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POLITICO

This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Natasha Korecki and Daniel Lippman on politico.com on February 19, 2020.
As Michael Bloomberg rises in the polls and lands on the debate stage, his past interactions with Donald Trump are coming back to haunt him.
A photo of Bloomberg looking chummy with Trump on a golf course was plastered all over social media this week, courtesy of Bernie Sanders. A clip of Bloomberg declaring “I'm a friend of Donald Trump's. He is a New York icon,” has made the rounds on cable news.
And, in the latest video to surface, Bloomberg – speaking one month after the 2016 election – noted that he once told Trump, “Yes, Donald, I do love you”.
Before a crowd at the business school at Oxford University, Bloomberg relayed a lighthearted story about speaking with Trump after a September 11 memorial service apparently in 2016.
“I saw your speech in Philadelphia,” Trump told Bloomberg, a seeming reference to Bloomberg's takedown of Trump at the Democratic National Convention that summer
Bloomberg would sell business interests if elected US president
“But you really do love me, don't ya?” Trump continued, in Bloomberg's retelling. “And I said, 'Yes, Donald, I do love you, I just disagree with everything you've ever said.'”
“And we had a good laugh,” Bloomberg continued. “If you’ve sat and had dinner with Donald Trump, you’d probably walk away saying everything he just said is bullshit, he can’t be doing that. But you have a good time. He is socially a nice person. Will he be a good president? I hope so. Because we desperately need leadership in the country and the world.”
Watch: Michael Bloomberg talk about Donald Trump (from 24 minute mark)


The intensified scrutiny of Bloomberg’s history with Trump comes as the White House hopeful is spending record sums disparaging Trump in TV and radio ads.
On Tuesday, in a statement to POLITICO, the Bloomberg campaign downplayed the former New York City mayor's past praise of the president.
“When Mike was mayor, he hired Donald Trump to run a city golf course, and that's the only job he’s hired him for,” said Stu Loeser, a senior adviser to the campaign and long-time spokesman for Bloomberg as mayor. “When Trump was headed to the White House, like most Americans Mike Bloomberg hoped Donald Trump would rise to the occasion. Instead, Trump’s lowered expectations for leadership and failed Americans on issue after issue. That’s why Mike is running to replace him, and Mike’s record and resources are why more and more Americans are supporting Mike.”
US$1 billion question: Bloomberg’s big spend to ensure Trump’s defeat
Asked whether Bloomberg, who once also talked about he and Trump being on a first-name basis, now regretted making flattering comments about Trump, Loeser said, “Mike isn't big on shouldas, couldas or wouldas. His mind works looking forward, and with more and more Americans saying that Mike is the only one who can kick Donald Trump out of office, the thing Mike Bloomberg is looking forward to most is using his record and resources to help save America.”
This week Bloomberg’s dealings with Trump came to a head in the Democratic primary after his and Sanders’ campaign traded accusations that one was closer to the president than the other. On the trail, Sanders has opened up a line of attack against the billionaire, accusing him of trying to buy the election.
Bloomberg campaign manager Kevin Sheekey posted a statement on Monday with the subject line, “Bernie’s new bro: Donald Trump.” Sheekey went on to describe Sanders' attacks on Bloomberg as “shameful,” accusing him of replicating Trump campaign tactics. “At this point, the primary is Bernie’s to lose and ours to win. Bernie knows this. Trump knows this. That’s why they are united in the campaign against Mike.”
Sanders’ response? Posting a photo, without comment, of a grinning Bloomberg with Trump on a golf course together.

https://t.co/XwB74v3u0w pic.twitter.com/UID9vVK1yi
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) February 17, 2020

“Billionaires often have more in common with each other than they do with the working class, and the people know that,” said Mike Casca, a Sanders campaign spokesman said in a statement to POLITICO.
But, perhaps in a sign of what will come Wednesday night on the debate stage, Bloomberg’s camp took it a step further.
“Mike made a lot of money but never forgot he came from a middle class home, whereas Bernie foamed about millionaires several times a day until recently when somebody reminded him that he’s a millionaire, too,” Loeser said, pointing to this link.
For its part, Trump’s campaign characterised Bloomberg’s past and present statements as two-faced.
“Envy and ambition overpower everything else for Mike Bloomberg,” said Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh. “He’s just like Hillary Clinton and many others – happy to be friendly with Donald Trump when it’s convenient, but eager to attack him when it’s politically expedient.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/19/bloomberg-trump-2016-115921


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Bloomberg in 2016: ‘Yes, Donald, I do love you’

Bernie Sanders posted this photo, without comment, of a grinning Bloomberg with Trump on a golf course together. File photo Twitter

Michael Bloomberg and Donald Trump. Photo: AFP

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg would sell business interests if elected US president, adviser says

Michael Bloomberg’s wealth has come under increasing scrutiny from Democratic rivals. Photo: Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters prior to boarding Air Force One as he departs Washington for campaign travel to California from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, U.S., February 18, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Democratic presidential candidate and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is joined on stage by supporters during his campaign launch of "Mike for Black America," at the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

US$1 billion question: Bloomberg’s big spend to ensure Trump’s defeat

US President Donald Trump. Photo: AFP

(200111) -- BEIJING, Jan. 11, 2020 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump walks to board Marine One to depart from the White House for a rally in Ohio, in Washington D.C. Jan. 9, 2020. U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved a resolution aimed at restraining Donald Trump's power to take military actions against Iran without congressional approval. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

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Would Democratic presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg spend US$1 billion to defeat Donald Trump? Photo: AFP

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World

United States & Canada


The former New York mayor is haunted by his past chumminess with the man he wants to boot from office



The former New York mayor is haunted by his past chumminess with the man he wants to boot from office.


Donald Trump

US Politics

United States

Politico | Bloomberg in 2016: ‘Yes, Donald, I do love you’

The former New York mayor is haunted by his past chumminess with the man he wants to boot from office