Organized Crime Connections: Concrete, Casinos, and the Five Families
Building in 1980s New York required navigating a concrete industry dominated by organized crime. Trump Tower, built 1980-1983, used S&A Concrete, a company co-owned by Anthony 'Fat Tony' Salerno (Genovese crime boss) and Paul Castellano (Gambino crime boss) through intermediaries. Trump's relationship with Roy Cohn — who simultaneously represented multiple mob clients — connected him to the broader organized crime ecosystem. His Atlantic City casinos dealt with labor unions whose pension funds and leadership had documented mob ties. These relationships did not make Trump a mobster; they documented the environment in which he built his early business empire and the tolerance or accommodation he showed to organized crime-connected business partners.
Record summary
Grade
Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power
Executive actions that exceed constitutional authority, circumvent statutory constraints, or weaponize government institutions for political ends. Scale and definitions
- Status
- Concluded
- Incident date
- Record updated
- Location
- New York, NY / Atlantic City, NJ
- Category
- Corruption & Self-Dealing
- Legal posture
- Reported
- War-crime classification
- Enabling conduct
- Verification
- Cross-referenced
- ICC relevance
- No
- Sources
- 4 cited
- Stable ID
trump-pre-presidency-mafia-connections-fat-tony- Victims
- Businesses and workers subjected to mob-controlled construction markets; taxpayers and investors in companies that paid above-market prices due to mob-controlled concrete industry price-fixing
- Alleged responsible parties
- Donald Trump, Developer who chose and retained organized crime-connected contractors and maintained relationships with Roy Cohn who represented mob clients; business decisions made within a documented mob-connected environment— Trump Organization
Key points
- Trump Tower, constructed 1980-1983, used S&A Concrete as its primary concrete supplier; S&A was controlled through intermediaries by Anthony 'Fat Tony' Salerno (boss of the Genovese crime family, later convicted on RICO charges) and Paul Castellano (boss of the Gambino crime family, assassinated in 1985); the New York concrete industry was mob-controlled and operating under a cartel that fixed prices and allocated contracts
- Trump's attorney Roy Cohn simultaneously represented Trump and multiple organized crime clients including Salerno and the Genovese family; Cohn was the nexus connecting Trump's business dealings to the organized crime world; Cohn's introduction to Trump came when Trump was facing the 1973 housing discrimination suit — Cohn was the aggressive litigator Trump needed and their relationship lasted until Cohn's disbarment and death in 1986
- Trump's Atlantic City casinos faced scrutiny over labor connections: the Teamsters Union, which represented casino workers, had documented relationships with organized crime; pension funds under mob influence were involved in casino industry financing; Trump's relationship with these union structures was part of operating a casino in the 1980s New Jersey environment
- Felix Sater, who later became a key figure in Trump's Russia business dealings (documented separately), had a prior criminal conviction and was described in court filings as having mob connections; Sater worked from Trump Tower and held business cards identifying himself as a senior adviser to Trump; Trump later testified in a deposition that he would not recognize Sater if he saw him in the room
- Academic David Cay Johnston, who covered Trump for decades at the New York Times, documented in detail that Trump had bought properties and equipment from mob-connected sellers at above-market prices, that his projects consistently used mob-connected contractors, and that these relationships were not incidental but structural to how New York construction worked in that era
- Trump himself acknowledged awareness of the organized crime environment in his business dealings in various interviews over the years, typically framing his engagement as necessary to operate in New York's construction industry of the period; critics argued that engaging with organized crime-connected entities, even when standard practice, represented accommodation that benefited those criminal enterprises
Overview
Building in New York in the 1980s meant dealing with organized crime. The concrete industry was a cartel. The labor unions had mob connections. The industry was not optional — it was the environment.
What distinguishes Trump's relationships from an unavoidable reality is their consistency, their personal character through Roy Cohn, and their continuation long after the industry had been cleaned up by federal prosecution.
S&A Concrete
Trump Tower was built with concrete supplied by S&A, a company whose ownership traced through intermediaries to Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno and Paul Castellano — the bosses of the Genovese and Gambino crime families. The cartel they operated fixed concrete prices and allocated contracts across New York's major construction projects.
When Trump chose S&A, he was doing business with mob-controlled concrete. This was standard practice for major Manhattan construction in the era. Trump did not deviate from standard practice.
Roy Cohn
The relationship with Roy Cohn was the organizing fact. Cohn was simultaneously Trump's lawyer and a lawyer for organized crime. He was the connection through which Trump moved in a world that included mob figures as normal business relationships. Cohn introduced Trump to people. Cohn brokered relationships. Cohn taught Trump how to handle the press, the prosecutors, and the politicians.
When Cohn was dying of AIDS, disbarred, Trump stopped returning his calls.
Felix Sater
Sater worked from Trump Tower and held business cards identifying him as a senior Trump adviser. He had pleaded guilty to stabbing a man and had been involved in a stock fraud scheme with documented mob connections. He later became the key intermediary in the Trump Tower Moscow negotiations.
In a 2013 deposition, Trump said he would not recognize Sater if he walked in the room. This was at minimum implausible for someone who had worked in Trump's building for years and held cards with his name on them.
The Environment vs. The Choices
Academic defenders of Trump's mob connections argue that New York construction in the 1980s left no choice — anyone building anything used these contractors, these unions, these suppliers. The argument has truth. What it explains is context, not character.
The question was never whether Trump was the only developer in New York using mob-connected concrete. The question was whether Trump's particular relationships — Cohn, Sater, the Atlantic City casino unions — reflected active cultivation of organized crime-connected networks beyond the industry minimum, and whether those relationships shaped his business career in ways that benefited criminal enterprises.
The investigative reporting said yes.
Update log
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Based on May 2016 investigative reporting by multiple outlets.
Sequence of events
-
Trump meets Roy Cohn — organized crime attorney
Trump meets Roy Cohn through the 1973 housing discrimination suit. Cohn simultaneously represents Trump and multiple organized crime clients including the Genovese crime family. The relationship lasts until Cohn's disbarment in 1986.
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Trump Tower construction begins — S&A Concrete used
Construction of Trump Tower begins. S&A Concrete, controlled through intermediaries by Genovese boss Salerno and Gambino boss Castellano, is the primary concrete supplier. The New York concrete industry is operating as a mob-controlled cartel at this time.
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Roy Cohn disbarred — Trump stops returning his calls
Roy Cohn is disbarred by the New York court for professional misconduct. Trump, who had described Cohn as a close friend and mentor, stops returning his calls. Cohn dies of AIDS several months later. Trump does not visit him.
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Felix Sater joins Trump Organization — prior criminal history
Felix Sater, who had pleaded guilty to stabbing a man with a broken margarita glass and had been involved in a $40 million stock fraud with organized crime connections, begins working from Trump Tower on Trump projects. He later holds business cards identifying him as a senior Trump adviser.
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NYT and Politico publish comprehensive mob connection investigations
Multiple major publications publish investigative series documenting three decades of Trump's ties to organized crime figures and mob-connected businesses. Trump denies the characterizations.
Sources
- Donald Trump and the Mob — Politico archived ✓
- For Trump, Three Decades of Ties to Organized Crime — The New York Times
- Trump's mob connections: The concrete, the casinos, the company — The Washington Post
- Trump's business ties to the mob documented — The Associated Press