Trump-A-Palooza: The Good. The Bad. The Billionaire President (Part 3) – Hour 1

Audio Transcription

How did Donald Trump rise to power? How did he earn his money? How much is he actually worth? Our business coach team has the answers.

1973 – Age 26 – The United States Justice Department sues the Trump Organization, charging that it frequently violated the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against black potential buyers.

FUN FACT: NEW YORK — “When a black woman asked to rent an apartment in a Brooklyn complex managed by Donald Trump’s real estate company, she said she was told that nothing was available. A short time later, a white woman who made the same request was invited to choose between two available apartments.
The two would-be renters on that July 1972 day were actually undercover “testers” for a ­government-sanctioned investigation to determine whether Trump Management Inc. discriminated against minorities seeking housing at properties across Brooklyn and Queens.
In October 1973, the Justice Department filed a civil rights case that accused the Trump firm, whose complexes contained 14,000 apartments, of violating the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
The Trumps retained Roy Cohn, a defense attorney who two decades earlier had been a top aide to Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-Wis.) during his infamous effort to root out communists in government. Cohn portrayed the Trumps as the victims and counter-sued the government, demanding it pay them $100 million for falsely accusing them of discrimination.” – https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-the-governments-racial-bias-case-against-donald-trumps-company-and-how-he-fought-it/2016/01/23/fb90163e-bfbe-11e5-bcda-62a36b394160_story.html?utm_term=.746491cf7ee1
1978 – Age 32 – The city of New York selected one of the pieces of land owned by Donald Trump on the West Side of Manhattan to be the location of the Jacob Javits Convention Center. Trump received a broker’s fee for selling the property.

1978 – Age 32 – Donald decides that he is going to take on the massively ambitious project of attempting to renovate the failing Commodore Hotel. The building was in disrepair and was in massive need of total overhaul.
The city of New York was littered with crime, drugs and littering at the time.
Next building was located next to the Grand Central Terminal.
He replaced the worn out brick facade with glass and replaced the existing lobby with a massive atrium.
When the project opened in September of 1980 it put Donald Trump on the map and in the public eye.
Fred provided a $1 million loan from Fred Trump’s Village Construction Corp.
Fred and the Hyatt Hotel also guaranteed the $70 million construction loan.
Donald negotiated a 40-year tax abatement for the hotel with the city, in exchange for a share of the venture’s profits. The deal helped reduce the risk of the project and provided an incentive for investors to participate

1979 – Age 33 While still renovating The Commodore Hotel, Trump begins construction of Trump Tower, this is the tower that now serves as the headquarters of The Trump Organization.
NOTABLE QUOTABLE – “No dream is too big. No challenge is too great. Nothing we want for our future is beyond our reach.” – Donald Trump

1980 – Age 34 – Trump finishes remodeling the Hyatt Hotel (the former Commodore Hotel). The hotel was reopened in 1980 on September 25th. The Governor of New York at the time, Hugh Carey and the Mayor of New York, Ed Koch were both in attendance for the grand opening.

1980 – The rink was closed in 1980 for a proposed two years of renovations at $9.1 million. Six years after the problem-plagued work was still not completed by the city, Donald Trump persuaded Mayor Ed Koch to let him complete the work in four months at $3 million in order to have it open by the end of the year. Koch initially objected but later agreed. Trump finished the job in the promised four months at a final cost 25% below the budget and for no profit.

1981 – Age 35 – Trump purchased and renovated a building that would become the Trump Plaza, on Third Avenue in New York City.[19] Trump made this into an apartment cooperative, in which tenants partly owned the building.[19]

1982 – Age 36 – Mayor Ed Koch and Donald Trump celebrate the completion of Trump Tower in Manhattan.

1983 – Age 37 – Grand opening of Trump Tower in Manhattan.

1983 – Age 37 – Trump finishes the completion of his 58-story skyscraper known as the Trump Tower.

NOTABLE QUOTABLE – “It’s tangible, it’s solid, it’s beautiful. It’s artistic, from my standpoint, and I just love real estate.” – Donald Trump

The New York Times wrote, “That Mr. Trump was able to obtain the location … is testimony to [his] persistence and to his skills as a negotiator.
The tower is a 58-story, 664-foot-high (202 m) mixed-use skyscraper.
It’s located at 721–725 Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.
The building is located in one of midtown Manhattan’s special zoning districts, but Trump was able to get the tower approved because it was a mixed-use development.
He was able to get it approved to be so tall as a result of building a massive atrium on the ground floor.
FUN FACT – Trump considers 725 5th Avenue his home.
FUN FACT – There are 263 apartments in the building.
FUN FACT – Michael Jackson rented a condominium in the building during the 1990s.
FUN FACT – The building was where The Apprentice was filmed.
FUN FACT – The public space includes a coffee shop, an ice cream store, an apparel store, and a restaurant.