Barbara Res

Barbara Res was born Barbara Tahan in Brooklyn, New York. She attended City College of New York and graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering in 1971. In 2007, Res earned a Juris Doctor from Rutgers Law School. Res is a Licensed Professional Engineer in New York State and is a member of the New York and New Jersey bar associations.{{cite web |title=Barbara A. Res |url=https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7177201.Barbara_A_Res |website=Goodreads |access-date=19 December 2020}}

Res began working in construction in 1971{{cite news |last1=Vagianos |first1=Alanna |title=This Woman Helped Build Trump Tower. Here's Why She Marched. |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/woman-who-helped-build-trump-tower-marched-in-dc-to-protest-his-presidency_n_58863452e4b0e3a7356a7283 |access-date=19 December 2020 |work=HuffPost |date=January 23, 2017}} and began to work for Donald Trump in a junior position during his first construction in Manhattan, the Grand Hyatt.{{cite news |last1=Daly |first1=Michael |title=Trump's Female Tower Boss Talks About His Half-Billion Dollar Debt, Womanizing, and How He Learned to be Shameless |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-female-tower-boss-talks-about-his-half-billion-dollar-debt-womanizing-and-how-he-learned-to-be-shameless |access-date=19 December 2020 |work=The Daily Beast |date=April 13, 2017}}

Res joined the Trump Organization in 1980 and then worked for Trump over the course of eighteen years as a vice president, senior vice president, and executive vice president. Res was hired by Trump to lead construction on Trump Tower{{cite news |last1=Solo-Lyons |first1=Natasha |title=Barbara Res helped build Trump Tower. She says she saw Donald Trump ignore experts and disrespect employees in her 18 years working with him. |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/barbara-res-donald-trump-real-estate-trump-tower-2020-11?op=1 |access-date=3 January 2021 |work=Business Insider |date=November 3, 2020}} as Vice President in charge of construction when she was thirty-one years old, and helped build Trump Tower between 1980 and 1984. Res was the first woman to oversee a major NYC construction site,{{Cite web|last=Greer|first=Stuart|date=October 1, 2018|title=Female engineer behind Trump Tower gives insight into working with POTUS|url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/business-news/female-engineer-behind-trump-tower-15220690|access-date=November 20, 2020|website=Manchester Evening News|language=en}} and worked with Trump on some of his biggest projects, including the renovation of New York's Plaza Hotel.{{cite news |last1=Breslow |first1=Jason M. |title=The FRONTLINE Interview: Barbara Res |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/the-frontline-interview-barbara-res/ |access-date=19 December 2020 |work=PBS Frontline |date=September 27, 2016}}{{cite news |last1=Nuzzi |first1=Olivia |title=Former Donald Trump Executive: 'He's a Supreme Sexist' |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/former-donald-trump-executive-hes-a-supreme-sexist |access-date=2 January 2021 |work=The Daily Beast |date=July 12, 2017}} Michael Kruse writes for Politico Magazine that Res quit the Trump Organization after she was "unwilling any longer to take Trump’s explosive moods and turbulent treatment."{{cite news |last1=Kruse |first1=Michael |title='He's Unraveling': Why Cohen's Betrayal Terrifies Trump |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/08/22/michael-cohen-donald-trump-plea-betray-flip-219381/ |access-date=19 December 2020 |work=Politico Magazine |date=August 22, 2018}}

Res was selected to join the construction panel of the American Arbitration Association for arbitration and mediation in 2003.{{cite web |url=http://www.adr.org}} Res joined Digibuild, the creator of a unique construction management software platform built with blockchain technology as Senior Vice President.{{cite web |url=http://www.digibuild.com |website=Digibuild |access-date=20 January 2021}} Res has publicly spoken about women in the construction business throughout the United States and in England.

Res has spoken out publicly against Trump, particularly about his treatment of women, including in opinion articles in the New York Daily News{{cite news |last1=Res |first1=Barbara |title=Donald Trump, my boss: The billionaire developer gave women like me a chance, but he also leered at attractive employees and only let the prettiest secretaries greet guests and serve coffee |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/barbara-res-donald-trump-boss-article-1.2525669 |access-date=19 December 2020 |work=New York Daily News |date=February 9, 2016}} and The Guardian,{{Cite web|date=April 27, 2016|title=Trump hired me as a powerful woman. I saw how sexism became his trademark {{!}} Barbara Res|url=http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/27/donald-trump-barbara-res-woman-card|access-date=November 20, 2020|website=the Guardian|language=en}} as well as interviews with CNN,{{cite news |last1=Krever |first1=Mick |title=Trump a 'very angry man,' says former executive |url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/03/15/us/trump-barbara-res-amanpour/index.html |access-date=19 December 2020 |work=CNN |date=March 16, 2016}} Rolling Stone,{{Cite magazine|last1=Stuart|first1=Tessa|date=March 29, 2016|title=Ex-Trump Employee Speaks Out on His Treatment of Women|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/ex-trump-employee-speaks-out-on-his-treatment-of-women-104728/|access-date=November 20, 2020|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US}} The New York Times,{{cite news |last1=Barbaro |first1=Michael |last2=Twohey |first2=Megan |title=Crossing the Line: How Donald Trump Behaved With Women in Private |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/15/us/politics/donald-trump-women.html |access-date=19 December 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=May 14, 2016}} and Rachel Maddow of MSNBC{{cite news |title=The Rachel Maddow Show, Transcript 6/10/2016 Guests: Bob Shrum, Barbara Res |url=https://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/rachel-maddow-show/2016-06-10-msna865171 |access-date=19 December 2020 |work=MSNBC |date=June 10, 2016}} in 2016. Information provided by Res was also included in a June 2016 Atlantic story by Dan P. McAdams, a psychology professor at Northwestern University and author of the book The Strange Case of Donald J. Trump: A Psychological Reckoning.{{cite news |last1=McAdams |first1=Dan P. |title=The Mind of Donald Trump |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/the-mind-of-donald-trump/480771/ |access-date=19 December 2020 |work=The Atlantic |date=June 2016}}

In 2018, The Washington Post described how Res' description of her experiences at the Trump Organization offered support for Bob Woodward's book Fear and an anonymous op-ed in The New York Times that was then attributed to a senior administration official, because "Both works describe a president whose orders are not always carried out by those around him."{{cite news |last1=Wagner |first1=John |last2=Fahrenthold |first2=David |title=Trump asked to have Braille removed from elevators in early 1980s, executive says |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-asked-to-have-braille-removed-from-elevators-in-early-1980s-executive-says/2018/09/12/67d97548-b6a6-11e8-a7b5-adaaa5b2a57f_story.html |access-date=19 December 2020 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=September 12, 2018}} After the announcement of the formal impeachment inquiry into Trump in 2019, Res told CNN's Brian Stelter that she believed Trump was unfit for office, and he might resign "to save face," depending on the outcome of the impeachment process.{{cite news |last1=Zhao |first1=Christina |title=Ex-Trump Organization VP Predicts Trump Will Resign or Make a Deal During Impeachment Process to 'Save Face' |url=https://www.newsweek.com/ex-trump-organization-vp-predicts-trump-will-resign-make-deal-during-impeachment-process-save-1463470 |access-date=19 December 2020 |work=Newsweek |date=October 6, 2019}} In a 2019 news analysis, The New York Times wrote that Res "sees in Ms. Pelosi a new challenge to Mr. Trump's lifelong tactics."{{cite news |last1=Buettner |first1=Russ |last2=Haberman |first2=Maggie |title=In Business and Governing, Trump Seeks Victory in Chaos |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/20/us/donald-trump-leadership-style.html |access-date=19 December 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=January 20, 2019 |quote=One blind spot [Res] observed was that Mr. Trump "believes he’s better than anyone who ever lived" and saw even the most capable of women as easy to run over. "But there was never a woman with power that he ran up against, until Pelosi," she said. "And he doesn’t know what to do with it. He’s totally in a corner."}}

In April 2020, Res wrote an opinion article in the New York Daily News that recounts an experience from her work for Trump and expresses concerns about his leadership during the coronavirus pandemic.{{cite news |last1=Res |first1=Barbara |title=How Trump decides, and doesn't: I watched his supposed executive skills up close for years |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-trump-is-no-decider-20200413-ty5mdgmhwzfl3njh6lsqilbpbe-story.html |access-date=19 December 2020 |work=The New York Daily News |date=April 13, 2020}} Before the November 2020 election, Res told Jane Mayer of The New Yorker that "One of the reasons [Trump]’s so crazily intent on winning is all the speculation that prosecutors will go after him," and suggested that Trump could follow through with his musing on leaving the U.S. because "he can do business from anywhere."{{cite magazine |last1=Mayer |first1=Jane |title=Why Trump Can't Afford to Lose |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/11/09/why-trump-cant-afford-to-lose |access-date=19 December 2020 |magazine=The New Yorker |date=November 1, 2020}}

After the November 2020 election, Res spoke with MSNBC’s Ari Melber, suggesting Trump will "do anything" to stay in office, and both The Independent and HuffPost wrote that her comments echo an op-ed by President Trump's niece, Mary Trump, in The Guardian.{{cite news |last1=Crump |first1=James |title=Former Trump exec warns: 'If all else fails, he'll burn down the house' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/trump-barbara-res-white-house-election-b1721941.html |access-date=19 December 2020 |work=The Independent |date=November 12, 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Moran |first1=Lee |title=Ex-Trump Org Exec Warns What Comes Next: 'If All Else Fails, He'll Burn Down The House' |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/barbara-res-donald-trump-2020-election-whats-next_n_5facede1c5b6ed84597e4687 |access-date=19 December 2020 |work=HuffPost |date=November 12, 2020}} People magazine also reported on Res' interview with Melber, as well as her past advocacy, and her new book, Tower of Lies.{{cite news |title=Former Trump Organization Executive Says President 'Can't Deal' With Losing |url=https://people.com/politics/barbara-res-trump-losing-concede-election/ |access-date=3 January 2021 |work=People Magazine |date=November 12, 2020}} In a November 6, 2020 report by Inside Edition, Res is quoted for her opinion that Trump may leave the country after Biden's inauguration.{{cite news |last1=Staff |title=What's Next for Donald Trump? |url=https://www.insideedition.com/whats-next-for-donald-trump-62907 |access-date=8 January 2021 |work=Inside Edition |agency=CBS |date=November 6, 2020}} In a Politico report published on December 1, 2020, about Trump's intention to restart foreign deals, Res is quoted for her opinion, including "There are two things that make him run — ego and money. Looking at it from the point of the money, he’s going to have people who give him money to build Trump towers."{{cite news |last1=Kumar |first1=Anita |title=Trump to restart foreign deals, breaking a post-presidency norm |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/01/trump-foreign-real-estate-441928 |access-date=8 January 2021 |work=Politico |date=December 1, 2020}} In a December 20, 2020 article titled "Is Trump Cracking Under the Weight of Losing?" in Politico Magazine, writer Michael Kruse quotes Res for her opinion, "And he's not indestructible."{{cite news |last1=Kruse |first1=Michael |title=Is Trump Cracking Under the Weight of Losing? |url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/20/trump-white-house-losing-448903 |access-date=20 December 2020 |work=Politico Magazine |date=December 20, 2020}}

Res is the author of the 2013 book All Alone on the 68th Floor: How One Woman Changed the Face of Construction,{{cite book |last1=Res |first1=Barbara A. |title=All Alone on the 68th Floor: How One Woman Changed the Face of Construction |date=2013 |publisher=Createspace Independent Publishing Platform |isbn=9781523712564 |url=https://www.alibris.com/search/books/isbn/9781523712564?qwork=24970395}} a self-published memoir about her experiences in the construction business, which includes descriptions of her work with Donald Trump.

In October 2020, Res released a book entitled Tower of Lies: What My Eighteen Years of Working With Donald Trump Reveals About Him.{{Cite book|last=Res|first=Barbara A.|title=Tower of Lies: What My Eighteen Years of Working With Donald Trump Reveals About Him|publisher=Graymalkin Media, LLC|year=2020|isbn=978-1-63168-305-3}} The Los Angeles Times reports that in her book, Res "recounts racist, anti-Semitic and sexist behavior, along with Trump’s ability to lie "so naturally" that "if you didn’t know the actual facts, he could slip something past you.""{{cite news |last1=Bierman |first1=Noah |last2=Megerian |first2=Chris |title=New book by former Trump aide alleges early racist comments |url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-10-16/new-book-by-former-trump-aide-reveals-early-racist-comments |access-date=19 December 2020 |work=The Los Angeles Times |date=October 16, 2020}} Newsweek, The New York Daily News, and The Times of Israel write that Res' book joins a collection of books by former Trump associates that recount their experiences.{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Jeffrey |title=In New Book, Ex-Trump Employee Claims President Didn't Want Black People to Work on Trump Tower |url=https://www.newsweek.com/new-book-ex-trump-employee-claims-president-didnt-want-black-people-work-trump-tower-1539965 |access-date=19 December 2020 |work=Newsweek |date=October 16, 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Niemietz |first1=Brian |title='Tower of Lies' written by Barbara Res — another longtime Trump associate — trashes the president in new book |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/us-elections-government/ny-trump-book-barbara-res-20201016-7w6pcfi6bnez7erlzmujyzqcsq-story.html |access-date=19 December 2020 |work=The New York Daily News |date=October 16, 2020}}{{cite news |last1=TOI Staff |title=New book by ex Trump aide alleges anti-Semitic, racist remarks |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/new-book-by-ex-trump-aide-alleges-anti-semitic-racist-remarks/ |access-date=2 January 2021 |work=The Times of Israel |date=October 17, 2020}} A HuffPost report on an excerpt from Tower of Lies describes Res as "a persistent thorn in her former [employer]’s side since before the 2016 election."{{cite news |last1=Moran |first1=Lee |title=Former Trump Exec Alleges Yet More Examples Of His Early Racism In New Book Excerpt |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/barbara-res-donald-trump-book-racism_n_5f8aa416c5b69daf5e137066 |access-date=3 January 2021 |work=HuffPost |date=October 17, 2020}} In a review for The Berkshire Edge, Mickey Friedman writes, "Unlike so many of those who have written about President Trump, Barbara Res tells a story that is far more personal than political," and that this is why, "in many ways, this is one of the most interesting portraits of Donald Trump."{{cite web |last1=Friedman |first1=Mikey |title=BOOK REVIEW: 'Tower of Lies: What My Eighteen Years of Working with Donald Trump Reveals About Him' |url=https://theberkshireedge.com/book-review-tower-of-lies-what-my-eighteen-years-of-working-with-donald-trump-reveals-about-him/ |website=The Berkshire Edge |access-date=19 December 2020 |date=November 14, 2020}}

C-SPAN's Washington Journal interviewed Barbara Res to discuss Tower of Lies, in an episode scheduled to air on December 26, 2020.{{cite news |title=Barbara Res Discusses Her Book "Tower of Lies" |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?507537-3/washington-journal-barbara-res-discusses-book-tower-lies&playEvent |access-date=25 December 2020 |work=Washington Journal |publisher=C-SPAN |date=December 26, 2020}}

• Townsend Harris Medal by the City College of New York in 1991 for her role as a pioneer among women engineers
• Emily Roebling leadership award by Professional Women in Construction for her achievements in the Construction Industry

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Category:Living people

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Category:American women memoirists