This is an adapted excerpt from the Sept. 17 episode of 'Alex Wagner Tonight.' In 2021, the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City was demolished, leaving only a cloud of dust and a pile of rubble. Now, if you know anything about the story of Trump and his casino businesses ... you probably know that the story does not end well. But then there’s this story, which is probably less familiar: In 1982, Forbes magazine published its first list of the 400 Richest Americans.
Trump created the myth of himself as a successful businessman and sold it to the public so he could then sell it to his business partners. And for a long time, that myth worked. Today, a lot of the country still believes that myth — and Trump is still cashing in on it. This week, Trump may try to pull off one of his biggest schemes yet, which is saying a lot — at this point, it’s hard to keep track of all of Trump’s cash gambits.