A new excerpt from the upcoming book Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin’s War on America and the Election of Donald Trump alleges that President Donald Trump vetoed contestants from his Miss Universe pageants based on race.
The excerpt, published Thursday at Mother Jones, details Trump’s 2013 trip to Russia for the Miss Universe beauty contest. While the excerpt focuses mainly on Trump’s business interactions while in Russia, it also describes the managerial style he allegedly used at his pageants. The book, due in stores March 13, is co-authored by Michael Isikoff, Yahoo News’ chief investigative correspondent, and David Corn, Mother Jones’ Washington bureau chief.
According to Isikoff and Corn’s research, Trump always had the final say in who won the pageant. The authors say Trump often vetoed contestants of color when he believed there were too many.
A day or two before the 2013 Miss Universe pageant, Trump reportedly reviewed the contestants and picked who he wanted to be in the final round.
“In short, no woman was a finalist until Trump said so,” Isikoff and Corn write.