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Robert Jaffee's avatar

Trump used it for his first major deal in Manhattan, the development of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in 1978, next to Grand Central Terminal.

NYC was starting to turn the corner of the recession. Trump also benefitted from his father’s political contacts and was able to get amazing tax credits to rehab the site and build the hotel.

All hell broke loose in 90’, when the commercial real estate sector collapsed thanks to the overspending of Japan; buying NY real estate as though it were priceless art.

That’s when Trump lost his first fortune and the dominos kept falling. His casinos all went belly up. The Taj Mahal was built on junk bonds ($1 billion) and required a million a day in revenue just to service the debt.

He had purchased the Eastern Shuttle from Eastern Airlines in 89’ using junk bonds and Trump Air collapsed faster than a cheap lounge chair.

Bottom line: Trump was known as the king of debt for a reason, and the debt caught up to him big time…:)

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