With the climber’s image being broadcast — and commented on — far and wide on Wednesday, the man perched, if only briefly, at the intersection of two unpredictable worlds: the combustible presidential campaign and the chaotic city beneath him.

The climb and frenzy that followed were also the latest instance in which Trump Tower has starred in a noteworthy role during the campaign. The building on Fifth Avenue, the site of Mr. Trump’s campaign launch and his residence, has prompted some of the same strong emotions as those inspired by the candidate himself.

It has been a magnet for those making political statements: a protester in a Ku Klux Klan-style hood who tussled with security guards in September; 200 marchers in December; anti-gun activists in the spring. It has also been the site of a zoning tussle, magnified by the stakes of the presidential election, after the Trump Organization was forced to remove a Trump kiosk from its lobby, which had been designated as a public space as part of an agreement that allowed the developer to add 20 stories to the building’s height.

And it has burnished its status as a tourist attraction, drawing more than one million visitors every year from around the globe.