Trump's money

[angrychair]

Is it real? That's the question. Why I don't question he has some wealth, I have serious doubts he is worth anywhere near what he claims.
The more stories that come out about land deals, name marketing and his "foundation", the more I lean towards the hypothesis that he is floating and shifting accounts in a type of Ponzi scheme.

The biggest "tell" to me that its a scheme is the fact he has not contributed to his own foundation in years yet he has taken from it to settle debts and make purchases. Why would a multibillionaire do such a thing? The fact is they would not. The amounts for these type of debts and purchases are as irrelevant as they are inconsequential for a multibillionaire. Even several million dollars sounds like a lot, it is, except for a multibillionaire. The fact he is using his foundation's money, funds he has zero investment in, as a resource, is more revealing than he understands at this point.

If they really want to put a person like tRump in their place, follow the money.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. If we follow Trump's money we find

- Trump bribed two Attorney Generals.

- Trump used charity foundation money for at least one bribe.

- Trump laundered taxable money through his non-taxable foundation.

- Trump used his foundation money for purchases personally benefiting himself.

- Trump broke US law to do business in Cuba in 1999 and then in 2000 publicly claimed he supported the law.

- Trump probably is beholden to Russian nationals for loans, which would explain why he is so chummy with Putin and Russia.

- Trump imports cheap labor from outside the country instead of playing by the rules and seeking US citizens.

- Trump imports cheap foreign made clothing for his branding.

[angrychair]

2. I agree

My working hypothesis is predicated on the belief that he is neck deep in debt to the Russian mob oligarchies, likely for decades, but that is a hard hypothesis to prove. I believe it's the only reason he is still in this race. Having a president in the back pocket of the Russian mob would be of great benefit to them and they don't care what it does to our country.

[edhopper]

7. you are probably right

to some extent.

Certainly he has gotten a lot of $$ from Russia.

[edhopper]

3. His worth

is mostly made up of real estate. Hotels, Condos and golf Courses. Those are volatile assets that can quickly turn in value below their costs. (and most are worth less than he claims) He is also a very minor owner of many of the properties he claims are his.

Contrary to his claims, he is highly leveraged.

[angrychair]

4. True

See my post #2 as well.

[spanone]

5. K&R...

[duncang]

6. Forbes listed it at a probable 3.7 billion

But some of the loans sounded like they were in the hundreds of millions range. And forbes didn't have that info. I don't know how much if any he still owes U.S. banks. Or how much he was or is in debt to the german banks, russian oligarch's, and I think there was rumors of even owing some in china. He could be upside down on his wealth. Having to pull around 25,000$ a month payroll each month from his campaign to me is telling. It does sound like he may have been taking out more loans to pay off or keep up on payments for previous debts. He is so happy talking about using other peoples money there may be a chance he has been running one long scam to keep up his life style.