Before Tweets and Facebook comments, there was the good-old-fashioned letter to the editor, which let people air their grievances with a publication. One such letter from 1992 resurfaced in New York magazine’s 50th anniversary edition, out now, and to some people its writing style sounds familiar.
The letters page in @NYMag’s 50th anniversary issue is dynamite. I wonder if Carolin Gallego had a ghostwriter? pic.twitter.com/vupbhqVOi3
— nxthompson (@nxthompson) October 22, 2017
The letter in question, which can also be read on New York magazine’s website, says
“Based on the fact that I work for Donald Trump as his secretary—and therefore know him well—I think he treats women with great respect, contrary to what Julie Baumgold implied in her article … I do not believe any man in America gets more calls from women wanting to see him, meet him, or go out with him. The most beautiful women, the most successful women—all women love Donald Trump.”
Carolin Gallego December 7, 1992
There’s no shortage of articles about the unique way the President speaks and writes, which is what makes Gallego’s letter so intriguing—particularly the final sentence. Also of note is the fact that Trump’s longtime assistant was named Norma Foerderer. She retired in 2005 and was replaced by Rhona Graff.
In a phone call, Trump’s longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen told Washingtonian he did not recognize the name Carolin Gallego.
Oh look. Donald Trump wrote to @NYMag in 1992. pic.twitter.com/oUPPn1oYXy
— Letters of Note (@LettersOfNote) October 26, 2017
If Trump wrote the letter, it wouldn’t be the first time he posed as someone else—in 2016 the Washington Post reported that Trump used to call publications saying he was a publicist named “John Miller” or “John Barron,” giving quotes and insights on the then-business mogul. The Post also reported that in 1990 Trump testified in a court case that he believed he had used that name “on occasion.”
So it’s not out of the question that Trump might have posed as someone else praising him after he was unhappy with a magazine article, and so far we’ve been unable to confirm he ever had an assistant or secretary named Carolin Gallego.
Repeated calls to several women named Carolin(e) Gallego across the United States went unanswered.
Abbey joined Washingtonian in September 2017. A Miami University (Ohio, not Florida) alum, she called the Midwest home before moving to Vermont to report for the Burlington Free Press and to be closer to her one true love: Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Her work has also appeared in Cincinnati Magazine and USA Today. Abbey lives in Falls Church.
