He is the Destroyer of Casinos, Hotels, Sports Leagues, and the World Economy.
Did Donald J. Trump drive four significant real estate investments into bankruptcy and the United States Football League out of business? Yes, he did, and he should be called the Wrecking Ball from Queens.
Trump lost the Trump Taj Mahal, his personal Yacht, and his Trump Shuttle, Inc. in the 1991-1992 bankruptcy. After accumulating $550 million in debt, the Plaza Hotel in New York City was forced into bankruptcy. The Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts organization, which included three casinos, accrued $1.8 billion in debt, and thus, Trump’s ownership went from 47 to 27 percent. Finally, Trump’s stake in Trump’s resort business dropped to 10 percent in 2009. It is no wonder that NO AMERICAN bank or financier would loan Trump a penny after his colossal financial disasters.
What is this about the US Football League? Did Trump really kill a football league?
Trump’s ego is and has always been uncontrollable and undisciplined. In March 1984, Donald Trump met with Pete Rozelle, the very successful commissioner of the National Football League, who over almost 30 years brought the NFL from a rag-tag organization to the status of a preeminent sports league. Trump attempted to extort Rozelle by allowing him to acquire a third NFL franchise in New York City. Trump bought into the New Jersey Generals, a US Football League team, on the cheap, and he wanted to parlay that into an NFL franchise. Trump conned some of his fellow US Football League (USFL) owners into starting an antitrust suit against the NFL. Ostensibly, he was fighting to allow the USFL to play in the fall. Due to television contracts, the USFL was relegated to the spring. In reality, Trump was only thinking of himself. He couldn’t care less about the USFL. He was extorting Rozelle. Give him what he wanted or else.
The USFL was founded in 1982 and tried mightily to attract fans and television contracts. It recruited many of the standout football players of the era (e.g., Herschel Walker, Doug Flutie, Mike Rozier, Reggie White, Joe Cribbs, and Steve Young). However, these past and future NFL players were surrounded by taxi drivers and short-order cooks. Still, 18 USFL teams tried to make a go of it.
The USFL v NFL $1.69 billion lawsuit was adjudicated in 1986. At that time, under oath, Pete Rozelle recounted Trump’s attempted extortion. Rozelle told Trump that there was no way the NFL would accede to his extortion attempt. Interestingly, the NFL was found guilty of violating antitrust law. The New York jury awarded the USFL ONE DOLLAR in damages. Since the award was automatically tripled, the USFL got $3 for its trouble. The USFL died in 1986. It seems that Trump and the USFL needed more than $3 to succeed.
The Wrecking Ball from Queens is still at it. His ego desperately drives him to control as many things as possible. Since becoming president in his second term, Trump has:
- Met with the rival PGA and LIV golf leagues intending to effect a merger to benefit his family and the Saudis.
- Met with former Alabama coach Nick Saban about fixing the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) problem in college sports.
- Met with the MLB commissioner about posthumously pardoning Pete Rose so he could get into the Hall of Fame.
- Tried to arrange a hockey match between Russia and the NHL without talking to the NHL.
- Appointed the World Wrestling Federation owner to cabinet positions during both his presidencies. Linda McMahon’s current job is to take a wrecking ball to the Department of Education.
In 2014, Trump almost won the bid for the Buffalo Bills but lost to a cash offer from Terry Pegula. Who knows, maybe Trump would not have run for the presidency in 2016 if he had become the primary owner of an NFL franchise. Who knows, maybe Pete Rozelle should have given him his coveted NFL team in 1984? We will never know.
Getting back to the real world…Trump’s day job is to wreck the world economy. In a few months, we should see the clear evidence of another disastrous con job.
He is the greatest! Cassius Clay aka Muhammad Ali that is; but wait—another supremely confident, extremely loud and boisterous individual qualifies in a couple of regards. Donald Trump has no peer in the United States at least, in his ability to continuously lie and get away with it. Also to commit crimes and seemingly get away with them. Vladimir Putin may rival him on the world stage, but he is a dictator! Wait again, Trump has declared himself dictator, so I guess they are basically equivalent, except Putin seems to be a lot smarter.