As you may or may not be aware, throughout almost my entire time in Chicago I followed the story of what is to become America's 2nd tallest skyscraper, relegating the Empire State to 3rd. The Trump Tower has been partly occupied since March but not suprisingly the sale of the 825 condominium units in the 1,362ft tower has hit the rails. And whose fault is that? God. Yep, Donald Trump, the man with hair that has a life on it's own, has run into a few financial 'issues' and has declared he needs more time to repay the £430,438,400 loan on the 92-storey building (and you thought you had a big mortgage!)

Trump is playing the 'act of war' card in a lawsuit against his lenders in Chicago claiming that a global economic meltdown is akin to an earthquake, nuclear war, tsunami or a hurricane. I have to admire his balls, especially as the Trumpster was last seen in public declaring his 'victory' over conservationists in constructing a brand new golf resort in Aberdeen costing £1bn. He owes £67m on his Chicago building and is attempting to amend the terms of his loan and claim £2m in damages! He has already extended the loan once.

I found the above recent snapshot of the building, the spire has yet to go on I believe. A helicopter is expected to be used in installation. Meanwhile work has ground to a halt on the planned 2,000 ft high Santiago Calatrava Spire on the Lakeshore as it has at the Shangri-La Hotel on West Wacker St. The city of big shoulders is finding it extra hard in the current credit crunch.