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“The Patty Winters Show”
Long before he became President in 2017, Donald J. Trump was a businessman, author, and celebrity. In American Psycho, he is the person Patrick Bateman idolizes above all others. Bateman talks about him constantly, citing incredibly specific details of his life of luxury, and is often distracted by the thought of seeing Trump or his wife Ivana out in New York City. Bateman’s obsession often irks Evelyn, who wishes her boyfriend would talk about something other than Trump. Ellis’s inclusion of Trump as an idol in the novel (he never actually appears) grounds the book in a reality of late 1980s Wall Street New York and also shows the obsessive nature of Bateman’s mind. His love for Trump clearly indicates to the reader the things that Bateman values most in another person: wealth, success, extravagance, and beautiful women.
Donald Trump Quotes in American Psycho
The American Psycho quotes below all refer to the symbol of Donald Trump. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Shopping
Quotes
My priorities before Christmas include the following: (1) to get an eight o’clock reservation on a Friday night at Dorsia with Courtney, (2) to get myself invited to the Trump Christmas Party aboard their yacht, (3) to find out as much as humanly possible about Paul Owen’s mysterious Fisher account, (4) to saw a hardbody’s head off and Federal Express it to Robin Barker – the dumb bastard – over at Solomon Brothers and (5) to apologize to Evelyn without making it look like an apology.
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Get the entire American Psycho LitChart as a printable PDF.
Donald Trump Symbol Timeline in American Psycho
The timeline below shows where the symbol Donald Trump appears in American Psycho. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Tunnel
...women around them, joking about the ideal “hardbody” (“maybe a close personal acquaintance to Donald Trump”). McDermott comments that the club’s “skanky chicks” make him worry about disease, but Van Patten...
(full context)
Office
...colleague named Frederick Dibble, who asks if he’s read a Page Six article about Ivana Trump. He hasn’t. Bateman asks him if he watched this morning’s episode of “The Patty Winters...
(full context)
Business Meeting
...He’s brought with him an article clipping and asks Bateman, “Where do you think Donald Trump thinks the best pizza in Manhattan is served?” Bateman has been bested. Paul Owen arrives,...
(full context)
Date with Evelyn
...some posters she saw on the subway, when she abruptly stops and asks if Ivana Trump is sitting across the restaurant from them. Bateman is enthralled but then quickly annoyed to...
(full context)
Shopping
...season, which include: a reservation at Dorsia for himself and Courtney, an invitation to the Trump Christmas party, learning more about Paul Owen’s Fisher account, and sawing a woman’s head off....
(full context)
Birthday, Brothers
...be. To save face, Bateman tells his brother that he’s going to one of Donald Trump’s parties, and says he could even introduce him. Sean wants to go to an exclusive...
(full context)
Girls (2)
...her he thought it was “hip,” and she tells him it couldn’t be, because Donald Trump goes there. Earlier in the night, he had left Elizabeth at a bar to go...
(full context)
Aspen
...December and Bateman is in a limo with Jeannette. He’s reading an article about Donald Trump and she’s upset, nursing a black eye he gave her the night before to “coerce”...
(full context)
Bum on Fifth
...He takes in the sky and the wind around him, and looks up longingly at Trump Tower. He then sees Al, the bum he attacked and blinded previously, sitting with his...
(full context)
