In the 1960s, Maxine Brown, a 33-year-old nurse, faced racial discrimination while trying to rent an apartment from the Trump organization in Queens, New York. Despite submitting a promising rental application, her application was ignored by Stanley Leibowitz, the rental agent, after he consulted with Fred C. Trump, Donald Trump's father. This incident highlighted the racial bias prevalent in the housing policies of the Trump family, which would later come under scrutiny by civil rights activists and the Justice Department. Maxine eventually filed a complaint with the New York City Commission on Human Rights, which led to a landmark lawsuit against Trump Management for violating fair housing laws.

As Donald Trump began to take a more prominent role in the family business, the company’s discriminatory practices were meticulously documented by various civil rights groups. In 1973, the Justice Department sued Trump Management for refusing to rent to Black tenants, citing extensive evidence of systemic racism in their properties. The lawsuit marked Donald Trump’s first significant entry into public controversy. He vigorously denied the allegations, framing the government's actions as a misguided attack on his business and counter-suing for defamation, all while insisting on his innocence and refusing to settle quietly, unlike other developers at the time.

Ultimately, the Trumps signed a consent decree to avoid further legal battles, although they maintained that it was not an admission of guilt. Over the following years, they continued to face allegations of violating the decree, and despite some progress in tenant diversity, patterns of discrimination persisted. The case became a defining moment in the Trump legacy, illustrating a complex relationship with race and housing that has resurfaced in contemporary political discourse as Donald Trump seeks to appeal to Black voters while downplaying this history.