Former Trump Org Exec Barbara Res Spills The Tea On How Trump Got Out of Trouble in the Past, And What to Expect for Final Days of His Presidency
Barbara Res, who formerly served as the Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization, spilled the tea on CNN Sunday, telling Ana Cabrera how President Donald Trump got out of trouble in the past — a mix of bargaining skill, bullying, and a “deal with the devil” level of luck — plus how she expected his final days in the White House to go.
“We hear he called the governor of Georgia to get him to overturn the election results in this state,” said Cabrera.
“He always had the leverage,” replied Res, who worked closely with Trump for years on his real estate development projects. “He always had the ability to trade something people wanted, and that’s why he was able to be somewhat successful in what he did.”
Res also noted that Trump was willing to go after long shots that others thought were “ridiculous” and attempt to win them over, but he wouldn’t do it himself, he would send a surrogate, “someone like Giuliani to go make a fool of themselves, with the hopes that maybe, maybe a one-millionth chance they could be successful.”
“If he’s doing it himself now, what does that tell you?” asked Cabrera, referring to Trump’s call to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, asking him to call a special session to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s win in the state. Kemp has rejected this request. “If he’s doing it himself, when in the past he’s used other people to do his bidding, if he’s doing it himself, what does that tell you?”
“He ran out of people,” said Res. “That’s exactly what it means. He has nobody that will do his bidding on that level for him except a guy like Giuliani. Of course, lawyers who are paid.”
Cabrera brought up how the New York Times had broken a story about Trump having $421 million of debt coming due over the next four years, plus an ongoing IRS audit and an investigation by the Manhattan DA’s office into Trump’s finances. As a number of legal commentators have noted, the presidential pardon power does not extend to any state legal issues.
“How did Trump get out of financial troubles in the past?” asked Cabrera.
“I don’t know that he has,” Res quipped, noting that the president had been dragging out some of these investigations and audits for years.
Throughout Trump’s “big financial problems” in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Res explained, he got out of it because “the bank thought he was too big to fail, and so they let him get away with things that a person who had a mortgage would never, ever do,” deciding that it was less of a loss to allow Trump to stay on a project as the developer than sell the property at a fire sale.
“He’s always been very lucky in his life,” Res continued. “We used to say among our crew that, you know, he had a deal with the devil.”
She added that this luck extended to the banks that didn’t want to help him out but felt they had no choice, but then ran like rats from a sinking ship once this was over.”
“That’s so interesting,” replied Cabrera. “You talk about how they thought just his name brought value. We don’t know what his brand is going to be now after the presidency.”
Later in the segment, Cabrera brought up a New York Times article that said Trump was “moody” and “depressed” in the White House, in denial about the election results, and cited a Shakespeare expert who compared the president to famous tragic characters: “classic Act V behavior…We’re nearing the end of the play and that’s where catastrophe always comes.”
Res was skeptical Trump would face any real consequences.
“I say, catastrophe comes except for Donald,” she said. “As much as it’s almost impossible to think how he’ll weasel his way out of it, but I think he will. If there were legitimate charges leveled against him or hanging over his head, the minute he becomes a citizen, I think he may leave the country. I think he may leave the country before the end of his presidency.”
Watch the video above, via CNN.
