FECKLESS FAKE FOOLS HIS FAITHFUL

 

ALL HAT NO CATTLE-PEERLESS DEALMAKER and ARDENT PHILANTHROPIST 

Is Donald J. Trump the Peerless Deal-maker and Ardent Philanthropist he professes to be? Many Trump supporters express admiration for a "self-made" billionaire" who's wealth resulted in a lavish lifestyle and selfless charity. Trump expertise in business is required to show he "knows the system better than anyone" by parlaying a small 1 million dollar loan from his father into a 10 Billion Dollar Empire.

Trump asks voters to choose between Competent Business Trump and "Liar" Hillary Clinton. But what if Trump is nothing like what he professes to be? Would they vote for incompetent Trump who escaped almost certain personal bankruptcy using some $40 million dollars from his family including a $30 million dollar inheritance and forced liquidation of yachts, mansions, Trump Shuttle, and casinos?. Would the deception alter their support? Would the Truth  make a difference?

Truth is Donald Trump is perpetrating a serious con job on his supporters. He thinks YOU are too dumb to wade through the details to get to the Truth. He believes you will be unable to separate the lies from Truth because you will accept his version that any negative information about him is part of some conspiracy to eliminate or smear him and "rig" the election. How cool is that?
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First is the available information concerning Trump philanthropy - or lack thereof.  He may well be the most stingy billionaire in history.  Since Trump refuses to release his tax returns we are forced to speculate that his worth is a tiny fraction of his claim supported by his paltry philanthropy.     444444

David A. Fahrenthold - Washington Post says he spent the past few months trying to prove Donald Trump right about something important.   So far, I've failed.

Trump promised to give millions of his own money to charity. Trying to find evidence I first looked at Donald J. Trump Foundation. Dead end. Tax records show no gifts from Trump to his foundation since 2008. The Trump campaign's official list of his donations. Dead end. Thousands of free rounds of golf, given away by Trump's golf courses. But no gifts of cash from Trump's own pocket..
 So I kept looking, starting with the individual charities that Trump seemed closest to. He'd attended their galas. Praised them on Twitter. Given them cash from the Trump Foundation's dwindling pot of money. I've tried 259 of those charities so far.
 I've found one gift, out of Trump's own pocket, between 2008 and this May. In 2009, he gifted less than $10,000 to the Police Athletic League

1.) Trump sees charity- or rather the appearance of it - as a Yuuge part of his image

The 1980 national star of "The Art of the Deal." had two sides. On one hand, a walking avatar of wealth, so rich he didn't need more money. On the other asking for your money, trying to sell a book promising to give the proceeds to charity.
 By 2000, returning to the national spotlight following his failures in Atlantic City, loss of the Trump Shuttle and forced sale of mansions and yachts he picked up the habit again promising to donate proceeds of "The Apprentice," "Trump University" and a real-estate rental to Moammar Gaddafi. He cultivated the image of "peerless deal-maker and ardent philanthropist." 

2.) Trump wants a rep for charity as cheaply as possible, with other people's money.

He gave $7.8 million to charity since 1984. A paltry sum for a self-identified $10 billionaire equal to 0.018 percent of his Forbes 4.3 billion net worth. Forbes 5 billionaire George Lucas gave $925 million to charity in a single recent year.

FORBES RICHEST AMERICANS LIST 2016

COMPARITIVE PHILANTHROPY
LUCAS 925 MILLION in ONE YEAR    TRUMP 7.8 MILLION LIFETIME

Trump strategies make his charitable impact seem more impressive.
Frequent attendance at charity galas and events imply donations to the cause. Even titles like "honorary chairman" - imply bigger gifts --he actually gave nothing. In fact, Trump often *made* money on these galas, held at his Florida clubs.
 The assumption that money in the Trump Foundation came from him is exploited.. It doesn't, and hasn't for years. The biggest recent gifts came from wrestling moguls Vince and Linda McMahon, who gave $5 million (and won't comment about why). Trump gives away their money and recipients give Trump credit.

3.) Trump's 7.8 million charitable legacy is small with little sustained commitment 

The two biggest gifts to veterans' groups: $1 million for the NYC Vietnam Vets Memorial in 1984, and $1 million to veterans' charities this May.
 The largest gifts from the Trump Foundation have been split among local New York charities, Palm Beach galas, conservative political groups -- and one-off gifts, like one Trump paid to settle a lawsuit at one of his golf courses.
The result is despite the Trump name on commercial ventures from steaks to books to casinos -- he few monuments to himself in the world of philanthropy. There's a bench in Central Park, and a single chair in a theater in New Jersey.

BIG BAD BUSINESS TRUMP. - Neil Barsky the New York Times 

 In late May 1990. Barsky was a 32-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter who had written dozens of articles about Donald J. Trump’s business affairs. I was closing in on the biggest one of all — Mr. Trump was on the brink of financial ruin. He was quietly trying to unload his assets. His Atlantic City casinos were underperforming, and prices for his casino bonds were plummeting, suggesting that he would have trouble making interest payments.

The next day, I called sources at four banks I knew had large Trump exposures. The first three calls yielded “no comment,” but the fourth hit pay dirt, and I was invited to visit the bank late that afternoon.

 The bank’s chief lending officer explained that all of the banks would have to agree to a huge restructuring of Mr. Trump’s loans or Mr. Trump would have to declare personal bankruptcy. Unknown to the banks when each had lent him money, Mr. Trump ended up personally guaranteeing a staggering $830 million of loans, which was reckless of him, but even more so for the banks

In a front-page Wall Street Journal article on June 4, 1990, Barsky wrote: “Donald J. Trump’s cash shortage has become critical. The developer is now in intense negotiations with his main bank creditors that could force him to give up big chunks of his empire.” One banker said, “He will have to trim the fat; get rid of the boat, the mansions, the helicopter.”

Amid all the self-made myths about Donald Trump, none is more fantastic than Trump the moneymaker, the New York tycoon who has enjoyed a remarkably successful business career. In reality, Mr. Trump was a walking disaster as a businessman for much of his life. This is not just my opinion. Warren Buffett said as much this past week.

Between 1985 and 1991, TRUMP was a glamorous New York City personality and an Olympic-level self-promoter who had persuaded banks and bondholders to extend him billions of dollars of credit to buy everything from a yacht to the Plaza Hotel to the Eastern Air Lines Shuttle.

“The issue isn’t that he’s crass,” I want to shout. “It’s that he’s a bad businessman!”

Hanging on my office wall is a letter written on gold-leaf stationery, dated March 22, 1990. “Dear Neil,” it reads. “From your first incorrect story on Merv Griffin — to your present Wall Street Journal article, you are a disgrace to your profession! Sincerely, Donald J. Trump.” (Mr. Griffin was a Trump rival.)

The article I had just written took a skeptical look at the ability of Mr. Trump’s newly opened Trump Taj Mahal Atlantic City casino to make the interest payments on its bonds. I quoted an analyst saying, “Once the cold winds blow from October to February, it won’t make it.” Mr. Trump complained to the man’s employer. Within days, the analyst was fired. But his prediction would prove prescient.

As I watched Trump's career soar in the 1980s and the inordinate amount of press attention he attracted, I was struck by two things: His real estate accomplishments were minuscule compared with those of more successful New York developers who garnered far less publicity, and he lied a lot. He made up the prices he was getting for his condominiums, the value of bids he had turned down for various properties and his prospects for luring corporate tenants to his buildings. And, of course, he lied about his wealth.

Then and now, we in the media helped enable the Trump myth. He made great copy. Early on, I noticed that any article I wrote about him — whether for the tabloid Daily News or the serious Wall Street Journal — would get great play. This invariably led me and others to dig deeper for Trump news.

Oddly, he seemed less interested in making money than in creating the perceptionthat he was wealthy. This is why, I believe, he continually floated plans to build the world’s tallest building. People would notice. His feuds with Forbes magazine over his net worth were legion.

This article is a detailed report that undermines the Trump as competent businessman meme. Those who want to know the truth will find it here and in the article above.

TRUMP'S MANY BUSINESS FAILURES, EXPLAINED

Kurt Eichenwald 8/2/2016

Trump’s many misrepresentations of his successes and his failures matter—a lot. As a man who has never held so much as a city council seat, there is little voters can examine to determine if he is competent to hold office. He has no voting record and presents few details about specific policies. Instead, he sells himself as qualified to run the country because he is a businessman who knows how to get things done, and his financial dealings are the only part of his background available to assess his competence to lead the country. And while Trump has had a few successes in business, most of his ventures have been disasters.

From the information contained herein and in statements by Mayor of New York true $40 billionaire Michael Bloomberg and Warren Buffet  one of America's wealthiest 2 individuals who claim Trump is more con than competent, it is clear to anyone paying attention that the real Donald Trump is nothing like the Trump presented to his followers. It likely will not make much difference to cynical people who fail to see that fact is essential to Truth. We would elect an untruthful self-promoter at our peril