Much has been written about this period of Trump’s career. But much has been forgotten over the past quarter-
century — or overlooked in this lightning-fast election cycle. The Washington Post reviewed hundreds of pages of legal, regulatory and financial records relating to the Taj Mahal. The Post found that Trump’s statements during the campaign about his companies’ bankruptcies play down his personal role in the downfall of the Taj. Trump took extreme risks in a shaky economy, leveraged the Taj deal with high-cost debt, and ignored warnings that Atlantic City would not be able to attract enough gamblers to pay the bills, documents and interviews show.

In an interview with The Post, Trump said his work on the Taj Mahal was ultimately successful and earned him a lot of money. He said the bankruptcy was the result of external forces beyond his control, specifically an extremely bad economy in 1990. He said he had “the prerogative” to change his mind about using junk bonds in the financing.

“I didn’t want to have any personal liability, so I used junk bonds. I accept the blame for that, but I would do it again,” he said. But Trump vehemently denied that the deal represented a personal failing or affected his personal wealth.

“This was not personal. This was a corporate deal,” he said. “If you write this one, I’m suing you.”