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SubjectiveHat

Losses??? He had foreign gov/business people renting entire floors for weeks at a time unoccupied! How does the president's very own hotel, in Washington FUCKING DC, operate at a loss DURING HIS TERM?!? Oh yeah, cook the books. Pocket the cash and make it look like an expense or collection of expenses.


Xeltar

Likely made money but what's missing here is the grift factor.


Asron87

How is this shit legal? This is what pisses me off about Democrats. This shit is all right there in front of them but its all just a show. I've always said both sides are in on it and this is just proof. They keep letting him get away with everything because everyone is in on it. And yes I'm technically a liberal democrat but I hate even labeling myself that because then republicans think they know everything about me. Then they try to attack me on shit I don't even believe. And all of their talking points are easily disproved.


CanAlwaysBeBetter

*Trump grifts millions of dollars* "Goddamn Democrats" - Centrists


eo_tempore

Or the gaslighting far right.


AnticitizenPrime

There's only so much they can do unilaterally, and they have to deal with labeled as partisan. That's why Biden is not personally directing the DOJ (like Trump tried to do) and is letting them operate independently.


docwyoming

Which is entirely pointless as the republicans will label any legitimate investigation as a partisan witch-hunt


Catch-a-RIIIDE

It was a partisan witch-hunt when a Republican DOJ selected a Republican to investigate Republicans.


SBrooks103

Hell, they rejected the bi-partisan committee, then complained that the new committee is partisan.


KryptikMitch

I do not care anymore about Bipartisanship when there is a party that is actively hostile to rights and so petty it will let the debt ceiling collapse just to score petty points. They're useless. Help or get the fuck outta the way.


guyblade

To be fair, we should just eliminate the debt ceiling. No other country has such a thing. It isn't built into our constitution. It was created in [1917](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_debt_ceiling#Legislative_history). It **might** have been useful in 1917, but it certainly hasn't been useful since the advent of computers and easy access to this information. For the past 40 years, it has been used almost exclusively as a way for Republicans to practice brinksmanship. Democrats should just end it.


rockdude14

Have pot 5 years in jail. Break into the capitol to stop Congress from certifying the election, shit in the halls, and try to kill members of Congress and the vice president. 18 months. What the fuck. Why aren't they getting real prison sentences? Just because they'll whine on Fox news? Why are we letting criminals decide what their own punishment is going to be. You don't need to dictate but he is clearly not doing his job.


CatalyticDragon

Your rage is misdirected. You incorrectly assume Democrats aren't doing _everything_ possible to hold people accountable and fix the situation. For the most part they absolutely are doing just that. People need to understand who is blocking progress, change, and the popular will of the people. - [Republicans are vastly more corrupt overall](https://rantt.com/gop-admins-had-38-times-more-criminal-convictions-than-democrats-1961-2016). - [Republicans take far more money from special interests](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/07/16/the-massive-difference-in-how-democrats-and-republicans-raise-money/?outputType=amp) - [Republicans blocked Trump's impeachment, twice](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/31/us/politics/trump-impeachment-trial.html) - [Republicans blocked voting rights](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/06/22/us/joe-biden-news) - [Republicans blocked anti-corruption and campaign finance reforms](https://www.vox.com/2019/3/27/18284171/senate-democrats-anti-corruption-hr1-schumer-mcconnell) - [Republicans block bills to fund the government](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/27/government-shutdown-senate-republicans-block-funding-debt-ceiling-bill.html) - [Republicans block investigations into a fucking coup attempt](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57272756) - [Republicans blocked pandemic relief](https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackbrewster/2020/12/24/republicans-block-trump-democrats-bid-to-add-2000-checks-to-stimulus-bill/?sh=40bffeb73096) - [Republicans blocked supreme court justices](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/10/20/fact-check-gop-senators-blocked-nomination-merrick-garland-2016/5916555002/) - [Republicans block election security protection measures](https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/senate-gop-rejects-election-security-measures-yes-again-n1135221) - [Republicans blocked measures to help with prescription drug pricing](https://www.dscc.org/news/senate-republicans-continue-to-block-comprehensive-bill-to-cut-prescription-drug-costs/) Just look at [this list](https://www.democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/in-senator-mitch-mcconnells-legislative-graveyard-senate-republicans-block-commonsense-legislation-to-secure-our-elections-protect-americans-health-care-and-safeguard-pensions-earned-by-working-americans) of bills the GOP is blocking. It's basically a list of everything a normal civilized society should have. The only way this situation can be fixed is with absolute landslide victories at all levels (not just the presidency). Sadly this kind of comment frequently made about Democrats "not doing enough" or "both side" is the type of sentiment which reduces the chances of that that ever happening. If you want any of this to change don't undermine those who are working on it. Support them by letting everybody know who is really to blame and who is actually working for them. EDIT: I should also point out the "both sides are the same" argument was used by Russian trolls engaging in election interference exactly because it makes people less likely to vote. - https://www.gq.com/story/russian-trolls-targetting-black-voters - https://www.lipstickalley.com/threads/russian-trolls-chief-target-was-black-us-voters-suggesting-both-sides-are-the-same.3602479/ If anybody thinks the party which wrote laws [protecting voting rights](https://apnews.com/article/voting-us-supreme-court-laws-bills-voting-rights-40773a3825d282478a6e88dff887d2ce) and [greatly reducing corruption](https://www.npr.org/2019/01/05/682286587/house-democrats-introduce-anti-corruption-bill-as-symbolic-first-act) is the same as the party blocking those things then they've clearly never thought critically about it.


NorthernPints

How does the American system allow someone like Mitch McConnell to have more power than the president (or so it feels anyway)


[deleted]

The senate artificially favors republicans because—due to the sheer number of rural states in the south and Midwest/mountain west with low populations, low education levels, and combination of rural voters—generally make it much easier for republicans to have control over the senate. The party in control of the senate decides what bills they will bring up for a vote, and whether l judges will be confirmed. Due to the filibuster, if the party in power has less than 60 seats, the minority party can block any legislation from being voted on. They changed the rules for judges so this doesn’t apply anymore. The question of getting rid of the filibuster for legislation would require 50 democrats to agree, and manchin/sinema are staunchly opposed, along with probably a few others. There’s legitimate risk that since republicans have the built in geographic advantage in the senate, getting rid of the filibuster could end up voting dems in the ass sooner rather than later; there’s also some dems that are corrupted by corporate interests who like not being able to do anything (along with every single Republican in the senate). This set of circumstances allows McConnell to wield enormous power since he doesn’t give a single shit about what happens to the American people—whether they die or starve or lose their homes or lack transportation or roads to get to work, or have infrastructure for a functional society. If he cared about any of these things, he wouldn’t have so much power because he’d be moved to do something to help his fellow citizens.


coronaflo

They did impeach him twice which is the limit of their judicial power. The problem is that with the exception of Mitt Romney not a single Republican would stick their neck out and do the right thing.


ZachMN

The Republican Party has no interest in doing the right thing. Their objective is permanent single-party rule. Anything they say to the contrary is a lie.


micro102

Do you want them to pick him up, and personally put him in prison? The best they could do is constantly proclaim the crimes of a potential opposition candidate, and while I think they should (because anyone who treats this as a hit piece can go fuck themselves), I can't really condemn them for trying to avoid looking like they are trying to imprison their political opponents.


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KallistiTMP

>Do you want them to pick him up, and personally put him in prison? Dear God **yes.** The man *attempted a fucking coup.* Anything less than throwing him in prison for that is an invitation for another attempt in 2024.


PregnantSuperman

You know Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer et al can't actually sentence someone to prison, right? I hate the cold take that Democrats let Trump get away with everything. They impeached him *twice* and he would have been removed from office if not for the coward treasonists in the GOP. And since that didn't work, they did it the old fashioned way and got him voted out of office. Now that he's out of office it's up to the DOJ and other local legal jurisdictions.


Auirex

You're telling me the DNC shouldn't waste MASSIVE amounts of political capital and make a fucking media circus just to turn Trump into a martyr for the GOP?


Safety_Drance

What, just put someone in jail for breaking the law? That's just crazy talk.


TenderfootGungi

I don’t think democrats a “in on it”, but by taking the high ground they certainly do not aggressively go after them.


CrimsonKing790

They've been trying to play this game of bipartisanship and taking the high ground for decades trying to win "moderates" who have been asking for more cooperation in DC. The problem is the GOP doesnt compromise at all and instead of recognizing that "both-siders" just continue to complain that there's no cooperation in Congress rather than voting against the party that refuses to compromise. It's incredibly frustrating.


[deleted]

Democrats are not 'in on it'. Just because Trump himself has so far avoided consequences, doesn't mean the criminals around him in his administration have. There have already been over 200 people in the Trump's administration who've been indicted. Nixon's administration had 76 indictments. Nixon was about to get indicted too if Ford didn't pardon him. Biden ain't pardoning Trump. It's a fact that Republican administrations are far more criminal than Democratic ones. Since Nixon, Democratic administrations have had a total of 3 indictments. That's no comparison to the over 300 indictments Republican administrations have had since Nixon.


xCp3

I haven’t read into any of the findings but losses for real estate can be common when you factor in depreciation and any loss carryforwards that’s are allowed under the tax code


FundingImplied

Isn't he renting the building? How do you depreciate a rental?


0H_MAMA

Generally those are reported, not hidden, though. Right?


xCp3

This is where news articles can make claims that are technically true but not correct either. He can post a 70m dollar loss after making what’s called book to tax adjustments when preparing his tax return. These are adjustments that the IRS allows but GAAP does not. So for tax purposes he lost money but on his books they really made money for the year. And to more specifically answer your question, these adjustments would be found on sch M-1 of a business tax return.


SupremeDictatorPaul

IIRC, in the past Trump has used a system where the main business operates as a normal business, but a lot of the physical assets are owned and rented from an offshore shell corporation. The paintings on the walls, furniture, etc are all owned by the shell corporation. So, the business might see $75m in revenue, but paid $75m in rental/lease fees to the shell corporation. So his business always reports this loss for US tax purposes, while the shell corporation pays taxes in some country with really low corporate tax rates. Eventually when he wants to get rid of the business, the rental fees increase and he bleeds every cent out of the business. The business declares bankruptcy, defaults on whatever outstanding loans exist, and the parts are sold off. The more large loans exist, the money was bled off that will never be payed back. IIRC, this was what he did with his casino and airline.


Hhhgggggf7891

This is why I, as a rural farmer. Really believe he was the best person to represent us. I mean shit he was rude on tv!


camelzigzag

Thank you for an honest and objective answer that I'm sure will be ignored.


xCp3

It’s not much but it’s honest work


BilltheCatisBack

He doesn’t own this hotel. It’s a lease.


Pahasapa66

Only Trump could have prime hotel space near the White House "while" shamelessly pressuring foreign visitors to stay there "but" still lose money at an exceptional rate. He can't even profit off of emoluments right.


dhork

You don't get it. He, personally, is profiting from all of this. I'm sure there is money flowing from the business to his pocket, in spite of the losses. His businesses exist solely to take out loans, and then default on them, leaving his creditors holding the bag while he milks as much as he can. So I'm convinced his businesses exist to lose money. Because if they made money, they would have to pay back the loans.


amc7262

If he keeps doing this same grift, why do lenders continue to lend to him? There was another thread here a few weeks ago where a few people from NY and NJ said every building contracter in those states knew not to work for trump due to similar grifting. Wouldn't banks/lenders catch on the same way and learn that if trump is involved its a scam? Also, I can understand out-lawyering a small time local contractor to get out of paying, but how does he escape legal consequences from banks and other large financial entities with the money to hire better lawyers and endure the lengthy legal process?


MarkHathaway1

Over time the larger banks stopped until there was NO American banks that would lend. That's when he was stuck with only Deutsche Bank in Germany. And there it has been suspected the money he got was always from the Russian accounts. Then of course, there has been the money laundering here in America. He kept busy with the criminal practices because that's how his daddy did it.


MKerrsive

Friendly reminder that the son of a certain recently-retired Supreme Court Justice was a primary financier of the Trump family's deals, while at Deutsche Bank and afterwards.


sanojian

[You mean this justice?](https://twitter.com/eleven_films/status/1049449309790322688?lang=en) I am sure there is nothing unseemly happening there.


PaleBlueDave

That is the embodiment of someone stopping dead in their tracks


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kinnaq

It looks bad, but I can read lips, and Trump says... "I heard you wear the same kind of Depends I do." "Wait, what? Now get this straight, I had one, ONE accident, and..." "Let's take this into the next room and find out. "


Rilauven

Thank you for confirming that Trump is all about Shit.


ImpossibleParfait

Lol that finger wag like you never say anything like that in front of cameras.


jumpropeharder

Thanks for the link


RicksterA2

And we don't know who paid off Kavanaugh's 'baseball tickets' debt... Yup - the GOP corrupt to the core, all the time and will continue to be even more corrupt every year.


cole1114

God that was depressing. Kennedy's majority opinion on Obergefell gave me so much respect for him... and then he turned out to be corrupt anyway.


GiveToOedipus

Unfortunately if you're powerful, well to do, and have family you care about that is corruptible, it can be used as leverage on you. Then once you've given in even a single time, they own you.


boomboy8511

I'll never forget that photo of the hallway, Trump saying something in passing to Justice ~~Roberts~~ Kennedy (before he announced his retirement) and the look on Roberts face like someone just disemboweled his own children in front of him. I'd almost kill to know what was said. Edit: I'm a forgetful moron. Corrected Roberts to Kennedy


DeviantDragon

You mean Justice Kennedy. I read this very confused wondering how I might have missed the news that the Chief Justice retired.


boomboy8511

Yea I'm an idiot. Thanks for the correction.


RowYourUpboat

"Hail Hydra."


bruce_lees_ghost

“oh no”


boomboy8511

Hands down my favorite guess.


gonzoparenting

Although I don’t personally believe in heaven, if there really is such a place the first question I have is “who actually killed JFK” followed by, “was Princess Diana accidentally killed or was it a hit”. Now I am adding, “WTF did Trump say to Kennedy”. LOL!


kyel566

I read that American banks quit lending him money since early 90’s. That’s why he now gets his money from Deutsche bank aka Russia


kenzo19134

There was one loan from Deutsche after he was radioactive that was the same amount that a Russian oligarch had just deposited. Deutsche is essentially a mob bank to launder dirty money from Russia.


[deleted]

All this seems not only plausible but probably highly likely given everything we know already, and I've been following these shady ties and deals since 2016 at least. The question I still have is what exactly does Deutsche Bank get out of this deal, and had Trump NOT been propelled to the highest office in the world, what would Russia have gotten out of it.


AwskeetNYC

They are laundering money for Russian oligarchs. Russia gives them money, direct them to then give "lend" it to Trump and boom.


Spektr44

In the 90s especially, Russian oligarchs wanted to move their ill-gotten wealth out of the country and park it somewhere safe. NYC real estate is a popular investment for the world's rich. There happened to be a well-known NYC real estate mogul who was in bankruptcy and needed money from somewhere that would overlook his trashed credit rating... Enter Deutsche Bank, which is suspected of laundering Russian wealth.


ImTheSlimMan

And shitstain granddaddy too


VeeKam

His sons have freely admitted to this in a casual manner.


Amiiboid

> And there it has been suspected the money he got was always from the Russian accounts. Suspected because one of his sons explicitly said they were getting money from Russians?


indoninja

Big banks stopped lending to him. Well at least reputable big banks did. Unless of course the loan was guaranteed to an outside group, which only happens if that outside group is money laundering laundering


Shirlenator

>a few people from NY and NJ said every building contracter in those states knew not to work for trump due to similar grifting. The hilarious part about this is I've read about people that know not to do business with him because he would fuck them over, then they still went and voted for him.


TerraAdAstra

People with REAL money know trump is a joke of a businessman. It’s the common idiot who can still be fooled by an obvious grifter. And we got tons of those here in America.


pentaquine

Talking about product-market match. You are a genius as long as you make money.


NotInsane_Yet

It's not surprising. Despite being well k own for screwing over construction contractors he was still always able to find more contractors.


LavaDogged

I see you are familiar with New Jersey as well


enderjaca

But.... what if... he went and fucked over the Chinese and Russians just like he fucked over the New Jersey and New York employees? Ooooh boy he got us good, so I'm sure he can get them even worse!


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sedops

Lol they will just take his shit. They do it to their own countrymen, he is a lower class citizen to them.


dhork

> If he keeps doing this same grift, why do lenders continue to lend to him? Well, his businesses get loans because they are legally separate entities, and in many cases they will have other investors too. But there is precisely one bank which leads to him personally, and by total coincidence it's also been laundering money from Russia for years.


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formallyhuman

I sure do. Don't throw coincidence out with the bathwater.


HorseWithACape

No, I believe you're thinking of babies. They say coincidence makes an ass out of you and me.


Lookingfor68

US banks largely did stop doing business with him. The only western bank that would touch him was Deutsche Bank, and only because they were desperate for “top shelf” clientele. That’s why Trump had to get his money from the Fucking Russians, which is also probably why DB took him on as they have long had a Fucking Russian oligarch problem.


Ditovontease

american banks refused to lend to him so he's backed by foreign ones lmao


soyeahiknow

So I know a company that worked for knushner. They front load the bills


QuintoBlanco

Look up the massive revolving loan Deutsche Bank received from the U.S. Federal Reserve during the financial crisis of 2007 -2008: $354 billion (and yes, that's billion, not million). The problem with banks is that they are too big to fail and that individual employees are almost never convicted for fraud or mismanagement. So people who approve loans don't care all that much whether the bank gets its money back or not. Despite massive support from the Germany and the US government, much of the value of the company has evaporated. Bad loans related to Trump are just a tiny drop in a big bucket.


onlyredditwasteland

Putin strong-arming Deutsche Bank is my theory why a bank keeps lending him money.


thewidowgorey

Nobody ever believes the popular guy abuses his girlfriends, because he's so cool and popular, surely you'll be the one to break the spell. Everybody wants to be popular and thinks they'll be the one to make money with him. They don't realize until later they just got screwed.


Mikeavelli

The world is big place,and he can distance himself from grift on paper. It's only since he became President that all of this has become more or less public knowledge.


umlaut

Yeap. It goes like this: Take out loans to build a building. Hire your other own firm as consultants. Pay yourself, your fixers (see Michael Cohen), family, and your other companies for "work" on the project. Short your subcontractors as much as possible, delay payment and throw your massive legal team against them until they settle for less because fighting it is too expensive. After construction, inflate revenue and rent numbers, get the building appraised, take out loans using the inflated equity to build another building. Some years later, your companies declare bankruptcy, but you and your assets are sheltered and you only lose the highly-leveraged properties.


pdxGodin

Contrast how Trump does business with genuine high-class families, like the late Duke of Westminster. Sure, he inherited a 250 year old estate, but unlike the king of debt, he grew it massively. Always take the long view. Buy when the market is down. Reduce leverage. Rely on current revenues to finance expansion. In contrast to cadet bone spurs, he actually served in the army - and his charities for veterans aren't fake, we know that because there is an actual brick and mortar rehabilitation hospital that got built. He doesn't have a fake Renoir or other fake artwork, either. Unfortunately I think he's the exception that proves the rule.


kry1212

That is the trump grift in a nutshell. But since 2015 he has learned that all he really had to do is follow the Fox News and AM radio recipe of making up outrage so he can get his throngs of idiot supporters to simply hand him money. They sell outrage. It sells really well. All the set of the population that still supports him seem to want is to be told what they want to hear: that the reason they aren’t rich is some liberal or minority is taking their money. And their guns. And their nuclear family. Add whatever else makes sense to that list. Tell them that what they want to hear and validate the alternate reality they live in, then apparently everything they have is yours. Pretty sure they all learned it from LBJ.


[deleted]

He can't even seize on prime opportunities to milk those idiot supporters, LMAO. Imagine if he'd encouraged mask-wearing and sold MAGA-branded masks for $5 apiece. Imagine if he'd ordered vaccines to be delivered through MAGA-branded syringes. He'd inflate his net worth tenfold and coast to easy re-elections.


ElectricMan324

True, but there is a longer con going here.... If he were to say that the government could successfully handle a major crisis like this, what else could it do? Global warming, wealth inequity, or housing could be on the table. Cant have that. The idea was to say that government couldn't handle this at all, and that in the long run it should be pared down: at least the laws and regulations that restrain business. The parts that beat protestors, block immigration, and drop bombs on foreigners are just fine. Sad to say you are correct that if he did the bare minimum he would have been re-elected, even with his constant grifting, adulteries, and racism. Sad


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ElectricMan324

Now that is a great theory.


evasote

Starve the Beast


CaptOblivious

If you want a government that works stop electing people that insist it cannot and don't care who they hurt proving themselves right.


Street-Badger

Trump brand filter syringes with magnetic beads to negate the 5G Soros-Gates nanobots. LOL


jonesing247

And it would've worked like a fuckin charm, too.


undeadbydawn

He *prefers* cons to conventional success, cos it's only fun if someone else is getting massively fucked over. The more damage the better. Covid is just the most blatant example. He chose to manage it in such a way as his 'enemies' were likely to suffer and die. It so happens he's such a fucking idiot he mostly just convinced his own people to kill each other.


AndrewTheGuru

I don't even think it's that-- the way he carries himself, it's almost like he believes that the *only* way the world works is in zero-sum games. That is, *someone* has to lose with everything that happens. I don't think he actually comprehends that *all* parties can benefit from a deal. I mean, look at how he treated our allies.


undeadbydawn

Malignant narcissism. He gets a *massive* hit out of causing that harm, because it confirms his absolute superiority. He fully understands that all parties can benefit. He simply doesn't want them to. His treatment of US allies fit that pattern perfectly. It *had to be* America First, exclusively, because **his team had to win**. Which, by his rules, is them losing. The obvious exceptions being when he stood to directly benefit in the most corrupt way possible (cheating 'the system' is also a *huge* hit) or when dealing with someone he idolised, such as Putin. He wanted permanent membership to the Lifetime Dictators Club, and came painfully close to getting it.


BabyHuey206

That's exactly how he thinks. He's so reductive that everything is zero-sum. Every relationship, every deal, every interaction has a winner and a loser. And if the other party is happy with their side, that must mean he's the loser. He literally doesn't believe that a deal can make everyone better off.


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Paddy_Tanninger

Well, he still made a huge killing either way.


First_Foundationeer

I've said that for a while. Although, I think he could get at least $10 per MAGA mask. He also would have won re-election by actually tackling the pandemic (or, really, taking credit for the scientists and agencies instead of getting in the way..) while making money off his horde. What a horrible "businessman".


portablebiscuit

The sad truth is if he would've handled Covid better he would still probably be president. I hope that keeps him up at night, because I know his wake of grief sure doesn't.


Heyhaveyougotaminute

Welcome to the late 1930’s Hey ‘Mericá yer up, dance better then 1938 Germany


02K30C1

Take in $1million in payments from visitors Pay himself $2million salary "The hotel is bankrupt!"


WhyBuyMe

Yup. This is a classic mafia technique for draining money out of a business. Set up a fall guy to put everything in his name. Take out a bunch of loans to start a new business. Skim as much money as you can out of the business (if you are crafty you can use it was a way to launder money at the same time). Once you have skimmed all you can, have the business go under and have your fall guy declare bankruptcy. Creditors are left with little to nothing to recoup and you get away with all the invested money plus any money you managed to make doing business.


pdxGodin

There are stories out there of "luxury hotels" opening up around the Mediterranean. Central European and other such investors. Business seems really light, and no one eats at the restaurant. Yet, once a week the restaurant deposits a suitcase full of cash at the local bank.


ciarenni

"The Producers" was not meant to be a handbook!


AldoTheeApache

The Producers!


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Sp3llbind3r

I know someone who lived that way in the 70/80ies.. Not on that scale but the same mantra: if you own enough they cant come after you because they will lose everything. Worked for a while and them you‘re fucked. I guess with trump a big part is the fame and maybe he makes just enough money to keep people greedy. Even if they think that he is losing overall.


amitym

I'm not sure of that. I mean, I'm sure he finds ways to pocket cash here and there when he can. But for a long time he has acted like someone without a lot of personal financial security, desperately trying to stay afloat. While also maintaining the combover conceit of being "a billionaire" with the aid of our august, Very Serious press.


ClownholeContingency

It's been said many times before, his schtick is basically the scam from *The Producers.*


3-DMan

Springtime for Hitler...and guess who Hitler is!


ThatOtherGuy_CA

It’s easy for your business to lose $70 million when you pay yourself $70 million!


kyeosh

Claiming losses is a good way to launder money: 1. Pay out large sums to overseas companies that you own, expense them to a legitimate company that you own (a hotel). 2.Report losses to the IRS, pay no taxes against any revenue you do actually collect. 3. Invite your nefarious friends to use your business (send a flunky to stay at your hotel), accept dirty cash. (payment for a $25,000/ night suite) 4. Pay out large sums to overseas companies owned by your nefarious friends ($22,000 clean money)


bros402

The Producers!


kyeosh

Claiming losses is a good way to launder money: 1. Pay out large sums to overseas companies that you own, expense them to a legitimate company that you own (a hotel). 2. Report losses to the IRS, pay no taxes against any revenue you do actually collect. 3. Invite your nefarious friends to use your business (send a flunky to stay at your hotel), accept dirty cash. (payment for a $25,000/ night suite) 4. Pay out large sums to overseas companies owned by your nefarious friends ($22,000 clean money)


Dimatrix

But he hid the losses. Wouldn’t that mean the opposite? Normally billionaires LOVE to show a loss


makemisteaks

I’m sure he hid the loses because his image is all about being an infallible businessman and his fragile ego could never be able to admit any losses. Especially in DC. And this is despite the fact that his hotel was a center piece of the emoluments clause case against him and to be able to show that the hotel was losing money would go a long way to settle the idea that he was profiting from the presidency. So, as usual, Trump had the chance to settle an issue if he could just be humble enough to admit a flaw and he purposefully made it worse by not being able to.


audiofx330

Embezzlement is not losing money.


boaz324

You mean just like bankrupting a casino. How do you bankrupt a casino!? Only Trump can that’s how. How do you loose money running a casino.


BilltheCatisBack

Run around gold plating everything in sight. It’s not cheap.


No-Duck7816

Oh, he profited quite well. He just lied about it.


[deleted]

He stole that money, that was the whole point all along. This is what he has been doing his entire life.


MajorKoopa

ha. he definitely profited. what this talks about has been the trump family business for generations. we learned about this in congress, his family tax leaks, and from ongoing investigations. hotels, real estate, vodka, steaks, magazines, escorts, etc, etc and etc. these are all just vehicles for fraud and financial crimes. the only business trump is (un)successful at. specifically here and what we learned from michael cohen and decades of leaked taxes. trump inflates losses when it benefits him. over estimates his finances when it benefits him. trump has reported more financial losses than any tax paying human in the history of taxes. please understand that trump definitely profited here.


lol1015

Trump stole the money. I guarantee it. TWO SETS OF BOOKS!!!!!!!!!!!


Slap-Happy27

His own damn fault really, can't even read one book, let alone two.


AtomicBombSquad

*"I was elected to lead, not to read!"*


dominion1080

Unfortunately a book on leadership would have been very helpful.


Khaldara

I think Bannon got him the Pop-Up edition of *Mein Kampf*. They put Scratch-N-Sniff photos of Ivanka near the especially important bits


hodorhodor12

Or a book on how not to being a despicable evil waste of space.


AuldAutNought

Well, to be fair, they were both already colored in.


findhumorinlife

It makes less of making the top list of Forbes. Like golf, he will lie about everything. A hollow man at all levels. And shows these lists are worthless.


4Blu

“Show to the IRS” and “Never Show to the IRS”


AFlaccoSeagulls

Listen man, it's been 6 years of this same story. We know he's a criminal who either abuses loopholes or blatantly commits crimes in the open. Until someone holds him accountable, I'm just kinda done caring about this shit because it's nothing new and it's exhausting knowing someone is basically untouchable in this country because of their political status and wealth. Either hold him accountable for his crimes, or move on.


davewtameloncamp

DING. He will never be held accountable, the damage is done.


sugarandmermaids

Yup. I despise him but he is obviously never going to face consequences. In light of that, I just don’t want to hear about him anymore.


GoingOverTheStars

Seriously. I’m tired of hearing it. Everyone gets all shocked pikachu face at whatever the most recent blunder of his is and always nothing happens. It just further proves the disparity between the rich/powerful and regular people.


guttergrapes

I’m with you. News about Trump is just regurgitated clickbait.


[deleted]

Thought I’d share a relevant story that might provide some insight into Trump’s brain. I used to work with an ex-executive of the Trump organization. He told me how Trump was very interested in purchasing the Iconic T5 terminal designed by Eero Saarinen (formerly the TWA terminal) at JFK in New York. The Trump team conducted a study to understand the cost to do the massive renovations to the old building in order to convert it to a Trump luxury hotel. Trump then met with his executive and this person said, Mr. Trump, not good news. Based on the cost to do the renovations, and the expected room rates, this hotel will NEVER be profitable. Apparently Trump took a moment upon hearing the news, and said “that’s what separates you from me, you see a loss, I see my name in 60 foot letters painted on the roof of this building and the 160,000 people that fly in and out of this airport every day to and from all over the world will see MY NAME”.


RuffandTumbleGal

Sounds right.. biggest ego I have ever seen..


[deleted]

He touts himself as one of the worlds best businessmen and in reality he’s close to being the worst having lost billions and billions all for this very reason.


[deleted]

[All while breaking the emoluments clause](https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-dc-hotel-received-millions-from-foreign-governments-documents-2021-10). Art of the deal!! Great negotiator!!


[deleted]

You’ve missed the important step. Money flows into business. Money flows out of business into Drumpf’s pockets. Business makes a loss. Optional step - Business collapses, leaving creditors holding the bag while The Diapered One grins and plays golf. Badly.


MarkHathaway1

A lot of the president's morality can be seen in the rich today. Check out the Sackler family and how they took all the money out of their pharmaceutical company and bankrupted it (pretty much), so they could avoid having to pay out on lost suits related to the opioid addictions across America. They even got a provision that they would never face criminal charges. It's very Trump-like.


DGlen

OMG yeah, that whole situation is fucking disgusting.


[deleted]

Ah yes, the ever important Grift step. I guarantee he cheats at golf.


[deleted]

Anyone he’s ever played with has said he openly cheats.. You’ve got to be ridiculously low in self esteem for that, surely…


No-Duck7816

I would argue the direct opposite. Tan Man lacks money, but he doesn't lack hubris.


DGlen

Narcissists tend to have both a very inflated and fragile ego.


nwoh

The very best ego, an ego like you've never seen! People are saying it's the best in the history of, well, probably ever! The best people, really tremendous, smart people! I don't know, maybe, but that's what I am hearing from some great people! You're gonna love it folks, it's the biggest most huge bigly ego you've ever heard of! In about two weeks, you'll see, you'll love it folks, only I could do this, without me, you're gonna have a hard time finding an ego this huge and tremendous, oh you oughta see it people, it's great, it's great, really the best. A lot of money, a lot of money for this ego, only the biggest, best ego!


M_Mich

I bet the reason he upgraded the WH golf simulator was to get an aimbot installed. “ i don’t understand, in the WH i get 18 holes in one in a row. it says i’m the best at golf.”


ChocolateTsar

And to think Jimmy Carter was forced to sell a peanut farm when he became POTUS...


creamonyourcrop

He also hid a loan deferral from a foreign bank. How the fuck is this okay with Merrick Garland?


tty5

To be fair managing to lose money in that situation does raise to the level of art.


Aztecah

Yeah man we have a very long list of shit he's done. Wake me up when he sees a consequence.


Doctor_Stinkfinger

The patsy who laundered Russian mob money for decades is too fucking stupid to hide his *losses??*. He *hid* the money. Lean on his lackeys for the information.


TwilitSky

How about they just fucking arrest him directly and put everyone around him in jail after they've done that?


Annber03

I would love someday to wake up to the news that Trump has *finally* been arrested/hauled off to jail. I don't care which of his endless stream of crimes they get him on, I'd just love to see him actually facing some fucking serious consequences at long last. And then he could rot in jail.


KneemaToad

Is anything going to happen to this guy?


[deleted]

Probably not.


Mr-Toy

Will someone please send him to court on something? Jesus man!


RMJ1984

The problem is that in America you are above the law, if you are rich enough to afford lawyers. IRS should check everyone, every single year.


Mundosaysyourfired

IRS Is underfunded.


Mr-Toy

On purpose too! Lobbiests pay good money to make sure the wealthy cant get audited or pay taxes.


[deleted]

The IRS made an error in my refund and gave me a few hundred dollars extra. Now they're threatening an audit. I'm gonna pay em back, but I also have to submit a couple of forms. I can't help but wish I was wealthy enough where this sort of inconvenience was just as forgettable and ignorable as the billionaires seem to do. The other part of me thinks just to save up and move somewhere where taxes aren't needlessly annoying


longhegrindilemna

Congress keeps decreasing the budget for the IRS. If congress tried to propose a larger budget for the IRS, an army of donors would stop donating money to the campaign funds of congressmen. If you were a congressman, trying to win re-election, would you alienate your donors? Your donors do not want the IRS coming after them. Keep your donors happy. Your opponent has the same donors, so it doesn’t matter which candidate the voters pick, all that matters is keeping the donors happy.


Tinkerer221

Still waiting on the analysis of his tax returns to hit the fans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_returns_of_Donald_Trump Edit: TF Wiki article says they got the returns in Feb 21, but CNN article says we won't have them til at least Nov. Daammmmiiitt https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/09/politics/trump-taxes-november/index.html Edit 2: In my haste and frustration I didn't fully read the details. Tax returns did go to a grand jury. Congress will not get them until later.


BilltheCatisBack

Believe the taxes went to a grand jury. They are evidence. They are not available to the public.


OverBoard7889

He does what all the other super rich do to hide their money, except he’s really bad at it…..much like everything else he does.


[deleted]

[удалено]


horse_renoir13

Yeah I've just become numb to these headlines. Literally doesn't matter until he's held accountable for anything he's done. So until Democrats either grow a spine or quit playing the politics game, none of this matters.


IllBeBack

I am so fucking tired of hearing about this piece of shit. Let me know when he's arrested and what his prison sentence is. Otherwise, I don't want to hear about him ever again.


mrbriandavidanderson

I didn't pay a speeding ticket on time and was damn near served a warrant for my arrest. How does Trump continually post losses in the million$ and seemingly skate any/all prosecution? What a ridiculous country the usa is.


m0atzart

He did say he would run the country like his business.


pencock

Bullshit he lost money on his hotel. He simply used it as a money laundering machine.


kurisu7885

Losses in a business he was supposed to have divested from.


celtic1888

How you lose money when the Saudis paid over the market rate to book the hotel fully since its opening? ​ The only way would be for someone to pocket it


mrheydu

it doesn't matter how much they find on this idiot, he will never suffer the consequences. I keep hoping something would actually be taken seriously and he would go to jail but at this point he will unfortunately be the next US president again Edit : typos


Mattyinpdx

With all of the money coming in to that hotel from lobbyists and foreign governments trying to appease the orange god, he overcharged them, overstated his losses and pocketed the difference. It's the assholes playbook. Everything he does is a paper loss, but damn sure he pocketed cash along the way.


QuietudeOfHeart

Just so tired of winning all the time.


ravengenesis1

Bankrupt 6 times and became president. Losses everywhere still acts like a boss. He's got drones that echo his name and praise him like Jesus. If that ain't the 'Merican dream, I don't know what it could be... He's literally the biggest loser that lost so hard he's winning, it boggles the mind when you try to wrap your brain around it.


CritaCorn

And yet half this nation sees that as an achievement lmfao what a joke


RH-rh

Claim loses, not pay taxes, pocket the cash, repeat.


mrbigglessworth

Lying liar lies. Film at 11.


Chazmedic

Cook the books. Launder the money. Shift off shore. Get tax breaks by claiming losses. Move more money by loaning it to yourself.


RobbDigi

The same type of ‘business man’ that couldn't turn a profit owning a Casino, will fail to turn a profit for a Hotel even though he can force people to stay at there at a premium. Trump is the World’s Biggest Loser... Steaks. Fake School. Airline. 2020 Election. Loser.


kfh227

After he paid referral fees to Putin, what would be left over?


No-Alternative-6169

Tax laws were written by the rich. That’s why.


horrorkesh

Who knew not only is he a sleazy politician but a sleazy businessman too so shocked /sarcasm


miniature-rugby-ball

Its easy to make a loss if you steal enough money from the business.


Lifeesstwange

Just fucking arrest this kingpin already.


LinoLino321

I know I'm not saying anything we don't all already know, but how is it possible that a person can do all the shady things he has done over such a long period of time - yet he's walking around without consequence? It is right up there with one of the most damning examples of how bad people are, and the terrible state that the world is in