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TRUMP GIVES A VAGUE HINT OF CANDIDACY

TRUMP GIVES A VAGUE HINT OF CANDIDACY
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September 2, 1987, Section B, Page 3Buy Reprints
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Donald J. Trump, one of New York's biggest and certainly one of its most vocal developers, said yesterday that he was not interested in running for political office in New York, but indicated that the Presidency was another matter.

Mr. Trump, a Republican, bought full-page advertisments in three major newspapers around the country this morning to air his foreign-policy views. And an adviser disclosed that Mr, Trump is planning a trip in October to New Hampshire, site of the first Presidential primary.

While some campaign consultants scoffed at the notion of a landlord and casino owner as candidate, Mr. Trump, whose total holdings are estimated at $3 billion, stoked the speculation with a statement from a spokesman that said: ''There is absolutely no plan to run for mayor, governor or United States senator. He will not comment about the Presidency.''

Mr. Trump was not available to comment on whether he means to be taken seriously as someone pondering running for President, or was just stirring up a little smoke to draw attention to himself or his views. 'Capable of Being Elected'

His trip to New Hampshire is in response to an invitation from Mike Dunbar, a Republican who is running a ''draft Donald Trump'' movement.

Mr. Dunbar, who is well known in New Hampshire Republican circles as both conservative and off-beat, said he has arranged for Mr. Trump to speak at a Rotary Club luncheon on Oct. 22 in Portsmouth. ''There's not a Republican running who can win the general election,'' Mr. Dunbar said. ''I decided we better find someone who is capable of being elected.''

Mr. Dunbar said his support had been sought by most of the other Republcian contenders, including Vice President Bush, Senator Bob Dole of Kansas and Representative Jack F. Kemp of upstate New York.

Mr. Dunbar said he had not met Mr. Trump, but came to admire him from newspaper and magazine articles. He said Mr. Trump had the same kind of entrepreneurial style that made Lee A. Iacocca attractive to some Democrats. Mr. Iacocca, chairman of the Chrysler Corporation, has said he will not be a candidate.

According to Mr. Dunbar, Mr. Trump already has high name recognition in New Hampshire. He based this, he said, on his own questioning of housewives and other residents, all of whom had heard of Trump Tower, which is on Fifth Avenue.

Mr. Trump, according to his office, spent a total of $94,801 of his own money to purchase full-page advertisements in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Boston Globe, which circulates extensively in New Hampshire.

The advertisment, according to an advance copy provided by his office, carries the headline: ''There's nothing wrong with America's Foreign Defense Policy that a little backbone can't cure.'' America, Mr. Trump adds, ''should stop paying to defend countries that can afford to defend themselves.'' Met With Gorbachev

Mr. Trump, who is 41 years old, has no particular background in foreign policy. His real-estate holdings are largely in New York, Atlantic City and West Palm Beach, Fla.

He did, however, travel to Moscow in July, where he met with the Soviet leader, Mikhail S. Gorbachev. The ostensible subject of their meeting was the possible development of luxury hotels in the Soviet Union by Mr. Trump. But Mr. Trump's calls for nuclear disarmament were also well-known to the Russians.

In addition to the Fifth Avenue tower that bears his family name, Mr. Trump's visibility has been increased of late by a raging feud with Mayor Koch over how much government subsidy should be provided to encourage Mr. Trump's planned Television City complex along the Hudson River.

A correction was made on 
Sept. 4, 1987

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A version of this article appears in print on  , Section B, Page 3 of the National edition with the headline: TRUMP GIVES A VAGUE HINT OF CANDIDACY. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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