Donald Trump: 'If I do rant and rave, I want to get some help’

Mr Trump told Larry King that people see him as a ‘lunatic, crazy, wild’ - but he hoped that was not the real him

Mr Trump appears to have changed little in the past two decades

Donald Trump’s policies on abortion, immigration and the economy may flip back and forth, but the one thing that has been reliably consistent is his personality.

Video interviews from his heyday in the 80s and 90s as a young New York businessman show that Mr Trump has barely changed to this day.

One particular interview from 1990 provides viewers with the deepest insight into how he perceived himself, and how that might clash with reality.

Speaking to talk show host Larry King on CNN in 1990, he said: “A lot of people that don’t know me, they think, he’s a maniac, flame-thrower, he rants and raves, and — I don’t. I hope that I project that I don’t.”

He added that he had an “ego”, but that it was crucial to be successful.

“I don’t see anything wrong with having an ego. But the image is, for people that don’t know [me], he’s a flame-thrower, you know, ranting, raving, lunatic, crazy, wild - and I don’t think it’s me. I hope it’s not me. If it is, I want to immediately go for some help.”

Mr Trump was defeated in Wisconsin on Tuesday night by Ted Cruz, after a difficult week on the campaign trail.

Mr Trump, who had just got divorced to Ivana Trump in 1990 and had built the casino in Atlantic City, was bursting with superlatives: he worked with the “best” people, the “greatest” hotel managers wanted to work with him, he owned the “biggest” hotels in the world and people spent the “most” money on his slot machines than ever before.

In this interview viewers can get a hint of his attitude towards women.

Asked why Ivana Trump remained employed at the Trump organization after the divorce, he said that it was a “nice thing to do” and that he had changed his pre-nuptial agreement with Ivana four times to make sure it was “iron clad”.

He also spoke about a helicopter crash in which three of his “attractive“ associates died, and that he had been close to taking the ride with them.

“Unfortunately it cheapened it [life] a little bit for me, because these were three incredible people to die like that - young, attractive, wonderful, in the prime of their careers - they were great guys.”