The Register's editorial

During a January campaign rally in Sioux Center, Donald Trump said he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue in New York and not lose supporters. Among his most memorable statements: Sen. John McCain is not a war hero; Muslims should be banned from the United States; and if Ivanka were not his daughter, he might date her.

Yet nothing the Republican presidential candidate says or does seems to shake the devotion of some Trump supporters, frequently middle-aged white men without college degrees, according to several analyses. Those voters have suffered more economically than those with college degrees since 1990. They appear to be downright enchanted with the “telling it like it is” on immigrants, women and anyone else outside their demographic.

So if anything is going to resonate with them, perhaps it is the findings of a new USA TODAY Network investigation. Hundreds of workers, including laborers and contractors, say they were not paid for work they performed for Trump and his businesses.

At least 60 lawsuits and hundreds of liens, judgments and government filings included people who made allegations they did not receive payment from the billionaire. These include a glass company, carpet company, plumber, dishwasher, painters and dozens of waiters, bartenders and other hourly workers employed at Trump's resorts and clubs across the country.

Over the past decade, his companies have been cited for 24 violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act for failing to pay overtime or minimum wage. Reporters found more than 200 mechanic’s liens filed against Trump, his companies and his properties.

An air conditioning and heating company in New York claims it was owed $75,000. On just one of Trump’s casino projects, records show at least 253 subcontractors were not paid in full or on time. These are the workers who install drywall, lighting and plumbing. Heck, even some of the law firms Trump hired to represent him in lawsuits over allegations of failure to pay say they were stiffed.

“I love to hold back and negotiate when people don’t do good work,” he told the Wall Street Journal in a May interview.

Translation for small businesses and individuals: You do the work, don’t get paid and find yourself tied up in court or other negotiations before giving up, settling for less or going out of business.

In an interview with USA TODAY, Trump noted the cases in question were “a long time ago.” Yet he is the same candidate who claims he would "make America great again" without ever specifying the delightful period in our country’s history he’s referring to.

Perhaps he is longing for the 1980s when he was flying high during the Atlantic City casino boom. That was the same time a Philadelphia cabinet-maker landed a contract to build slot machine bases, bars and registration desks for Harrah’s at Trump Plaza. After he submitted the final bill to the resort’s builder, the $83,600 never arrived. It was the beginning of the end of a family business founded in the 1940s.

Maybe the good old days Trump is seeking weren’t so long ago. Only a few years ago, his Doral golf resort in Florida refused to pay a Florida painter more than $30,000 for his work. Last month a judge ordered the resort be foreclosed on, sold and the proceeds used to pay the painter — after the general contractor for the renovation admitted the decision not to pay was made because Trump had “already paid enough.”

The presidential candidate who vows to “protect your job” is the same one that hundreds of people say didn’t pay them for the jobs they did. And if he’s elected president and pursues building that wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, contractors should get their money up front. Because Mexico sure isn’t going to pay for it. And perhaps neither will Trump.