Trump’s Prenup With Marla Maples Shows The President Was Cheap, Cruel & Misleading

President Donald Trump‘s 1993 prenuptial agreement with ex-wife Marla Maples shows that the contract was stingy, predatory and full of Trump-style financial lies, according to a new report from Vanity Fair.

Trump and Maples met while the businessman was married to Ivana Trump, the mother of Ivanka, Eric, and Donald Trump Jr. Trump, ever the philanderer, began an affair with Maples, leading to his eventual divorce from Ivana in 1992. The divorce turned into a heated legal battle, with Ivana suing Trump for $2.5 billion. Even though Trump only ended up paying his ex-wife $14 million, the legal proceedings were long, drawn out and very public, hurting the tycoon’s reputation.

Around this time it was revealed that Maples was pregnant with Trump’s daughter, Tiffany Trump, making her eager to get married and avoid becoming a single mother. While Trump was also pressured by his conservative parents and his financial advisors to get married and present a put-together image, the future-president wanted to avoid the possibility of another harrowing court fight. So, he insisted that Maples sign a prenup before they tied the knot.

Trump heavily took advantage of Maples’ desperation to get married, ensuring that she signed a contract that gave her only a minimal amount of money. Trump’s offer was that the Georgian-born girl would get just $1 million if they were to divorce in the first five years, with a vague promise to renegotiate the deal after those five years had passed. Maples originally tried to hold out for more money, but Trump stood firm until literally the day before their wedding. With thousands of guests set to arrive the next day, Maples gave in and signed the prenup.

To put things in perspective, the prenup shows that at the time it was written, Maples claimed only $100,000 in the bank, while Trump reported $1.17 billion in assets. Many scholars believe that Trump’s financial claims here are actually false, or at the very least wildly untrue. The values stated by the real estate tycoon were nothing more than personal estimates of how much his various properties were worth. The three casinos that Trump had most of his funds invested in, which he asserted were worth $450 million, $650 million and $1.25 billion, either went bankrupt in 1992 or were sold for 4% of their original value in 2017. Even the businessman’s own accountants wouldn’t vouch for his math, stating, “We have not audited or reviewed” the numbers that Trump put down.

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The revelations from this document detract from the president’s claims that he is a successful and fair businessman, instead giving fuel to the Democrats’ cries that Trump is a cheapskate, a liar and a cruel man. With the 2020 elections coming up, it will soon be clear whether or not Trump’s constituency actually cares if he’s any of the things that critics say he is.

Article by Daniel Knopf