This story about Trump is devastating: His ugly history of screwing over small business

[cali]

HE ALMOST bankrupted us,” says the retired owner of a construction business on the east coast. Thirty years ago he ran a small business, which was hired by Donald Trump to work on an 11-month project at his Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City. It was the biggest contract, by far, that the business had ever had. The builders worked as they had never done before to complete the job on time. As soon as they finished, Mr Trump stopped paying. He owed around $200,000 of the total bill of some $700,000, a huge sum for a small company.

What followed was a nearly year-long battle to extract the money they were owed. Lawyers advised the company that Mr Trump would procrastinate with expensive litigation, as he had done many times before. Other contractors related their experiences with the “Trump discount”, the billionaire’s habit of rarely paying the full sum he owed. As the “Trump discount” made the rounds in the industry, wily contractors quoted a higher price at the outset to avoid suffering any losses. Then, one day in 1988, the phone rang at 9.30am. A sweet-voiced “special assistant” of Mr Trump’s announced she had a cheque for the builders which, she claimed, had been lying on her desk for a year. “We only got paid because of Merv Griffin,” says the retired contractor. In a surprising swoop, Griffin, an entertainment-business tycoon, had bought the company that owned the

Owners of small businesses are among Mr Trump’s most dedicated supporters. They believe his biggest selling point, relentlessly promoted by himself and his entourage, is his business acumen. He is a consummate dealmaker, they say, and has made heaps of money, maybe as much as $10 billion. They also like his proposal to slash the corporate income-tax rate from 35% to 15%. A poll earlier this year by Manta, an online directory for small businesses, found that 60% favoured Mr Trump as the Republican candidate, followed distantly by Ted Cruz, whom 16% rooted for. Among all candidates Mr Trump won 38% of the votes compared with 21% for Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner.

Truth does not seem to matter much in this campaign,” says Bryant Simon at Temple University, who wrote a history of Atlantic City and marvels at how the author of “The Art of the Deal” still sells his spectacular failure there as a great success. The Taj Mahal went into bankruptcy because of the way Mr Trump made the deal. The property mogul paid too much to finance the Taj with junk bonds; he also overpaid for the casino’s lavish interior, which had so many mirrors and chandeliers that it made the palace of Versailles look unadorned. Even though the Taj was the highest-earning casino in America for a while, that didn’t cover its debt. “Trump’s Taj deal was a bad deal,” concludes Mr Simon.

Mr Trump is certainly wealthy, even though he pretends to be much richer than he is. But as a businessman, his track record is mixed. Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, Trump Airlines, Trump Steaks, Trump University and the Trump foray into football are only some of his crashes. His litigious, debt-laden and risky way of doing business is not much of an advertisement for him as CEO of the nation.

<snip>
http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21698613-businessman-his-track-record-mixed-what-small-business-owners-should-know-about

[just4lulzidk]

1. so? romney made his entire fortune from ripping off and ruining peoples' lives

with that being said, i think stories like this just won't stick to trump, especially when romney was able to get away with what he did

while i'm no fan of trump, i at least respect his "business sense" way more than i'll ever respect what someone like romney does

[Octafish]

2. They won't stick if no one knows about them.

That's where you and DU come in. Help spread the truth about the master of billionaire bankruptcy whose never worked a day in his spoiled short-fingered life.

PS: A hearty welcome to DU, just4lulzidk!

[just4lulzidk]

4. but it was only a million dollar loan from his daddy! just one single teeny tiny itsy-bitsy million!

you know what they say about the easiest way to make a million dollars? start with a million dollars

[Human101948]

32. And then he inherited $400 million...

Many knowledgeable people claim that he would be richer today if he just invested in an S&P 500 fund.

[cali]

5. Exactly!

[cali]

3. And that shit was used effectively against

I have no respect for his supposed business acumen.

[yourpaljoey]

9. Well... it appears he has parlayed that into a US Presidency... so there is that.

'Success is the best deodorant'.

[cali]

10. Grab a clue, honey. Trump is not President

And if you support him, scram.

[yourpaljoey]

17. My

You are a sensitive sort.
Fact is, Trump is what would be
held by many as the epitome of the
successful US Businessman.
He employs OPM (other people's money) and contractual legerdemain
to enrich himself.
Mountebank, for sure.
A loon and a loser, no chance.

[cali]

19. And most business experts think very poorly of his practices

[yourpaljoey]

21. And soon enough time will tell, about the serpent in the wishin' well

Let us hope Sanders pulls this off... one way or another.

[Actor]

26. Nah, he used organized crime muscle to force tenants from their homes so he could

turn them into condos and sell them.

He is nothing more than a thug criminal.

[niyad]

11. welcome to du. as this article, and the string of bankruptcies, etc., shows, the hairpiece

has NO business sense. rotten and crooked to the core.

[cali]

13. +1

[just4lulzidk]

14. i def don't disagree and yet i still can't help "respect" what he does more than what mitt does

(pls note: my use of quotation marks are very purposeful in all my posts here)

[niyad]

15. even in quotation marks, cannot help but wonder what the word "respect" means to you.

[just4lulzidk]

18. in this instance, it means i disrespect what mitt does 100% but what trump does just 99.9%

so, you know, he's a real "winner" in my book

[mrmpa]

31. try some....

smilies:

, etc

the use of " marks could land you in front of a jury for people who miss the point.

[bjo59]

30. Exactly. Not to mention that every big corporation does it all the time and

CBS doesn't seem to have a problem with that.

[Blue_Tires]

6. It's interesting to see how little discussion this

is getting compared to the Chelsea Clinton story...

[cali]

7. Well I did just post it.

[moonbabygo]

12. trump's story is 30 years old

Chelsea's story is happening now

[no_hypocrisy]

8. I know a NJ electicaL contractor

who did several jobs for Trump, all unpaid. And he'd bid for more jobs, if only to brag that Trump knows his name or even that they are "friends".

[Bernardo de La Paz]

16. Trump has been a pig in Scotland, crushing people all around

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Forbes_%28farmer%29


He’ll Take the Low Road: Trump’s Tortured History With Scotland

Though he’s now on the outs with the government and people, the mogul spent years trying to win over his mother’s homeland.

But Trump’s gnashing of teeth about the supposed environmental damage from the wind farm rang rather hollow, given that his resort had been built on theretofore-protected dunes. Meanwhile, it was becoming clear that the 6,000 jobs he’d promised as part of the project weren’t about to materialize—there were just 200 by the summer of 2013.

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/12/donald-trump-scotland-golf/421065/

[LiberalArkie]

20. Everyone thinks that is how business is done. When you go and buy a car do you pay the price

on the window or do you "negotiate" for a lower price knowing the dealer has it marked up. Furniture is the same way at most stores. I used to drive the car salesman crazy. They would show me a car I liked and I would look at the sticker and just say thank you, that is too much and walk out. The price marked or quoted should be the price you are going to have to pay.

Trump and the wealthy are just used to believing that they should never have to pay retail or even wholesale because you know it's them.

[truebluegreen]

23. Average people may try to negotiate a deal,

but they don't do it AFTER they purchase, have the work done, take delivery, etc.

[mopinko]

39. yeah, they dont

just skip the last 10 payments and call it a deal.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

42. I love when people refuse to pay sticker price but complain when the sticker price is....

.... not the actual price. You can always pay sticker price.

I spent ten years in the business. I was working for Buick when they tried their hand at "one price selling" - it went over like a lead balloon to all the old timers who wanted to "dicker"

The LeSaber had about $2200 dollars in mark up at the time (not including rebates). They lowered it to $800 reflected in the actual MSRP.

PAY STICKER PRICE FOR A CAR?!?!?! Oh boy did the fur fly and the complaints flooded in.

So they raised the MSRP back up. That made for an even more interesting couple months - we had identical cars with 3 different msrps (IIRC, there was also a package pricing change). We'll give you $2200 dollars off on this car but $800 dollars off on this car and $2500 off on that car. Of course, the customer wanted 2500 off on the 800 dollar car. Then screamed fraud and threatened to call the Atorney General.

Car business is a dirty horse trading business - on both sides. Buyers are liars is the common saying.

An old timer used to say "a man will brag about how MUCH he paid for his wife's fur coat, how MUCH he paid for his house, and how LITTLE he paid for his car"

Look at all the people on du who brag about driving car dealers crazy.

[truebluegreen]

22. This s just what too many of the rich do:

my husband worked on a house in Sun Valley, Idaho for a Vegas casino owner. After the work was finished he (excuse me, his manager--I'm sure that guy acted on his own) required the subcontractors to take a 20% pay cut..."because." Signed contracts be damned.

[Javaman]

24. meh, we had george w. moron* appointed as prez and he was a 4 time failed "businessman"

this means nothing.

to the repukes, failure is a plus.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

27. This should raise Trump's ratings by a point or two

It seems each time Trump insults someone or screws someone over his followers see it as a further demonstration of his "strength" and another reason to vote for him.

Imagine what it would be like if he carried this process onto the world stage -- no one would trust the word of the U.S. It would be like another version of GWB's foreign policy, only on steroids.

SNL had a skit which involved a debate between President George H.W. Bush and Gov. Michael Dukakis. After a particularyl incoherent response by Bush, Dukakis said in exasperation, "I can't believe I'm losing to this guy!"

Sometimes I feel like that's this election,, with Clinton in the role of Dukakis and Trump as "Poppy" Bush.

Sanders is like a wildly bouncing ball which continues to knock down any carefully constructed house of cards that Clinton attempts to build, without putting up anything more significant than "Rich people bad, free stuff good!"

Elections 2016! Yay!

[Urchin]

28. Trump On Letting The Economy Collapse

TYT Trump On Letting The Economy Collapse

[yurbud]

29. that's another way he's actually a pretty typical Republican: claim to be for small businesses

then screw them for the Walmarts of the world.

[vkkv]

33. "OWNED THE (what?)" At the end 2nd paragraph..

""“We only got paid because of Merv Griffin,” says the retired contractor. In a surprising swoop, Griffin, an entertainment-business tycoon, had bought the company that owned the """ ???

Why bother pasting at all?

Sloppy.

[napkinz]

34. K&R

[rockfordfile]

35. Trump is your typical republican

[HuckleB]

36. K & R!

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

37. Yet those who would be in the same position to have no recourse against his thuggishness

will vote for him in their millions. They don't mind him fucking over other people, but wait til it happens to them. Well, it'll be too late, but they'll be really pissed off then.

[napkinz]

40. Trump the successful businessman

[moonbabygo]

41. do we have to go back 30 years

anything from this century would go over better