The true story behind the demise of Trump Models Management

In October, the phones rang less. On November 9, they flatlined. All over New York, people were walking around teary-eyed, but at Trump Models’s airy white office in SoHo, things were even bleaker. “It was like a cemetery,” said one source. In the dead quiet, one word nevertheless felt unbearably loud, printed in giant lime-green capital letters on the glass entryway: TRUMP.

For most of its existence, the boutique agency had a staff of eight to ten bookers, an apartment for models to live in in the East Village, and a roster of about 150 beautiful but not unusually famous girls from around the world – in other words, a fairly standard operation. And like most of New York City, the team at Trump never expected their namesake to win. “I thought the whole thing was a joke,” said Atong Arjok, a former Trump model who is also a refugee, having immigrated from Sudan to California as a child. “It was hard to wrap my mind around. This is a name that opposes everything I am.”

Last month, Trump Models, officially called Trump Model Management, sent out a letter to clients explaining the reasons for its closure, citing the larger Trump Organization’s desire to focus on core businesses like real estate, golf, and hospitality. Reached by phone last week, a rep confirmed that the agency is technically not operating, and will officially shutter its doors at the end of May. The story of the agency’s closure is, in one sense, straightforward: why would a President continue to own a modeling agency?…

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Photo Credit: Trump Models Social Media Page