Trump $355M fraud ruling will be final blow to NYC dream that was already dying: op-ed

Judge Arthur Engoron's $355 million judgment against Donald Trump came at a time when the former President's imprint was already vastly diminished in the state of New York, and it could be the final nail in his coffin in the state, according to Slate columnist Ben Kesslen.

Paying off the judgment will likely require Trump to sell some assets, which could include his trademark property and longtime New York City residence, Trump Tower.

"If that happens, the mythos of Trump, once synonymous with the gaudy glamour of New York City, will be all but erased from it, in an almost decade-long saga that now appears to be entering its final act," Kesslen writes.

Trump's influence in New York was fading long before Engoron's ruling, Kesslen says, starting with the failure of his dream “to be a builder like the hero of Ayn Rand’s novel, so large that the skyline is his profile.”

"Indeed, no such great dream came to pass. The project failed after a few decades of legal challenges and local opposition," Kesslen writes. "So Trump settled for a smaller plan — six luxury buildings on Riverside Boulevard owned by others but branded as 'Trump Place.'"

Also read: 'I think we should kill 'em all': GOP Rep. Andy Ogles on Palestinians in Gaza

Another Trump brand that underwhelmed expectations was the Trump Soho, a hotel operated by the Trump Organization in downtown Manhattan which saw its restaurant close after the 2016 election due to declining business. When the hotel dropped the Trump moniker and changed its name to the Dominick, it saw a significant spike in revenue and bookings.

The Trump Organization quietly wiping Trump's name from its branding was, "A major symbolic blow to Trump’s personal mythology about his success and a sign that even the Trump Organization knew that its branding was toxic in the city," writes Kesslen.

Kesslen acknowledges that the Trump brand could still bounce back after its "time in purgatory."

"And Trump still has a few city landmarks emblazoned with his name: the Trump World Tower, the Trump International Hotel, Trump Parc, and Trump Palace — none of which he fully owns. Trump Tower remains the most recognizable, and perhaps his most cherished property. Being forced to relinquish it would be the ultimate defeat."