1990s: After Bankruptcies, Donald Trump Goes From Building To Branding | NBC News

[Music] is that you have in the 1990s Donald Trump was building a reputation for himself as a ladies man he may be the most eligible bachelor in America please welcome Donald Trump gone were the days when he was known primarily as the real estate mogul of New York remember the 80s the yuppies the buyouts the junk bonds and especially the Donald the man who was the darling of the ages is seen in the 90s as a man in trouble and he knows it the drama started when Donald began cheating on his wife Ivana Trump with aspiring actress Marla maples after an ugly public falling-out Donald and Ivana divorced in 1992 with some reports that Ivana got millions from the split Donald Trump's former or current girlfriend depending on what day it is is sharing all her secrets for staying in shape Donald eventually married Marla two months after she gave birth to a baby girl but by the end of the decade Trump was single again and he seemed to enjoy the dating scene the reputation of Donald Trump the man who date's a different woman every year I don't do that I mean I've been with a number of women but it's been over a fairly long period of time I've had great relationships with women if you can have your choice who would be one person you date most beautiful women well how about lady died that would be an interesting when she's gonna be available I think my choice might be you look at the legs in her boy can you imagine how controversial I'd be you think about Clinton with the women how about me with the women can you imagine well I mean I think there is a certain controversy to me and I am single and I do go out with women while his family life may have been on the rocks his business empire was crumbling the headline was quite accurate welcome to the 90s Donald because it was like you got whacked right in the face it was amazing Trump opened his third casino in Atlantic City in April 1990 lasers fireworks and miles of neon lights provided the color as Trump opened the Taj Mahal Casino Hotel in Atlantic City but just months after it opened the Taj Mahal missed one of its debt payments and Trump began looking for a bailout his empire could be at risk of collapse if the New Jersey casino Commission decides not to approve Trump's bailout plan by the fall of 1991 all three casinos had filed for bankruptcy New Jersey Casino Control Commission has unanimously approved Donald Trump's bailout plan that plan allows him to use his free Atlantic City casinos as collateral for a 65 million dollar loan in order to finance a loan Trump was forced to sell off his airline his yacht and a chunk of one of his earliest projects the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan you know I had a wife who was suing me for two billion dollars I had the banks I had this I had that he did get to keep one asset an undeveloped piece of land on Manhattan's West Side that Trump had purchased in 1985 Trump had envisioned a huge project on the site but in 1994 the real estate market fell leaving Trump unable to make payments on the land so Trump sold off the Lots and made a deal where he got to keep some of the profits from any future development and to put his name on a few of the buildings marking a new chapter in which Trump was less of a developer and more of a brand who knows better about hard times than me I had a company it was doing well I had tremendous debt like this country and in 1990 the whole country it just went very very bad as his finances stabilized Trump began to reclaim his status in the public psyche with publicity stunts like a 1995 pizza commercial in which he appeared with Ivana Trump doing but do people think it's wrong isn't it but it feels alright then it's a deal by the end of the decade he was once again sounding like the Trump of the 80s talking big about his finances back in the 1990s you owed something like 900 million dollars your empire was pretty much more than that you owed more than that 975 was personally guaranteed that was just the small part that was the harder debt but I owned many many billions of dollars and now my company is much bigger and stronger than it was in the 80s and flirting with a presidential run businessman Donald Trump tells meet the press that tomorrow he Trump is also leaving the Republican Party to join the Reform Party he's considered the largest developer in New York in 1999 Trump was on the verge of doing something that he had only hinted at in the 80s he was about to decide whether he could really run for the White House running mate if you decide to go with this who would be the ideal running mate for Donald oh I think Oprah would be great seriously I think that probably that would be serious actually hey NBC News fans thanks for checking out our YouTube channel subscribe by clicking on that button down here and click on any of the videos over here to watch the latest interviews show highlights and digital exclusives thanks for watching