Based on what we have learned so far, lets sum up the Trump business model. First, find a project. Any project. Any shiny object that catches your eye. It hardly matters what. A glittering façade. A bridge to nowhere. Swampland in Florida. Trust your impulse. Buy what you want. Overpay, if need be. Swing for the fences. Then, reel in the bankers, investors, and workers. Sell your idea. Sell it with false claims. Sell it with made up stories. Sell it with pretend promises of success.
Put stars in their eyes. Fill their heads with visions of grandeur. As you lure them in, take their loans, their life savings, and the sweat of their brow and then complete your project. If the project succeeds, take your profits and move on. If the project fails, declare bankruptcy and screw your partners. With bankruptcy as your shield, you can stiff the bankers who loaned you money, fleece the investors who advanced their savings, and sting the workers who built your buildings.
Walk out on your partners and leave them holding all the IOUs, while you escape scot-free to move onto a new project and new partners. This business model cannot fail. When you succeed, you make the money. When you fail, they hold the debt. Heads I win. Tails you lose. The Trump business model: deconstructed.
In the election of 2016, Trump did it again. He convinced 63 million Americans to invest their votes with him based on false promises to support the middle class, provide better health care, and to make America great again. Then, in the first year of his Presidency, Trump turned on his trusting partners with a vengeance. He borrowed 2.3 trillion dollars in their name to deliver a giant tax cut to the wealthy – without any visible impact on jobs growth after the cut. And, true to form, he borrowed every penny.
Who was left holding the IOU? Every day Americans, who are now saddled with all the new debt as a reward for their investment. But Trump was always comfortable taking on big debt to get what he wanted. In the same year, he tried mightily to end Obamacare, disrespect our international friends, and honor our adversaries. Trump did not make America great again. He made America small for the very first time. Tails, we lose.
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