For years Donald Trump was the host of The Apprentice, a reality TV show in which contestants vied for a management job within his organisation and he would deliver the verdict: “You’re fired!”
It cemented the image of Trump as an assertive chief executive who had conquered New York, an image that still proves seductive to millions of voters who want him to run America like a business. But like much else about the 45th US president, it was all a lie.
On Tuesday a judge found that Trump’s business empire was built, at least in part, on rampant fraud. Justice Arthur Engoron of the New York state court in Manhattan said Trump and his adult sons wildly inflated the value of his properties to hoodwink banks, insurers and others.
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The decision will make it easier for state attorney general Letitia James to establish damages at a civil trial due to start next week; she is seeking a penalty of about $250m. Engoron ordered the cancellation of certificates that let some of Trump’s businesses, including the Trump Organization, operate in New York – just possibly the beginning of the end of his empire.
In the same way that a slap on the wrist is better than nothing. As I explained above, it’s just a temporary setback that he’ll recover from quite easily since rich grifters can always get more money.
Yes and no: the main family business is political grifting now, which much more than makes up for the loss
Nope. It specifically says in the article that he gets the money from selling the businesses. Even when you factor in the fine, he’s gonna profit from that. Maybe even more than he would from running the companies.
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-new-york-judge-finds-business-2023-9
Think I’ll take a veteran financial crimes prosecutor for the Manhattan DA’s word over yours, sorry.
Again, says it’s a death blow for the corporation, not him. Also doesn’t say that he doesn’t get to profit.
None of what I’ve said has contradicted anything that she said, so it’s not the “either or” situation you’re imagining it to be.
Why you seem to think his corporation going under doesn’t hurt him at all is beyond me. It’s like if Tim Cook became a politician and you claiming that Apple going under because of an antitrust case doesn’t hurt Tim Cook. Of course it would. He’s built his entire reputation on being a successful businessman.
I’m not saying it doesn’t hurt him at all, I’m saying it doesn’t hurt him anywhere near enough.
If Tim Cook pivoted to getting many times more of his personal income from political scams than from Apple, then your comparison MIGHT make sense, except even then it would be very far from an apples to apples comparison, pun intended.
He’s built his image on PRETENDING to be successful businessman and then pivoting to leader of a Christofascist cult.
He was never good at business (as evidenced by losing a billion dollars total in a decade where every other ultrarich person was profiting like crazy) and he no longer needs the real estate empire.
Considering his debt was $1.3 billion in 2021, I’m pretty sure political donations won’t be enough to save him financially.
It’s still enough to more than cover the fine in 8 weeks.
Sorry… you’re saying he will raise a the same amount in 8 weeks as he did right after the election when everyone was fired up? And not cover all of his expenses but still pay all of his debt?
This is a little silly.
No. I’m saying that he’ll raise that and more right after playing the marty, which is getting his cult all riled up. Might take longer than 8 weeks but he’s definitely going to get there. Nothing silly about acknowledging that tragic yet inescapable fact of his cult appeal.
Again, says it’s a death blow for the corporation, not him. Also doesn’t say that he doesn’t get to profit.
None of what I’ve said has contradicted anything that she said, so it’s not the “either or” situation you’re imagining it to be.
The fine itself is less than what he raised in 8 weeks to pretend to investigate imaginary election fraud.