It Was Never Shown. You Can See It Now.

The documentary, ''Trump: What's the Deal?'' was being prepared by a Manhattan production company with money from Leonard Stern, the chairman of the Hartz Mountain Corporation conglomerate and owner of The Village Voice and the magazine 7 Days. But the producers have been unable to find a syndicator to arrange for its broadcast on a New York station. Without a New York outlet, a syndicated production stands little chance of being carried in other markets.

Donald Trump is one of the richest and most famous men in America, but on what foundation has his success been built? From accusations of harassment to repeated flirtations with bankruptcy, his very public business career has been one of artifice and intrigue; a Machiavellian performance played out before the American media. Originally produced in 1991, Donald Trump: What's the Deal? investigates the unscrupulous reality behind this most public of figures.

"I get high from what I do...it's my addiction" claims a triumphant Trump, standing proudly at the opening of his newest Casino. Swaggering and assured, these exaggerated statements have become Trump's trademark, making him as much a celebrity as a businessman; a poster boy for American capitalism. This air of cocky invincibility has however repeatedly hidden a questionable and often duplicitous business approach. As one former employee describes, "he presents himself marvellously...but in real life he is very, very different".

The son of a millionaire real-estate mogul, Trump has built on his father's considerable wealth through a mixture of cunning, connections, and bravado. As much as his bodacious bragging is a trademark of his public persona, so to a ruthless and unethical streak runs throughout his professional career: tax-loopholes have been exploited and workforces abused, opponents intimidated and rivals aggressively pursued. "He skirts the law - he goes right up to the edge and sometimes over it" explains one business attorney.

Allying himself with influential politicians, powerful lawyers and even organised crime affiliates, Trump's business career has taken him from real-estate to casinos, via golf clubs and even American Football teams. He has declared bankruptcy four times, but each time he has returned, leveraged in debt and with characteristic greed. "He's got a problem, he has to be the biggest" explains one associate.

"Donald would be a very unhappy man if no one paid any attention to him" comments his biographer. Despite his suspicious business history, Trump's love of the limelight has kept him eternally in the public eye, and he has carefully cast himself as an everyman executive; the archetypal straight-talking American businessman. Ignoring the facade, this remarkable and revealing documentary exposes the unsavoury truth of the self-professed 'People's Billionaire'.

Libby Handros – Ref. 6671

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"Might the press have some questions about it and Trump's past? Absolutely. The film makes many bold claims and observations, too many to fully recount here, but they seem well sourced, with views of articles and headlines that in today's Internet age are easy to research."

"Might the press have some questions about it and Trump's past? Absolutely. The film makes many bold claims and observations, too many to fully recount here, but they seem well sourced, with views of articles and headlines that in today's Internet age are easy to research."

"Trump: What’s the Deal? chronicles the real-estate developer and presidential hopeful’s rise to power. His self-described “addiction” to acquiring cash and real estate drove him to build developments in Manhattan, Atlantic City, Palm Beach, and Los Angeles. He skirted the law on multiple occasions throughout his career, underpaying his workers, associating with mob bosses, committing union fraud, harassing tenants, and ignoring environmental regulations, yet managed to evade legal retribution."

"Yes, Trump wasn’t, as you can imagine, thrilled at the thought of his dirty laundry being aired for all to see, reacting much the same way then as he does today—with bluster and threats of legal action. And these were techniques that carried more weight two decades ago, successfully burying the documentary by cutting off any outlet for it to be seen."

"The film shows how greed, hubris and mistakes humbled Trump, ever so briefly, 25 years ago. It also examines his lack of real friends, and shows that both the old money crowd in Palm Beach and some of America’s leading entertainers, including Jerry Seinfeld and the late Christopher Reeve, found him oleaginous."

"The documentary explores the notion that Trump's wealth isn't self-made or as abundant as he claims, while investigating his use of illegal immigrant labor, his connections with the mafia, his decision to hire a company that specialized in psychological attacks and his use of blackmail to move tenants out of a building."

"The unauthorized documentary since had been kept under wraps until it was posted for free online last week. What's striking about watching "What's The Deal?" today -- and learning its backstory -- is that so much of what kept The Donald in the headlines in the late '80s still rings true going into the 2016 election."

"A somewhat mysterious trailer—narrated by a man with an epic/hammy upper-crust British accent—appeared on YouTube Wednesday advertising a documentary called Trump: What's the Deal? which is said to have been suppressed when it was completed in 1991."

"Now that the mogul is hoping to attain the 2016 GOP presidential nomination and, eventually, the White House, the filmmakers felt it necessary to release Donald Trump: What’s the Deal? for free on the Internet. So they did."

"The film delves into his tumultuous personal affairs, stubborn business behavior and descent into bankruptcy, ending with the introduction of his Monopoly-esque board game, Trump: The Game, which parodies his attitude toward life with the motto: “It’s not whether you win or lose, but whether you win!"

"Some years ago, we made a documentary about Donald Trump. It wasn't flattering. Trump screamed and shouted and threatened lawsuits and it was never broadcast," says the trailer for the new documentary: Trump: What's the Deal? "But now we think it is time for you to see it, because the old Trump and the new Trump and the same Trump."
 

"Other memorable moments include Tony Schwartz, co-author of Trump's most famous book, Trump: The Art of the Deal, telling the camera the businessman would crumble without media attention, and an early Jonathan Alter speaking from a cluttered miasma complete with a prehistoric Apple computer — and that's just the first 10 minutes."

"Aside from its entertaining qualities, this documentary helps us contextualize Trump’s shenanigans and the image that he tries to control. To understand Trump at this point in his career—if you can call it that—is to understand him at a point in his life where he wants to remain relevant. During his 2016 campaign announcement, he boasted, “I’m really rich … that’s the kind of thinking you need for this country. It sounds crass; it’s not crass.” 

"Looks like an unauthorized documentary was made about Donald Trump 25 years ago.It's being released now for free.  I now have to watch the movie FOR SCIENCE."

" You had a few independent entities, but everything was controlled by big corporations, the three networks. And Donald was threatening lawsuits and stuff and they just didn’t need to take that on, even if the lawsuit would have no merit in the end.”

The Trump Files, Part One

Investigative reporters have been digging into the candidate's business dealings from the past and present. Here's our roundup just in time for the weekend.