Trump - It's how the poor people perceive "being rich"

Donald Trump is “a poor person’s idea of a rich person,” Fran Lebowitz recently observed at The Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit.

Vanity Fair

I formed my opinion of Trump after one visit to Trump tower, and this article resonates with me.  

It was my first visit to New York.  The guide book listed Trump Tower as one place to visit (alongside Empire State, Chrysler, etc.).

To be honest, I didn't really know who he was.  It was the 90s.  I was surprised he still had a tower, as I'd heard a year or two earlier that he was bankrupt.  How can you still have a tower, if you have no money?  How naive of me!

All I recall is walking in, it was a horrible gold color everywhere - literally everything was gold.  It smelled bad.  There were too many people crammed into it.  The heating was turned up too high.  It felt very claustrophobic.  

There was nothing drawing me in more than 5 feet in from the entrance.  I immediately turned and moved onto the next landmark.

Point is, as the article suggests, it's showmanship.  A circus act, an illusion, a Vegas-style facade.  If you don't know better, maybe it's impressive.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not fancy or rich.  But I've been around the block enough times to see when I'm being scammed!