Former Trump executive disputes his claim that Willie Brown was on board during helicopter incident

Barbara Res, the Trump Organization’s former executive vice president of construction and development, on Saturday disputed former President Donald Trump’s account that he surrounded former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown in a helicopter that had to make an emergency landing in the 1990s.

“We were working on a very big project in California,” Res told NBC News’ Ali Vitali on MSNBC, adding, “We were working with local politicians and state politicians. And one of the very important politicians was this man, (former California state Sen.) Nate Holden.”

During a press conference on Thursday, Trump told a story about taking a helicopter flight with Brown, telling reporters that “we were in a helicopter going to a certain location together, and there was an emergency landing.”

“This was not a pleasant landing, and Willie was, he was a little concerned. So I know him. I know him pretty well. I mean, I haven’t seen him in years, but he told me terrible things about (Vice President Kamala Harris),” Trump added, referring to the fact that Harris and Brown briefly dated.

Asked whether Trump frequently confused the identity of Brown and Holden, Res said on Saturday, “I don’t remember. “This is 30 years ago, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Donald didn’t mix them up in his head.”

“What I really think,” Res added, “is Nate was, you know, a council member, and Willie was a big guy. He was an important, impressive guy… (Trump) wanted to be in with Willie, because Willie was an important guy.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story, but on Friday the former president responded to a New York Times account of the helicopter story, saying, “There were ‘Logs,’ Maintenance Records, and Witnesses. There was also a story on ‘Willie and Me.’”

Shortly after the former president’s press conference on Thursday, Brown pushed back on Trump’s story. On Friday he told NBC News, “No, I have not” been on a helicopter with Donald Trump.

“Are you kidding me?” Brown said, before confirming that he has never spoken with Trump about Harris.

When he heard Trump’s story, Brown added, “I laughed. I just assumed that he was on a helicopter with someone Black and he just made a mistake and thought it was me.”

On Friday, Holden first told Politico that he was the man on the helicopter ride with Trump and that the pair, plus several others, were traveling to Atlantic City to tour Trump’s new Taj Mahal casino.

His account was supported by Res, who told MSNBC, “It wasn’t like, ‘Oh my god, we’re going to crash.’ It was just, we can’t, you know, keep going, so we found the closest airport, and (the pilots) landed us in Teterboro, and everyone was fine.”

“Donald was terrified,” Res said, “And after the whole thing was over, he was joking with Nate Holden, who happens to be a Black man, and he said, ‘Nate, you turned white.'”