What happened when Donald Trump put Miss Universe on a weight regimen at Mar-a-Lago

 This story was published in The Palm Beach Post in February 1997.

Editor's note: Alicia Machado told the Guardian in 2016 that she'd become a citizen just in time not to vote for Trump . Hillary Clinton had used Trump's weight shaming of Miss Universe 1996 as an illustration of his regard for women during the presidential debate that year.

Most of us battle our bulges in sweaty anonymity.

But when the world's most conspicuous dealmaker sets out to help the most beautiful woman in the universe slim down, nothing less than the galaxy is at stake.

So, there was Donald Trump, in pale yellow pants, white golf shirt and white sneakers, presenting a curvaceous Miss Universe, simply enviable in black spandex and gold-rimmed sunglasses.

"There are a lot of people out there who have similar problems, including some of us," Trump said at a poolside kickoff for the "wellness" program he is sponsoring for Venezuelan beauty Alicia Machado. "For people who have a weight problem, she serves as a tremendous example."

After becoming Miss Universe in 1996 at 118 pounds, the 5-foot-9 Machado relaxed a regimen of diet pills, strict exercise and no eating after noon. She quickly topped the scales at 170 pounds.

Now, with the 1997 pageant scheduled for May 16 in North Miami Beach, Machado and Trump — the pageant's new owner — decided a diet is in order.

"It is obviously not healthy to be overweight," said Trump, adding that his office has been "besieged" with calls about Machado's weight.

'I am no cow'

"I am no cow or something like that," said Machado, 20, now at 158 pounds.

No one seemed to question the Draconian measures to achieve her very slender physique. But Machado's larger proportions caused an international flap.

"Around the world Miss Universe is looked at as an icon. They expect her to be perfect," said Maureen Reidy, president of the pageant. "Basically, she starved herself before she won."

Machado's 1,200-calorie, 29-grams-of-fat-a-day program — which began with laps in Trump's oxygenated, Mediterranean-tiled pool at 8 a.m. Saturday — will be a physical, mental and spiritual renewal, her trainer and doctor said.

This includes food prepared by a world-class chef, yoga, tai chi, shiatsu massage, and movement five hours a day.

Machado hopes the effort — about 20 pounds in three months — will inspire women with eating disorders to get healthy. And pageant officials say that "99 percent of women in this country can relate to her."

Maybe so, but perhaps the most universal moment of Trump's presentation was when Machado rose in her Nike training sneakers and exclaimed:

"I love food. I love to eat."

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: When Donald Trump put Miss Universe on a weight regimen at Mar-a-Lago