Tag

#organized-crime

3 incidents

Updated May 22, 2016 Corruption & Self-Dealing
Major Abuse of Power

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.

Sources
4
organized-crimeSalernoS-A-Concretepre-presidencycorruption
Updated August 2, 1986 Corruption & Self-Dealing
Major Abuse of Power

Roy Cohn, Mob Connections, and the Formation of Trump's Operating Style

Trump met Roy Cohn at Studio 54 in 1973 during the housing discrimination lawsuit. Cohn became his attorney, fixer, and strategic advisor for over a decade. Cohn represented Trump in multiple legal matters and taught him a specific political and legal style: never settle (except when you do), never apologize, and reframe every defense as an attack. Cohn's other clients during this period included mob boss Fat Tony Salerno, Gambino crime family figures, and New York tabloid figures. Trump's Atlantic City casino construction involved documented relationships with contractors controlled by the Genovese crime family; the concrete supplier for Trump Tower and other Trump projects was S&A Concrete, co-owned by Salerno and Paul Castellano.

Sources
4
Roy-Cohnorganized-crimecorruptionpre-presidencymob
Updated October 1, 2016 Corruption & Self-Dealing
Major Abuse of Power

Roy Cohn Mentorship: How Trump Learned Corruption, Mob Ties, and Weaponizing Government

Roy Cohn served as Donald Trump's attorney and mentor from the early 1970s until Cohn's death in 1986. Cohn — who had been Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel during the Red Scare, was later disbarred, and died of AIDS while denying he had it — introduced Trump to organized crime figures connected to the Genovese and Gambino families, taught him to use litigation as a weapon rather than a legitimate process, and instilled the maxim 'never apologize, never admit.' Trump's operating philosophy throughout his career directly reflects Cohn's explicit teachings.

Sources
5
Roy-Cohnorganized-crimecorruptionpre-presidencymob