How to fall well (Trump ver.) (3/4)

On Day 2, we walked through Trump’s process of getting ‘credentials’ and scoring his first win in Manhattan with a ‘show’ of competence. He learned how to control ‘perception’.

Today, on Day 3, our journey begins at the moment of his peak: the construction of Trump Tower, a golden kingdom on 5th Avenue built from his own ambition. But from that summit, we travel to the shores of Atlantic City, where his ‘name’ buckled under the weight of ‘reality’. It is a dramatic arc, walking through his most spectacular success and his most colossal failure all in one day.

Day 3: Manhattan’s 5th Avenue and Atlantic City

Trail Course: From the golden ‘kingdom’ built on 5th Avenue (Manhattan) to the scene of the ‘failure’ where he bet everything on his name (Atlantic City).

Location 1: The Former Bonwit Teller Building (Manhattan)

Our journey today begins on 5th Avenue, in his kingdom. He bought the historic Bonwit Teller building, built in 1929. On its facade were two beautiful Art Deco goddess reliefs, coveted by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET). He promised the press he would “donate the reliefs,” earning the image of a ‘culturally sensitive developer’. But as demolition began, he told his crew, “It’ll take two weeks to get those off. Just destroy them.” He made a promise for the ‘show’, and destroyed it for ‘profit’.

This place isn’t about ‘taste’; it’s a ‘declaration’. He proved that the ‘result’ (completion) was more important than the ‘essence’ (the promise).

• Name: Site of Bonwit Teller
• Address: 721 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10022, USA
• Practical Info: This is the exact spot where Trump Tower stands today.

Location 2: Trump Tower Atrium (Manhattan)

On that very spot, in 1983, this ‘temple of success’ rose, flowing with pink marble, golden escalators, and a 60-foot indoor waterfall. In exchange for providing this opulent space as a ‘public area’ to the city, he received massive zoning incentives, allowing him to build 20 extra floors.

“I am this successful.” This blatant display is seen as vulgar by some, and as aspirational by others. He was aiming precisely for the latter. He knew the public didn’t desire ‘humble wealth’ but ‘overwhelming wealth’.

• Name: Trump Tower Atrium
• Address: 725 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10022, USA
• Practical Info: The atrium is legally open to the public. You can experience the ‘stage of success’ he designed for himself.

Location 3: Trump Taj Mahal (Atlantic City)

From the peak of Manhattan, we drive 2.5 hours to the ‘sea of failure’, Atlantic City. He declared this place the “Eighth Wonder of the World”. In 1990, he spent $1 billion to open this massive casino, financing most of it with murderous 14% high-interest junk bonds. Everyone said he was crazy, but he guaranteed, “It has my ‘name’ on it, it can’t fail.” Michael Jackson attended the opening, but that name value couldn’t even last a year before it filed for bankruptcy protection.

The biggest risk for a brand is overestimating itself. When the name becomes bigger than the substance (profit), the bubble will always burst. But what did he learn from this failure? Not that he had failed in ‘business’, but that ‘bankruptcy’ was also just part of the deal.

• Name: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City (Formerly Trump Taj Mahal)
• Address: 1000 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, NJ 08401, USA
• Practical Info: It’s now operating as the Hard Rock Hotel. Stand under its golden domes and feel the presence of both its past opulence and its fall.

Location 4: Trump Plaza (Demolished Site, Atlantic City)

(15-minute walk from the Taj Mahal) A 15-minute walk brings you to the vacant lot that was once the Trump Plaza casino, another scar of his failure. After years of losses, it closed in 2014 and was finally imploded with dynamite in 2021. Crowds gathered to cheer as the building bearing the ‘Trump’ name collapsed. It was, in itself, another giant ‘show’, like an era coming to an end.

We only think about putting buildings up. But sometimes, how a brand collapses reveals more about its essence. This empty lot, wiped clean by a spectacular explosion, seems to show us the end of a brand with no substance. But he survived the rubble. He survived because he already knew his essence wasn’t the ‘buildings’, but the ‘name’.

• Name: Site of Trump Plaza
• Address: Mississippi Ave & Boardwalk, Atlantic City, NJ 08401, USA
• Practical Info: It is currently an empty lot. Stand on this windswept land, facing the sea, and contemplate the fact that ‘nothing is forever’ — and the resilience of the man who rose again from these ruins.

Closing Day 3

Today’s journey shows a dramatic contrast between ‘peak’ and ‘fall’. We saw on 5th Avenue how the ‘Trump’ name became a perfect ‘declaration’, and we witnessed in Atlantic City how that ‘name’ crumbled in the face of ‘reality’.

He overestimated his brand, and he paid the price. But through this failure, he learned how to use even ‘bankruptcy’ as part of his branding, not just ‘business’. He doesn’t admit failure; instead, he prepares to move to a new stage.

“Sometimes your best investments are the ones you don’t make.”- Donald Trump

Author Linkedin