Scathing court ruling on Donald Trump’s empire is a bitter blow to his successful tycoon persona
Scathing court ruling on Donald Trump’s empire is a bitter blow to his successful tycoon persona
The former president’s image has always been more about illusion than reality, though no revelation seems to shake the Trump faithful
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.
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Would have been a lot more of a blow to him if his crimes were tried in CRIMINAL court where such cases belong, for once!
He keeps being found guilty of crimes that would land someone less rich and powerful in jail for several years and getting only a fucking fine!
💀
I agree he should be in jail, but this is going to stop him from doing business in New York, where he built his empire and where a huge amount of his business is still done. So this hurts him even though it isn't criminal.
It won't hurt him other than financially and he'll just get loans from various corrupt foreign entities and donations from his cult following to cover it. What are they going to do, slap his wrist harder? 🙄
Hurting him financially is a good thing, isn't it? And not being able to do business in New York is a huge loss to the Trump family business. This isn't a small thing. This means they have to do things like unload Trump Tower. Without making a profit.
Hurting him financially is a good thing, isn't it?
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.
And not being able to do business in New York is a huge loss to the Trump family business.
Yes and no: the main family business is political grifting now, which much more than makes up for the loss
This means they have to do things like unload Trump Tower. Without making a profit.
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.
“It’s the corporate death penalty,” said Diana Florence, a veteran financial crimes prosecutor for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, now in private practice.
“This ruling essentially dissolves his company,” she said, though she predicted that years of appeals may pass before anything actually happens.
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 entire reputation on being a successful businessman.
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.
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.
It won’t hurt him other than financially
I promise you it will. Mar a Lago may be his home, but NY is his 'spiritual home' (if you can compare his lust for money and power to religious fervour).
Trump is incredibly thin-skinned. Being convicted of such large-scale fraud and banned from doing business in NY will be a massive blow to his giant ego. Further, angry people get sloppy and tend to make silly (sillier?) mistakes.
You know what would be a MUCH worse blow to his ego btw?
Several years of community service. Forcing him to be genuinely helpful towards those less fortunate than himself would be much worse for him than prison and would actually have him be a benefit to society for the first time in his miserable hyperprivileged life.
Agreed, but in life we don't always get what we want. I'm taking my usual approach with this trump saga... prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
I get what you're saying, but this is so close to nothing compared to the magnitude of his multiple crimes over the last 40 years or so that it might as well be nothing.
NY is his 'spiritual home'
Used to be, but now he despises it and the feeling is mutual.
Trump is incredibly thin-skinned. Being convicted of such large-scale fraud and banned from doing business in NY will be a massive blow to his giant ego
True, but so was being indicted at all. Hurting his fragile ego is a REALLY low bar when it comes to holding him accountable for his lifetime of crimes.
Further, angry people get sloppy and tend to make silly (sillier?) mistakes.
For which he'll ALSO get a slap on the wrist, if anything.
this assumes that the rich and powerful people they ripped off didn't have them dumped at sea, or in the hudson or buried into a concrete footing...
Far as I can tell, Trump is, regrettably, still on dry land and alive, so I don't really know what you mean..
the average person rips off a rich fuck, and it's very likely that they're dead. Trump is one of them. Or is perceived to be. different story for him, right?
Pretty much, yeah