Richard Branson highlighted Donald Trump’s “vindictive streak” as the most frightening thing about this election. | Getty Richard Branson: Trump vowed to destroy 5 people who refused to help him

Donald Trump told Richard Branson during their first encounter that he would spend the remainder of his life trying to destroy five people he had asked to no avail to aid him after his latest bankruptcy, the English business mogul wrote Friday.

Branson, the Virgin Group founder who wrote in his blog last week that Trump would be a “disaster” as president, described a tale of two lunches Friday, starting with his meeting with Trump.


“Some years ago, Mr. Trump invited me to lunch for a one-to-one meeting at his apartment in Manhattan. We had not met before and I accepted,” Branson wrote. “Even before the starters arrived he began telling me about how he had asked a number of people for help after his latest bankruptcy and how five of them were unwilling to help. He told me he was going to spend the rest of his life destroying these five people.”

Branson “found it very bizarre” that Trump was unwilling to talk about anything else. “I told him I didn’t think it was the best way of spending his life. I said it was going to eat him up, and do more damage to him than them,” Branson wrote. “There must be more constructive ways to spend the rest of your life. (Hopefully my advice didn’t lead to him running for President!)”

The Virgin founder was “baffled” as to why Trump had invited him to lunch for that sole topic and wondered at one point whether Trump would ask him for money.

“If he had, I would have become the sixth person on his list!” he quipped. He ultimately left the lunch “feeling disturbed and saddened” by what Trump had said.

Branson highlighted the real estate mogul’s “vindictive streak” as the most frightening thing about this election, warning it “could be so dangerous if he got into the White House.”

“For somebody who is running to be the leader of the free world to be so wrapped up in himself, rather than concerned with global issues, is very worrying,” he wrote, going on to compare his lunch with Trump to dining with Hillary Clinton.

“Here we talked about education reform, the war on drugs, women’s rights, conflicts around the globe and the death penalty. She was a good listener as well as an eloquent speaker,” Branson wrote. “As she understands well, the president of the United States needs to understand and be engaged with wider world issues, rather than be consumed by petty personal quarrels.”

The Trump campaign did not reply to a request for comment.