The stench of corruption and conflicts of interest permeate everything Trump and his Republican administration does these days. The newest story is the rumor that Vornado Realty Trust is in the top position to get a government contract to rebuild the FBI’s new headquarters. Vornado’s chairman Steven Roth happens to be a Trump supporter who the President chose to “serve on his advisory council on infrastructure.”
But Roth is more than just Trump's adviser. Over the years, his company has served as Trump's business partner.
In the 1980s, the two were co-owners of the famed New York retailer Alexander's, which later went bankrupt. Today, Vornado, which did not return a request for comment for this story, is part owner with Trump in two major office buildings, in San Francisco and New York.
Roth’s firm is invested in questionable real estate deals, like flying in to save Jared Kushner from defaulting on his money pit over at 666 Park Ave, New York City. That’s the one that may have led to Kushner possibly attempting to get a $1 billion loan from Russia. One thing that Roth has had over the years that Donald Trump hasn’t had is staying out of bankruptcy.
Roth’s relationship with Trump goes back at least to the early 1980s, when the two men acquired stakes in Alexander’s Inc. during a takeover battle for the department-store chain. Roth prevailed, seizing on the value of the company’s real estate -- including what is now the Manhattan headquarters of Bloomberg LP -- and turning it into a $35 billion real estate empire. Trump lost his stake to Citibank in bankruptcy court in the 1990s.
In 2007, Roth was Trump’s partner in a deal that tied up the loose ends of the future president’s failed attempt to turn a 77-acre (31-hectare) tract of land on the West Side of Manhattan into what would have been New York’s biggest development since Rockefeller Center. After publicly feuding with Mayor Ed Koch and spurning an offer from developer William Zeckendorf Jr. to buy the undeveloped plot, Trump was forced by bankers to cede control of the site to a group of Hong Kong investors. Proceeds from the sale were eventually used to acquire 1290 Avenue of the Americas in New York and 555 California St. in San Francisco, leaving Trump with minority stakes in the two office buildings.
Also, according to Bloomberg, those two towers aren’t some deal Trump has—it’s his crown jewel.
Vornado bought out the controlling partners after Trump sued them, and it assumed potential liabilities from the lawsuit. Roth, 75, referenced his long-standing friendship with Trump when explaining the deal in an annual letter to shareholders. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed. Trump’s stake in the two towers is now worth about $640 million, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, making it his most valuable asset.
Now, you can say listen, Donald Trump is a real estate guy in New York City and so, therefore, he is obviously going to be connected to high profile real estate guys. You would be right, but while decisions like who will build the new FBI headquarters has not been one that the President needs to choose but there is evidence that he plans on being involved in this decision.
New York developer Don Peebles, a longtime colleague of Donald Trump who met with the president-elect last month, said he thinks the multibillion-dollar FBI HQ decision will reach Trump's desk.
[...]
While Peebles expects Trump to generally take a hands-off approach to the agency's activities, he thinks major decisions like the FBI HQ will reach the president's desk.
I was taught “winning” was pointless if you cheated. I guess that was wrong.