>the lost gospel of Trump
Even before he took the biggest of risky gambles, announcing he would run for president in June 2015, Donald Trump already had one very successful business venture going.
A building filled with unit 627m skyscrapers -- just blocks from Times Square, near Madison Square Garden -- it is home to some of the highest-paying condominiums and clubs, marketed as home for the cosmopolitan and elite.
Its highest category, his "Gold" category, has become a calling card of Trump's highly-regulated real estate empire, either a tribute to his wealth or proof of its understatement.
Either way, Trump Tower has the attraction: glass walls lead to gold-leaf fountains connected by gold chandeliers, windows filled with velvet upholstered furniture and gold-plated grille doors opened by gold-plated elevators to private plush living quarters and such gilded highlights as family gazebos and gargoyles.
Using the shiny reality of high-end homes "King Kong Tower," "Bad", or the "Epicin", as Trump has used his real estate promotional software, sends powerful messages, aides say.
Image copyright Matthew Lloyd/REUTERS Image caption Trump Tower is the third version built on a completely unimproved urban lot near Times Square in New York
"That's kind of the Trump brand in a nutshell. Always out of the box," one adviser explained.
While South African President Jacob Zuma succeeded, Trump works in small-town America
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani - a constant presence, lately toting a megaphone for other Trump's speeches - claims Trump should know his local implications better than other presidential candidates of his status. "Trump has a totally unique, firsthand understanding of the potential impact of making, no particular region," says Giuliani. "The hotels, buildings, taxes, infrastructure, and whatever else."
Trump's appeal, critics say, is like Gordon Gekko's scams, and Robert Mueller would need less larceny expertise to uncover his tax returns
Fortune thought it over, but declared this year that Trump has his "self-branding," implicitly absorbing the low esteem reporters assign to him (low for Melania's eyes), adding "that bad."
On Wednesday Mr Menosky once again expressed himself on the matter, courteous but biting: "It is entirely a result of him being narcissistically devoid of critical thought or emotion or compassion or a sense of value beyond his own interest.
"As such, he doesn't offer anything substantive which is commensurate or lends itself to further political or intellectual discourse," Menosky added, as he wrestled with why a toned-down message does not seem better, reasonable or compelling.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Republican opponents of Mr Trump launch insults
He wants immigration stinginess
Immigration and manliness are President Trump's most favoured immigrant leanings. An argument ending in soft-mouthed patriotic fudge, fake tears for everyone you have deported, no visas except for "real" Mexicans.