Depending on how you look at it, Donald Trump was either a rambunctious child or an all-out bully. In a series of interviews with his childhood friends and teachers, young Trump was described as falling into the crowd of boys "who pulled girls' hair, passed notes, and talked out of turn," The Washington Post reports. In fact, Trump ended up in detention so often that his friends nicknamed the punishment "D.T." — his initials.
In his neighborhood, Donald and his friends were known to ride their bikes and "shout and curse very loudly," said Steve Nachtigall, who lived nearby. Nachtigall said he once saw them jump off their bikes and beat up another boy."It's kind of like a little video snippet that remains in my brain because I think it was so unusual and terrifying at that age," recalled Nachtigall, 66, a doctor in New Jersey. "He was a loudmouth bully." [The Washington Post]
In another story, this one told by Trump himself, young Donny hit his second-grade music teacher because "I didn't think he knew anything about music." None of Trump's friends remembered the story, and his music teacher, Charles Walker, denied ever being smacked. Walker could still confirm at least one thing: "When that kid was 10, even then he was a little s---," Walker reportedly told his son.
The Washington Post has dozens more anecdotes that could confirm Trump's own suggestion that "when I look at myself in the first grade and I look at myself now, I'm basically the same. The temperament is not that different." Read them all here.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
AI workslop is muddying the American workplaceThe explainer Using AI may create more work for others
-
Japan poised to get first woman prime ministerSpeed Read The ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi
-
The 5 best mob movies of all timeThe Week Recommends If you don’t like a good gangster flick, just fuhgeddaboudit
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in OregonSpeed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denialSpeed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartelsspeed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feudSpeed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protestersSpeed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoffSpeed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsionSpeed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot
