Narrator: In 2016, standing at the ceremonial opening of his opulent new hotel in Washington, D.C., Donald Trump declared, "Today is a metaphor for what we can accomplish for this country." The gleaming hotel, housed in the historic Old Post Office building, was presented as the ultimate symbol of his business genius—a project delivered on time and under budget. Yet, behind the golden facade, a different story was unfolding. The hotel was hemorrhaging cash, a financial black hole that would require millions in subsidies from Trump himself before being sold off. This stark contrast between a carefully crafted public image and a messy financial reality lies at the heart of the American saga of the Trump family. In their Pulitzer Prize-winning work, The Trumps: Three Generations of Builders and a President, investigative reporters Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig dismantle the myth of the self-made billionaire, revealing a story built not on business acumen, but on inherited wealth, systematic deception, and the masterful manipulation of public perception.

Narrator: The foundation of the Trump fortune was not laid in the glittering towers of Manhattan, but in the working-class boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn by Donald’s father, Fred Trump. Fred was a relentless and disciplined builder, but his success was inextricably linked to his ability to exploit government programs and political connections. He became a master of leveraging the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), a New Deal program designed to provide affordable housing. Fred realized he could build massive apartment complexes with almost no money down, using government-insured loans to cover the costs.

His methods, however, often veered into the unethical. During the construction of Trump Village in Coney Island, a state-funded project with profit restrictions, Fred devised a clever scheme. He created a shell company called Boro Equipment Corporation, which he secretly controlled. This company then "rented" essential equipment like bulldozers and backhoes to the construction project at a steep markup. In essence, Fred Trump was paying himself with government-backed funds, siphoning millions in extra, untaxed profits from a project meant to provide affordable housing. This pattern of using political influence and deceptive corporate structures to maximize personal gain became the bedrock of the family business—a playbook his son Donald would inherit and amplify.

Narrator: In the Trump family, there was a clear hierarchy. Fred Trump, a man who valued aggression and a "killer" instinct above all else, saw those qualities in his second son, Donald. From a young age, Donald displayed a dominant and often cruel personality. A famous family anecdote, retold with pride, describes a young Donald borrowing his younger brother Robert’s favorite building blocks, only to permanently glue them together, destroying the toy. To Fred, this wasn't malice; it was a sign of strength and determination.

This preference had a tragic casualty: Fred’s eldest son, Freddy Trump. Freddy was gentle and easygoing, with a passion for flying, not real estate. He became a pilot for Trans World Airlines, a choice his father and brother openly mocked. Donald once told him, "Dad's right about you. You're nothing but a glorified bus driver." The constant pressure and disapproval took a heavy toll. Freddy struggled with alcoholism, eventually quit flying, and returned to the family business, a broken man. He died at the age of 42. His story served as a cautionary tale within the family: to earn Fred’s approval, one had to be a killer. Donald learned this lesson well, embracing the role of the ruthless heir his father desired.

Narrator: Central to Donald Trump's public identity is the story that he built his empire with nothing more than a "small loan" of one million dollars from his father. It’s a narrative he repeated for decades, a cornerstone of his political appeal. However, the authors’ investigation, aided by a trove of secret family financial records provided by his niece, Mary Trump, reveals this to be a complete fabrication.

The records, which included over 100,000 pages of tax returns, bank statements, and legal papers, showed that Donald Trump received the equivalent of at least $413 million in today's dollars from his father's empire. This wealth wasn't just handed over; it was often transferred through fraudulent tax schemes. The Trumps systematically undervalued their properties to dodge gift and inheritance taxes, created phony corporations to hide cash transfers, and made improper tax deductions. The "small loan" was just one of dozens of such transfers. The investigation revealed that Fred Trump was not just a safety net for Donald; he was the primary source of his wealth, a secret bank that funded his son’s ambitions and bailed out his failures time and time again.

Narrator: As Donald Trump moved into the 1980s, he perfected a new business model, one that prioritized image and media attention over actual profit. His foray into the United States Football League (USFL) with the New Jersey Generals is a prime example. Instead of building a sustainable league, Trump immediately pushed for a high-stakes, confrontational strategy: moving the league’s season to the fall to compete directly with the NFL and launching a massive antitrust lawsuit against them.

His goal was not to win in the long run, but to force a merger and secure himself an NFL team. At a league meeting, he confidently told the other owners, "I guarantee you folks in this room that I will produce CBS, and I will produce NBC, and that I will produce ABC... for a hell of a lot more money than the horseshit you’re getting right now." The USFL ultimately won the lawsuit, but the victory was purely symbolic—the jury awarded them just $1 in damages. Trump's strategy had driven the league into financial ruin. Yet, he declared it a great victory. This episode became a hallmark of his career: create a spectacle, declare victory regardless of the outcome, and deflect from the financial wreckage. During this same period, while his book The Art of the Deal was a bestseller, his tax returns showed his core businesses were losing tens of millions of dollars, afloat only on a sea of debt.

Narrator: When Donald Trump became president, the lines between public service and private profit blurred completely. The presidency became the family's most valuable brand, and they monetized it accordingly. A clear example is his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. After he announced his candidacy, revenue from new membership fees skyrocketed. In January 2017, just before his inauguration, he doubled the initiation fee to $200,000.

The book's analysis of his finances shows that from 2015 to 2018, Trump personally withdrew $26 million from the club—an amount that almost perfectly matched the surge in revenue from these new, politically connected members. The presidency was not just a position of power; it was a business opportunity. This pattern of using his office for personal enrichment represents the culmination of the Trump family playbook, where every asset, including the highest office in the land, is leveraged for financial gain.

Narrator: The single most important takeaway from The Trumps is that Donald Trump's career is not a testament to brilliant deal-making but a story of illusion. His wealth, his success, and his power were built on a foundation of inherited money, decades of tax dodges, and an unparalleled ability to sell a narrative of success to the media and the public, even as his businesses were failing. He inherited his father's financial empire and his cynical worldview, but amplified it for an age of celebrity and reality television.

The book leaves us with a challenging question about the nature of truth and accountability in modern America. It reveals a man who has consistently attacked the very institutions designed to hold the powerful in check—the press, the judiciary, and government oversight. In a world where the illusion of success can be more powerful than success itself, the story of the Trumps forces us to ask: How do we find the truth when the most powerful people have made it their business to destroy it?