Tonight Dana White told the GOP delegates that Donald Trump “supports businesses of all sizes.” Tell that to small business owners in Atlantic City. Trump’s record across in that city tells a very, very different story.
THE LIE: Dana White: “First, Donald has great business instincts. He supports businesses of all sizes.”
THE TRUTH: Newsweek: Atlantic City contractors with Trump “were so accustomed to getting paid cents on the dollar that they habitually built in an extra percentage.” “In 1991, the Trump Taj Mahal Casino, which had opened just a year before, filed for bankruptcy. Trump had financed it with $900 million in junk bonds. Although the company—and not Trump personally—filed for bankruptcy, he unloaded his Trump Princess yacht, his Trump Shuttle airline and stakes in other businesses. The Taj bankruptcy hit Atlantic City’s small businesses much harder. Trump already had a reputation for being a very tough negotiator with suppliers—an echo of his campaign promise to negotiate the best trade deals for America. Contractors were so accustomed to getting paid cents on the dollar that they habitually built in an extra percentage, according to one Atlantic City bankruptcy lawyer.” [Newsweek, 10/30/15]
Former Atlantic City Mayor Jim Whelan: “There were a lot of small contractors and vendors who got hurt, who went out of business because Trump did not pay contracts on time.” “New Jersey state Senator Jim Whelan, Atlantic City’s mayor during the Trump years, and other sources who asked not to be quoted say Trump had a bad reputation among vendors even before the bankruptcies. ‘The fact is, there were a lot of small contractors and vendors who got hurt, who went out of business because Trump did not pay contracts on time,’ he says.” [Newsweek, 10/30/15]
Atlantic City bankruptcy lawyer on Trump’s shorted contractors: “It wasn’t just the money; a lot of these guys went into depression.” “‘Anytime I went to Atlantic City and I’d see that Trump sign, I’d think of the little guys,’ says bankruptcy lawyer Arthur Abramowitz who worked with contractors for years after the casino itself went bankrupt. ‘It wasn’t just the money; a lot of these guys went into depression.’” [Associated Press, 6/28/16]
Atlantic City contractor on working for Donald Trump: “We got next to nothing.” “‘We got next to nothing,’ says Michael MacLeod, whose 40-person studio made the giant elephant statues at the entrance to Taj. ‘I took a big hit.’” [Associated Press, 6/28/16]
Atlantic City contractor: “If ethics or morality has nothing to do with business, [Donald Trump is] a very good businessman.” “Marty Rosenberg, former vice president of Atlantic Plate Glass, was among two dozen contractors and their survivors caught in the aftermath of the Taj bankruptcy who were interviewed by The Associated Press. He says the way Trump handled the contractors shows the candidate is shrewd and clever, qualities his fans seem to like in the presidential candidate. But he says Trump won’t get his vote. ‘If ethics or morality has nothing to do with business,’ Rosenberg says, ‘he’s a very good businessman.’” [Associated Press, 6/28/16]
US Roofing Corp. President Dave Farragut: Donald Trump was “notorious for stringing people out and not paying.” “Contractors, who often bear the brunt of corporate bankruptcy, regarded Trump ‘as a jerk and a bum,’ said Dave Farragut, president of United States Roofing Corp., a large roofing firm based in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Trump was a chronic haggler ‘notorious for stringing people out and not paying,’ according to Farragut, who said he experienced that firsthand on a $600,000 roofing job at Trump Taj Mahal. ‘It was a joke among all the subs that you’d tack on an extra 10 percent onto your bids’ to hedge against delayed payments, he said. ‘He was slow pay, everybody knew.’” [Press of Atlantic City, 8/10/15]