In Bob Woodward’s latest book, he reveals a previously “lost” 1989 interview with the Watergate journalists and Donald Trump, in which the then-42-year-old businessman discusses what he would do with his wealth when he dies.
“I’m young. In theory, statistically, I have a long time left,” Trump replied to Carl Bernstein. “I’ve seen people give so much away that they don’t have anything when bad times come,” he added.
The interview between Woodward, Bernstein and Trump was conducted 35 years ago and “lost” for decades, with a transcript appearing in Woodward’s latest book, War, set to release on October 15. Newsweek obtained a copy.
‘Lost’ Interview
At the time of their interview, Trump had recently published The Art of the Deal in 1987, which was a bestseller. The following year, he established the New York-based, tax-exempt Donald J. Trump Foundation, which he discussed with Woodward and Bernstein.
“When I kick the bucket—as the expression goes—I want to leave a tremendous amount of money to that foundation. Some to my family and some to the foundation. You have an obligation to your family,” Trump told the legendary reporters.
Trump’s family has since expanded. By 1989, Trump had three children with his then-wife Ivana Trump: Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump. Four years later, he and his second wife, Marla Maples, had Tiffany Trump. In 2006, Trump and his third and current wife, Melania Trump, welcomed their son, Barron.
Trump’s oldest three children have been politically active in his presidential campaigns, political office and the Trump Organization. Eric and Donald Trump Jr. serve as executive vice presidents of the real estate group and Ivanka Trump formerly served as presidential adviser during her father’s presidency.
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s campaign manager for comment via email on Thursday.
Donald Trump holds a news conference at the Plaza Hotel in New York City to mark the launch of his Trump Shuttle airline, on June 8, 1989. Months before this photograph was taken, legendary journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein interviewed Trump in an interview that was “lost” for decades.
Victor Malafronte/Archive Photos/Getty Images
Donald J. Trump Foundation
The foundation, directed by Trump’s oldest three children, was dissolved in 2018 after an investigation by the New York Attorney General’s Office, which cited a “shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation—including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more.”
The organization came under scrutiny after Trump won the presidency in 2016, with reports by The Washington Post documenting how the foundation paid off legal settlements for the president’s private business and other personal purchases. The same year, the president claimed that his foundation, “unlike most foundations,” gives “100 percent of money to wonderful charities.”
In 2019, the New York Attorney General’s Office released a statement: “The president [Trump] has been forced to pay $2 million for misusing charitable funds for his own political gain.” He was ordered to pay eight different charities, which The New York Times reported as Army Emergency Relief, the Children’s Aid Society, Citymeals on Wheels, Give an Hour, Martha’s Table, the United Negro College Fund, the United Way of the National Capital Area and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Trump’s Estimated Net Worth
At the time of this “lost” 1989 interview, Trump’s net worth was estimated around $1.7 billion, according to Forbes. In the five following years, he dropped off the Forbes 400 list, returning in 1996 with a net worth under a half billion.
As of late last month, Forbes estimates the former president and Republican presidential nominee’s net worth around $3.9 billion, with his most lucrative asset being his stake in Truth Social’s parent company valuated by Forbes at $1.8 billion. Trump has over $1 billion in real estate investments across the nation.
The outlet estimates that Trump, while asset-rich, has $413 million in cash and liquid assets.
Legal Fees
In recent years, Trump has faced several criminal cases and civil lawsuits, which have racked up significant legal debts.
Trump’s Save America PAC has paid upward of $83 million to over 80 law firms and individual attorneys representing him and current/former aides from January 2022 to June 2024, Axios reported, based on FEC records. FEC filings since show an additional $8 million in fees, bumping up the estimated total to around $91 million.
Reporting by The New York Times shows that since leaving the Oval Office in 2021, the former president has spent at least $100 million on legal costs.
In addition to lawyers’ payments, Trump also faces penalties and court fees, including a nearly $500 million civil fraud judgment that is pending review by a New York appeals court. In another case, he has been ordered to pay an interest-growing fee of around $90 million to writer E. Jean Carroll from a defamation case.
