Keep in mind that I find Trump to be one of the vilest creatures in politics…
…but that sounded like a very plain layman’s analysis of the situation from his own perspective using his personal/business relationship to the WTC in comparison to his own holdings, which so happens to include his tower, which also happened to become the tallest building in Manhattan due to the tragedy. I think I have just as much amazement about the amount of debris from WTC that landed outside of Trump tower myself.
In addition, being one of the premier real estate holders in Manhattan in that period (no flattery intended), he was likely a top go-to for many media outlets for an opinion from a perspective of a person who buys/sells/builds real estate in Manhattan.
I’m sure he was eager to step up to the microphone, but I honestly think the media outlets were already requesting a statement from him.
I’ll give you that the hosts brought up the subject of 40 Wall, not him, and the comments about the debris were completely legit (note the comments were about debris at 40 Wall, a few blocks from the WTC, not Trump Tower, which is a few miles away).
But he’s the one who had to throw in that his view from Trump Tower has the ESB in the foreground and the WTC in the background (which any New Yorker would interpret as bragging). And he’s the one who chose to point out that 40 Wall was now the tallest downtown (even though not the tallest in Manhattan) with more than a hint of pride. It also would appear that he called them, and not the other way around. This is WWOR, which was a third tier local news channel at the time, so I’m guessing he made quite a few calls that day trying to get on the air before finding someone who would put him on the air.
Lastly, he was certainly not one of the premier real estate holders in Manhattan in that period. Today the only commercial real estate he owns in Manhattan are 40 Wall, 30% of the equity in 1290 6th Ave, and the commercial condo in Trump Tower. I don’t think he owned significantly more 16 years ago, when he was already well on his way from being a 1980s real estate developer to being a 2000s intellectual property salesperson. The Trump Int’l Hotel (which he doesn’t own) launched in the late 90s, and the Apprentice would go on the air a few years later.
