Though there are still four years to go in the 90's, business and government leaders in New York honored Donald J. Trump yesterday for pulling off what they called "the comeback of the decade."

Mr. Trump, the developer who came to epitomize opulent wealth during the 80's before tumbling into deep financial trouble, has managed to erase much of his debt and is moving ahead with major projects at a time other developers are idling.

Judging from the attention showered on him yesterday at the Union League Club, some of New York's civic and business leaders are quite captivated by Mr. Trump, despite the financial uncertainties that still surround some of his properties.

But the operative word at the luncheon was comeback, though Mr. Trump might dispute that he ever went far away. William D. Fugazy, the limousine magnate and chairman of the Forum Club, the group of business and civic leaders that sponsored the luncheon, presented Mr. Trump with a boomerang encased in glass. "You throw it and it always comes back," he said as he handed it over.

In a flattering speech, Lieut. Gov. Betsy McCaughey called Mr. Trump "the comeback kid." Charles A. Gargano, who as chairman of the Empire State Development Corporation is himself considered one of the new powers of the state, joked about a Perot-Trump presidential ticket. "He would be the most loved Vice President since Spiro T. Agnew," he said. Mr. Gargano, who heads the state's economic development efforts, added, "Thank you for your tax dollars."

After the collapse of the real estate market of the 1980's, Mr. Trump's company was left holding some $8.8 billion in debt, causing his personal net worth to drop to a low of about $1 billion in the red by 1991.

But since then, his fortunes have changed. He continues to pursue the trademark trophy-style projects he is known for, such as a hotel and condominium project on the southwest corner of Central Park that is expected to open by late 1996.

Indeed, about an hour before the luncheon, Mr. Trump and representatives from a Hong Kong development firm huddled over drawings and models for their planned Riverside South development, a 17-building project at the site of the old Pennsylvania Railroad yard on the West Side.

In addition to his real estate ventures, revenues are strong throughout the casino business, where Mr. Trump is one of the most noteworthy operators, owning three gaming establishments in Atlantic City. "The market is quite vibrant," said N. Bruce Turner, a gaming analyst at Solomon Brothers. "It has lifted Donald Trump's vibrancy. Has he come back along with the market? No question."

To be sure, for all his latest achievements, Mr. Trump is still somewhat at the mercy of the various lenders who granted him concessions on his debt. Also, he has recently proposed another refinancing of his Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City, which has never lived up to the huge profits that he predicted.

But at Tuesday's luncheon, with his family by his side, Mr. Trump was in full form, gracefully taking in all the praise, like a preacher gathering up Sunday's collections.

For the guests, who included Police Commissioner William J. Bratton, Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau, and the developers Lewis Rudin and Peter Kalikow, he recalled how in 1991, the world was far different.

Outside the room, he proclaimed with no shortness of his characteristic hyperbole, "I'm the biggest in real estate in New York, and I'm the biggest in the gaming industry."