In about a year, Trump had taken on almost $1.7 billion in new debt between the Taj Mahal, the Plaza Hotel, Trump Shuttle, and Trump Palace, and none of them were producing enough profit to cover his interest payments. He was paying more than $20 million a year in carrying costs on the fallow West Side rail yards. He had performed little due diligence on the profit potential of anything he bought. He increasingly substituted his lenders’ judgment for his own.
