Donald Trump's childhood classmates remember him as a bully

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published 23 June 2016

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.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.