The king-size black helicopter landing on Lehigh University's baseball field yesterday afternoon told anyone who didn't already know who was headlining at commencement. In bold white letters, T-R-U-M-P was clearly visible for hundreds of yards.

Donald J. Trump, president of the Trump Organization, obviously pleased the crowd of about 7,000 in Stabler Arena and the seniors who chose him as speaker. However, the real estate magnate's remarks were surprisingly liberal.

After Trump's speech and words from senior class president Jeffrey D. Enslin, university President Peter Likins conferred 1,137 bachelor and advanced degrees at the university's 120th commencement.

Trump's topics ranged from AIDS to problems in U.S. government to the threat of foreign competition. After referring to his friend, Lee Iacocca, who prefaced a graduation address at the university a few years ago with a challenge to students to "Get mad!", Trump outlined for the Class of 1988 the reasons they should be angry.

"An obstacle in your way, in my way, just came on board," Trump said. "I left my (graduating) class in great shape, but 50 percent in the class are decimated by drugs or alcohol. Now we have the additional obstacle of AIDS. Be very careful - it's out there."

After his somewhat somber beginning, Trump launched into a passionate attack against a foreign competitors he believes are taking advantage of American political incompetence. He beseeched his audienceto vote and have an influence on government.

"Country-wide, we have serious problems," he said. "So many countries are whipping America . . . making billions and stripping the United States of economic dignity. I respect the Japanese, but we have to fight back."

He related an experience with a Japanese business tycoon who brought several henchmen and an aggressive attitude into Trump's New York office. The man, Trump said, slammed his fist on his desk and demanded: 'We want real estate!'

"His level of intensity was incredible. When you're (working in) the New York real estate markets, you're dealing with some rough people. He made them look like babies. What happens to the country when this guy goes to the state department? His country . . . totally outsmarted our stupid politicians."

The fact that the United States defends countries militarily, including Japan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, without collecting a dime, is a poor policy, Trump said. Kuwait has the highest standard of living in the world, he continued, and it is "ridiculous" that the U.S. government sends escorts for their ships in the Persian Gulf without collecting some of the profits from their oil markets.

"We wouldn't have deficits," he said. "We defend Japan for nothing. What kind of clowns do we have representing us? It's a very sad situation."

Trump said that he was delivering a message of hope to the students, since there is room for new graduates to improve the situation. "I think over a period of four to six years, this country is going to get smarter. Let Murray Goodman (the Lehigh alumnus for whom Lehigh's Saucon campus is named) negotiate - not people who don't know what they're doing."

In his introduction, Likins said Trump was a "symbol of our age - all the daring and energy that the word tycoon conjures up. His boldness of vision and the splendor of his buildings . . . are like a designer label on the skyline of New York."

Trump, a graduate of the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania, is a major participant in the New York real-estate market. His holdings there include Trump Tower, a 68-story, $200-million skyscraper; Trump Plaza, a luxury cooperative, and the Grand Hyatt Hotel, a 1,500-room facility adjacent to Grand Central Station. He's also known for his holdings in Atlantic City.

Likins urged the graduates to establish goals. "This is a time for congratulations . . . and also a time for graduates to look ahead soberly. Let us savor this moment of honor and draw strength today for the challenges of tomorrow."

Men and women from 26 states, the District of Columbia, and 15 foreign countries accepted degrees in the university's colleges of Arts and Science, Business and Economics, Engineering and Applied Science, and Education.

Additional honorary degrees were presented to:

Robert McAfee Brown, professor emeritus of religious studies at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, Calif., author of more than a dozen books and nationally active in civil rights and ecumenical movements since the 1960s. He received the honorary doctor of humane letters degree;

Murray H. Goodman, chairman of the board of the Goodman Company, West Palm Beach, Fla., a commercial real estate-development firm. Goodman, a native of Bethlehem and a member of Lehigh's Class of 1948, is a university trustee. He recently made a gift of $5 million to Lehigh, $3.5 for the university's new athletic stadium and $1.5 for a real-estate studies center.

Goodman Stadium, opening in the fall, is on the Goodman campus, named in 1983 for his earlier gift of $2.5 million to develop and endowthe 550-acre athletic complex. He will receive the honorary doctor of laws degree;

Terry J. Hart, a 1968 Lehigh graduate and veteran of space shuttle flight, and project manager in the Military Systems Division of Bell Labs. In April of 1984 he lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center as an astronaut on the 11th space shuttle flight which deployed the Long Duration Exposure Facility and repaired the disabled Solar Maximum Mission. He holds two patents, a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a master's degree in electrical engineering from Rutgers University. He received the honorary doctor of engineering degree;