The Incredible Shrinking House, and the Evaporation of an Icon
On This Day In 2017
“Trump Tower” has long been a powerful cornerstone in the creation of the Trump “brand” mythology. He refers to it one of the best buildings in the world, and used it as a stage for his beloved “The Apprentice.” He bragged that his own penthouse, atop his own building, spanned 33,000 square feet and was worth $200 million. It was “the best apartment ever built.”
MAGA supporters, impressed with these apparent trappings of success, mosh-pitted the guy all the way to the White House. And bankers, impressed with these apparent indications of financial wealth, shoveled him bank loans on sweetheart terms, which Trump could then use to acquire even more baubles to show off to voters.
But OTDI 2017, it all began to unravel when Forbes Magazine revealed some of Trump’s staggering deception.
Turns out, his world’s-best house is actually smaller than 11,000 sq ft, and may not be worth even 1/3rd as much as he had bragged. How’s this possible? How can he expect to lie so brazenly? Trump the real estate expert explains: in his view, the physical measurements of rooms are “subjective.”
Does it matter? Well, yes, actually. It’s fraud. So in 2023, a judge in NYC ruled that Trump had misled banks, insurers and others by massively overvaluing his assets and net worth. Judge Arthur Engoron rescinded some of Trump’s New York business licenses, and ordered him to pay fines and penalties totalling nearly half a billion dollars.
Alas, Engoron lacked the ability to punish Trump for also misleading the voters. That’s up to America to do.
Btw, the retail portion of the glorious “Trump Tower” now sits nearly empty, like the husk of a deserted suburban shopping mall. The primary retailer there now is Trump himself, hawking his red baseball caps to MAGA tourists who still flock to their Mecca there.
And it’s not just the retail: Property values in that building’s other residential condos have crashed nearly 50% since 2013.
Dive Deeper
Forbes revealed the discrepancy and wrote about the resulting fraud trial.
The Associated Press noted Judge Engoron’s ruling
Subjective prosecution? Law and Crime argues it's not
Mother Jones reports on the evaporation of pricing and wealth at Trump Tower and at other “Trump” properties