Wait, which is it?
Did Trump gave money to Democrats because he had to?
Or did Trump give money to Democrats because he wanted to control them?
You are floundering or you don’t understand the business environment for real estate in NYC. There is no either or. You need to work with them and donations are quid pro quo. That’s the markers part, if anything they owe him he doesn’t owe them.
I wouldn’t count on politicians after the scent of the donation fades and since Trumph’s savvy neither would he but the fact of the donation still gives him a bit of leverage and they have none.