SPY VS. TRUMP.

Byline: - David Kronke

In 1986, a fledgling magazine called Spy hit New York newsstands, the product of the fertile and cynical minds of Graydon Carter (now editor of Vanity Fair) and Kurt Andersen (author of the best seller ``Turn of the Century,'' creator of the Internet misfire inside.com and former editor of and current contributor to New York magazine). For a while, the magazine's sole raison d'etre seemed to be to castigate Donald Trump, who at the time was building his Manhattan empire.

Spy's fortunes seemed to mirror Trump's. When Trump - whom the magazine famously decreed a ``short-fingered vulgarian'' - was most successful, the magazine's coverage of him was at its most virulent, and it, too, was successful.

When Trump's fortunes flagged, so went Spy. In 1991, the magazine was sold and was generally considered to have lost its editorial edge. It died completely in 1998, not that anyone at that point noticed, but its satiric ideas had long ago been transplanted into other publications.

Most intriguing of all, given Trump's current status as media icon, was a note in its February 1990 issue: ``If we had our way, there'd be nothing but a Trump Channel - talking and swaggering, 24 hours a day. In fact, Donald Trump has just got a Q score, the rating used by broadcasters to measure the fame or popularity of TV performers. Trump, whose name is attached to a forthcoming game show ... is more widely known than Pat Sajak, Alex Trebek and Dick Clark.''

Herewith: A few of Spy's meanest digs at Trump:

One of the magazine's annual cover features, ``The Spy 100: An annual census of the most annoying, alarming and appalling of the year,'' relentlessly needled the mogul. He ranked No. 1 in its first list, third in 1987 and 1990, and in 1988, Trump was No. 10, 14, 21, 26 and 30.

Spy occasionally featured Trump on its cover. In April 1988, it ran a double cover: On the outside, a smiling Trump signaled thumbs-up next to the headline ``A Heck of a Guy''; turn the page, and Trump had taken a (primitively Photoshopped) pratfall, taking the cover's logo and text with him. Inside, it examined his best seller ``The Art of the Deal,'' noting that the word ``I'' appeared, on average, 21 times per page, alongside a mock ad featuring excoriating blurbs from real reviews.

In May 1989, the magazine ran a cover ``tribute'' to his first wife, Ivana, complete with an utterly unflattering cover photo (the magazine snapped up every unfortunate snapshot of The Donald it could get its hands on). Factoids such as her spending $1.5 million annually on clothing and random quotes such as ``I never intend to look a day over 28, but it's going to cost Donald a lot of money'' set the piece's tone.

The magazine conducted a prank/sociological experiment for its July 1990 cover story by sending checks for trivial amounts of money - beginning with $1.11 and ending with one for 13 cents. Of the 58 millionaires and celebrities sent the first check, only two cashed the check for 13 cents - Trump and arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.

When Trump told gossip columnist Liz Smith in September 1988, ``I predict (Spy) won't even be around in a year,'' the magazine ran the quote in every issue for a year, along with a calendar marking the days until his prophecy was proven wrong.

Turns out Trump was off by a decade, but he still got the last laugh: Spy's doors are long shuttered, while Trump is more successful - and popular - than ever.

Lights, camera, Donald

Donald Trump has never been shy about being in front of the camera. In fact, he's got a resume most members of the Screen Actors Guild would envy. Luckily, he doesn't have to study hard for the role, since he inevitably plays himself.

Here are a few of the movies and TV shows The Donald has popped up on over the years:

``Two Weeks Notice'' (2002), the Sandra Bullock-Hugh Grant romantic comedy.

``Zoolander'' (2001), the Ben Stiller-Owen Wilson comedy about male models.

``The Job'' (2001) (TV), Denis Leary's short-lived show.

``Sex and the City'' (1999) (TV).

``Celebrity'' (1998), the Woody Allen film.

``54'' (1998) (as VIP Patron), the Mike Myers starrer about the famed nightclub.

``The Roseanne Show'' (1998) (TV).

`Spin City'''(1998) (TV).

``The Drew Carey Show'' (1997) (TV).

``Suddenly Susan'' (1997) (TV).

``The Associate'' (1996), a Whoopi Goldberg comedy.

``Eddie'' (1996), another Goldberg comedy.

``The Nanny'' (1996) (TV).

``The Little Rascals'' (1994) (as Waldo's Dad).

``The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' (1994) (TV).

``Home Alone 2: Lost in New York'' (1992), uncredited as hotel passer-by.

``Wrestlemania IV & V'' (1988/89), video. We'll assume he wasn't in the ring.

Source: IMDB.com.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Donald Trump and wife Ivana in 1988.

(2) no caption (Donald Trump)

Associated Press

Box:

Lights, camera, Donald (see text)