the man made all of his money through debt maxing and then defaulting, dude is a conman, nothing else to it.
That and the apprentice, those are the only way he has ever gotten money.
So most billionaires have most of their wealth in stuff like stocks. They can theoretically sell the stocks to turn them into money, and then buy things, but they have so much stock and the things they want to buy are worth so much money that it’s easier and cheaper just to get a loan and spend that instead.
The thing is, Trump has been abusing creditors for his entire long life. Most banks like most billionaires because they make their payments on time, but Trump has not paid many, many people in his life, so much so that most major banks no longer do business with him, and haven’t since the 80s.
This is when Trump got involved with the Russian mob. They were willing to extend credit to him when no one else was, hypothetically because he was part of their money laundering operation. Regardless, Trump’s access to liquid wealth contracted over this period, and by the 2010s people were speculating that he wasn’t even a billionaire anymore.
So his revenue stream changed. He went from directly profiting from real estate and investments to, after many high profile failures, licensing his brand and selling himself. He had always been a bit of a celebrity, but this is when he started making money like one.
From there, shilling out ugly sneakers, overpriced trading cards/NFTs, and other crap basically became inevitable. His recent legal costs have only accelerated the process because he needs money now.
He’s a grifter no matter how much money he does or doesn’t have.
Also, the debate shouldn’t be if trump is or isn’t a billionaire. It’s if billionaires should even exist.
They shouldn’t.
Umm… Isn’t that what Amazon does at a global scale?
He’s never been a billionaire lol
Rule number one of being rich; don’t spend your own money.
Is rule number two to never let them see you broke?
I think rule 2 is…
A sucker is born every minute.
He’s lying, lol.
Now now, he’s not lying lying, he’s just really into “alternative appraisal and accounting methods”. Kinda like that aunt who does her own research and swears by essential oils and homeopathy, but with money.
Let me give you an example. Let’s say that I have a truck load of coarse sand, like 25 tons. I manage to sell a single 10mg grain of sand for 1 USD. By appraising my sand based fortune on this single data point, I could claim that a gram is worth 100 USD, thus I have 2.5 billion USD tied up in sand. We both know that I obviously can’t liquidate my sand for that amount, but that doesn’t matter, because all I need is to convince a bank that my appraisal is sound and then use the sand as collateral for a 100 million USD loan. Some of that loan I’ll further invest in the sand business, after all it’s booming. More sand equals more collateral, and seeing as one bank was satisfied with my collateral, then I will be able to get other banks in on it too. And now I can live like a billionaire, all because I have invested in coarse sand. And if the banks figure out that I’m full of it, then what are they going to do? Take me to court and look like idiots for buying into my sand appraisal? And risk bankruptcy as it’s revealed that the collateral the bank has for its lending business is worthless? Better to keep quiet and prop up the sand mogul.
One thing that people didn’t mention yet: this is the behavior that made him (stay) a billionaire. You don’t get to be one by being nice and non-exploitative.
Being paid is a kind of attention/validation. The things he’s selling are “branding” stuff that feed into his cult of personality. It’s probably more of a narcissist thing than a money thing.
billionaire once, grifter since
Wealth isn’t the same as money in bank. Most of Trump’s wealth is tied into properties. You can’t pay for groceries with a skyscraper. That’s why many wealthy people borrow money for everyday spending rather that liquidate (sell) their assets. This applies to pretty much every wealthy person. When someone is a billionaire it doesn’t mean they’re hoarding billions of cash in bank.
they’re hoarding billions of cash in bank
Lemmy’s understanding of wealth right there.
It is in his nature. He is greedy. He is cheap. He is crap.
The better question the media should really be asking him every single chance they get - when they aren’t continuing to grill him about Laura Loomer - is, “if the economy is so bad under Biden/Harris and your supporters are living paycheck to paycheck, why do you think there is a market for $100,000 watches?”
The media that he pays to provide him endless PR?
Do you really expect regime whores to do journalism?
The media don’t work for him. He works for the media. The media work for the billionaires.
He’s a liar.
