Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel was so eager to launch an academic center in his name at City College that he backed naming a program there for Donald Trump, correspondence obtained by The Post reveals.
One suggestion then-City College president Gregory Wililams discussed with Rangel in a May 1, 2007, memo: “$10m gift for the Rangel Center to create Trump Hall.”
Rangel himself wrote two letters to Trump — including on his congressional stationary in violation of ethics rules — pitching the “Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service.”
The congressman even called the “Celebrity Apprentice” the “real estate king” in one March 7, 2007 Dear “Don” letter that sought Trump’s support for the Rangel Center
After Rangel and CCNY reps met with Trump, president Williams sent Trump a follow-up May 15, 2007, letter and proposed “giving opportunities.”
“A gift of $3 million will create the Donald J. Trump Chair at the Rangel Center … A gift of $2.5 million will establish the Donald J. Trump Leadership Fellowship Program … A gift of $1 million will fund the Donald J. Trump Visiting Professorship,” the solicitation to Trump said.
Williams said the Trump name for the programs would remain “in perpetuity.”
Rangel, 84, is locked in a tough Democratic primary battle for a 23rd term against state Sen. Adriano Espaillat and preacher Michael Walrond. The election is next Tuesday.
Rangel had a good relationship with Trump — who is despised by many Democrats for questioning Obama’s birth certificate and citizenship — and collected more than $35,000 from him and the Trump family since the 1990s, Federal Election Commission records show.
As it turned out, Trump never gave to the Rangel Center, and the congressman was subsequently censured in 2010 for ethics violations that included improper fund-raising for the center with congressional resources.
The Espaillat campaign pounced on Rangel for playing footsy with Trump.
“It’s hard to say you support President Obama if you’ve taken tens of thousands of dollars over the years from Donald Trump — the Tea Party’s birther-in-chief,” said Espaillat supporter Vincent Morgan, who previously ran against Rangel.
“If Congressman Rangel had spent more time fighting for his district and less time sucking up to people like Trump, maybe Harlem wouldn’t be the epicenter of inequality that it is today.”
The Rangel campaign shot back that the congressman severed ties with Trump years ago.
“Apparently Senator Espaillat was too busy taking money from Tea Party PACs and Republican allies in Albany to notice that Congressman Rangel called Donald Trump an ‘international embarrassment’ for questioning the president’s birthplace,” said Rangel spokesman James Freedland.
“Maybe Senator Espaillat ought to run in the Republican primary instead, as he is the only candidate who has voted against the minimum wage and sided with the GOP to abolish the commuter tax, costing NYC $10 billion in lost revenue.”