May 10, 2019: Decade of Losses, King Of the Losers, Financially Embattled Thousandaire

Yesterday, The New York Times reported that from 1985 through 1994, our erstwhile business tycoon cum 'president' lost over a billion dollars. (1) In a front-page article, Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig tell us that:

“By the time his master-of-the-universe memoir 'Trump: The Art of the Deal' hit bookstores in 1987, Donald J. Trump was already in deep financial distress, losing tens of millions of dollars on troubled business deals, according to previously unrevealed figures from his federal income tax returns.

“Mr. Trump was propelled to the presidency, in part, by a self-spun narrative of business success and of setbacks triumphantly overcome. He has attributed his first run of reversals and bankruptcies to the recession that took hold in 1990. But 10 years of tax information obtained by The New York Times paints a different, and far bleaker picture of his deal making abilities and financial condition.

“The data—printouts from Mr. Trump's official Internal Revenue Service tax transcripts, with the figures from his federal tax form 1040 for the years 1985 to 1994—represents the fullest and most detailed look to date at the president's taxes, information he has kept from public view. Though the information does not cover the tax years at the center of an escalating battle between the Trump administration and Congress, it traces the most tumultuous chapter in a long business career—an era of fevered acquisition and spectacular collapse.

“The numbers show that in 1985, Mr. Trump reported losses of 46.1 million from his core businesses—largely casinos, hotels and retail space in apartment buildings. They continued to lose money every year, totaling 1.17 billion in losses for the decade.

“In fact,” continued Buettner and Craig, “year after year, Mr. Trump appears to have lost more money than nearly any other individual taxpayer. The Times found when it compared his results with detailed information the I.R.S. Compiles on an annual sampling of high-income earners. His core business losses in 1990 and 1991—more than $250 million each year—were more than double those of the nearest taxpayers in the I.R.S. information for those years.” (2)

The numbers give lie to the myth moving Tony Swartz, who wrote The Art of the Deal to say that the book should be reclassified as fiction. Indeed, Disgustus has again taken to Twitter tweeting that the Times piece was a 'hit job' . Disgustus, always playing the victim, finds himself turning The Art of the Deal into The Art of the Squeal.

Gail Collins, writing in today's Times was having none of it. Referring to the same article published in The Times yesterday, she observed that Disgustus “during his 'Art of the Deal' era...was pretty much the national champion for financial underachievers.” (3) Noting the years 1990 and 1991, she quipped : “well, you can't deny he was a record breaker.” (4)

Collins then went on to describe tRUMP as “a financially embattled thousandaire” to which she reported, “he took great offense”. (5) These were the same years, it should be noted that tRUMP biographer David Kay Johnston published an article in which he told the reader that he probably had more wealth than tRUMP. Disgustus brought legal action but Johnston demanded through legal 'discovery' that tRUMP demonstrate otherwise. The case was dropped.

“However,” observes Collins, “it's become increasingly clear that even the cynical version of Donald Trump as a businessman—undisciplined self-promoter who bought and sold things just to convince himself he wasn't a useless nothingburger living off his rich dad's money—was maybe an overestimation.

“Which can be sort of unnerving, given his current job.” (6) Indeed.

'An Br'er Putin he jus' laugh and laugh

Impeach and Imprison.

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1. Buettner, Russ., and Craig, Susanne. “Trump Tax Figures Show A Decade of Huge Losses; Core Businesses absorbed over $1 Billion in Red Ink From 1985 Through 1994.” The New York Times. Wednesday, May 8, 2019. Pages A1 & A14-15.
2. Ibid. Page A1
3. Collins, Gail. “Donald Trump, King Of the Losers” The New York Times. Thursday, May 9, 2019. Page A23
4. Ibid
5. Ibid
6. Ibid