From 1996-2015, Donald Trump served as co-owner of the widely popular Miss Universe pageant, which saw female representatives from countries around the globe compete against one another for the title of most beautiful. However, new reports are beginning to suggest that the crowning of the world's most gorgeous woman wasn't based solely on a contestant's outer appearance, but fuelled by the personal interests of the famed business tycoon behind the whole production.
Preliminary judges from the 2013 edition of the annual pageant, who were given the task of winding down the 86 contestants to 15, were shocked to hear that their choices were disregarded in the final decision. However, this did not come as a surprise to the women who were participating in the event, as many can recall the current POTUS showing a bias towards certain contestants.
Speaking with The New Yorker, Adwoa Yamoah, who competed as Miss Canada in the 2012 edition of the pageant, notes how when visiting the women during their final days of rehearsal, Trump "made comments about every girl: ‘I’ve been to that country.’ ‘We’re building a Trump Tower there.’ It was clear the countries that he liked did well...He basically told us he picked nine of the top fifteen."
Shi Lim, who competed as Miss Singapore in 2013, also reveals how "the finalists were picked by Trump. He was really in charge. We called it the Trump card."
Trump would eventually host the 2013 edition in Russia, which now can be witnessed as a harbinger of the president's highly-contested interest in Vladimir Putin and establishing a connection with the nation.