The U.S.F.L. appreciated Trump's flamboyant approach to business, and he was sought originally by the U.S.F.L. for its New York franchise. ''They wanted Trump,'' he said, ''but I was immersed in the building of Trump Tower then, and, even though I had some good friends who had bought teams, like Al Taubman with the Michigan Panthers, and John Bassett with the Tampa Bay Bandits, I just couldn't find the time.

''Then when J. Walter Duncan found that being an absentee owner was too hard - he lives in Oklahoma City and every game was an 'away' game for him - he was up for selling the team, and now the league came to me and I was ready for it.''

The interest of the U.S.F.L. in Trump is confirmed by Steven E. Ehrart, assistant to Commissioner Chet Simmons. It was believed that Trump's high visibility and the fact that he was not an absentee owner would stimulate a good New York franchise. ''And a good New York franchise,'' said Ehrart, is of ''paramount importance'' to the league.

Trump has hopes that in two or three or four years the U.S.F.L. will be competing with the N.F.L., and possibly moving from the spring-time schedule to fall and winter games. ''And I'd like to challenge them to a championship game,'' he said. ''That would be a lot of fun. Although I think a couple of our teams can play equally with some N.F.L. teams, it will take a few years before this league, this entity, this entertainment is fully formed.''

Meanwhile, Trump, the newest sports franchise owner, goes about becoming one of the most visible, and, in his way, candid.

At the news conference for Brian Sipe, for example, Sipe was telling about having been benched for a game. Trump stood up and said it came after Sipe, on an off-day, was in New York talking with Trump, and the Browns knew it, and reacted angrily to it.

''Brian is too much of a gentleman to say it,'' said Trump, ''but I guess I'm not.''

Trump was reminded of that recently. ''That's the way I saw it, and perhaps honesty overrides gentlemanliness,'' he said. ''But in the end we got him, we got results. I like results.''