WAPO: Trump attempted to exploit his elderly father in order to save himself from financial ruin

[SouthernCal_Dem]

Donald Trump, facing financial ruin, sought control of his elderly father’s estate. The family fight was epic.

“It was basically taking the whole estate and giving it to Donald,” Trump’s sister said in secretly recorded audio

By Michael Kranish
Sept. 27, 2020

Donald Trump was facing financial disaster in 1990 when he came up with an audacious plan to exert control of his father’s estate.

His creditors threatened to force him into personal bankruptcy, and his first wife, Ivana, wanted “a billion dollars” in a divorce settlement, Donald Trump said in a deposition. So he sent an accountant and a lawyer to see his father, Fred Trump Sr., who was told he needed to immediately sign a document changing the will according to his son’s wishes, according to depositions from family members.

It was a fragile moment for the senior Trump, who was 85 years old and had built a real estate empire worth hundreds of millions of dollars. He would soon be diagnosed with cognitive problems, such as being unable to recall things he was told 30 minutes earlier or remember his birth date, according to his medical records, which were included in a related court case.

Now, those records and other sources of information about the episode obtained by The Washington Post reveal the extent of Fred Trump Sr.’s cognitive impairment and how Donald’s effort to change his father’s will tore apart the Trump family, which continues to reverberate today.

More:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/politics/donald-trump-father-will/

[kimbutgar]

1. This could hurt him

How many people have had a bad experience dealing family about the handling of a family estate. A lot, I know several republicans who no longer speak to siblings over being pissed they were screwed over. I hope this story seeps into their right wing universe.

[mucifer]

5. WaPo had amazing pulitzer winning articles about trump during 2016 election. This won't help trump

But, don't expect it to help us.

It's insane but true.

[Delphinus]

7. Sadly,

I agree.

As my son told me last night, there is no changing their minds. They are a cult.

[oldsoftie]

17. No, minds have already been changing. Some big names too.

Look at some of the big name voters who have come out against him after supporting him in '16.
I've had some Trump voting friends who have confided me that they will not vote for him this time. They wont do it on facebook because they know the blowback they'll get. These are unsolicited messages too, so I tend to believe them. They dont like much of the Democratic platform, but they're saying "I think the democrats are less dangerous than trump for the next 4 yrs"
1- You have to keep all your original voters - nope
2- You need to sway voters who voted against you last time - nope (can you imagine an HRC voter now voting trump?)
3- You need to get more "new" voters than the other guy - unknown, but doubtful.

[Jspur]

30. Agreed my brother-in-law who was

a Trump supporter told me recently he will not vote for Trump this time around simply because of the way he handled the Covid pandemic. He thought it was not presidential.

[Skittles]

43. LOL

exactly what has Trump done that HAS been "presidential" rather than the actions of racist sociopath?

[Jspur]

44. I agree with you it's laughable that it took

the pandemic for my brother-in-law to change his views of Trump but at this point the dems have to take whatever they can get plus I live in in a swing state so stuff like this is helpful to the cause.

[Delphinus]

33. That

sounds promising. Thanks for lifting my spirits.

[russiamommy]

34. I agree

This particular story may not sway the hard core Trumpsters, but anything can help those that are still on the edge. I also personally know at least ten people who voted for Trump in 16 that will not do it again. Some are very vocal about it and some stay quiet, but there have to be millions of them out there. Remember, he won in 16 by 77k votes in three states. I have to believe at least that many in those states regret that vote.

[oldsoftie]

38. And boy do the "base" types HATE it when you point out the slim margin of victory!

They hate it even more when you tell them that you could win EVERY SINGLE electoral college vote and only have won the entire country by 50 votes

[LiberalFighter]

39. Numbers add up. But not for Trump.

[oldsoftie]

40. Yep. GOTV!!!!!!!!

[agingdem]

8. this will hurt Trump..

the pain isn't going to be headlines but it will resonate in Florida and Arizona senior living communities...and then there's the seniors whose adult children insist they are doing what's "best" for their still healthy independent cognitively aware mom and dad when they demand control over their finances...this will impact..

[mucifer]

13. I hope you are right

[Marie Marie]

26. I agree but first, they actually have to hear about this and then believe it is not fake news.

If their only source of news is FOX, they may never know.

[agingdem]

42. I could be wrong but

I don't think the Jewish "snowbirds" from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are tuned into FOX..

[TicketyBoo]

45. But they may be voting

absentee from those "home" states instead of Florida and Arizona.

It happens if they just go south for the winter.

[agingdem]

46. They're not voting for Trump

nazis carrying torches shouting " Jews will not replace us" pretty well solidified the pro Biden/Harris Jewish vote...the Holocaust was decades ago but to us it will always be yesterday....

[TicketyBoo]

51. My point was

if they are voting absentee in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, then it's not a big win as it would be if they were actually voting in Florida or Arizona.

[agingdem]

52. true..

my parents were New York snowbirds...5 years of moving house every 6 months wore on them and they moved permanently to Miami...they were not alone...there are a lot of former East Coast residents living in Florida and Arizona year round....

[iluvtennis]

29. + agree. nt

[malaise]

2. Get thee to the greatest page

RFN!

[dalton99a]

3. Kick

[SMC22307]

4. Run ads that highlight him being the the type of asshole who steals inheritances...

from family members. The most MAGAT-y of the MAGATs won't care, but this might get through to some Rethugs/Indies questioning whether to give him a second term. "He did it to his own family, he'll do it to you!"

[oldsoftie]

12. YES!!!!!! Excellent idea

[meadowlander]

19. There's bound to be some seniors in Florida

who take a pretty dim view of exploitation of dementia.

[agingdem]

22. yes!!

and run those ads in Florida, Arizona, New Mexico and any state that has large senior living retirement communities

[Initech]

24. He steals from inheritances, he steals from children's charities...

He's the kind of guy who would literally take candy from a baby!

[lunatica]

6. Now that Mary Trump is suing him

I’m sure all this will come out. Maybe not before the election, but certainly at some time. We’re going to find out the whole sordid and disgusting truth about Trump.

[PJMcK]

35. You already know "the whole sordid and disgusting truth about Trump"

Honestly, is there anything that we've seen or learned over the last 5 years that has raised your opinion of Trump? Of course not!

In fact, with every allegation or revelation, it's clear that Trump is all those disgusting things and worse.

[lunatica]

36. You're right in general

I was referring to the things we suspect but need proof for in order to know it all. His tax returns, his direct dealings with foreign “benefactors”. Just details. Slimy ones.

[PJMcK]

37. You're right about the slimy details

All I meant was that if Trump is accused of something nefarious, we know it's probably true.

Have a good week, lunatica.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

9. this has been reported numerous times.

Unless Fox News is forced to confront him with this story by every bimbo they've hired to distract us, the message wont reach those who may have begun to have doubts.

[treestar]

10. I was just thinking

it's in WAPO, so they will just say it's fake news.

[oldsoftie]

11. File under the heading of "No shit"

[moondust]

14. Turbulent times

Last edited Sun Sep 27, 2020, 02:14 PM - Edit history (1)

for Donny and, coincidentally, the Soviet Union.

By the end of 1990, Donald Trump’s financial problems were spiraling out of control, and he increasingly looked to his inheritance as his salvation.

A year later, on 25 December 1991, the Soviet flag was lowered for the last time.

Looks like at least a few desperados in both the U.S. and Russia spent 1991 trying to secure an escape from their impending disasters. Hmmm......



1986: Soviet Ambassador Yuri Dubinin invites Trump on an all-expenses-paid trip to the Soviet Union.

(Why? Was somebody in the Soviet Union (KGB?) keeping an eye on Dump?)

July 1987: Trump and his wife, Ivana, who speaks Russian, make their first visit to the Soviet Union...to scout potential construction sites for a Trump Tower Moscow.

[heckles65]

15. I work in civil law and -

I had someone come in to my office last week with the EXACT SAME PROBLEM; one that I've heard of over and over again:

One sibling sidles up to an aging parent, makes a vague promise, asks the old man to rewrite his will, sign a quitclaim deed or give him a Power of Attorney. Then later - sometimes only after the parent's death - the other sibling(s) catch on. Most of the time, it's too late - the assets have been blended into the ambitious sibling's accounts. You can argue reduced capacity, but in my state (and I suspect everywhere else) that's a high bar to get over in civil court.

[Blue_true]

49. Does it make sense for an aging person to put assets

that are to be shared by all family into a Trust? The one issue that I see is the Trust company would need to be sound and not take advantage, OR a younger and ethical relative designated to take over as Trustee once the aging person no longer has the mental facilities.

Money is always a problem in families, especially if there is a significant amount of it. People turn into absolute snakes.

[MFGsunny]

16. MF45 is a longtime and highly practiced con-man. C'mon Karma. n/t

[not_the_one]

18. Is it October yet?

I can't wait for our October surprise(s). May they be multiple, AND orgasmic in their intensity, er... I mean "news worthiness.

HIS base won't care about this shit. They will see it as a plus.

But I am sure the seven actual "undecideds" left, will.

[George II]

20. Interesting. Was this before or after he manipulated his brother's will to cheat other family.......

....members out of their inheritance?

At least he's consistent.

[DeminPennswoods]

23. It would've been after after

Fred Trump, Jr committed suicide in 1981.

IIRC, this episode was in Mary Trump's book as well. Again, iirc, the old man had some kind of sense about what he was being asked and wouldn't sign.

[Blue_true]

50. After the old man died, Trump colluded with his sister and brother

to cheat Fred Jr’s kids out of their inheritance.

There were stories about how much of a bastard Trump was in 2016, but people were taken by the mogul image from the Apprentice. Now that people have seen Trump’s greed and incompetence firsthand, I believe news stories like those dropped by the NYT and WaPo are going to stick to Trump and peel away his less ardent supporters, those people don’t have to vote for Joe, just don’t vote for Trump.

[Silent3]

21. "...cognitive problems, such as being unable to recall things he was told 30 minutes earlier..."

Like father, like son.

[MoonchildCA]

48. But, "Person, man, woman, camera, TV."

Ya gotta give it to him...

[flotsam]

25. Ancient theme

My ex-wife's family felt I had married up which I had in terms of family money. Even my ex denigrated my hard drinking, hard-working, hard fighting Irish family-almost even had me convinced. Then the parents died and in less than two years their son drank and drugged himself to death and the ex's sister finagled and grabbed almost every dime going so far as selling her father's musical instruments and a valuable collection of jazz records. She somehow gained title to the family home and then complained my ex had been gifted several pieces of jewelry from the mother. Watching that cluster-fuck I thanked the Gods for my "dysfunctional family!

[OneBro]

27. Frankly, younger crooked Fred would have been proud of his son's disgusting conduct.

[FakeNoose]

28. David Cay Johnston mentions this very incident in his Chump bio

I'm saying that this information has been available in one form or another for the last 20 years. But most people haven't gone looking for it. One wonders how the Chump kiddies will eventually plan on ganging up against their dad, or against each other.

[iluvtennis]

31. don the con is DEPLORABLE. Wow, how I wish karma would have the same thing happen to him. nt

[ailsagirl]

32. Is anyone surprised?

The lowest of the low. I sure wouldn't want his karma

[TrogL]

41. This was all explained in detail in Mary Trump's book

[Blue Owl]

47. What a fat fucking piece of shit

n/t