The day Keith Richards used a knife to fire Donald Trump: “America needs to get rid of him”

Keith Richards’ relationship with some of the most controversial world leaders has been bad since the day he was born. The legendary guitarist and co-founder of the Rolling Stones first saw the light on December 18, 1943, in a small town near London while it was being bombed by the Nazis: “Hitler was coming for me”.

The guitarist always says he hates getting angry, and that the last time he was really enraged was more than 35 years ago - with Donald Trump, current US president.

Michael Cohl was the promoter of the Rolling’s ‘Steel Wheels’ tour in 1989 and came up with the idea of having one of the concerts broadcast on PPV. He searched Las Vegas for a sponsor for the idea, but no one was interested. He only managed to convince Donald Trump, owner of the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City.

When Cohl presented the project to the Stones they were none too happy about associating with the tycoon, who already had a reputation as a difficult character. “Great, but only if we have no contact with Trump. Fuck him!”, said the band, as Cohl explained years later.

In the contract, the mogul pledged not to appear in the concert promotion or performance. But no one tells Trump what to do. The event was announced as “Donald Trump presents the Rolling Stones” with the businessman’s name in giant letters and the band’s in a tiny font, which enraged the band.

The day of the concert and the knife

On the day of the concert, Trump held a press conference in the room set up for the musicians. When Cohl heard about it, he ran over and tried to interrupt him: “Stop! Stop! You promised us you wouldn’t even be here. You promised us you wouldn’t even be here. This is going to be crazy!” But Trump ignored him and continued talking to the press.

Cohl went to see the Rolling Stones, told them what had happened, and Keith Richards, red with anger, pulled out a knife, brandished it in front of the promoter and said as he stuck it in the table “What am I paying you for? Do I have to fire him myself? Either he leaves the building or we leave!”. Cohl was faced with choosing between kicking Trump out of his own building or facing Richards’ knife.

The mogul went ballistic, surrounded by his bodyguards, “You’re ignorant and your guys are useless!” but Cohl alerted his head of security, Jim Callahan, who immediately went over there with his entire team. After a few minutes of high tension, Trump relented and was ejected from his own building until the concert was over.

Trump’s relationship with the Rolling Stones did not end there. In November 2016, after winning his first presidential election, he played the song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” during his victory speech. The president did not have permission to use it, but the band decided not to sue. Keith Richards then said a line that would go down in history, recalling the knife incident: “America’s got to get rid of him. Don’t let them say I didn’t warn them”.

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