TrumpMania's Lavie Margolin Details Donald Trump's Atlantic City - WrestleMania Gangster Ties
Lavie Margolin is an award-winning author who has written numerous books including an Amazon Kindle No. 1 Best Seller. His latest work is TrumpMania: Vince McMahon, WWE and the making of America's 45th President.
In the book Margolin looks at WWE's role in helping Donald Trump gain power and ascend all the way to President of the United States. The relationship between Trump and Vince McMahon goes back decades and really became prominent during the late 1980s when the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City hosted WrestleManias 4 and 5.
Margolin joined our WINCLY podcast where he discussed Trump's ties to nefarious characters during this time and also parallels between those WrestleManias and Crown Jewel.
"Certainly when you cross over into a world like Atlantic City, not dissimilar to Las Vegas, you enter the world of gambling and all of the characters that brings about," Margolin said about WWE doing business in Atlantic City. "One of the most interesting points that came out later was that Donald Trump at WrestleManias 4 and 5 was right next to someone named [Robert] Libutti who is a well-known and well-affiliated gangster who actually had been fined several thousand dollars for being racist and refusing service from people that weren't to his liking.
"Very interestingly, Libutti named his horse after Trump. Trump claimed that he had no idea who it was but they were obviously much closer connected and had a good relationship.
"Vince McMahon was willing to enter that world because it was very lucrative and really the first WrestleMania paid show."
Margolin then talks about how today WrestleMania has many cities competing for it but that wasn't the case in the late 80s. Thus, Trump paying for two WrestleManias was a huge opportunity for WWE.
With WWE choosing to do business with those that have ties to shady individuals, many can draw parallels to what went on back then to what's happening now with their relationship with Saudi Arabia.
"Right, I think Vince McMahon looks at the business opportunity," said Margolin before adding that McMahon subscribes to the theory that his main job as chairman of WWE is to bring in money to the shareholders.
"He may have certain political leanings that he's not shy to share at times or certain views of different people from different backgrounds or countries. But, when opportunity knocks, he's ready to answer."
TrumpMania is currently available on Amazon.com on kindle and paperback version.