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On February 8, 1984, a few of the most prominent businessmen in New York — members of the New York State Urban Development Corporation — were holding a news conference.

Among them was a press darling — a man whose brash reputation and penchant for public tirades had made him one of the city's most recognizable figures.

His rise to prominence a decade earlier sprung from his purchase of a major New York institution. He was tall, an imposing figure with his hair just long enough to be swept flat behind his ears. He often bellowed, "You're fired!," a connotation embraced by households across the country.

Standing nearby at that news conference was Donald Trump.

The man he was watching was George Steinbrenner, the owner of the New York Yankees. Known simply as "The Boss," Steinbrenner is the man Trump has called his best friend.

Trump doesn't toss around such a label frequently, at least in the press. But in Steinbrenner, the famed, bombastic owner, Trump saw a role model.

Steinbrenner's flair was something Trump came to emulate — and, in many, ways surpass. It was evident in his business career, on television, his political rise, and eventually, in the beginnings of his once-unthinkable presidency.

Ray Negron, a Yankees employee for more than 40 years who serves as a columnist for Newsmax, told Business Insider that Steinbrenner was a "very strong mentor" to Trump.

"Especially going back into the 70s, when George won the championships and Trump was buying the football team," Negron said, referring to Trump's purchase of the USFL's New York Generals. "He spent a lot of time in talking to George about the appropriate ways and et cetera and he took everything to heart."

"And he looked at Steinbrenner as a big brother, as a hero, and you know he don't look at anybody that way," Negron continued. "They were both the same."

As the Yankees prepare to open their 2017 season Sunday and Trump navigates through the early throes of his presidency, signs of Steinbrenner's influence on Trump — and his family — linger. On Thursday, Donald Trump Jr. posted a photo on Instagram of himself with his father and Steinbrenner.

"I certainly didn't get the magnitude of this NY moment at the time but I definitely do now. Really amazing history there," he wrote.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

'They had a lot of things in common'

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For Negron, the comparisons began with both men's fathers.

Trump's father, Fred, wasn't too keen on the young developer's decision to enter the Manhattan market, instead insisting that the younger Trump should continue with the family's outerborough real estate business, in which it had found its initial success.

Steinbrenner's father, Henry, wasn't terribly enthused with his son's decision to buy the Cleveland Pipers, a professional basketball team. The younger Steinbrenner's venture was nothing short of an abject failure, but his next venture in sports ownership proved infinitely more successful.

Like Trump, Steinbrenner had gotten his start in the family's successful business. In his case, it was the family's shipping company.

"All these different variables, they had a lot of things in common," Negron said. "Throughout the years he always called Mr. Steinbrenner ... in any type of scenario. He would always checked in on him, and 'The Boss' always gave him what he thought was the right advice."

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