Part II: Behind The Curtain
D. S. Mitchell
I have talked about Donald Trump and his struggle to overcome his boyhood wealth in the dismal back water of Queens, N.Y. and his four decade effort to impress the only world that mattered at the time., the glittery world of Manhattan real estate. It was only later that he set his sights on the White House. Come with me while we continue that tumultuous journey.
In 1988, Donald bought a profitable shuttle line from the failing Eastern Airlines. He had assembled a $380,000,000 loan from a consortium of twenty-two banks. Trump decided to go “high-end,” turning the shuttle service into a very pricey hour trip. By 1992 the Trump Shuttle was in receivership and had ceased operations.
Trump has learned the art of spin. He tells anyone that will listen, that every major bank in the country is begging him to borrow their bank’s money. What a crock of crap. In fact, according to many financial sources, Trump had no choice but to morph his real estate business in to a “licensing, branding company, where other people own the assets, because he couldn’t get bank loans, he had no choice.”
Mike Burnett, a transplanted Brit, was riding high in 2002 with the biggest hit on reality television, Survivor. Burnett wanted to spend more time with his children in New York and Survivor was filmed in far off jungle islands. Burnett came up with an idea for a show set in New York and he needed a bigger than life central character to pull it off.
After seeing Trump’s picture plastered everywhere he looked around New York he decided to pitch the project to Donald Trump.
