Trump golf course clubhouse architect on Trump negotiating tactics
The Hillary Clinton campaign released a three-and-a-half minute video of a small businessman, Andrew Tesoro, who tells how Donald Trump cheated his five-person architecture firm out of thousands of dollars back in 2006.
It was when the practice designed the clubhouse at the Trump National Golf Club in the Westchester County town of Briarcliff Manor, NY.
Manhattan-based architect Andrew Tesoro said throughout the design process, Trump asked for multiple redesigns.
Tesoro provided $140,000 worth of extra work and Trump shared that he loved the design. Trump’s representatives then told Tesoro they would only pay him $50,000, later decreasing the amount even further to $25,000. Trump responded through his lawyers: Accept pennies on the dollar or I’ll tie you up in court for years.
The video intersperses Tesoro’s narrative with footage of the candidate at a campaign rally saying, “I’ve built an extraordinary business on relationships and deals that benefit all parties involved.”
The video had more than 7 million views on Facebook. Tesoro, 64, doesn’t hate Trump.
He told Forbes magazine although he resented that Trump shorted him a huge amount of money, "his organization does that to everybody.
"At the time I could see that the carpenters, the tile guy, the landscape consultant, the mechanical engineering consultant, other vendors and tradespeople were all subjected to an after-the-fact renegotiation challenge.
"I didn’t take it personally.
"And I believed Donald Trump when he showered me with compliments.
"Maybe that was his way of manipulating me into accepting less money.
"He was also nice and decent to me on an individual basis."
