Virgin boss Richard Branson tells how Donald Trump vowed to ‘destroy’ the lives of five people at ‘bizarre’ Manhattan lunch date
Business magnate and investor Richard Branson said he was left feeling 'disturbed and saddened' by the meeting
RICHARD Branson has recounted a "bizarre" lunch meeting with Donald Trump where the now presidential candidate for the United States told him he had begged for money to get him out of bankruptcy - and would now spend "the rest of his life" trying to destroy the five people who refused to help him.
Branson said he had been "baffled" by the lunch meeting at Donald Trump's Manhattan apartment, now saying he was concerned that the man's "vindictive streak" could be "so dangerous if he got into the White House".
Writing in a new blog post, Branson wrote: "Even before the starters arrived he began telling me about how he had asked a number of people for help after his latest bankruptcy and how five of them were unwilling to help.
"He told me he was going to spend the rest of his life destroying these five people.
"He didn’t speak about anything else and I found it very bizarre."
: "I told him I didn’t think it was the best way of spending his life. I said it was going to eat him up, and do more damage to him than them.
"There must be more constructive ways to spend the rest of your life. (Hopefully my advice didn’t lead to him running for President!)"
The blog post, written on Friday, was shared by Branson on Twitter with the caption "The US President needs to understand & engage with wider world issues, not petty personal quarrels #ImWithHer"
Branson said he had been baffled why Trump had confided in him about the issue, admitting he would not have reached out to help the reality star.
Branson said: "I left the lunch feeling disturbed and saddened by what I’d heard.
"There are a lot of frightening things about this election; not least that policy has been pushed so far down the agenda.
"What concerns me most, based upon my personal experiences with Donald Trump, is his vindictive streak, which could be so dangerous if he got into the White House.
"For somebody who is running to be the leader of the free world to be so wrapped up in himself, rather than concerned with global issues, is very worrying."
The Virgin boss then compared the meeting to a one-to-one lunch he had with Trump's opposition, Hillary Clinton.
He said: "Here we talked about education reform, the war on drugs, women’s rights, conflicts around the globe and the death penalty.
"She was a good listener as well as an eloquent speaker.
"As she understands well, the President of the United States needs to understand and be engaged with wider world issues, rather than be consumed by petty personal quarrels."
Trump's campaign to get into the Oval Office has been plagued with setbacks with the candidate accused of sexual assault by a number of women.
He has recently faced Clinton in the third US Presidential debate, with many predicting that Clinton won.
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