Frank Sinatra had a succinct message for Donald Trump when the real estate mogul reportedly tried to stiff Ol’ Blue Eyes on a concert contract — “Go f*** yourself.”
A new book revealed the spat between the two ultra-powerful men in the 1990 when Trump was trying to book Sinatra to play at the opening of his Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. As the New York Daily News recounted, Trump decided that he use some of his famed negotiating skills to try to get some better terms for the deal.
The account of the incident comes from a new book called The Way it Was by author Eliot Weisman, Sinatra’s former manager. As the book noted, Weisman had set a deal with the new manager of Trump’s Taj Mahal, a man named Mark Grossinger Etess.
Etess died in a helicopter crash before Weiss could finalize the terms of the contract that would have Frank Sinatra playing 12 dates at the opening of the Taj Mahal. That was when Donald Trump stepped in, trying to change the terms of the deal and saying it was “a little rich.” Trump also decided that he did not want to pay for the opening acts, including Sammy Davis Jr. and pop duo Stevie and Eydie.
That was when things got a bit heated. As Weisman recalled, he became furious and tried to choke Donald Trump with his Trump’s own tie. Weisman’s son had to step in and stop his father from hurting the real estate mogul, Newsweek noted.
Weisman then left Trump’s office to call Frank Sinatra and tell him how the meeting had went. Sinatra decided to issue his own message to Trump. As Weisman recalled, Sinatra gave him two options — either tell Donald Trump that Sinatra said “Go f*** himself,” or Sinatra would call Trump and deliver the message personally.
Weisman then walked back into Trump’s office and told Trump, “Sinatra says go f*** yourself.”
It looks like Ol’ Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra, didn’t like Donald Trump https://t.co/W9WucKMOzu pic.twitter.com/aF1XIiw1I9
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) October 8, 2017
It was not clear what happened next, but Frank Sinatra never ended up playing at the Taj Mahal opening. But as Newsweek noted, Donald Trump didn’t seem to harbor much ill will toward Sinatra, as held his first dance to the famed song “My Way” at his presidential inauguration earlier this year.
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