Models Blow Lid On Trump Charging Them $2.1K P/M To Bunk In A Basement

Former models for Donald Trump‘s model management company have unloaded on the New York City model house in which they lived, with one saying that the apartment was little more than a “sweatshop”, and that working for the agency was like “modern-day slavery”.

In an exposé by Australian journalist James West for the American political publication Mother Jones, three former models for Trump Model Management revealed how they worked illegally in the United States in shocking conditions.

One of the models Kate* said she deadset woke up one morning in the East Village apartment to find a homeless man pissing on her face.

West writes:

“Living in the apartment during a sweltering New York summer, Kate picked a top bunk near a street-level window in the hopes of getting a little fresh air. She awoke one morning to something splashing her face. ‘Oh, maybe it’s raining today,’ she recalled thinking. But when she peered out the window, ‘I saw the one-eyed monster pissing on me,’ she said. ‘There was a bum pissing on my window, splashing me in my Trump Model bed.’”

To add insult to injury, the models were charged extortionist rates to live in the house. Like, we’re talking USD $1200 – $1600 (AUD $1860 – $2126) a month to share two basement bedrooms stuffed with bunkbeds that could be occupied by 11 people or more at any one time. (A Trump agency representative, who acted as a chaperone, lived in the third bedroom on the ground floor by herself.)

In comparison, Mother Jones points out that an entire studio apartment nearby was advertised for USD $1375 ($1827)a month.

Another former model for Trump Model Management, Kate*, says that at age 18 she was one of the oldest in the house, and that girls were recruited as young as 14, leading most to feel like they couldn’t complain about their living conditions. 

“You’re young, and you know that if you ask too many questions, you’re not going to get the work,” said the Canadian-born Rachel Blais, who worked for Trump for three years and made a profit of just $8,000. (She’s now an advocate for models.)

Models were told to lie to immigration upon arrival in the USA, then would work illegally until they’d earned enough for Trump Model Management to be willing to sponsor them.

“It was very much the case of you earn your visa,” said Anna*, another former Trump model. “Essentially, if you got enough work and they liked you enough, they’d pay for a visa, but you weren’t about to see a dime before you could prove your worth.

Trump has yet to comment on the piece.

*Names have been changed.

Source: Mother Jones.
Photo: NBC.

More Stuff From PEDESTRIAN.TV