Tony Fortuna was well known in the restaurant business, beloved by restaurateurs and patrons. He started out as the Maitre’d: for Andre Soltner at Lutecc, then considered the best restaurant in New York City. He next was at Tavern on the Green with Warner LeRoy. Tony then worked at the Plaza Hotel for Ivana Trump as the food and beverage manager of the Plaza. This was the equivalent of being the person who ran the hotel — food and beverage was everything that made the hotel.
I am a lawyer and ate weekly at Tony’s last restaurant, T bar, which is across the street from where I live. I knew him but I was just a loyal customer until he had a New York Wage and Labor problem. I did my best to help him, and we became close friends. After a while we had dinner just about every night for two years. You might say I got to know him and all about his life.
Tony was a big Trump fan. I was not. But I was always interested to hear why Tony says something about a person because Tony always seemed to see the best in people. Unfortunately, Tony passed away more than a year ago.
Tony had a friend, let’s call him Little Tony, who worked as an assistant for Tony at the Plaza. They were very close, and I would sometimes have dinner with the two of them. I loved to hear their stories about restaurants, people, and how to run a restaurant.
One night, they were sitting and talking about working at the Plaza. I knew that Little Tony was not a fan of Trump and really did not like him at all. This was sometime after Trump’s first term. So, that night when they began to talk about working for Trump at the Plaza, I was eager to hear what they had to say. To my surprise, they both seemed to say that Trump was a very thoughtful and easy-going person. They discussed how Trump would often intervene in disputes between employees. They said he was good at mediating, getting people to get along, and stopping arguments. I came away with an impression of Donald Trump as a much more thoughtful, and kind guy, than how he presented himself as an in-your-face candidate for President.
I was not surprised by what Tony said, but I was very surprised to hear that Little Tony also had only pleasant things had to say about President Trump. I looked at the two of them and said, “I do not understand. Tony, I know you think Trump is terrific, but Little Tony, you do not like him at all. But from what you the two of said, it sounds like he was a nice guy. Little Tony turned to me and said, look, I do not like him, but he was a good guy to work for, and he was a nice guy.
I hope that President Trump will read this and learn what these two guys said about him because the President now seems so angry and bitter. Perhaps, he is not really that way…. time made him that way, and he can go back to the way he was.
Watching the conference with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, while it is portrayed as a big blow up and a fight, at times, Trump came across as genuinely trying to make things work out. You could see Trump trying to talk to him one on one and, very sincerely get Zelenskyy to understand that he did not “have the cards” and that Ukraine should make a deal.
A Guy Walks into a Bar
If you have worked as a bartender, you know a customer who is awful the night before in a crowd of people. The same customer might come in early the next afternoon for a drink before anyone else comes in. You might find that the same person is completely different, thoughtful, and easy to talk to, and not at all the way he was the night before in the crowd. You then learn that often a person is different in public than when that person is one on one.
Let us go to another story about the old Trump.
A woman I know was the manager of the clothing department in a New York department store. She told me that Trump would come there with his new wife and wait while she was trying on clothes.
This same manager likes to go to Prize Fights. President Trump is also well-known for going to “the fights” and having a seat right up by the ring. But one night as climbed the stairs to use the restroom, Trump spotted this sales manager down the aisle in what is called “the nosebleed seats.” The once and future President worked his way across the line of people in the seats to come over and say hello to her. Sounds like Trump remembers the little people.
Bill Maher’s Dinner
Bill Maher had a private dinner with President Trump. Dinner was arranged by a friend and Trump readily accepted. Before the meeting Maher had his staff make a document that contained all the critical things that Trump said about him. Maher brought to the dinner and showed it to Trump, who smiled and signed his name to it.
During dinner, they had a conversation in which Maher told Trump all the things he continued to disagree with in his administration. The President thoughtfully listened to him and thanked him for his thoughts.
Bill Maher than reported about his dinner on his show and many people were critical of his having dinner with a man who says so many things that offend Maher’s liberal base. Maher felt that he was having a dialogue with the President. He felt that the President could listen and seemed not to be particularly disturbed to know that Maher disagreed with him.
What are we learning from this?
We learn that when you deal with someone one on one, they are a different person than when they are in public with other people whose approval they may seek. In other words, if a genuinely nice guy wants to appear tough whenever there is a crowd around, he feels the need to fulfill that role. But if that person has a quiet moment with a person, perhaps like Donald Trump and Bill Maher, they can have a dialogue and express their thoughts.
A cynic would say that Trump was just manipulating Maher and maybe that is true. Another might say that anyone can seem like a nice guy at a one-on-one dinner. But so, what? They had a fine time that night. And this encounter might yet have some effect on what is going on in America.
What has how nice Trump was as an employer or at a dinner with a critic of him have to do with the Law?
President Trump has made his anger and his bitterness at his prosecutions well known. It is commonly said that he is “weaponizing” the Department of Justice to go after those who prosecuted him.
One can understand the President’s bitterness. The Stormy Daniels case may have been legally sound as determined by the trial judge and an appellate court. But the way it came about makes one wonder about the reasons for the prosecution. Even lawyers who oppose Trump believe this may have been “selective prosecution.” Similarly, the case by New York’s Attorney General, while supported under New York law, as the appellate division recently held, resulted in a punitive award of damages which was struck down as punitive under the 8th amendment of the Constitution.
One wonders whether someone can persuade the President that his understandable anger, and bitterness needs to be tempered. There is some suggestion that there is someone in the White House who might do that.
A recent New York Times article, White House Counsel Eases Trump’s Path on Aggressive Agenda (September 2, 2025) describes “David Warrington, the top lawyer inside the West Wing, [who]focuses on “the art of the possible,” as one Trump adviser said.” As the article states: “Mr. Warrington, the White House counsel described his role as informing the President about the legal landscape and providing guidance about potential consequences, including ways to reduce risks — but not making decisions for Mr. Trump.” Further, said Chris LaCivita, one of Mr. Trump’s top political advisers, commented: “Dave’s very straight to the point. But Dave also doesn’t lead with the answer, ‘No.’ Instead, it’s, ‘Let’s figure out what is in the art of the possible.” In conclusion, the article quotes Mr. Warrington’s view of himself. “A lawyer’s job is to provide advice and counsel,” he said, “and a client may take the advice or disregard it as the client sees fit.”
Now let’s get a little idealistic. Let’s accept that Donald Trump was a thoughtful and understanding employer. Let’s say that the President can be reached in a one-on-one conversation at dinner. Let’s even say that he’s trying to do the right thing even if everyone doesn’t agree with him.
There are some of us who believe that we’re on the brink of civil war. There are others who think the Civil War never ended. Perhaps there’s another alternative for us Americans.
In his First Inaugural Address on March 4, 1861, as the nation teetered on the brink of the Civil War, appealing for unity and a return to the nation’s fundamental values, President Abraham Lincoln delivered this line; “The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely, they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” (Emphasis added).
Let’s have more of President Trump’s critics take him out to dinner. Let’s have more one-on-one conversations with the President. Can we all be touched by our “better angels?” As Joan Rivers said, “Can we talk?” Isn’t it the job of lawyers to persuade those who disagree with them?
I might know a lawyer who would like to have dinner with President Trump.
