THREAD-"In the fall of 1992, after he cut a deal with U.S. banks to work off nearly a billion dollars in personal debt, Donald Trump put on a big gala for himself in Atlantic City to announce his comeback.

"Party guests were given sticks with a picture of Trump’s face glued to them so they could be photographed posing as the famous real-estate mogul.

"As the theme music from the movie Rocky filled the room, an emcee shouted, 'Let’s hear it for the king!' and Trump, wearing red boxing gloves and a robe, burst through a paper screen.

"One of his casino executives announced that his boss had returned as a 'winner,' but it was an act. In truth Trump was all but finished as a major real-estate developer, in the eyes of many in the business, because the U.S. banking industry was pretty much finished with him.

"By the early 1990s he'd burned through his portion of his father Fred’s fortune with a series of reckless business decisions. Two of his businesses had declared bankruptcy, the Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City and the Plaza Hotel in New York...

... and the money pit that was the Trump Shuttle went out of business in 1992. Trump companies would ultimately declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy two more times.

"When would-be borrowers repeatedly file for protection from their creditors, they become poison to most major lenders and, according to financial experts interviewed for this story, such was Trump’s reputation in the U.S. financial industry at that juncture."

"But Trump eventually made a comeback, and according to several sources with knowledge of Trump’s business, foreign money played a large role in reviving his fortunes, in particular investment by wealthy people from Russia and the former Soviet republics."

“He could not get anybody in the United States to lend him anything. It was all coming out of Russia. His involvement with Russia was deeper than he’s acknowledged." foreignpolicy.com/2018/12/21/how…

"Trump "was saying to himself, ‘What else could I do in the world? I’ll just convince people to buy my brand.’

"And the only people who were willing to buy it were tasteless Russians, people who like the absurd, ostentatious gold-leaf lifestyle he has. You’re not going to sell that brand to blue bloods in Greenwich, Connecticut."