Trump fought sprinkler system law that might have prevented Trump Tower
death
Though
President Donald Trump has spent his career boasting of his wealth, he claimed
in the 1990s that outfitting apartments in his residential high-rise buildings
with sprinkler systems would be too expensive—and lobbied against regulations
that may have been able to save the life of a man who was killed in a fire at
Trump Tower on Saturday.
One
person was killed and six firefighters were injured in the apartment fire that started on the
50th floor of the luxury building in New York.
The
apartment did not have a sprinkler system.
As a powerful real estate developer, Trump aggressively fought against a regulation that would have required all New York City high-rise residential buildings to have sprinklers installed.
Although
he claimed in 2000 to be worth $5 billion
and others estimated he held about $1.6 billion, the New York Post reported in 1999 that Trump felt he
couldn't afford to follow the safety measure.
According to the Huffington Post, he donated funds to the City Council speaker and personally called a dozen council members to convince them to vote against the rule.
When
a sprinkler law was eventually passed, Trump was exempted from having to follow
it at Trump Tower because the rule only stipulated that high-rises built after
1999 had to have sprinklers installed.
After
the fire, the president tweeted that Trump Tower was
"well-built" and made no mention of the deceased man.
Editor’s
Note: Raw
Story reports that Trump once called the fire victim, art dealer Todd
Brassner, “that crazy Jew.” – W. Collette