1989 SPECIAL REPORT: “TRUMP & MERV“

MERV GRIFFIN is headed for a 2:30 appointment with the crown prince of Manhattan real estate in New York City’s Trump Tower. That’s the glassy skyscraper at 5th Avenue and 56th Street, not to be confused with Trump Plaza over on 3rd, near Bloomingdales, or Trump Parc, the art nouveau condominium complex on Central Park South where $4 million buys a three-bedroom apartment. Trump Tower is the one with a six-story pink marble atrium and an 80-foot waterfall; there’s a Cartier store and a Bonwit Teller’s in the lobby. You can’t miss the tower--it’s always packed. Against the best wishes of his advisers, Griffin has agreed to meet Donald Trump at Trump’s office. This is a delicate business negotiation, the advisers warned, and delicate business negotiations should not take place on your opponent’s home turf. Griffin just smiled. As he boards the security elevator to Trump’s 26th-floor office, Griffin passes Trump’s face on a poster advertising his best-selling book, “Trump: The Art of the Deal.