The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

by The Washington Post

He touted his ties to power. In the mid-1970s, seeking to buy New York’s World Trade Center, Trump had lunch with Peter C. Goldmark Jr., the head of New York’s Port Authority, which owned the twin towers. “You wouldn’t last in your job very long if Governor [Hugh] Carey decided you weren’t doing the right thing,” Trump said, according to Goldmark. “You should know I have a lot of weight in Albany.” Goldmark said he ended the discussion after that. Trump denied Goldmark’s account, saying, “I really don’t talk that way.” Trump’s knack for drawing attention sometimes embarrassed or persuaded the powers that were to cede to his demands. When city politicians who opposed granting Trump a tax incentive called a news conference outside the shuttered Commodore Hotel, Trump showed up and threatened to abandon the project if the city didn’t give him tax relief. Trump had prepared for the event by directing his workers to replace the clean boards that covered the once-grand building’s windows with dirty scrap wood, accentuating the decrepit state of the midtown eyesore. The dramatic flourish had the desired effect. Trump got the exemption. He beat the system.