A Realtor in Texas who was fired up over Donald Trump‘s comments during a February interview on NBC’s “Today” program was treated to a personal response from the infamous billionaire. But she is still waiting for his apology.
“The Donald” responded to a question by “Today” co-anchor Matt Lauer with a few choice words about real estate agents, and Nancy Anonsen couldn’t believe her ears. Anonsen, a Realtor for Tompkins Young Real Estate in Portland, Texas, said his comments were: “Those people are horrible. They don’t know what they’re doing.”
She vented to her coworkers about Trump’s remarks, and asked around to find out whether other Realtors had viewed the show. “I just kept talking about this. It just was really irritating me. I’m a single mom. I’ve been in real estate for about 10 years. With everything we go through, it just really pissed me off,” she said.
Anonsen sent an e-mail message to the National Association of Realtors and learned that a handful of other Realtors had already contacted the association to complain about Trump‘s comments.
“(The association) responded so quickly. I was so impressed with that,” she said.
Liz Johnson, a spokeswoman for the association, communicated with Anonsen after she received her message.
“I told her that NAR couldn’t officially do anything, because (Trump) never said the term ‘Realtor,’ but I could really understand why she would be offended,” Johnson said.
The NAR spokeswoman also forwarded contact information for the “Today” program to Anonsen and encouraged her to register a complaint with the show.
Anonsen then contacted the “Today” show and searched on the Internet for Trump’s contact information.
I went online, and I just went to Trump.com. All of these different companies came up, and I just sort of picked one.”
She rifled off an e-mail to one of Trump’s companies with the subject line, “Looking for Mr. Trump.” In her message, she wrote, “I have a problem with the comments he made on the Today show. I think he owes us (Realtors) an apology. I know how busy he is, but I had to say how I felt. A response from him would be great.”
Two weeks later the broker in Anonsen’s office announced the arrival of a certain letter.
“She said, ‘Nancy, Nancy, Nancy, look what you got in the mail.’ She walked around the corner and had this envelope in her hand,” Aronsen said.
And there it was, in large, bold letters at the corner of the envelope: “T-R-U-M-P.”
Inside the envelope was a printed copy of the e-mail she sent off in search of Trump, along with a handwritten comment scrawled with a black marker across the bottom of the page: “Nancy – Don’t let it get you down – Just keep ‘pushing!’ ” The comment was signed, “Donald Trump.”
“I’m very, very impressed that he took a minute to respond to that,” Anonsen said. “Here I am, this one little peon Realtor in San Patricio County, and I got something that actually ended up on Donald’s desk that he actually responded to. I sent him a thank-you note.”
In that note, she told Trump she appreciated his reply, but noticed he didn’t apologize for his comments on the “Today” show.
“The smart ass in me had to let him know that ‘You didn’t apologize but you did respond,'” she said.
She also extended an invitation to the 50th anniversary party of the San Patricio County Association of Realtors.
“I probably will never hear anything – but who knows?” she said.
Thompson said Anonsen’s experience was “just so indicative of so many (Realtors) — always trying to make a positive out of something. Rather than just give Mr. Trump an earful, she explained her disappointment and then went on to invite him to come to their board’s 50-year anniversary.”
Anonsen said the attention she has received from her “15 minutes plus” of fame has been fun.
“I just think it’s a hoot,” she said.
A local television news station even broadcast her Trump tale.
Her children, who are 16 and 19, might be proud of her but they would never admit it, she said.
“I know without a doubt that I embarrass the hell out of them a lot,” she said.
When she told one of her children she was going to be on the news, he said, “Big deal, whatever.” But later, she overheard him tell a friend on the telephone that she was “going to be on the news.”
Though her coworkers kid her about trying out for “The Apprentice” television show, in which Trump whittles down a list of job applicants to a single candidate after considering their performance in a series of challenges, Anonsen said she has no interest in it.
“I’m one of those emotional women who he would fire in a minute,” she said.
She is a fan of the show, though.
What will become of Anonsen’s infamous letter from The Donald?
“It’s in an envelope in a drawer in my desk, because I really don’t know what to do with it,” she said.
And the lesson in the whole experience?
“If you have a problem with something, you should be able to say something about it and get a response. No matter who it is, there’s a way to get through to somebody,” she said.
