Decades before riding his monster ego to the presidency of the United States, he was a loudmouthed local upstart known simply as The Donald.

The Queens native with the bouffant mullet parlayed his unbridled hubris and family's outer borough real estate holdings into a toehold in high society.

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Zipping around in his private helicopter, cruising aboard his $29 million superyacht and squiring his "top" model wives all over town, Donald Trump became a tabloid fascination whose open-door policy led to a feeding frenzy of interviews and front pages.

Bruising coverage of his ugly divorces and business bankruptcies only added to his mystique.

He wrote best-selling tomes about his life as a tomcatting tycoon, gamed bankruptcy laws to ward off ruin and solidified his standing as the ultimate boardroom bully on NBC's "The Apprentice."

When the vainglorious vulgarian announced his presidential run last year, his divisive rhetoric and racist statements led many to predict a spectacular implosion. Instead, Trump gained momentum. He combined his headline-baiting skills honed on the New York stage with Twitter and cable news to take his trash talking tactics to new heights.

Here's a look back at some historical headlines from the Daily News archives covering Trump's evolution from middling mogul to bombastic billionaire hellbent on paving the White House with polished pink marble.