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In his 1987 book “Trump: The Art of the Deal,” co-authored with Tony Schwartz, Donald Trump claimed that he punched his second-grade music teacher, giving him a black eye. Trump wrote, “In the second grade, I actually gave a teacher a black eye.” He described his motive, stating that he did it because he “didn’t think he knew anything about music.” Trump also mentioned that he “almost got expelled” for the incident, using it as an example of his tendency to assert his opinions forcefully from a young age. He concluded the anecdote by saying that he now prefers to use his brain instead of his fists.
However, this claim’s veracity is highly questionable. The Washington Post investigated the incident, tracking down Trump’s second-grade music teacher, Charles Walker. Although Walker had passed away by the time of their inquiry, his family confirmed that he never mentioned being punched by Trump. Additionally, Trump’s childhood friend and classmate, Donald Kass, also had no recollection of the event. Kass even asked Walker about it at a class reunion in 2009, and Walker denied that Trump ever struck him, although he did remark that Trump was not a good student and was always seeking attention.
Trump has since backtracked on his original story, possibly due to criticism for promoting violence. He later minimized the incident, saying, “When I say ‘punch,’ when you’re that age, nobody punches very hard. But I was very rambunctious in school.” This suggests that Trump might have exaggerated or fabricated the incident for dramatic effect in his book.
In summary, it seems highly unlikely that Trump actually punched his teacher, given the lack of corroborating evidence and Trump’s own subsequent downplaying of the event. His original claim serves more to illustrate his self-described assertiveness and willingness to challenge authority, rather than being a factual recounting of his childhood behavior.