Let’s start with a simple question. Why is Trump Tower built with ready-mix concrete instead of steel frame construction like every other skyscraper? Donald Trump would tell you that he wanted to avoid union hassles that could cause costly construction and delivery delays.

The truth is, the great negotiator put himself at the mercy of mobsters and ended up with the most expensive private concrete job in history, a $22 Million dollar bill for concrete. That’s nearly triple the standard price even for a job like that. Trump did business with S & A Concrete, controlled by mafia bosses Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno and Paul Castellano. Salerno and Castellano controlled both the concrete business and the unions involved in delivering and pouring the concrete.

John Cody, a Teamsters official controlled the flow of concrete trucks in New York City and was a very close associate of the Gambino crime family. Cody had a penchant for acquiring free apartments from developers he delivered concrete to. In the case of Trump Tower, a female friend of Cody’s, a woman with no job, bought three apartments right underneath Donald’s home in the tower. Trump even helped the woman secure a $3 million dollar mortgage without filing a loan application or showing financial details.

The Johno Show Mobster-in-Chief

Joseph Weichselbaum, who helicoptered high rollers into Atlantic City for Trump was caught trafficking marijuana and cocaine. Despite the indictment Trump continued using Weichselbaum. In fact, Trump’s relationship with him was so significant Trump vouched for him before his sentencing, writing that the he was quote:

“...a credit to the community...conscientious, forthright, and diligent.” - Donald Trump

Those comments helped reduce Weichselbaum’s sentence down from 20 years to just 18 months. Donald had a job waiting for him.

It’s important to note that Atlantic City casino owners are required to distance themselves from any hint of criminal activity or risk losing their gambling license. In fact, Trump Plaza was originally built by Hilton but had to be sold to Trump because one of Hilton’s lawyers had a mob boss client.

Felix Sater is yet another mob related associate of the Donald. Sater is the son of a reputed Russian mobster and was himself convicted in 1998 of money laundering and then again in 2000 for racketeering as part of a $40 million dollar stock fraud scheme through a Mafia-linked brokerage firm.

Between those two convictions Sater joined Bayrock, a real estate firm that worked with Trump. In 2010, Sater directly went to work for Trump, complete with business cards describing him as a “senior advisor to Donald Trump.”

In Atlantic City, Trump made a deal with Kenneth Shapiro, an associate of mob boss Nicky Scarfo, and mob-connected labor boss Daniel Sullivan both together known as the Young Executioners. Despite Trump’s knowledge of their criminal activities he still went forward with a plan to lease land adjoined to the Trump Plaza and owned by the two. The great negotiator once again overpaid, writing a check for $1.1 million dollars on a property that Sullivan and Shapiro had just bought a couple of years early for $195K dollars. Not surprisingly the two construction companies controlled by Nicky Scarfo ended up building the Trump Plaza and Trump brought Sullivan on as a labor negotiator.

Trump’s mob connections aren’t limited to the United States. Danny Leung, who was vice president for foreign marketing at Trump Taj Mahal in the 90’s, was also an associate of the Hong Kong-based organized crime group 14K Triad. Trump even has ties to La Cosa Nostra the Sicilian Mafia. Quadrozzi Concrete Company built Trump World Tower and was directly tied to the Lucchese crime family.

Could a Trump win mean we have the first Mobster-in-Chief. Will the mob want a piece of the action on all government run infrastructure projects? Could Trump Make America Gamble Again by ripping up all casino restrictions. It sounds like a world where Bugsy Malone is going to want to crawl out of his grave.