A second Trump Plaza tower had initially been planned but was delayed, and the property for the proposed building was sold several times during the Great Recession.

[4] The project was also financed for $50 million by Chinese investors through the EB-5 visa program, which Trump criticized during his 2016 presidential campaign.

[13] On September 30, 2015, during construction, a concrete block fell from the building's 31st floor and injured a police officer's torso.

Police officers responsible for directing traffic between Trump Bay Street and another construction site also began wearing hard hats.

[13] In February 2017, local residents protested outside the building, stating their intention to boycott any retailers that occupy space on the ground floor.

Explaining their reason for protesting, the residents cited President Trump's actions that targeted illegal immigration and refugees from Muslim majority countries, as well as comments that he made in 2015, in which he claimed that thousands of Jersey City residents cheered after learning about the September 11 attacks.

[19] EB-5 advisor Michael Gibson stated that such a practice, although contrary to the original purpose of the EB-5 program, was still legal.