Yesterday I posted a diary based on a wonderfully written ARTICLE upcoming in New York magazine that chronicled the true feelings of the closest campaign operatives and advisors on the Trump campaign, both past and present. The article was a treasure trove of information on the spirit and feelings inside the highest levels of the campaign. It was very well received, and I truly appreciate the support from da house.
With so many pearls of wisdom in the article, I had to cherry pick what I used in the diary. But in the comments, the incredible Catte Nappe reposted a part of the article that I had seen, but the importance of it didn’t register with all the other things to write on. When she isolated that section, it hit me like a hammer, so here we go.
We all know that we’re never going to see Trump’s tax returns. We never were, but it’s clear and simple now. But what about the personal cost that this campaign has had on Trump and his oh, so bright and shining empire? The Orange Julius may well have just given us a window into that subject, from his own flapping lips. To quote from the article;
While Trump recently told a donor that he estimates the campaign diminished his net worth by $800 million, he says the effect is only temporary. “He believes he’ll have a full restoration of that inside of a year,” the donor said. “His view is the American public has a two-to-three-week attention span.”
Now, you’re reading a guy who has to take his shoes off to count to twenty, and don’t even ask how I get to twenty one. Even I can decipher this. All recent information, which the media has been tracking closely shows that Trump is a liar. He swore he was going to fund his campaign with a minimum of $100M. With the $10M he just pumped in for advertising, he’s not even at $70M yet. How in the hell does that get him to $800M?!?
My best guess? He accidentally bared his soul to a fellow Fat Cat about what this race had cost his empire, about $730M. No wonder Ivanka is worried about the effect of his campaign on their eventual inheritance. But to make it all back up by the end of 2017?
How the hell does he do that? Scores of stores worldwide have already ditched his overpriced product lines in protest of his statements about Mexicans and Muslims. So, a couple of months from now they’re going to have buyers going back to Trump to stock up on his schlock? I don’t think so. They’ve already long ago replaced his overpriced shit with other, better quality stuff. Where is their incentive to pick him back up again? Besides, his stuff sells in higher end retailers, and the rich have a long memory. Stores won’t risk the backlash. And let’s not forget the steep possible fines and penalties in the Trump U and Trump charity cases.
His hotels and golf courses? Good luck with that. The PGA is not bringing their tour events back. National groups who moved or cancelled events at Trump venues will not be back quickly, his toxic cloud will last for a while, and it was most likely membership and public pressure that made them move in the first place. There has been widespread reporting about how both bookings and revenue are down almost system wide across the Trump empire. Rates are dropping, and his hotels have empty rooms when other luxury hotels are sold out for big local events. As I said earlier, the rich have long memories, and he made them all look like shit.
How about his vaunted real estate “branding”? Fuggedaboudit! Right now in New York, you have Trump “branded” buildings where the management company is pulling up the Trump logo lobby carpeting and replacing it with carpeting with the address on it. They’re measuring the employees for new uniforms that do not have the Trump name or logo on them. And in multiple buildings, residents are signing petitions calling for the property management company to pull his name off of the front of the buildings, they’re embarrassed to tell people where they live. Even his new hotel chain, one level below 5 star will be named “Scion”, the Trump name is too toxic.
When you look at it in the cold light of day, Trump’s overwhelming ego and desire for attention have come at a stiff cost. He won’t be a pauper anytime soon, but if he thinks he’s going to make up $800M in lost wealth in 1 year, he’s delusional. His vaunted “branding” will go down as more and more developers drop his name when the current contract is over with. And nobody reputable in this country will loan him a nickel for a new development.
The doomsday scenario for Trump would be if the banks made a sudden, massive salmon run for deeper water. His buildings are highly leveraged. If the banks all decide that they want their money back in a short period of time, it would be a personal version of the “Crash of ‘29”. There’s no way he could make all of those margin calls, for the first time in his life he’d have to file personal bankruptcy.
Thanks as always for reading, you are ALL the wind beneath my wings!
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