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Story highlights
Donald Trump's helicopter provides a thrill for children at the Iowa State Fair
The more entertaining he is, the higher in the polls he rises
Des Moines, IowaCNN
—
A helicopter landed here just after noon on Saturday, causing a short but violent windstorm. Large trees shivered; small ones bent nearly sideways. Dust swirled up from the parking lot, stinging the eyes of the onlookers. The pilot cut the engines. A man got out of the helicopter. He wore white shoes and white khakis with sharp creases and a red baseball cap that said MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. He strolled across the searing asphalt and stood at the edge of a field, where nearly 100 people waited to find out what he would do or say next.
“We have quite a few children gonna take rides today,” said Donald Trump, billionaire, celebrity, entertainer and Republican candidate for president. “Where are the children? Get them over here.”
Half a mile northwest, beyond the railroad tracks and the Laurel Hill Cemetery, the Iowa State Fair proceeded as usual.
You could see a cow made of butter or a 711-pound Giant Atlantic Pumpkin. You could eat a bacon-wrapped rib on a stick and drink a 32-ounce Miller Lite while watching a one-man band play and sing “Mustang Sally.” You could strap into a ride called Slingshot, whose giant elastic bands would fling you toward the pale blue sky.
But here in the parking lot was something else altogether: a chance to ride in a customized Sikorsky S-76B helicopter with one of the richest and most famous men in America.
“I love my kids,” said Trump, a 69-year-old grandfather. “Come ‘ere.”
Taking their cue, nearly 50 children stood behind him on the asphalt as he answered questions about what he would do if elected president.
“Under what circumstances would you use a nuclear weapon?” a reporter asked.
“I don’t even wanna talk about that question. It’s a very serious question,” he said before expounding on the importance of a strong national defense.
After he went through his standard rhetoric about billionaires corrupting the political system, someone asked whether he thought anyone else was qualified to be president.
“Nobody else will do the job that I will do,” he said. “I will bring back jobs, I will strengthen our military, I’ll take care of our vets, I’ll get rid of Obamacare, which is, by the way, a catastrophe.”
Here the crowd interrupted him with applause; at least 10 children spontaneously joined in.
Trump was on a roll now, casting aspersions on the local newspaper, describing the wall he would build along the Mexican border and assuring the media that actual voters trusted him so much they did not need to see the details of his immigration policy.
The more entertaining he makes the race, the better he seems to do in the polls.
His campaign has not been derailed by his inflammatory comments about Mexican immigrants, or his verbal grenades at John McCain, or his denigration of Rosie O’Donnell, or the tawdry complaints about Megyn Kelly that caused his banishment from the recent RedState gathering of conservatives.
“So I guess I haven’t made any mistakes,” he said as the children shifted their weight and tried to be patient. “I’m sure I will, at some point, but so far, you would have to say, it hasn’t worked out badly, right?”
It’s hard to say what the polls mean.
The Iowa caucus is more than five months away, and most Republican voters remain undecided.
“To tell you the truth, I hadn’t even thought about it,” said Rick Robbins, 46, a concrete worker selling cold water to fair-goers in his front yard on Saturday afternoon. “It’s a little early in the game.”
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
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exclusive photo by nigel parry for CNN
President-elect Donald Trump has been in the spotlight for years. From developing real estate and producing and starring in TV shows, he became a celebrity long before winning the White House.
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Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.
Trump at age 4. He was born in 1946 to Fred and Mary Trump in New York City. His father was a real estate developer.
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Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.
Trump, left, in a family photo. He was the second-youngest of five children.
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Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library
Trump, center, stands at attention during his senior year at the New York Military Academy in 1964.
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Trump, center, wears a baseball uniform at the New York Military Academy in 1964. After he graduated from the boarding school, he went to college. He started at Fordham University before transferring and later graduating from the Wharton School, the University of Pennsylvania's business school.
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Trump stands with Alfred Eisenpreis, New York's economic development administrator, in 1976 while they look at a sketch of a new 1,400-room renovation project of the Commodore Hotel. After graduating college in 1968, Trump worked with his father on developments in Queens and Brooklyn before purchasing or building multiple properties in New York and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Those properties included Trump Tower in New York and Trump Plaza and multiple casinos in Atlantic City.
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Trump attends an event to mark the start of construction of the New York Convention Center in 1979.
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Trump wears a hard hat at the Trump Tower construction site in New York in 1980.
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Trump was married to Ivana Zelnicek Trump from 1977 to 1990, when they divorced. They had three children together: Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric.
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The Trump family, circa 1986.
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Trump uses his personal helicopter to get around New York in 1987.
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Trump stands in the atrium of the Trump Tower.
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Trump attends the opening of his new Atlantic City casino, the Taj Mahal, in 1989.
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Trump signs his second book, "Trump: Surviving at the Top," in 1990. Trump has published at least 16 other books, including "The Art of the Deal" and "The America We Deserve."
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Trump and singer Michael Jackson pose for a photo before traveling to visit Ryan White, a young child with AIDS, in 1990.
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Trump dips his second wife, Marla Maples, after the couple married in a private ceremony in New York in December 1993. The couple divorced in 1999 and had one daughter together, Tiffany.
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Trump putts a golf ball in his New York office in 1998.
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An advertisement for the television show "The Apprentice" hangs at Trump Tower in 2004. The show launched in January of that year. In January 2008, the show returned as "Celebrity Apprentice."
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A 12-inch talking Trump doll is on display at a toy store in New York in September 2004.
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Bebeto Matthews/AP
Trump attends a news conference in 2005 that announced the establishment of Trump University. From 2005 until it closed in 2010, Trump University had about 10,000 people sign up for a program that promised success in real estate. Three separate lawsuits -- two class-action suits filed in California and one filed by New York's attorney general -- argued that the program was mired in fraud and deception. Trump's camp rejected the suits' claims as "baseless." And Trump has charged that the New York case against him is politically motivated.
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Trump attends the U.S. Open tennis tournament with his third wife, Melania Knauss-Trump, and their son, Barron, in 2006. Trump and Knauss married in 2005.
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Trump wrestles with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin at WrestleMania in 2007. Trump has close ties with the WWE and its CEO, Vince McMahon.
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For "The Apprentice," Trump was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in January 2007.
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Trump appears on the set of "The Celebrity Apprentice" with two of his children -- Donald Jr. and Ivanka -- in 2009.
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Trump poses with Miss Universe contestants in 2011. Trump had been executive producer of the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants since 1996.
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In 2012, Trump announces his endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
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Trump speaks in Sarasota, Florida, after accepting the Statesman of the Year Award at the Sarasota GOP dinner in August 2012. It was shortly before the Republican National Convention in nearby Tampa.
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Trump appears on stage with singer Nick Jonas and television personality Giuliana Rancic during the 2013 Miss USA pageant.
Trump -- flanked by U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio, left, and Ted Cruz -- speaks during a CNN debate in Miami on March 10. Trump dominated the GOP primaries and emerged as the presumptive nominee in May.
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Nancy Borowick for CNN
The Trump family poses for a photo in New York in April.
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Trump speaks during a campaign event in Evansville, Indiana, on April 28. After Trump won the Indiana primary, his last two competitors dropped out of the GOP race.
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Trump delivers a speech at the Republican National Convention in July, accepting the party's nomination for President. "I have had a truly great life in business," he said. "But now, my sole and exclusive mission is to go to work for our country -- to go to work for you. It's time to deliver a victory for the American people."
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Trump faces Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the first presidential debate, which took place in Hempstead, New York, in September.
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Donald Trump/Twitter
Trump apologizes in a video, posted to his Twitter account in October, for vulgar and sexually aggressive remarks he made a decade ago regarding women. "I said it, I was wrong and I apologize," Trump said, referring to lewd comments he made during a previously unaired taping of "Access Hollywood." Multiple Republican leaders rescinded their endorsements of Trump after the footage was released.
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Trump walks on stage with his family after he was declared the election winner on November 9. "Ours was not a campaign, but rather, an incredible and great movement," he told his supporters in New York.
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Mary Calvert for CNN
Trump is joined by his family as he is sworn in as President on January 20.
But this much is certain: Whether or not Americans intend to vote for Trump, many of them would like to catch a glimpse.
Heather Kintzle, a 40-year-old administrative assistant from Cedar Rapids, went to the fair on Saturday to hear an impassioned talk about economic inequality from Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Democratic candidate who is calling for political revolution. Kintzle loved what she heard from Sanders, but she still wanted to see Trump, “to see what all the circus was about.”
Just before Sanders took the State Fair Soapbox, a young woman wandered down Grand Avenue past his army of young revolutionaries. She was looking down, asking her smartphone a question:
“Where is Donald Trump right now?”
The Bowman family had driven from the western suburbs to see Trump and his helicopter. Neither David nor Sarah Bowman had resolved to vote for Trump, at least not yet, but they had four little boys, and this chance was too good to miss.
Into the helicopter went William, 9; Sean, 6; Brendan, 5; and Henry, who just turned 3. Their mother went with them. Henry got scared just before takeoff and left the aircraft to be with his father. The other boys remained. William brought a GoPro camera to capture the experience; a clip later wound up on Facebook.
“Mr. Trump,” he said, aiming the camera at his benefactor.
“Yes,” Trump said, pulling on the lapels of his jacket.
“Are you Batman?” the boy asked.
“I am Batman,” Trump said.
The helicopter roared to life, causing another windstorm, hurling more dust at the people outside. William looked out the window, marveling at the power of the machine.
Here was Trump’s vantage point: a comfortable seat in the eye of the storm, a place to watch the rotor wash without messing up your hair. To William, this was the best moment of the whole ride. It felt just like a video game.
