In the early 1990s, the New York Post reported that Bruni and Trump were romantically linked.

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On the morning of June 26, 1991, Donald Trump's picture was splashed across the front page of the New York Post. Next to the photo, which featured his then-girlfriend Marla Maples, was the headline "IT'S OVER." Trump, according to the Post, was leaving Maples for Italian model (and future first lady of France) Carla Bruni. That morning, NBC's Today ran with the report. "And Donald Trump is reportedly breaking up with Marla Maples, the woman said to have come between him and his wife Ivana," anchor Doreen Gentzler announced. "The New York Post is reporting that she's been ordered out of Trump's luxury high-rise apartment, and that Trump has begun dating an Italian model named Carla Bruni." Trump confirmed to the Post the next day that Bruni was the "new one" in his life. Bruni, however, vehemently denied she was dating Trump, and according to one biography, Trump himself planted the story for publicity. The episode illustrates just how personally involved Trump is in managing his own image through the press, a tactic he used to great effect as he rose to prominence in New York and one he continues to use as he runs for president. "Trump is obviously a lunatic," Bruni said of the story in an interview with the Daily Mail later that year. "It's so untrue and I'm deeply embarrassed by it all. I've only ever met him once, about a year ago, at a big charity party in New York. And I haven't seen him since, of that I'm sure."

New York Post

"It's all nonsense," she said of any linking to Trump, saying perhaps it was mistaken identity. "No doubt there are hundreds of models called Carla," she told the Mail. "Just because I'm well known they may have jumped to conclusions and put the wrong face to the name." Even Trump agreed when caught by the Mail, saying there was no romance. "These stories are sheer nonsense," he said, but added: "She is a friend." However, Bruni, according to Harry Hurt III's Trump biography Lost Tycoon, was no friend to Trump. "Carla does not, however, consider Donald J. Trump one of the world's 'great men,'" writes Hurt. "After her arrival in New York he tracked her down at the Mayfair Regent hotel and tried to ingratiate himself. Carla mischievously informed Donald that her 'sister' was coming to town. He immediately offered to provide a room at the Plaza Hotel. The visitor was actually one of Carla's longtime female friends, who showed up at the Plaza with a boyfriend in tow. Carla and her friends spent the next few days ordering room service and gloating over the way they fooled the 'King of Tacky.'" Hurt writes that, after confirming that Bruni was not dating anybody else, he began a rumor that he and Bruni were in a relationship, leading her to confront Trump directly for spreading the rumors. "'How dare you do this!' she screams at him. 'It's not true!'" Hurt writes. Evidence of Trump's direct involvement emerged in People, which ran an article suggesting Trump posed as his own PR man in a phone interview with the magazine. "On June 26, the tabloid New York Post ran a front-page headline announcing that Trump, 45, had dumped his longtime sweetheart, Marla Maples, 27, and taken up with an Italian model named Carla. A curious PEOPLE reporter called Trump's office to ask if the story were true. Five minutes later, a man identifying himself as John Miller called back, said he was handling publicity for Trump and confirmed everything, in detail. Yes, said Miller, it was over with Marla. 'It doesn't matter to [Donald] if Marla talks; he truly doesn't care.' As for that diamond ring Trump bought Marla several weeks ago, 'It was never an engagement ring,' said Miller, who went on to brag about the army of women he said were rabidly chasing The Donald: Madonna was one, he said, Kim Basinger another. 'Important, beautiful women call him all the time,' said Miller. It was a fascinating interview, made all the more fascinating when the reporter realized that the man she was talking to seemed to be...no, it couldn't be...yep, it apparently was: Donald Trump, posing as a fictitious PR man." The magazine then played the tape for Maples, who identified the voice on the phone as Trump's.

New York Post