Donald trump
A Lifelong Huckster
Quotes
Second campaign….Coming SOOn
the in-between 2020-2024…..coming soon
first term…..coming soon
first campaign
June 16th, 2015: Trump announces his candidacy
Trump campaign paid actors to cheer his candidacy announcement
A few of the opening lines from his announcement speech, “Wow. Whoa. That is some group of people. Thousands”, “This is beyond anybody’s expectations. There’s been no crowd like this”, “And our real unemployment is anywhere from 18 to 20 percent. Don’t believe the 5.6. Don’t believe it.”.
Please, read the whole fucking speech here, it’s truly unhinged, he used it to launch the “MAGA” slogan, which grifters have used to make millions
From his speech: "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best ... They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with them. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists.”
Trump begins his lies about the border wall and that Mexico will pay for it. "I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me”
June 2015: In response to Trump’s comments about Mexicans, Univision announces they are no longer broadcasting Miss USA and Miss Universe, which Trump co-owns.
In response to Univision dropping the pageants based on racist rhetoric from him, Trump brings a $500 million lawsuit against Univision(lifelong tactic of Trump, that he really isn’t even good at) that is eventually settled in 2016
July 2nd, 2015: In an interview with Don Lemon on CNN, Trump doubles down on the Mexican immigrants are rapists rhetoric
Trump cites an article in Fusion that stated 80% of female migrants were sexually assaulted at some point during their attempt to get to the US, saying, “Well if you look at the statistics of people coming, you look at the statistics on rape, on crime, on everything coming in illegally into this country it’s mind-boggling!”
Lemon fact checks him, stating those aren’t stats on illegal immigrants committing rape or any other crime, to which Trump responds “Well, somebody’s doing the raping, Don! I mean somebody’s doing it! Who’s doing the raping? Who’s doing the raping?”. There are absolutely no facts or data shared by Trump at any point in the interview nor during his entire campaign to prove the racist claims he is making.
July 2015: Trump lies about his net worth, claiming $10 billion, even though Forbes, with over 80 sources and deep investigation, came up with $4.5 billion
July 2015: Trump sensationalizes the death of Kate Steinle, against her brother’s wishes, as rhetoric against illegal immigrants for his campaign
August 2015: Trump claims to be only self-financing his campaign, though this is not true; Make America Great Again PAC, affiliated with top Trump campaign officials shutters in October 2015 after exposure by WaPo
September 2015: Trump begins his conspicuous worship of Vladimir Putin, which will continue throughout the campaign and after. He calls him a “better leader” than Obama, and states “I wonder if he will become my new best friend”
October 2015: Trump hawks vaccine conspiracy theories about autism that have been systematically debunked
November 2015: Trump retweets a literally made up statistic on race and crime, and when asked about it later by Bill O’Reilly, he states “Hey, Bill, Bill, am I gonna check every statistic? I get millions and millions of people, @RealDonaldTrump, by the way.”
November 2015: Playing off of more race/religious/identity politics, Trump calls for a national database that all Muslims must sign up for to track them.
When asked whether Muslims would be legally obligated to sign into the database, Trump responded, "They have to be — they have to be." Later, Trump was repeatedly asked to explain the difference between requiring Muslims to enter their information into a database and making Jewish people register in Nazi Germany. He responded four times by saying, “You tell me.”
December 2015: Trump appears on Alex Jones InfoWars Podcast, the one now bankrupt after peddling the Sandy Hook False Flag conspiracy, to peddle himself to the far-right fringe conspiracists with his own conspiratorial bullshit about 9/11 and Hillary Clinton
Trump literally repeats conspiracy theories he hears from InfoWars podcast during his campaign
2015: Politifact names its “2015 Lie Of The Year”, and it is Donald Trump’s campaign in the year, with 76% of the 77 Trump statements noted to be lies. Some of the hits:
Grifting on the terror of 9/11: "I watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down," he said at a Nov. 21 rally in Birmingham, Ala. "And I watched in Jersey City, N.J., where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down. Thousands of people were cheering." There is no video of thousands of people in Jersey City cheering. Weeks later, Trump continues to stand by his claim but has not been able to point to evidence to back it up. Public safety officials on the ground in New Jersey say it never happened.
Drumming up white fear: "Whites killed by whites — 16%. Whites killed by blacks — 81%," said an image he shared on Twitter. The correct number for whites killed by whites was 82 percent in 2014, while the number of whites killed by blacks was 15 percent.
2015: Trump continues his grift regarding Obama with the racist birther conspiracy theory he started spouting in 2011. He won’t admit until Sept 2016 that it is a complete lie that he’s peddled for 5 years and allowed him to court votes from racists and conspiracy theorists
2015: The “flood the zone with shit” strategy implemented by Steve Bannon, worked very well in 2015, garnering Trump constant and free media attention at an exponentially higher clip than all other candidates
March 2016: Trump threatens to “spill the beans” on Ted Cruz’s wife, which is a way for him to claim infidelity or some other indiscretion without actually providing any evidence. He as well, just overtly called her ugly.
March 2016: On MSNBC interview, Trump says “there has to be some form of punishment” for women who have abortions.
He is unable to name a single possible idea as to what that punishment would be, emblematic of his half-baked misogynistic ideas and actions
He has been previously pro-choice, stating in a 1999 interview that he’s “pro-choice in every respect”, but now that he can grift the Republicans into being their nominee, he’s conveniently flopped
March 2016: Trump aid Corey Lewandowski charged with battery by female reporter, and even though there is indisputable video evidence, Trump suggests she fabricated the story, and says “Who said they were bruises from that? How do you know those bruises weren’t there before?”, in complete lockstep with how he’s treated and will treat women his entire life, as objects who make up lies to hurt men that abuse them.
June 2016: During an ongoing lawsuit against Trump “University” for systematically scamming and fleecing its students, Trump makes racist claims about a federal judge
He claims the judge overseeing had "an absolute conflict" in presiding over the litigation given that he is "of Mexican heritage" and a member of a Latino lawyers’ association, further saying "I’m building a wall. It’s an inherent conflict of interest"
From 2005 to 2010, Trump University swindled lower and middle class students out of their money until it was shut down. Trump fought the students until 2018, when they were finally awarded a $25 million settlement
August 2016: Trump says Hillary “wants to essentially abolish the second amendment”, which is a lie, and goes on to say “If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks…..Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don't know”. Suggesting possible violence against Hillary.
September 2016: Trump again endorses possible violence against Hillary from second amendment supporters, Speaking about Clinton’s secret service agents: "Take their guns away…. Let's see what happens to her. Take their guns away. It would be very dangerous." and telling his supporters that Clinton "wants to destroy your Second Amendment".
real estate/Business
The Self-made man grift
1968, Trump graduates college begins receiving today’s equivalent of $1.0 million per year from his father in un-taxed gifts, up to $5 million a year in his 40s and 50s. Trump claims he received only a “small” $1 million from his father in 1975 to start his career, the equivalent of $6.8 million dollars today.
He has repeated this grift ad nauseam during his presidential campaigns, trying to create the false illusion of a self-made man, who can use his experience to Make America Great Again. It is a fraud. A well researched and proven con.
Reporting shows that Trump actually received at least $60.7 million from his father in loans, over $140 million in today’s terms, much of it not repayed
It’s own massive fraud, in 1992, Trump, his siblings, and his father, Fred, set up a sham corporation, incorporating All County Building Supply & Maintenance (“All County”) making the children, including Donald, 20% owners, and allowing Fred Trump to transfer money tax free by having All County act as middle-man by buying supplies at regular rates and selling them to Fred Trump. In the process, All County greatly inflated the prices of these supplies, often with markups as high as 100%. So, why was Fred Trump buying these supplies just to sell them back to himself at even higher rates? The idea is that the purpose was to funnel money to his children, the owners of All County, while avoiding the 55% gift tax which he would have had to pay had he just handed the money over to them.
Estimates are that Trump received over $431 million(in 2018 dollars) from his father over the course of his life
Inherited $177.3 million, or $236.2 million in today’s dollars, when his father died in 2004
In July 2015, Trump states his net worth is $10 billion, when in reality it is estimated at $4.1 billion by Forbes(what do they know about wealth, though?)
Though he claims to be a business genius, his net worth would’ve been $10 billion more had he just invested in index funds instead of perpetrating his real estate scams
1969 - Trump invests somewhere between $50-70K in Broadway show Paris Is Out!. It is a failure.
1971 - Trump named president of The Trump Organization
1973 - Donald Trump accused by the Justice Department for violating the Fair Housing Act in 39 different buildings that he operates and oversees for discriminating against people of color, having superintendent write a “C” for colored on applications for tenants of color, and they would be told there were no vacancies, when simultaneously Caucasian applicants would receive housing
Trump’s lawyers file a $100 million dollar counter-suit that the federal judge called a “waste of time and paper”
Case is settled without requiring Trump to admit guilt, but required Trump Organization to overhaul their methods
Early example of Trump never admitting guilt, settling and moving on. How many times have we seen it since?
Regarding Trump’s lawyer, Roy Cohn, “When they met, Roy said to him, ‘You might be guilty; it doesn’t matter. Go after the Justice Department. Don’t ever admit guilt.’” - David Marcus, Cohn’s cousin
Trump back in court in 1978 for violating terms of 1975 settlement
Roy Cohn, Trump’s lawyer, was disbarred in 1986 for trying to steal from a client. Trump’s lawyers being disgraced will become a theme
1978 - Trump’s first major real estate deal in Manhattan, development of the Grand Hyatt Hotel
Trump received a $1 million loan from his father’s construction company as well as a $70 million loan jointly guaranteed by his father and the Hyatt chain
The hotel deal cost New York a fortune over the years
Trump threatened public officials when seeking the tax break for the hotel that swindled New York City out of revenue
1980 - Trump begins construction on Trump Tower, this requires the demolition of Bonwit Teller flagship store.
The demolition project included illegal Polish immigrants that were woefully underpaid and working in unsafe conditions
Trump Organization deliberately skipped payments, a theme for Trump during his career, and Trump threatened, through his own lawyer, to call the Immigration and Naturalization Service and have the workers deported when they asked for their earned wages
It took 18 fucking years of litigation with the Grifter for these workers to receive a settlement
1983 - Trump’s Failed Football team
Trump bought the New Jersey Generals for $9 million in 1983 in the United States Football League
This was a spring league, so as not to compete with the dominant NFL
Trump brags(you don’t say) that without him, the league would have died
Calling it the “NFL’s biggest fear", he persuades the other owners to move the season to the fall, seeking to force a “merger with the NFL”
This fails miserably, the owners lose a collective $200 million over three years, do not play a game in 1986. Many blame Trump.
1986 - Trump tries to take over two rival casinos(Holiday and Bally) by illegally buying up their stock
He is fined $750,000 for these illegal actions in a settlement with the FTC
Bankruptcy #1
1988 - Trump acquires and builds Taj Mahal Casino, opens in 1990 as the most expensive casino ever built at $1.1 billion. It requires $95 million a year just to pay the interest on the loans to build it(Shrewd business practice!)
Casino financed with $675 million in junk bonds with interest rate over 14%
In it’s first 3 months, the Taj loses $14 million
1991 Casino forced to file for bankruptcy after defaulting on a $43 million interest payment
The restructuring chapter 11 plan requires Trump to give away 50% ownership in the Taj to bondholders, as well as sell off assets, including a yacht
The deal was approved in August 1991, becoming the model for a string of Trump bankruptcies that would come the next year. In all these arrangements, the Washington Post wrote, “lenders were reluctant to confront Trump in bankruptcy court, where they would face years of delay and massive legal expenses,” so they cut deals that cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in the hopes of getting back anything meaningful at all.
The Taj breaks anti-money laundering rules 106 times in its first year and a half of operation in the early 1990s, having to pay the Treasury Department a $477,000 fine in 1998 without admitting any liability under the Bank Secrecy Act.
Trump still hasn’t paid the folks who built the Taj
2016, the Taj eventually closes and sells for 4 cents on the dollar. Trump, the mega-successful real estate tycoon
1989 - TRUMp’s failed bicycle race
The name?, you guessed it…..The Tour De Trump
Trump licensed his name to it and put up $250,000
Please watch the video
New York City Mayor Ed Koch boycotted the event, he called Trump “one of the great hucksters”. I feel ya, Ed.
Controversy embroiled the race as racers went off course due to poor signs marking the turns
Trump pulls his endorsement in 1990 because he needs money for other grifts
Dec. 1990 - Trump’s father tries to illegally bail out Donald
Fred Trump had one of his lawyers go to a Trump casino and buy $3.5 million in chips with no intention of ever cashing them out. Donald used this money immediately to pay off a loan.
The Casino Control Commission investigated this, found it illegal, and fined Trump Castle $65,000 for it
1991 - Trump enriches and works to facilitate the requests of the mob affiliate Robert LiButti, known associate of John Gotti,
Female workers and workers of color in Trump’s Atlantic City casinos removed from tables at request of LiButti, Trump Org fined $200,000 for violating state non-discrimination laws
The Trump Plaza gifted LiButti nine luxury cars, he exchanged these for a total of $1.65 million in cash. Because cash gifts from casinos to big clients were then illegal in the state, so the Trump Plaza was fined $450,000
bankruptcy #2
March 1992 - Trump Castle files for bankruptcy, after being unable to pay $41 million payment on the $338 million funding comprised of mostly high interest junk bonds
The corporate restructure sees Trump forced to give up 50% ownership of the casino
Somehow, Trump is able to manage a $1.5 million annual fee to manage the bondholders 50% equity
Bankruptcy #3
1992 - Trump Plaza Casino files for bankruptcy allowing him to escape $50 million in debt.
He had not defaulted on any payments for this one, allowing him to maintain full ownership
bankruptcy #4
1992 - Trump Plaza Hotel files for bankruptcy, unable to pay on its $550 million in debts
Per Mother Jones reporting, Citibank and other lenders took 49 percent of the hotel while installing new management and leaving Trump as a figurehead CEO
June 1995 - Trump takes Trump Plaza and turns it over, making it into a new company he calls Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts
He takes the new company public. This allows for investor capital raise of $140 million and allowed Trump to maintain control over his debt ridden enterprise
Within a year of going public, Trump uses the public traded company to buy his debt-ridden Taj Mahal casino and Trump Castle from himself.
Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts pays exorbitantly over the market value
With the purchase of the Taj and Castle, Trump is able to offload his personal debt burden in the casinos onto the public company and its stockholders
What a magnificent grift, using other people’s money to dig yourself out of the debt hole you created because you are shit at business and have no instinct.
bankruptcy #5
2004 - Trump Hotels and Casinos, under the leadership of Chairman Trump, goes bankrupt
The company has $1.8 billion in debt
The company, led by Trump, posted losses every year it existed
Trump himself made $82 million off of the company, including from acting as a “consultant” to the business that he owned
The restructuring sees Trump’s ownership dwindle from 47% to 27%
The stock price went from $35 to $0.17 over its course, destroying investors
If someone had invested $100 in the company in 1995, it would have been worth $8.72 in 2000. If they had put $100 in the S&P 500 in 1995, it would have been worth $232 in 2000
After restructuring, rebranded into Trump Entertainment Resorts and emerges in 2005 on a one-for-fucking-thousand stock split, peddling out 40 million new shares to defraud more investors
2005ish - Here’s a vodka Trump gives his name to and tries to peddle, Trump Vodka, check out the video.
It is unsuccessful. But we get more Trump and Mother Russia
2005 - The Trump “University” grift
In 2005, Trump founded and operated what he called Trump University, illegally, because it wasn’t one, and was required to change its name to Trump Education
Trump “University” claimed to give students the “secrets to real estate success”, claiming to offer “graduate programs, post graduate programs, doctorate programs”
From an actual “University” ad…..”He’s the most celebrated entrepreneur on earth. . . . And now he’s ready to share—with Americans like you—the Trump process for investing in today’s once-in-a-lifetime real estate market”. With a Trump quote, “I can turn anyone into a successful real estate investor, including you.”
Bait-and-switch scheme, offering free “seminars” where the “instructors” would peddle “one-year apprenticeships" at the educational institute cost $1,495, a "membership" over $10,000, and "Gold Elite" classes at $35,000
Instructors advertised to be “hand picked by Trump”…….they weren’t
Advertised that students would be taught Trump’s real estate secrets….they weren’t. But his secrets are just filing bankruptcy and dumping the debt on others while getting paid to manage the debt
Thousands of students filed suit against Trump U in 2013 that they were swindled and defrauded after being lured in by free seminars and told they would be taught by real estate gurus, here’s part of the complaint…”the contents and material presented by Trump University were developed in large part by a third-party company that creates and develops materials for an array of motivational speakers and Seminar and timeshare rental companies.”
Trump fought the suit, fought the working public that he hoodwinked, as he does, with his deep pocketbook and lawyers, from 2013 til 2016
In 2016, a settlement was finally awarded of $25 million, allowing all students involved to recoup 80-90% of their grifted funds
Trump’s new AG, Pam Bondi, appears to have been bought off to help cover up the scheme during her time as Florida AG
2005 - The ACN Grift
From 2005-2015, Trump was paid $8.8 million by ACN to promote multi-level marketing telecommunications company on DVDs, on his show, The Apprentice, and on ACN’s website.
In 2018, four investors in ACN filed suit for racketeering and fraud against Trump and his children, accusing the Trumps of not having disclosed that they were paid by ACN while promoting the company as a great investment
ACN appeared on The Apprentice multiple times
Trump and children deposed regarding this case in 2022, trial set for sometime in 2024
2007 - Trump promotes “Trump Steaks” in conjunction with Sharper Image(no, I’m not making this shit up). It died quickly, as you would guess.
bankruptcy #6
2009 - Trump Entertainment Resorts(TRE), the “phoenix” that rose from the ashes of Trump Hotels and Casinos, files for bankruptcy
Trump’s shares get further diluted to 10% and has to resign as chairman of the board
The company’s debt is $1.2 billion
Thousands of people lose their jobs due to Trump’s mismanagement
2009 - Trump, yes the morbidly obese man who eats only McDonald’s and drinks only Diet Coke, begins hawking a weight loss program that he licensed his name to called the Trump Network
Some of the product lines….”The Silhouette Solution”, and just for kids “Snazzle Snaxxs”
PLEASE watch the video
The company went bankrupt in 2013
2009 - Trump licenses his name to two Florida real estate projects that fail
The investors file lawsuits against Trump because he falsely claimed he was the project developer. Grifter
Trump has licensing deals like this in Tampa, Waikiki, Baja Mexico and Toronto that have all been litigated against
2011 - Trump Marina, formerly Trump Castle, sold by TRE for a tenth of what it was originally worth, now operates as the Golden Nugget
2012 - Trump owns 30% of Avenue of the Americas, it’s debt is refinanced with $211 million of it to the Bank of China
This was the first instance of a Chinese bank engaging in commercial mortgage-backed securities in the United States
THere’s plenty more grift to come after the start of his political career, we’re talking Bibles made in china, fooling bankers to get better loans, tax fraud, a social media fraud, a crypto scam, violations of emoluments clause…….
Quotes
On Global Warming: