he's not talking about himself, Mr. Trump takes on political and economic issues. He doesn't go too deep, though. After all, he's a busy man.” (New York Times, September 3, 2005)
• Trump’s blog on the Trump University website had a lightly moderated comments section. “Blogs have gone corporate, raising doubts about the credibility of a fast-growing Internet innovation once used primarily for private thoughts. Business honchos from Donald Trump to General Motors executive Bob Lutz are among those embracing the new online journals, to the dismay of some blogging purists skeptical about the authenticity of such from-the-top viewpoints. […] Both Trump and Lutz say they allow critical postings on their blogs. The comments ‘have to be really extreme’ to be edited out of Trump's Web journal, said Michael Sexton, president of Trump University, who works with the real estate magnate. Business blogs perform better as soapboxes than as sales or corporate communication tools, because of the doubts they engender, Sexton said. ‘People are increasingly skeptical about what they read on the Internet.’” (Chicago Tribune, February 12, 2006)

History of Plagiarism

• Trump submitted an op-ed to a newspaper in Guam that was plagiarized from an earlier article submitted by Ben Carson to a newspaper in the Mariana Islands. “During the Republican primary, Trump wrote an op-ed for a newspaper in Guam that bore a striking resemblance to one that former GOP rival Ben Carson submitted to a paper in the Mariana Islands just 12 days earlier. Daily Caller reporter Alex Pappas, who was first to note the apparent plagiarism, tweeted a side-by-side comparison of the two articles.” (Washington Post, July 19, 2016)
• Trump Institute instructional materials were plagiarized from a real estate manual. “Last month, the New York Times reported that 20 pages of a Trump Institute instructional book were essentially duplicated from a real estate manual published 11 years earlier.” (Washington Post, July 19, 2016)
• Trump once contrasted himself to Joe Biden, claiming that unlike Biden he had never plagiarized. “On the campaign trail, Trump once touted his record of not plagiarizing material. Last summer, when Vice President Joe Biden was considering a presidential bid, Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that he liked his chances against the veteran Democrat. ‘I think I'd match up great,’ Trump said. ‘I'm a job producer. I've had a great record. I haven't been involved in plagiarism. I think I would match up very well against him.’ When he ran for president in 1988, Biden admitted to committing plagiarism in law school and to lifting speech material from the British politician Neil Kinnock without attribution.” (Washington Post, July 19, 2016)
• Trump once contrasted himself to Joe Biden, claiming that unlike Biden he had never plagiarized. “On the campaign trail, Trump once touted his record of not plagiarizing material. Last summer, when Vice President Joe Biden was considering a presidential bid, Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that he liked his chances against the veteran Democrat. ‘I think I'd match up great,’ Trump said. ‘I'm a job producer. I've had a great record. I haven't been involved in plagiarism. I think I would match up very well against him.’ When he ran for president in 1988, Biden admitted to committing plagiarism in law school and to lifting speech material from the British politician Neil Kinnock without attribution.” (Washington Post, July 19, 2016) Roger Stone