One of the things that amazes me in hindsight is how well the Trump Organization pulled off this kind of branding scam (by “well” I mean convincing people it was his building… obviously that doesn’t include running it successfully!). I watched Trump Toronto get built over the years with very mild interest at best, mostly because it took forever, but based on news articles at the time I certainly assumed he was building it. They even made a big show of the first season’s winner of The Apprentice being the “construction manager” or whatever bogus title they invented. I do recall there being talk of “business partners” etc., but even that didn’t convey the reality that Trump has basically nothing to do with these projects. Of course I know better now, but at the time, when “Trump” just meant a tacky celebrity, the branding scam was quite effective.
Actually another point comes to mind. The Trump brand was always more of an American thing than an international one, so it struck me that so much effort went into Trump-branding something in a city that didn’t really give a shit. Not bragging, because we’ve got more than our share of dumb people (the stain of Rob Ford will live forever!!), but it seemed weird to choose Toronto for a brand as associated with cheap ostentation as “Trump”. Knowing the whole thing was probably a laundering scam actually makes way more sense.