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The Independent
a few seconds ago
- The Independent
From Wrestlemania to MAGA-land: Hulk Hogan and Donald Trump's friendship through the years
President Donald Trump 's decades-long friendship with Hulk Hogan was forged over a love of professional wrestling but developed into a political alliance that eventually culminated in Hogan earning a spot in the president's trusted circle. Beginning in the 1980s, the two men embarked on parallel journeys to ultimate fame in their respective careers while maintaining a relationship that benefitted one another. Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, died on July 24 at the age of 71. The president remembered his 'great friend' in a post on Truth Social, calling him 'strong, tough, smart, but with the biggest heart.' 'He entertained fans from all over the World, and the cultural impact he had was massive,' Trump said. 'To his wife, Sky, and family, we give our warmest best wishes and love. Hulk Hogan will be greatly missed!' A start in the wrestling world Trump and Hogan first met in the 1980s when both were budding celebrities known for their over-the-top ways. Hogan, standing at 6'7' and weighing approximately 300 pounds, was a wrestling star who headlined multiple WrestleMania events, including WrestleMania IV and V held at Trump Plaza in 1989. Trump, a titan of the real estate industry of New York at the time, sponsored the events and sat ringside. 'My first interaction with Trump was WrestleMania four and five, and you know, I didn't think he'd come to the show. But he was there early, came in the dressing room, met all the wrestlers,' Hogan told PBD Podcast last year while recalling his first meeting with Trump. At WrestleMania V, Trump once again sat ringside, this time watching as Hogan defeated André the Giant. 'He's the same guy now that he was back then,' Hogan told PBD Podcast. 'He hasn't changed a bit. I mean, he's just a quality person.' The transition to the MAGA world Hogan wasn't always a MAGA Republican; in fact, he endorsed former president Barack Obama up until his re-election in 2012. After that, Hogan changed his tune and when Trump stepped into the political ring as a candidate contender in 2016, Hogan jumped on board. While he did not issue a public endorsement of Trump until 2024, Hogan said he did support Trump in 2016. The only hint of that Hogan gave publicly was in 2015 when he suggested he could be Trump's running mate. 'I don't want to be in the ring with any candidates, I want to be Trump's running mate," Hogan told TMZ at the time when asked which 2016 candidate he would get into the ring with. "Did you hear that?" he said. "Vice President Hogan?" Ultimately, Trump went with Mike Pence as his running mate. But Hogan would eventually make an appearance on stage with Trump when he spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention and Trump's Madison Square Garden rally. But in between Trump's 2016 presidential win and 2024 presidential win, Hogan experienced some life events that brought him closest to the MAGA world. In 2016, Hogan filed a $100 million lawsuit against former pop culture blog Gawker for publishing an excerpt of his sex tape. The lawsuit was backed by billionaire Peter Thiel, who had also been subjected to gossip spread by Gawker after the online blog outed him. Hogan eventually won the lawsuit, initially for $140 million, but settled with Gawker for $31 million. That ultimately led to Gawker 's closing. The lawsuit occurred at the same time Trump was unleashing his anger at the media, branding many as 'fake news.' Some, including Brian Knappenberger, who directed a documentary on Hogan's lawsuit, believed there were 'direct parallels' between the Gawker suit and Trump's rise to fame. 'MAGA all the way' Hogan decided to use his theatrical personality to endorse and advocate for Trump at the RNC after seeing the president survive an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. 'As an entertainer, I try to stay out of politics,' Hogan said on stage at the convention, wearing a red bandana. 'But after everything that's happened to our country over the past four years, and everything that happened last weekend, I can no longer stay silent.' Tapping into his entertainment background, Hogan decided to endorse the president by yelling into the microphone while ripping his shirt off with his bare hands to reveal a 'Trump Vance 2024' tank top underneath, flexing his muscles the entire time. 'Let TrumpMania run wild, brother!' he shouted. 'Let TrumpMania rule again! Let TrumpMania make America great again!' In remembering his friend, Trump recalled Hogan's 'absolutely electric speech' at the RNC. 'That was one of the highlights of the entire week,' Trump said after Hogan's death. Hogan tapped into that same energy again in October 2024 – this time wearing a red and yellow feathered boa. 'We lost a great friend today, the 'Hulkster,'' Trump said after his death. 'Hulk Hogan was MAGA all the way.'
Daily Mail
a few seconds ago
- Daily Mail
Trump says he was never briefed on his name being in Epstein files
President Donald Trump on Friday denied ever being briefed by Attorney General Pam Bondi that his name was in the Jeffrey Epstein files. 'No, I was never briefed. No,' he told reporters after he landed in Scotland to visit his golf courses. But Bondi briefed Trump during a May 2025 meeting that his name was found in the Epstein documents 'multiple times,' according to reports. Other high-profile individuals are also named in the investigation about Epstein's [sexual] crimes. Just because the president is named in the files does not implicate him in any wrongdoing or connect him to Epstein's child [sexual] trafficking crimes. The Wall Street Journal originally broke the news of Bondi's briefing to Trump. The Justice Department told the news outlet that Trump was made aware of the findings of the Epstein files as part of the 'routine briefing.' Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche reportedly said that nothing was found in the files that would mandate an additional investigation - or even prosecution. 'As part of our routine briefing, we made the President aware of the findings,' they told the Journal. White House communications director Steven Cheung slammed the report as 'fake news' in a statement to the Daily Mail. 'The fact is that the President kicked him out of his club for being a creep. This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media, just like the Obama Russiagate scandal, which President Trump was right about,' he said when the report came out earlier this week. But, try as he might, Trump cannot move on from questions about Epstein, who died in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting charges related to [sexual] crimes. His death, ruled to be a suicide, sparked endless conspiracy theories that questioned how he may have really died and who among the rich and powerful would have benefitted from it. The most recent questions came as Ghislaine Maxwell, the only person currently behind bars for Epstein's child [sexual] trafficking ring, wrapped a second day of meetings with the Justice Department. Maxwell, 63, appears to be angling for a pardon from the president after she 'didn't hold back' during secret questioning session. Her attorney David Oscar Markus claimed that she spoke with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche about '100 different people' related to Epstein's child [sexual] trafficking ring. 'They asked about every possible thing you could imagine – everything,' Markus claimed. He also said Maxwell is being used as the 'scapegoat' in the entire Epstein case and has been 'treated unfairly for the last five years.' Her attorney said that they had not put in a formal request with the White House for a pardon for Maxwell following the conclusion of Day 2 of questioning. But Markus didn't rule out taking that action in the future, saying 'things are happening so quickly.' 'The president said earlier he has the power to do so, we hope he exercises that power in the right way,' he said of a potential commutation. Trump refused to rule out invoking his presidential pardon powers for Maxwell when asked on Friday morning. 'I'm allowed to do it, but it's something I haven't thought about,' he said. But, asked again about the matter later Friday, Trump, meanwhile, declined to talk about Maxwell and said 'this is no time to be talking about pardons.' 'I really have nothing to say about it. She is being talked to by a very smart man, a very good man, Todd Blanche. And I don't know anything about the conversation. I haven't really been following it,' he said. 'A lot of people are asking me about pardons. This is no time to be talking about pardons. But a lot of people have asked about pardons. This is just not the time to be talking about it,' he added.
Daily Mail
a minute ago
- Daily Mail
Report: Inside Trump and Epstein's bidding battle for $41M mansion
Donald Trump 's voice boomed out across the auction room as it became clear he was determined to win the bidding battle for one of the most palatial mansions in Florida. There was only one man standing in his way - the other bidder was Jeffrey Epstein. The auction on November 15, 2004 appears to have been the final time the two men's paths crossed and, by all accounts, it was not friendly. They appear to have never spoken after it. Around the same time, Trump banned Epstein from his nearby Mar-a-Lago club for being a 'creep.' Weeks later, police were pursuing Epstein over allegations involving underage girls. The titanic hour-long auction struggle was relayed to the Daily Mail by an insider present in the room on the seventh floor of non-descript office building in Palm Beach. Both Trump and Epstein were determined to buy Maison de l'Amitie - 'The House of Friendship' - a glorious six-acre French Regency-style estate on 'Billionaires' Row' overlooking the Atlantic. It had come up for auction after the owner, Abe Gosman, a nursing home tycoon, declared bankruptcy. Gosman died in 2013. Judge Steven Friedman presided over the hearing with a speakerphone next to him on his desk. 'This was before the advent of Zoom so the bankruptcy judge allowed bidders to bid by telephone,' the insider said. Bidders tended to use representatives and Epstein pursued that strategy. Trump had a lawyer representing him in the room, but placed his own bids from afar. 'There was a speaker on the judge's table and everyone had a dial-in number,' the insider said. 'Mr Trump did the bidding himself. We knew it was him, we recognized the voice. I was surprised. Mr Trump said he was going to outbid everyone. 'In my recollection he just made it clear he was going to win the bid. He said something to the effect of "I will continue bidding." 'The Apprentice had just started and he was that persona - very confident, very authoritative.' About 40 people - lawyers and Florida real estate types - packed into the room. Rather than a courtroom, it was a banal space in the offices of a medical company. The auction itself was the culmination of a lengthy battle for control of Maison de l'Amitie. According to the bankruptcy trustee Epstein and Trump had both already lobbied hard to buy it. The insider said the starting price had been 'about $20 million.' Epstein, his bids relayed by an intermediary, went all the way up to $38.6 million before finally dropping out. A third bidder, another Florida developer, then made a surprise entry. Trump was undeterred and outbid him too with an offer of $41.35 million. The third bidder did not return a request for comment. Another intriguing aspect of Maison de 'l'Amitie may have spurred Epstein's intense interest in it. It had once been owned by the Victoria's Secret fashion mogul Les Wexner. Epstein had started managing Wexner's money in the late 1980s. It was through Wexner that Epstein acquired his massive mansion in Manhattan, a seven-story, 21,000 square foot behemoth less than a block from Central Park. Wexner sold his entire interest through which he owned the Manhattan property to an entity owned by Epstein in 1998. Wexner later severed all connections with Epstein and said he was 'embarrassed' by his former ties to someone who was 'sick, so cunning, so depraved.' Previously, in 1988, Wexner had sold Maison de l'Amitie to Gosman for $12 million. Gosman built a 64,000 square foot home with a pool house and tennis pavilion, and filled it with expensive works of art before declaring bankruptcy. After winning the auction for it in 2004, Trump told the Palm Beach Daily News: 'My initial feeling is to utilize the existing house and create the second greatest house in America, Mar-a-Lago being the first. 'It's the finest piece of land in Florida and probably in the U.S..' A few years later he hired Karen Todd, the winner of season 3 of 'The Apprentice,' to oversee upgrades to the property. In 2008 Trump sold the property for a Palm Beach record residential price of $95 million to Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev. Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019 after being charged with [sexual] trafficking. That year, when asked about Epstein, Trump said he had not spoken to him since about 2004. He said: 'Well, I knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him. I mean, people in Palm Beach knew him. He was a fixture in Palm Beach. 'I had a falling out with him a long time ago. I don't think I've spoken to him for 15 years. I wasn't a fan.' The White House has since indicated that the falling out was to do with Epstein being a 'creep' rather than the property auction. This week, White House spokesman Steven Cheung said: 'The fact is that the president kicked him (Epstein) out of his club for being a creep.' It has been reported that Epstein behaved inappropriately with a Mar-a-Lago member's daughter. That may have added steel to Trump's determination to crush Epstein in the auction, and to declare victory in what would prove to be their final encounter.
