Donald Trump: Miss World Almost Owner?

Donald Trump: Miss World Almost Owner?

Did you know that in 2000’s Donald Trump wanted to purchase the Miss World pageant?
In a couple of Vanity Fair articles, the now POTUS Trump admitted that he wanted to purchase the British-owned pageant saying, “Yeah, I’d buy it for almost nothing. . . . If I had it, it would be valuable—or maybe I’d close it.” It was during those times that the Miss World pageant was still learning how to run itself after the loss of its founder Eric Morley. Had Trump purchased the pageant it would have probably been closed so that it would not rival his own Miss Universe pageant. Or perhaps merged it into the MU Organization.

Since then, the animosity between the two did not let up. It is rumored that Trump even tried to block the usage of the “USA” in the Miss World USA pageant citing copyrights issues. And in every turn, the businessman is said to have to cut any possibilities to expand in the MU territory. This is why Miss World never really had a strong footing in the US. “Every time I try to put my head up there in the U.S., Trump used to try and blow it off. He actually took action against me for having a Miss World U.S.A.” says Julia Morley. It can however be remembered that for a time being in the 80’s, the Miss USA first runner up is sent to Miss World. All this stopped in 1991. Quite a sharp turn of events considering Gina Tolleson (Miss USA 1990 1st runner up) was Miss World the year before.

Then came the scandalous hosting of Miss World in 2002. In that same year, violent protests saw 250 people killed in Nigeria that stemmed out of hosting the Miss World pageant there. Of course DOnald Trump has something to say: “They [the Miss World] have been so tarnished by the stupidity of the location! You can’t go to Nigeria—everyone knows that. Because of the religious situation.”
Whether or not the Miss World would have been a success under Trump’s leadership is something we could only guess at. Imagine if the Miss World was dissolved under Trump’s purchase of the pageant. It surely be a different scenario for the international pageant scene…

SOURCES
* www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/01/donald-trump-miss-universe-beauty-pageants
* www.vanityfair.com/news/2003/03/missworld200303