The Donald built Trump Tower with a winning strategy: Get somebody else to finance it, work your connections, and get help from taxpayers.
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Trump Tower is very much like the man who named it: Grand, gaudy, glamorous — and a bit shoddy if you look below the surface. It also made Trump a household name.
Even some architecture critics liked what they saw when the glitzy 68-story tower was complete. But Ross McTaggart, an interior designer who worked on the building, told the documentary filmmakers that some of the materials used for the apartments (which were among the most expensive in the world when the tower was opened) were of low quality.
Of particular interest in this chapter of the documentary is that Trump the Builder appears to have different views on immigrants than does Trump the Candidate. In order to save money, the elegant building torn down to make way for the Tower was demolished by undocumented laborers, who worked without the required safety equipment.
The following video is part of a documentary on Trump that was made a quarter century ago but never released.
The film has a gritty tabloid quality — and is, by definition, a period piece. While some “chapters” will be more explosive or longer than others, what the documentary reveals about Trump’s character and manner of operating is more relevant than ever. We dare you to watch this and say that, like Trump, you already “knew it all.”
From now until the first votes are cast in Iowa, we will stream “chapters” of it here.
This is Part 4 of 12.
Editor’s Note: At the request of the filmmakers, this post was updated on August 23, 2023, with a new link to the full documentary.
