Donald Trump liked to act tough in public—but behind closed doors, he crumbled when faced with real muscle, according to the son of a powerful New York mob-connected union boss.
Michael Cody, whose father John Cody ran the concrete workers union in Manhattan and held massive sway over construction projects in the 1980s, says Trump was no match for his father—and never stood his ground.
“He was a guy who would talk tough, but as soon as you confronted him, he would cry like a little girl,” Cody told The Daily Beast. “He was all talk, no action.”
Cody says his father used to pressure Trump on job sites when the former real estate developer refused to play ball. And every single time, Trump gave in.
“My father walked all over him,” Cody said. “Any time Trump didn’t do what he was told, my father would shut down his job for the day. No deliveries; 400 guys sitting around.”
Trump’s dealings with mob-tied union bosses like Cody’s father were part of doing business in 1980s New York. But instead of standing up to them, Cody says Trump just tried to act like one of them.
“There’s a lot of wannabes out there, and Trump was one,” he said. “He’s a wannabe Mafia don.”
Now that Trump is on the world stage, Cody says the same pattern continues—tough talk, followed by a quick retreat when confronted by real power. He pointed to Trump’s flip-flops on foreign policy, including pulling back on tariff threats and softening after tough meetings with leaders like Vladimir Putin.
“I mean, how much more powerful could a person be?” Cody said. “Why do you always cave in?”
To Cody, Trump never learned how to stand up to pressure. Whether it was the mob in New York or world leaders now, he folds every time.
That could be why he comes off weak and submissive every time he stands next to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
