Donald Trump's 25-year quest to prove that his fingers aren't short

(Image credit: DOMINICK REUTER/AFP/Getty Images)

published 7 October 2015

Donald Trump is certainly able to dish it out, but, as Vanity Fair's Graydon Carter tells it, The Donald isn't so good at taking it. In the November Vanity Fair editor's letter, Carter reveals what happened after he referred to Trump as a "short-fingered vulgarian" in Spy magazine "more than a quarter of a century ago."

Turns out, Carter writes, for a man who is concerned with power and wealth and anything "oversize," the notion of having fingers that didn't measure up was one that Trump simply could not put to rest:

To this day, I receive the occasional envelope from Trump. There is always a photo of him — generally a tear sheet from a magazine. On all of them he has circled his hand in gold Sharpie in a valiant effort to highlight the length of his fingers. I almost feel sorry for the poor fellow because, to me, the fingers still look abnormally stubby. The most recent offering arrived earlier this year, before his decision to go after the Republican presidential nomination. Like the other packages, this one included a circled hand and the words, also written in gold Sharpie: "See, not so short!" I sent the picture back by return mail with a note attached, saying, "Actually, quite short." [Vanity Fair]