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Theres a corollary to President Trumps now-infamous habit of claiming that many people are saying or feeling things that support his political positions. Trump also will frequently mention friends he uses as case studies, individuals or small groups that, he assures us, he knows personally and from whom he can relay a pertinent anecdote.

He did this twice during a recent interview with Bloomberg News, which prompted us to build out a full Rolodex of anonymous-but-politically-useful friends of Trump. Without further ado, that list.

Interview with Bloomberg, April 2017. (This friend was also mentioned in Baton Rouge in December.)

I have very good relationships with the truckers. I have one friend whos a big trucker and hes hes like said, Ive never seen anything like it, you know, with the roads youve heard this story with the roads, and his trucks are all being destroyed, and hes going to start buying cheap equipment now. Yeah, the roads are in bad shape.

Interview with CBS News, April 2017.

I mean, I have been under audit, Ill bet you 12 or 13 or 14 years in a row. Now, I have friends that are wealthy people. Theyve never been audited.

Speech in New York, April 2016.

I have a friend, hes a smart guy. He said, How could a certain politician have made that deal? I didnt think he was that stupid. I said, Its not stupid at all. Hes doing it because his lobbyist is demanding that he do it.

Speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, February 2017.

I have a friend, hes a very, very substantial guy. He loves the City of Lights, he loves Paris. For years, every year during the summer, he would go to Paris, was automatic with his wife and his family. Hadnt seen him in a while. And I said, Jim, let me ask you a question: Hows Paris doing? Paris? I dont go there anymore, Paris is no longer Paris. That was four years four or five years, hasnt gone there. He wouldnt miss it for anything. Now he doesnt even think in terms of going there.

Speech in De Pere, Wis., March 2016.

I have a friend whos a guy who was born to a very, very successful Wall Street baron. And the Wall Street baron is a vicious, ruthless, horrible human being. You would not like him for dinner. Youd respect him, but you wouldnt like him, and most of the people in the room would know who he is. One of the big barons of Wall Street.

This friend eventually helped manage the redevelopment of an unnamed golf club in Westchester, N.Y.

Speech in Millington, Tenn., February 2016.

I have a friend whos a great, great manufacturer. He deals with China. He says its a virtual impossibility.

Speech in Kinston, N.C., October 2016.

I have a friend who builds plants. He is, I believe, the biggest in the world. And I said, How are we doing? He said, Donald, were doing fine. Hows your company? Unbelievable. I said, Hows this country, our country, the country we love? and he loves this country, hes an American Hows it doing? Not good. I said, Well, how are you doing well? He said, I am building the greatest plants anywhere in the world in Mexico.

Speech in Walterboro, S.C., February 2016.

I have a friend who actually bought an airplane and he cant get it into China because the tax is so massive. Hes going to sell it now at a big loss.

Speech in Knoxville, Tenn., November 2015.

I have a friend, hes a doctor. Hes going to quit. Hes not an old guy. I say, Why? He said, Because its impossible. We need so much accounting. He said he has more accountants than he has nurses.

Speech in Keene, N.H., September 2015.

The Afghanistanian people, great fighters, always have been known. I have a friend of mine, hes a big war historian. Among the best fighters, Afghanistan.

Speech in Columbus, Ohio, August 2016.

I have a friend, hes very wealthy. He doesnt own a hedge fund.

Interview with The Post, March 2016.

You look at our inner cities, our inner cities are a horrible mess. I watched Baltimore, I have many, many friends in Baltimore, we watched what happened. St. Louis, Ferguson, Oakland, it could have been much worse over the summer.

Bloomberg.

I have many, many friends from the Philippines. Theyre great people.

A statement after his remarks about Judge Gonzalo Curiel, June 2016.

I am friends with and employ thousands of people of Mexican and Hispanic descent

Comment to a reporter, February 2016.

Asked who his best Muslim friend is, Trump replied:

I could give you about 20 of them.

For what its worth, Trump also has a lot of friends whose names hes happy to relay.

See the original post:
Exploring Donald Trump's network of unnamed friends - Washington Post