It seems the infamous “Trump stink” may be leeching down the ladder as a new report reveals that tenants in the New York City Trump Tower — which was once “a physical avatar” of the now ex-president’s supposed success in his business ventures — are now beginning to “implode,” as back due rent payments are stacking up, entire floors in the luxury building are being vacated, and some tenants begin to find themselves wrapped up in lawsuits.
According to a report from the Washington Post, the struggles within the Trump Tower aren’t limited to a bunch of nobodies. Apparently, the list of tenants falling way behind on their rent payments include Marc Fisher Footwear, the manufacturer of Ivanka Trump’s now-defunct shoe brand. It also allegedly includes Marcraft, the company that sold $1,400 suits that bore the Trump branding back in the now-ex-president’s glory days on his reality TV show, The Apprentice.
“But through all that — as Trump Tower has dealt with imploding tenants, political backlash and a broader, pandemic-related slump in Manhattan office leasing since last year — it has been able to count on one reliable, high-paying tenant: former president Donald Trump’s own political operation,” the Post report reads. Here, they are referencing Trump’s Make America Great Again PAC, an entity that has paid nearly $37,000 in Trump Tower rent since March. “This may not be the most efficient use of donors’ money: The person familiar with Trump’s PAC said that its staffers do not regularly use the office space.”
While campaign finance experts that the arrangement isn’t technically illegal, they do note that this move is essentially proof that Trump is “is continuing his practice exploiting loose regulations — and his own supporters’ trust — to convert political donations into private revenue for himself.”
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Common Cause’s Paul Ryan spoke with the Post and said, “He’s running a con. Talking about political expenses — but, in reality, raising money for self-enrichment.”
There are 12 leased floors in the Trump Tower and they serve as collateral on the $100 million loan — one of the former guy’s single biggest debts that is owed in full next year.
A lawsuit filed by the Trump Organization alleges that Ivanka’s former footwear maker has accumulated a staggering $1.5 million in unpaid rent at Trump Tower.
The suitmaker that used to peddle Trump-branded suits is apparently $664,000 behind on rent. Marcraft is now reportedly just a “carcass” after filing for bankruptcy in New Jersey, claiming that the only assets he has to his name were a measly $40.75 in a checking account and “1,200 damaged coats.”
In addition to these two, Legacy Business School, formerly led by none other than Kris Kardashian and charged a steep $70,000 in annual tuition, now owes a blistering $198,000 in back rent and has reportedly “fallen into turmoil.”
At the end of the day, the 12 leased floors in the Trump Tower are currently operating at about 75 percent occupied — the lowest level of occupants the luxury building has seen since 2013.
You can read the full report here.
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons/DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Marianique Santos
