Mixing Business And Politics
Trump’s potential conflicts of interest were a prominent topic throughout his tenure from 2017 through 2020. As president, the enormous power he had at his command made it more important than ever to understand his long list of businesses and how they could intersect with his public role as president.
These conflicts of interest did not pose a legal problem for Trump. The president and vice president are explicitly exempt from ethics regulations concerning conflicts of interest.
There were other issues, though, such as the emoluments clause, which was written into the U.S. Constitution by the nation’s founders. The clause prohibits the president from accepting things of value from foreign governments.
Many critics say the emoluments clause applies to Trump in several respects. But none of the many legal cases alleging violations by the former president have been concluded, nor does it look like they will be in the near future.
He Holds His Partner Hostage
Trumps bankruptcies led to the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars by his lenders. Other businesses that are underperforming Theyve written off losses often and given Trump more credit because its better than liquidation.
A former chairman of New Jerseys casino commission, Trump was described as too big for failure Atlantic City: If his casinos had stopped operating, it could have devastated the local economy.
Lenders and gaming officials came up with ways to keep Trump in the game while decreasing his control over these businesses. This was so that he wouldnt be able to take over again.
Numerous Republican senators and members are now linked to Trump through the political equivalent of a bank relationship. In a bid to be the political leader, Trumps fellow Republicans gave their support.
They were also winning when Trump was winning. If Trump loses, many of them will follow him. This could result in Republicans losing Senate elections in Arizona, Colorado and Iowa as well as North Carolina and giving Democrats control of the Senate.
Democrats will also control the executive and legislative branches if Biden wins the White House in a sweeping defeat for Trump and his GOP allies.
The 3rd Windfall: The Presidency
A new revenue stream became obvious in The Times’ analysis of Trump’s tax documents: presidential visitors.
Trump’s “winter White House,” the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, pocketed an extra $5 million more off new members starting in 2015, and in 2017 the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association paid at least $397,602 to Trump’s hotel in Washington, DC.
Also, despite Trump saying he wouldn’t pursue new foreign deals as president, his first two years as president saw revenue from abroad reach $73 million.
My grandmother died in 2003, the same year Trump set a record by divesting his stake in the General Motors building for $1.4 billion. Trump had bought the building back in 1998 in partnership with Conseco, a financial-services firm. By the time they sold, Conseco was in bankruptcy, having “collapsed under the weight of its debt,” The Times reported.
”It’s a great building in a great location,” Trump said at the time. ”I did a great job in order to make it a great building.”
Trump put up just $11 million himself in the initial purchase of the building, The Times reported.
As for my grandmother, she never liked Trump. I remember asking her why, and she responded, “Because he’s a Democrat.”
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Payments Related To Alleged Affairs
Adult film actress Stormy Daniels has alleged that she and Trump had an extramarital affair in 2006, months after the birth of his youngest child. Just before the 2016 presidential election Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was paid $130,000 by Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen as part of a non-disclosure agreement , through an LLC set up by Cohen he says he used his own money for the payment. In February 2018, Daniels filed suit against the LLC asking to be released from the agreement so that she can tell her story. Cohen filed a private arbitration proceeding and obtained a restraining order to keep her from discussing the case. According to White House press secretarySarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump has denied the allegations.
In response, Trump said that he only knew about the payments “later on” Trump also said regarding the payments: “They didn’t come out of the campaign, they came from me.”
The Wall Street Journal reported on November 9, 2018, that federal prosecutors have evidence of Trump’s “central role” in payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal that violated campaign-finance laws.
Used Law To Protect Interests
Critics have cited the Trump corporate bankruptcies as examples of his recklessness and inability to manage, but the real estate developer, casino operator, and former reality-television star says his use of federal law to protect his interests illustrates his sharp business acumen.
Trump said in August 2015:
“I have used the laws of this country just like the greatest people that you read about every day in business have used the laws of this country, the chapter laws, to do a great job for my company, my employees, myself and my family.
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Trump Entertainment Resorts 2009
His most recent bankruptcy came in 2009, after the company missed a $53.1 million bond payment. That was pretty much the end of the road for Trump in Atlantic City. While his name remained on three casinos, he resigned from the board and gave up his remaining stake in the company.
“I had the good sense, and I’ve gotten a lot of credit in the financial pages, seven years ago I left Atlantic City before it totally cratered,” he said during the debate.
The two Atlantic City casinos that still had the Trump name filed for bankruptcy yet again in 2014. At the time Trump made sure people knew he was no longer running the company, and sued to have his name removed.
Lawsuits Over Congressional Subpoenas
In March 2019, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform opened an investigation into Trump’s finances, and issued a subpoena for ten years of his tax returns. Trump later sued the chairman of the committee, Rep. Elijah Cummings, seeking to quash the subpoena.
In April 2019, Trump sued Deutsche Bank, bank Capital One, his accounting firm Mazars USA, and House Oversight Committee chairman Elijah Cummings, in an attempt to prevent congressional subpoenas revealing information about Trump’s finances. On May 20, 2019, DC District Court judge Amit Mehta ruled that Mazars must comply with the subpoena. Trump’s attorneys filed notice to appeal to the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit the next day. On May 22, 2019, judge Edgardo Ramos of the federal District Court in Manhattan rejected the Trump suits against Deutsche Bank and Capital One, ruling the banks must comply with congressional subpoenas.
On 25 February 2021, the House Oversight Committee in the 117th Congress, reissued the subpoena to Mazars USA for the same documents it had previously sought.
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Trumps Rebound Story Meets Mounting Bankruptcies
It wont exactly be an October surprise, but it could still be a shock: a wave of business failures hitting during the campaign season.
Local business site Yelp found that 55 percent of the firms that closed during the worst of the pandemic beginning in March are now permanently shuttered. | Eric Gay/AP Photo
09/03/2020 04:30 AM EDT
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While President Donald Trump prepares to promote an economic rebound, a wave of business failures is set to tell another story.
Economic-relief money drying up in August and September will mark a final blow for some firms that had managed to hang on so far with government aid which now appears unlikely to be renewed for weeks, if ever. Cold weather and flu season could end outdoor dining, halt other indoor activities and contribute to Covid-19 outbreaks at workplaces. And economists expect weak demand and tight credit especially for smaller businesses to add to the tens of thousands of firms that have already collapsed amid the Covid-19 pandemic, while restraining entrepreneurs hoping to replace them.
All of it could complicate Trumps narrative of a robust American comeback. The president has been plotting a hopeful message since the depths of the pandemic this spring, but its increasingly at odds with the mounting toll of corporate bankruptcies and deepening wounds for small businesses still bleeding from the spring shutdowns.
POLITICO Dispatch: September 3
By BEN WHITE
- Filed Under:
The Backstory On Donald Trump’s Four Bankruptcies
NEW YORK — Donald Trump has never declared bankruptcy, but his businesses have — four times.
The real estate mogul, television star and Republican presidential frontrunner filed for corporate bankruptcy in 1991, 1992, 2004 and 2009. Three of the cases were related to his casino and hotel properties in Atlantic City, N.J.
And even though more than six years have passed since Trump had his last run-in with Chapter 11, it remains a touchy subject. Trump was quick to clarify at the Republican presidential debate hosted by Fox News in August that he had never filed for personal bankruptcy. Instead, he cast his moves as part of his solid business acumen.
“Out of hundreds of deals — hundreds — on four occasions, I’ve taken advantage of the laws of this country, like other people,” he said. “The difference is, when somebody else uses those laws, nobody writes about it. When I use it, it’s like, ‘Oh, Trump, Trump, Trump.’ The fact is, I built a net worth of more than $10 billion. I have a great, great company. I employ thousands of people. And I’m very proud of the job I did.”
A Trump spokesman said many of the filings occurred when Trump was no longer involved in the businesses, blaming them on the declining casino market in Atlantic City. “It’s not fair to judge anyone of his success, and the empire that he’s built, on a particular investment without also looking at all of the great success he’s had,” he said.
1991, Trump Taj Mahal
1992, Plaza Hotel
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Breach Of Contract Matters
2013
In 2013 Trump sued comedian Bill Maher for $5 million for breach of contract. Maher had appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and had offered to pay $5 million to a charity if Trump produced his birth certificate to prove that Trump’s mother had not mated with an orangutan. This was said by Maher in response to Trump having previously challenged Obama to produce his birth certificate, and offering $5 million payable to a charity of Obama’s choice, if Obama produced his college applications, transcripts, and passport records. Trump produced his birth certificate and filed a lawsuit after Maher was not forthcoming, claiming that Maher’s $5 million offer was legally binding. “I don’t think he was joking,” Trump said. “He said it with venom.” Trump withdrew his lawsuit against the comedian after eight weeks.
2014
2015
In 2015, Trump sued Univision, demanding $500 million for breach of contract and defamation when they dropped their planned broadcast of the Miss USA pageant. The network said that the decision was made because of Trump’s “insulting remarks about Mexican immigrants”. Trump settled the lawsuit with Univision CEO Randy Falco out of court.
Disputes with both chefs were eventually settled in April 2017.
Donald Trump The Businessman
Donald J. Trump, the nation’s 45th president, is unique among U.S. presidents in his connections to the business world. Certainly, there have been presidents before him who were businessmen: both George H.W. Bush and his son, George W., were in the oil business. Herbert Hoover was in mining and Warren G. Harding was in the newspaper business.
The difference is that every president before Trump had held one or more government positions before taking the office or had served as a general in the military.
This means that Trump’s business record and the performance of his companies were the public’s only basis for measuring his professional performance before he became president.
We know considerably more now, although there is still much to know. Here’s what we know, and don’t know, about Trump’s business dealings, his successes and failures, and his financial health as he left the presidency.
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Examining Donald Trumps Chapter 11 Bankruptcies
personal bankruptcyFact-checking claims about Donald Trumps four bankruptcies.Chapter 7Chapter 13Joel R. Spivack Esq. is an experienced bankruptcy attorney who specializes in helping individuals through personal bankruptcy. Contact him today to help you explore your legal options so that you can move on with your life and make a fresh financial start. Examining Donald Trumps Chapter 11 BankruptciesSpivack Law
‘keep The Donald Afloat’
” could have simply taken everything he had right then, but they wanted his cooperation,” said Lynn LoPucki, a bankruptcy expert and professor at UCLA Law School. “There’s that old saying, ‘If you owe your banks a little, you’re at their mercy. If you owe the banks a lot, the banks are at your mercy. They saw the best way for him to repay the money was to keep the Donald afloat.”
The Donald struck a deal with the banks to hand over half his ownership, and half of the equity, in the casino in exchange for a lower interest rate and more time to pay off his debt. He sold off his beloved Trump Princess yacht and the Trump Shuttle airplane to make his payments, and his creditors put him on a budget, putting a cap on his personal spending.
“The first one was a really big hit for him. They had him personally, and he ended up taking substantial losses in that bankruptcy. He also had the humiliation of having some bankers deciding how much money he could spend — the numbers are just astonishing — the amount of his monthly budget,” LoPucki said.
John Pottow, a bankruptcy expert and law professor at the University of Michigan, said banks would often agree to lose millions in reorganizations like Trump’s to prevent the massive losses they would incur if they foreclosed on the property.
“Banks will take considerable haircuts,” Pottow said. “It’s sort of like you have a sick patient so you cut off a couple toes to stop the gangrene. Now he’s missing a few toes, but he’s still alive.”
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Donald Trump Is The King Of Bankruptcy Filings Destroying Many Lives Along The Way
Donald Trump spewing his birther-crap again just for attention, is seriously defensive when asked about his bankruptcies over the past two decades. Trumps Taj Mahal Hotel was built by Trump selling bonds to raise over 800 million dollars, then declaring bankruptcy which turned the bonds into junk-bonds. For all of Trumps hyperboles about his riches, if you and I did what he has done we would be imprisoned for life years ago!
For legendary tycoons, Donald Trump tops the list, but how many times has Donald Trump filed for bankruptcy? The 90s recession wasnt picky about who it affected. Donald Trump felt the pinch as well. His decision to use high interest bonds to finance the assembly of the Taj Mahal casino caused life to get very stressful for the tycoon.
In 1991, unable to pay a $3.5 billion loan, he declared business bankruptcy. He also came close to filing personal ruin. At the time, his personal debt was estimated to be around $900 million. Due to the bankruptcy, banks and bondholders lost millions. They came to a compromise with Donald Trump. The banks gave him lower interest rates and a longer time frame to repay the debt and Donald Trump gave the investors half the ownership of the Taj Mahal. In mere months the casino was back in business.
Posted on: Apr. 23, 2010
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