How Trump Arguably Saved WTC Signature Building

How Trump Arguably Saved WTC Signature Building

Almost 11 years ago, the WTC site was a quagmire. A single press conference held by Donald Trump likely changed the course of history. Here is how Trump Arguably Saved WTC Signature Building – One WTC, but first some background…

Doers vs. Talkers

Unlike every other presidential candidate, Donald J. Trump is a CEO and a real estate developer. He has to hire, fire, set and adhere to budgets, and lead his team to success in all his projects. As a global builder, he must negotiate with all manner of stakeholders in the public and private sectors here and abroad. He must work with engineers, architects, all the construction trades, unions, lawyers, zoning and building authorities, and surrounding property owners. Trump’s other businesses include merchandise, entertainment and TV, and model management, each requiring significant industry-specific knowledge. Trump’s wife, Melania and his adult children each have high-end product lines. This broad, multi-discipline skill set falls under what is called Executive Experience – the reason why so many Palinistas wanted Sarah Palin to run in 2012 and in this election until the day she endorsed Donald Trump.

Cruzers point to Ted Cruz’s background as Solicitor General – a lawyer managing lawyers – as “executive experience.” They point to his having argued cases before the Supreme Court, and when they list his accomplishments, a preponderance of them are about debating. Simply put, Cruz is a talker, not a doer. A lawyer managing lawyers does not compare in any way to being a multi-industry CEO. To steal from Jules in Pulp Fiction, they’re not the same ballgame. They’re not in the same league. They’re not even the same sport.

One WTC Goes from Pile of Crap to Magnificent After Trump Conference

One of the hallmarks of a solid leader is political capital and influence. Like Sarah Palin, Donald Trump wields considerable political capital and he has for decades. Case and point:

In 2005, New York City’s World Trade Center site had been cleared for about two years. The cornerstone for what was then called “Freedom Tower” – a Pataki-ism – had been laid, but the project was in a quagmire. The prevailing design at the time consisted of a twisting 55-story building topped off with a “bird cage” that would be filled with wind turbines, with a spire sitting atop said bird cage. Kenneth Gardner and the late Herbert Belton – (one of the structural engineers on the original Twin Towers) developed a replacement WTC site plan with improved Twin Towers, four smaller buildings and a memorial. The duo had design and construction blueprints, as well as a four-foot and a nine-foot scale model of the project. Gardner is a rendering model maker and he had done work for Trump. I developed the website for Gardner’s Twin Towers II project.

After nearly four years of public hearings and bickering stakeholders, the WTC site was still a 16-acre hole in the ground with no end in sight. The issue started to reach a critical mass. On May 17, 2005, Donald Trump held a major press conference at Trump Tower. Gardner’s 9-foot Twin Towers II model was front and center in the lobby. Trump gave his unvarnished opinion of Pataki’s “Freedom Tower,” calling it a “pile of crap” and calling for the Port Authority to use Gardner’s plan. The Donald was never one to mince words. Twin Towers II was to be featured on the Apprentice. I met Trump briefly at the press conference and stood with Gardner and Jonathan Hakala, a rebuild advocate, as Trump spoke.

Though Twin Towers II was neither featured on the Apprentice nor built, one month after Trump’s press conference, the bird caged “Freedom Tower” design was scrapped and replaced with the fantastic building that is now One WTC. The “Freedom Tower” moniker was dropped, and Pataki’s cornerstone was quietly removed, never to be seen again. Trump, using his political capital, arguably saved the WTC site and its signature building. Both men were satisfied – Twin Towers II had served its purpose. Leslie Robertson, one of the structural engineers on the old Twin Towers went on to do the engineering work for today’s One WTC.

When Sarah Palin exploded on the on the scene that summer day three years later, foundation work was still being done on One WTC. She went on to tour the site and praise the rebuilding effort. In 2011, she met Donald Trump and his family here in New York during her One Nation Bus Tour. One WTC was about 50% complete. The building would survive Hurricanes Irene and Sandy.

I had the good fortune to be at the One WTC Observatory’s Invitation Only Open House, as well as the Ribbon cutting and Opening Day – moments which came a decade after this press conference.

This type of achievement – turning failing projects into successes – is routine for Trump. See Steve Cuozzo’s How Donald Trump helped save New York City for many more projects which benefited the city over the decades, such as Riverside South, The Trump International Hotel and Tower – which transformed the problematic Paramount / Gulf + Western Building, 40 Wall Street, and the signature Trump Tower. Cuozzo wrote about one of Trump’s early successes: his take-over of the city-owned Wollman Rink in Central Park. After a decade, millions of dollars, and a series of failures, the rink was a colossal disaster and still not open to the public. Trump bought the rink, had it refurbished and re-opened in three months, much to the chagrin of the city’s politicos. Doing. Not Talking.

Ted Cruz may be a lawyer, but he does not have the broad-based, multi-discipline skill set that a big picture executive like Trump has. Trump recognizes that everything has a learning curve and the learning never stops. Everything he does follows a cost-benefit analysis. You can see Trump’s accomplishments – embodied in steel, concrete, glass, and lush golf greens – all over the United States, Canada, Panama, Uruguay, Turkey, Philippines, South Korea, and Ireland.

Voters want a doer who produces results. The electorate has grown weary of slick, lying talkers who do nothing but grandstand. The nation does not need a globalist; we need someone who puts America first. The nation does not need a foreign born first-term Senator as its president. We’ve been there and done that. We need an executive who can lead us to Make America Great Again.

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