OK, who's REALLY the President? Trump is too stupid to plan this, so...

[TreasonousBastard]

who's really behind it all?

We went through this with Bush the Lesser having Cheney and crew calling the shots. Reagan also had his cabal running things, although sometimes he had a pair when they went too far. Not all the time, but once in a while.

Trump's entire history has been one of bullshit rising out of failure, starting with taking over Alexander's and driving it straight into the ground. He talks a lot, but he has never in his life actually had a business success. He has bullied and bullshitted his way into overpaying for marginal assets that he gilded and lost money on, but he sure as shit ain't no Branson, Jobs, or Wynn.

Trump steaks? Vodka? Gimme a break-- if that's the best he can do, what's he good for? Even his Scottish golf courses are losing a couple of million a year (Not his fault, of course...)

So, who is actually the brains behind him?

[jmg257]

1. Huh - maybe he is stupid like a fox? I wouldn't underestimate him because of vodka, steaks and TU.

The Trump Organization is the collective name of approximately 500 business entities of which Donald Trump is the sole or principal owner. Donald Trump serves as chairman and President. His three adult children and three unrelated employees serve as key executives.

The Trump Organization has interests in real estate development, investing, brokerage, sales and marketing, and property management. The company owns, operates, invests, and develops residential real estate, hotels, resorts, residential towers, and golf courses in different countries, as well as owning several hundred thousand square feet (several hectares) of prime Manhattan real estate. It lists involvement in 515 subsidiaries and entities with 264 of them bearing Trump's name and another 54 including his initials. With investments within the United States and globally, The Trump Organization spans a wide variety of industries including real estate, construction, hospitality, entertainment, book and magazine publishing, media, model management, retail, financial services, board game development, food and beverages, business education, online travel, airlines, helicopter air services and beauty pageants. It owns a New York television production company that produces television programs including the reality television program, The Apprentice. The company also engages in retailing, having at various times sold fashion apparel, jewelry and accessories, books, home furnishings, lighting products, bath textiles and accessories, bedding, home fragrance products, small leather goods, barware, steaks, chocolate bars, and bottled spring water.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trump_Organization

[TreasonousBastard]

4. Partly true-- people who underestimated him have been victims, but...

that wiki item is straight from a Trump press release.

He's actually a minor player in NYC real estate, although the biggest mouth. After his last bankruptcy control was taken away from him as part of the deal. There was no legal reason not to take away everything, but doing that would have cause far more pain to the banks who loaned him too much money. So, they left him with minority title to a lot of holdings, but no power to blow more money.

I was told that all Trump decisions had to be approved by the retired CFO of a fortune 100 company and you'll notice that since that last bankruptcy, he hasn't fallen over the edge. Financially, anyway. Partly because he couldn't borrow, and partly because he couldn't spend.

That, and the refusal of all Western banks but one to lend him a penny, stopped him from his wild adventures. Licensing the name was risk-free, and his lawyers happily charged him for whatever it cost to set up a bazillion corporations to move money around.

Some of this reminds of the time I met "New York's Worst Slumlord" as defined by the Village Voice and the Times. Yes, he was a horrible landlord, but he was also senile and hadn't the foggiest idea what his family and employees were doing to loot the company. Each of his buildings was a fiefdom that you bought into in order to steal the rent and subsidies while barely keeping the heat on. And each was several separate corporations.

So, now he's involved in "safe" projects, but he's still managed to lose a couple of million on his Scottish golf courses. And lets see how far he gets with his DC Post Office renovation that should be entirely illegal for a President to run.

[jmg257]

5. Ah - thanks for all that extra info! Good stuff. nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. It's not brains; it's bullshit. Trump has one skill:

the effective distribution of bullshit. He's a con man cut from the same cloth as Ponzi and Madoff. He gets investors and licensees to get involved in his schemes because they believe his promises that their ROI will be yuuuge; then he stiffs them and walks away, looking for the next sucker. He gets away with it because he sues you if you look at him crosseyed.

This is how he became president. A politician who sells snake oil by appealing to the fears and prejudices of voters is called a demagogue, and they are often successful. You don't need brains to win an election if you have a talent for bullshit.

Governing is a whole 'nother thing, and you do need brains for that. In Trump's case, because he is a narcissist, he will call upon whoever flatters him most effectively and is good at persuading him that their ideas are his. Bannon is probably the puppet behind the scenes for now; chances are he's managing the selection of the cabinet secretaries - a bunch of crazy right-wingers who fit into Bannon's worldview and about whom Trump probably knows very little.

After January, Pence will be doing most of the thinking for Trump, whose efforts will be focused on monetizing the presidency as much as possible. Pence is an ideologue who is reputed to be as dumb as a box of hammers - he will probably be Trump's Cheney, but he's not anywhere near as smart. So the whole thing is likely to turn into a goat-fuck the likes of which we have never seen.

[TreasonousBastard]

6. I agree that between Trump and Pence we've got greed, stupidity, and nothing good in between...

but Trump's actually a joke in hometown Manhattan, NYC, which he lost in the primary.

Is it possible that he had just the right amount of time to puff up his reputation without it being torn down in the glare of truth? Is this all an accident of timing?

That and a hell of a lot of free press time. In NY, the local stations and papers used him as filler on a slow news day. Too bad the networks (all based in NY, btw) took him seriously.

[Siwsan]

3. Trump has gotten where he is by being a cagey financial bully

But I really suspect his cognitive powers, and therefore those skills, are waning and he is more and more susceptible to the forces surrounding him.