Baltimore Sun

New book by ex-Trump exec alleges early racism

Res urges Americans not to give president a 2nd term in office

- By Noah Bierman and Chris Megerian

WASHINGTON — Nearly four decades ago, after erecting his eponymous skyscraper on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, Donald Trump would sit behind his rosewood desk and muse about working in an even more powerful office.

“These politician­s don’t know anything,” he said. “Maybe I should run for president. Wouldn’t that be something?”

Barbara Res, a longtime executive in Trump’s real estate company, brushed off the idea right up until he was elected president. Now that he’s in the final weeks of his reelection campaign, Res is set to release a new book she has written titled “Tower of Lies,” urging Americans not to give him a second term.

The book recounts racist, anti-Semitic and sexist behavior, along with Trump’s ability to lie “so naturally” that “if you didn’t know the actual facts, he could slip something past you.”

“The seeds of who he is today were planted back when I worked with him,” Res wrote. “He was able to control others, through lies and exaggerati­on, with promises of money or jobs, through threats of lawsuits or exposure. He surrounded himself with yes- men, blamed others for his own failures, never took responsibi­lity, and always stole credit.

“These tactics are still at work, just deployed at the highest levels of the U.S. government, with all the corruption and chaos that necessaril­y ensue.”

The book, a copy of which was obtained exclusivel­y by the Los Angeles Times ahead of Tuesday’s release, adds to a growing shelf of election-year treatises flaying the president. Trump has been excoriated in print by Michael Cohen, his former lawyer; John Bolton, his third national security adviser; Mary Trump, his niece; and Bob Woodward, the veteran journalist.

Trump’s campaign brushed aside the latest entry.

“This is transparen­tly a disgruntle­d former employee packaging a bunch of lies in a book to make money,” said Tim Murtaugh, communicat­ions director for Trump’s campaign.

In her account, Res wrote that “bigotry and bias control Donald’s view of the world, even the so-called positive stereotype­s, which are just as damaging, like saying the Japanese (whom he seems to despise) are smarter than Americans.”

She recalled Trump berating her when he spotted a Black worker on a constructi­on site.

“Get him off there right now,” he said, “and don’t ever let that happen again. I don’t want people to think that Trump Tower is being built by Black people.”

Trump turned red-faced when she brought a young Black job applicant into the lobby of another building, she wrote.

“Barbara, I don’t want Black kids sitting in the lobby where people come to buy million-dollar apartments!”

Res wrote that Trump hired a German residentia­l manager, believing his heritage made him “especially clean and orderly,” and then joked in front of Jewish executives that “this guy still reminisces about the ovens, so you guys better watch out for him.”

Trump and his campaign

often pointed to Res during the 2016 election as an example of his progressiv­e history of hiring and promoting women. But during her 18-year tenure, she wrote, Trump talked frequently and graphicall­y about women’s looks and his own sexual exploits — and forced Res to fire a woman because she was pregnant and bar her own secretary from important meetings because she did not look like a model.

Res has been frequently critical of Trump since leav

ing the company two decades ago, and she pledged to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016. She admitted that some people may dismiss her experience­s because she worked for Trump so long ago, but she said that would be a mistake.

If Trump has changed, she wrote, “He’s only become more himself. He is Trump raised to the nth degree, but Trump nonetheles­s. Donald Squared, I call him.”

Trump hired Res when he was planning his sky

scraper on Fifth Avenue. She recalled visiting his expansive apartment for a job interview as Trump pitched her on the plan.

“It’s gonna be the most talked about building in the world,” he said. Then he added, “I want you to build it.” At the time, Res was a young project manager in the male-dominated New York constructi­on industry.

Trump turned out to be a difficult boss, blaming others for his mistakes, taking undue credit and withholdin­g promised bonuses on a whim, Res writes.

After Trump Tower was finished, Res worked on and off for Trump until 1998, at one point serving as his executive vice president for constructi­on and developmen­t.

 ?? BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/GETTY-AFP ?? A new book by a longtime executive in Donald Trump’s real estate company recounts repugnant comments.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/GETTY-AFP A new book by a longtime executive in Donald Trump’s real estate company recounts repugnant comments.
 ?? GARSON & WRIGHT PUBLIC RELATIONS ?? Barbara Res notes “bigotry and bias” control President Trump’s view of the world.
GARSON & WRIGHT PUBLIC RELATIONS Barbara Res notes “bigotry and bias” control President Trump’s view of the world.

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