18
discrimination, it gave its findings to the US Justice Department’s Civil
Rights Division.
In October 1973 the Justice Department announced the filing of
a racial bias case:
United States of America v. Fred C. Trump, Donald
Trump, and Trump Management, Inc.
A Justice Department press re-
lease said the Trumps had violated the law “by refusing to rent and
negotiate rentals with blacks, requiring dif-
ferent rental terms and conditions because
of race, and misrepresenting that apart-
ments were not available.”
12
Trump fought the charges—both in the
media and in the courts. The day after the
case was filed, Trump told the
New York
Times
the charges “are absolutely ridiculous.
We never have discriminated, and we never
would.”
13
Trump’s lawyers also responded
to the charges by filing a countersuit against
the Justice Department that December. In
the countersuit Trump sought $100 mil-
lion in damages, contending that the Justice Department had made false
and misleading claims against Trump Management (a subsidiary of the
Trump Organization). The countersuit also accused the government of
trying to force the Trumps to rent apartments to people on welfare.
A month after it was filed, Trump’s countersuit was dismissed by a
judge. The Justice Department continued to pursue its discrimination
case against the Trump Organization. In 1975 the Trumps decided to
settle with the Justice Department. They admitted no wrongdoing but
signed a court order prohibiting them from discriminating against any
person in the sale or rental of property in the future.
Building an Image
In the years immediately following the settlement of the discrimination
case, Trump sought ways to improve his public image. The
New York
Times
gave him one opportunity to do this when, in 1976, it asked
“[Donald Trump] is
tall, lean and blond,
with dazzling white
teeth, and . . . rides
around town in a
chauffeured silver Ca-
dillac with his initials,
DJT, on the plates.”
14
— Judy Klemestrud,
New York
Times
reporter
