Free Republic

Miss California USA Pageant Director Keith Lewis explained the decision to fire then-Miss California Carrie Prejean in the following statement: “This was a decision based solely on contract violations including Ms. Prejean’s unwillingness to make appearances on behalf of the Miss California USA organization.” But In an exclusive interview with Big Hollywood, Ms. Prejean’s attorney, Charles S. LiMandri, who says that he and his client learned of the firing during a phone call from gossip site TMZ, vehemently denies those allegations. “She greeted troops, ‘Fox and Friends,’ she was lined up for the Special Olympics this weekend. It is pure...

From the Left, former Crossfire host Michael Kinsley schools his progressive pals: Miss California’s views on gay marriage have nothing to do with her qualifications for the job and shouldn’t disqualify her for it. This is really Liberalism 101, and it’s amazing that so many liberals don’t get it. Yes, yes, the Bill of Rights protects individuals against oppression by the government, not by other private individuals or organizations. But the values and logic behind our constitutional rights don’t disappear when the oppressor is in the private sector. They may not have the force of law in that situation, but...

With all the California-centric beauty-queen action happening these days, it's been easy to forget that one young lovely was actually named Miss USA a couple weeks ago. But Kristen Dalton doesn't mind. The winner of the 2009 Miss USA Pageant told E! News that she thinks the Carrie Prejean hullabaloo has been good for the cause. "I really think that it's great for the Miss Universe Organization, because it's given us a lot of publicity," Dalton told E!'s Daily 10. "And there's gonna be a lot of people watching this Miss USA pageant next year." And as for Miss California,...

Miss California keeps her crown thanks to Donald Trump (Miss USA pageant owner) who understands people have the right to an opinion -- PC police notwithstanding.... Sadly, principled opposition to same-sex marriage--shared by most Americans, including Pres Obama--- is all too often ascribed to bigotry. Carrie Prejean's response to a direct question from an agenda-driven Miss USA pageant judge -- sparked controversy even as Prejean went out of her way not to offend...... when she did not give the pro-gay-marriage answer that flamboyant gaydar Perez Hilton was looking for, she lost the contest......Hilton called Prejean a "dumb b**ch,".....saying he would...

Carrie Prejean didn't lie to beauty pageant officials even though she'd appeared semi-nude in photos a few years back, so let's just get off that high Godiva horse right now. Here's the thing: Since the old pictures were of her real breasts, she never actually exposed the new breasts she's now using for contests. Those were the old, God-given breasts, see? So, technically speaking, the world has never actually gotten a look at her current breasts. No exposure, no violation of pageant rules. Case closed. I may not know this for a true fact because I'm not canonballing into the...

Donald Trump is suing Deutsche Bank and other finance houses for $3 billion (£1.9 billion) after they cut funding to his project to build America's second biggest tower. Mr Trump, a luxury hotel developer and star of the television show The Apprentice, claims the banks broke agreements over building and financing the 92-storey Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago. He had been trying to extend a $640 million (£415 million) construction loan from the group, which includes Merrill Lynch, Union Labour Life Insurance, a property investment trust called iStar Financial and a division of Highland Capital Management. The 1,361ft...

YEKATERINBURG — Urals fertilizer billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev is the new owner of Florida's most expensive house after paying U.S. property tycoon Donald Trump $100 million for the waterfront property. Rybolovlev, whose fortune has soared by $10 billion in the last year on an unprecedented boom in demand for fertilizers, said through a spokesman that the purchase was an investment and that he had no plans to swap Moscow life for the Florida coast. Trump more than doubled his money on the sale of Maison de l'Amitie, a 3,000-square-meter mansion on Palm Beach bought for $41.4 million at a bankruptcy auction...

Over the years we've had our share of great British combovers - Arthur Scargill and Bobby Charlton to name but two. But both men would have to doff their cap to the astonishing coiffure of American billionaire Donald Trump. Rather than invest any of his considerable fortune in a transplant or wig, the 61-year-old property magnate insists on using a series of elaborate measures to plaster strands of hair across his balding pate. Occasionally, however, it comes unstuck - notably this week when faced with the insistent breeze on the Isle of Lewis, where he was visiting his mother's former...

The Donald to W: "You stink." Donald Trump trashed President Bush Tuesday as a "terrible" president who has destroyed the world economy - but insisted the global crunch wouldn't stall his planned $2 billion golf resort. "We have a president in the United States who's terrible. He stinks," Trump said. "Now the world is in chaos." Trump said he can't wait to see Bush head back to Texas after the November election is done. "Hopefully we'll have a good, new president, whoever he is," Trump said. He praised both major party candidates, but gushed over Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic...

Donald Trump has a new show in the works: naughty girls are sent to a finishing school where they learn the manners they'll need to behave like socialites. Sounds tasteful. Now The New York Daily News is reporting that Mr. Trump, as he likes to be called, is looking to get Eliot Spitzer's call girl, Ashley Alexandra Dupre, to come on his show. Jo Piazza's Full Disclosure column writes that "A production source confirmed that the group reached out to the singing floozy and former call girl on Thursday, but have yet to hear back from her. But The Donald...

THINK: Donald and Melania Trump. THE DONALD COVERS YOUR ASSETS Always have a prenuptial agreement. I have seen people and businesses destroyed because there wasn't a pre-nup. I will be honest with you, if I did not have prenuptial agreements with Ivana and Marla, I would not have anything now. They attacked me rather viciously. --SNIP--Look at Paul McCartney, the poor bastard----he is worth $1.5B.......he married Heather Mills. Some people said she was a nude model in the 80s and worked for an escort service......she made his life miserable for three years, then sued him for $400M. Paul told...

Donald Trump lowered the boom on Rosie O'Donnell - telling the corpulent commentator that "The View" boss Barbara Walters has been saying nasty things behind her back like a high-school drama queen. In a "Dear Rosie" letter, the big-mouthed building baron claims Walters has been "lying" to Rosie - and she told The Donald the decision to hire O'Donnell was like getting "into the mud with pigs" and that working with her is like "living in hell." Trump's mean-spirited missive came after Page Six exclusively reported that O'Donnell and Walters had a massive backstage fight..... O'Donnell was angry that Walters...

NEW YORK — Donald Trump blasted "The View" co-host Rosie O'Donnell on FOX News Channel Thursday, calling her "unattractive" and suggesting "maybe she's jealous that Miss USA likes me and doesn't like her." "Rosie's a loser, and somebody has to fight back," Trump said. Believe me — Barbara Walters, in my opinion, rues the day that she put that animal on her show because that show will go down the tubes. You watch." Earlier on FOX News, Trump said he'd sue O'Donnell. "I guarantee I'll have a lot of Rosie's money right out of her big fat pocket, I'll have...

Miss Universe pageant owner Donald Trump says he is considering a tribute to the newly crowned Miss Iraq, who has been hiding amid death threats. "She is very proud to have won, and now she is in a very tough position," Trump told Friday's New York Post. "She is extremely brave." Silvia Shahakian, 23, a Christian of Armenian ancestry, was crowned Sunday when the original winner stepped down after receiving threats from extremists. Shahakian told ABC's "Good Morning America" she was going into hiding, but the Post said it is believed she is still in Iraq. Trump said there may...

NEW YORK -- Donald Trump 's wife gave birth to a boy Monday, the billionaire developer announced. "Everyone's perfect," Trump said in a telephone interview on MSNBC's "Imus in the Morning," about 20 minutes after the arrival of his fifth child. Trump said the new baby was already making him feel younger. "I continue to stay young, right? I produce children, I stay young," he said.

ALBANY — Megabuilder and late-blooming TV star Donald Trump yesterday flatly ruled out running for governor this year — but hinted he may go for president in 2008. Trump, in a phone call to The Post from his oceanside Palm Beach estate, Mar-a-Lago, declared, "I'm not going to run for governor because I'm having too much fun doing what I'm doing now. "I'm the largest builder in New York, I'm building things all over the country, I have one of the top shows on television. It's a little hard to leave all of that." Trump, a Republican, said he had...

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Donald Trump is considering running for governor, a leading Republican said Friday. Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno on Thursday suggested that a big-name candidate could be flirting with entering the 2006 contest. On Friday, he confirmed to News Channel 10 in Albany that he had been referring to Trump. Bruno told the station he had spoken to the real estate developer and TV personality about a possible run. Trump's office in New York had no immediate comment. State GOP Executive Director Ryan Moses said neither he nor state party Chairman Stephen Minarik have had discussions with Trump...

ALBANY - Could New York's state capitol building become the next Trump Tower? Republican sources said The Donald - who in 1999 toyed with the idea of running for the White House on the Reform Party line - is mulling a bid to persuade New Yorkers to hire him as their next governor. Senate GOP leader Joseph Bruno tantalized reporters yesterday by declaring a wealthy mystery candidate is "thinking" about seeking the party's backing to replace Gov. Pataki. Bruno - a longtime Trump admirer who has gained new clout within statewide GOP circles as Pataki prepares to leave state politics...

Life is Never Easy, Even When You're Doing Well Posted: 10/28/2005 9:37:00 AM by Donald J. TrumpChairman, Trump University I talked about this earlier in the week on my daily radio show, but I have more to say. Someone just wrote a book about me. It's the biggest pile of garbage I've ever seen, written by a highly questionable and, some people say, disgraced reporter named Tim O'Brien. I looked up O'Brien on the Internet and found stories comparing him to Jayson Blair. Blair was The New York Times' infamous reporter, who was fired in shame after he was found...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - "The Apprentice" winner Bill Rancic, entrusted by the reality TV show's creator, Donald Trump, to develop a skyscraper, says he'll stop working for him next year and start his own business. Rancic, who won the first season of the U.S. NBC network's "The Apprentice" in April last year, said his contract with Trump, the American real estate mogul, to oversee construction of the 90-story Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago will end in March. "That will probably be it for me," Rancic said late Wednesday during a global leadership forum in Malaysia. "I'm going to...

Real estate mogul Donald Trump should bid on a United Nations renovation contract if he thinks he can do the job cheaper and better than anyone else, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said. Trump told a U.S. Senate hearing last week that the United Nations would commit to a boondoggle of immense proportions if it goes ahead with its plan to renovate the outdated United Nations secretariat, a project it says will cost about $1 billion. Trump predicted that if the U.N. continues with its proposal, the cost will balloon to $3 billion. And he argued that he could do the...

Donald Trump, regarding the United Nations' remodeling plan: Senator, congratulations. You've got a mess on your hands. The Senate International Security Subcommittee, chaired by Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn, was holding a hearing yesterday into the proposed $1.5 billion refurbish project of the United Nations building. One of the star witnesses was The Donald. Just on pure theater, it was fun to watch. In case you missed it, here's Trump's testimony. It's long, but I promise you it's worth it: 07-22thedonald.mp3 Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and members of the subcommittee. It's a great honor to have been invited,...

Will 'The Apprentice' Be a Black and White Issue? Business mogul Donald Trump says 'he wasn't particularly happy' with the most recent season of his hit reality show, (featuring 'book smarts' vs. street smarts') and is considering controversial changes bound to generate buzz for upcoming episodes.Among the proposals: piting a team of African-American contestants against a team of all white players.'Whether people like that or not, it would be somewhat reflective of our world,' according to Trump. 'But needless to say, not everyone thinks it is a good idea.'Trump wasn't available for further comment, but a representative told the Scoop...

Almost half U.S. women do not mind if a man is losing his hair, but 99 percent are against comb-overs, a new survey has found. Forty-eight percent of the women in the online poll for Cargo magazine say men shouldn't even worry about hair loss, while 32 recommend going with the flow and cutting all hair off. But only 1 percent suggest hiding a balding head under a cap or a comb-over. Fifty-eight percent of the women say men look sexiest in jeans and a t-shirt, but they hate men in anything too trendy: 92 percent hated leather pants, 91...

Moments ago on Fox News cable show, Dayside with Linda Vester, the guest hosts asked Donald Trump was asked his opinion about Mark Felt's disclosure he was Deep Throat. Paraphrasing Trump, he said Felt was scum, disloyal, betrayed the FBI, his President and the country. The audience applauded. I'm not usually a Trump fan, but I appplauded too. At first, I was not sure he said what he said. But, sure enough, he repeated himself, "He is scum."

This publication is generally full of bad news, so it is pleasant to report some good news for a change. Last week Donald Trump, the New York real estate entrepreneur and eccentric star of his own ‘reality’ television series, unveiled his plans for the World Trade Centre site. He received plenty of publicity for his plan, and most people are supporting it. Here he is with a model of the planned replacement: Thank goodness somebody with as much experience in the field as Donald Trump has pointed out what everybody knows already – that the only satisfying solution is to...

Consortium of Hong Kong investors, Donald Consortium of Hong Kong investors, Donald Trump selling stretch of land in NYC for $1.8B, largest residential sale in city history... Developing...

Osama... did not attack only the World Trade Center on 9/11. And refusing to build new Twin Towers and reclaim our skyline from terrorists does not make New Yorkers safe. It makes us cowards. Which is why the plan Donald Trump unveiled... is so refreshing. Bin Laden and al Qaeda attacked the United States of America — and what it stands for around the world: Global trade and economic power in New York, military might at the Pentagon and democracy in Washington. But a free civilization does not give up its ideals to the enemy so easily — nor does...

NEW YORK (AFP) - New York property tycoon Donald Trump unveiled his design for "bigger, stronger and better" twin towers to replace the World Trade Center originals destroyed on September 11, 2001. ADVERTISEMENT Denouncing the existing plans for rebuilding Ground Zero as the "worst pile of crap architecture I've ever seen," Trump argued that erecting two new, even taller twin towers was the only valid response to the terrorists. The consummate self-promoter, known as "The Donald," showed off his proposal just weeks after the official master design was put on hold because of security concerns surrounding the centerpiece 1,776 foot...

There's no love lost between Dan Rather and NewsMax readers, and 'The Donald' feels the same way. Today on Howard Stern's radio show Donald Trump was Howard's guest. Stern said he likes Trump because Trump is brutally honest. "I see you all over the place trashing Dan Rather," revealed Stern. "Well, Dan was not too great," Trump replied, in the understatement of the new millennium. "He had me on 60 Minutes, and he did nothing but be nice to me and he was great; then all of a sudden, at the end, he starts ... 'You're a vicious, horrible human...

Reality bites for Mark Burnett. The Hollywood product-placement firm sued this week by television's reality show king for allegedly pocketing millions of dollars by misrepresenting its relationship with Burnett, wasted no time in returning some legal fire. Burnett's lawsuit, the firm claims, is reality challenged and charges it was Burnett who tried to wring up to $5 million from companies to get their products on "The Apprentice." Madison Road Entertainment claims Burnett "made up" the charges after marketers balked at meeting his greedy, inflated fees to get the products they represent into the third season of "The Apprentice," according to...

Donald Trump will sail into The Guinness Book of World Records with a rate of $16,000 per minute for lectures at The Learning Annex. It's nice work if you can get it, and Donald Trump can get just about anything he wants these days. The billionaire business magnate has reached an agreement with the Learning Annex to present three classes in 2005 titled How to Succeed in Real Estate. Trump's fee will be a cool one million dollars for each one-hour class. That's over $16,000 a minute! He's scheduled to teach in three cities -- Los Angeles on May 1,...

Did anyone here that on the "O'Reilly Factor"?? Trump admitted he voted for Bush. I don't believe he even voted.

December 8, 2004 -- Donald Trump knows the "Art of the Deal" - and he is proving it by getting this $1.5 million wedding ring for free. He will present it to Melania Knauss at their upcoming nuptials. The Donald has arranged a deal with the tony Graff diamond sellers, in which the company will provide a 13-carat masterpiece ring in return for the November appearance of the jeweler's products on "The Apprentice," a source close to Trump said yesterday. In addition, Trump's sexy model fiance has agreed to pose in ads for the tony, high-end gem seller as part...

Trump's Casinos File for Bankruptcy Email this Story Nov 22, 7:53 AM (ET) Hey Donald, Nice job... Would you allow one of your rookies to do this to one of your companies? PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Donald Trump's casino operations filed for bankruptcy Sunday in a long-expected move that would allow the real estate maverick to restructure the company's debt and overhaul its aging casinos. Trump, the developer who flaunts his brusque business style on "The Apprentice" reality television show, last month clinched a restructuring pact with bondholders that would cut his stake in the company but preserved his role as...

Trump's Casino Businesses to Be Restructured Under Bankruptcy Plan; Donald to Lose Majority Stake ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. Aug. 10, 2004 — You could call it Trump: The Art of the (Bankruptcy Restructuring) Deal. Donald Trump's casino businesses, which have failed to share in his highly publicized successes in other realms in recent years, are being restructured under a bankruptcy protection plan that would strip The Donald of his majority stake. Under the plan, announced late Monday, Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts plans to enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy next month, emerging within a year. DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, an arm of...

On Drudge now, Siren up.

Trump slams Bush on Iraq President Bush, you should be fired. The Donald has turned thumbs down on the President's war in Iraq, calling it a "mess." "What was the purpose of the whole thing?" Donald Trump asks in an Esquire interview. "Hundreds of young people killed. And what about the people coming back with no arms and no legs?" "The Apprentice" star said it's folly to think Iraq can be turned into a "wonderful democracy." The real estate baron said if he were President, Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden "would have been caught long ago." "Tell me, how...

President Bush, you should be fired. The Donald has turned thumbs down on the President's war in Iraq, calling it a "mess." "What was the purpose of the whole thing?" Donald Trump asks in an Esquire interview. "Hundreds of young people killed. And what about the people coming back with no arms and no legs?" "The Apprentice" star said it's folly to think Iraq can be turned into a "wonderful democracy." The real estate baron said if he were President, Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden "would have been caught long ago." "Tell me, how is it possible that we...

President Bush, you should be fired. The Donald has turned thumbs down on the President's war in Iraq, calling it a "mess." "What was the purpose of the whole thing?" Donald Trump asks in an Esquire interview. "Hundreds of young people killed. And what about the people coming back with no arms and no legs?" "The Apprentice" star said it's folly to think Iraq can be turned into a "wonderful democracy." The real estate baron said if he were President, Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden "would have been caught long ago." "Tell me, how is it possible that we...

To win over 'The Apprentice' audience, the Dems are out to invent something new in American political history—a friendly, patriotic, positive populism. [snip] The November election offers good reality-TV suspense. If the Democrats slip into antibusiness bitterness and forget to articulate an optimistic pro-growth agenda, they lose. If the Republicans can't get the job-creation numbers up enough to convince applicants that they will find good work, they're done. The basic decision is the same as the one made by Donald Trump each week. But this time it's the voters who get to come into the room last, sit in the...

Trump Towering Over Moonves Fri Jan 16, 1:20 AM ET   By Sarah HallThe Donald is taking on the Les. Moonves, that is.   E! Online Photo     Flush from the success of his reality hit, The Apprentice, Trump has been using his renewed celebrity status to make jabs at the CBS boss. Trump referred to Moonves as "the most highly overrated person in television" at a recent promotional appearance. "If Les Moonves was a contestant on [Apprentice], he would have been fired by the third episode," Trump told a group of television critics, who reportedly responded with...