Trumpstone

Faced with hundreds of millions of dollars in civil penalties and the collapse of his real estate empire, former president Donald Trump is moving his base of operations from Florida’s Mar-A-Lago to downtown Eugene.

Earlier this month the Trump Organization quietly acquired ownership of the Crapstone Apartments at 13th and Olive Street. The building will be renamed “Trump Towers West,” according to a statement from the organization. Already signed on as tenants, the statement said, are a handful of Russian oligarchs, several Saudi princes and Oregon Congressional candidate Alek Skarlatos.

Still available for lease, Trump officials say, is the Vladimir Putin Democracy Suite, under construction on top of the five-story complex. The suite offers 14 bedrooms (“You can bring your entire family and your mistresses’ families as well!” a brochure says), all with solid-gold bathroom fittings and state-of-the-art surveillance equipment behind the ceiling mirrors above every bed. The 2,000-square-foot living room will have floor to ceiling windows (“certified bullet and car bomb proof!”) that offer a view of Autzen Stadium.

Meanwhile, Trump’s lawyers are negotiating a hostile takeover of the University of Oregon Athletic Department.

“That’s my kind of organization,” Trump said in an unexpected midnight phone interview with a startled Eugene Weekly intern who had sent Mar-a-Lago an email asking for comment on the report. “Everybody gets paid millions of dollars except for the players, who do all the actual work. This could be a model for the rest of America once I’m back in the White House.”

A Note From the Publisher

Dear Readers,

The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.

That’s because of you!

Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.

Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.

We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.

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None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.

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Thank you for standing with us!