Donald Trump supposedly learned a great deal from Roy Cohn, who was a relentless douchebag and all-around horrible human being.
Cohn and Trump were as friendly as any pair of narcissistic sociopaths can get. Cohn was Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer, mobbed-up to his eyeballs, and a total swamp-creature; when Trump was worried that the Russia investigation might be slipping out of his control, he supposedly whined, “Where is my Roy Cohn?” [nyt]
More revealing about Trump, when Cohn died: [wikipedia]
At death, the IRS seized almost everything he had. One of the things that the IRS did not seize was a pair of diamond cuff links, given to him by his client and friend, Donald Trump. The diamond cuff links were later declared to be fake by an appraiser.
Nothing I can write could top that.
The source cited for that bit is The New York Post, the dubiousness of which always casts a shadow over whatever they reveal.
Naytheless, bits do seem worth quoting:
The Post story came out in June of 2016, the peak of the campaign. A similar story about any major Democrat would’ve echoed through the mediasphere for years.
A gift of the grift. He would put grey duct tape on a paperclip and claim it was a $50 tie pin.
Being called out as a douchenozzle by Charlie Sheen. Wowza.