Trump Plays the Ultimate Game

Life in the Boomer Lane has spent quite some time now, being pummeled by the behavior of Donald Trump. She has listened to one Trumper after another explain why he’s their guy.  She has heard two themes over and over: The fist is that Trump is a successful businessman/He is rich. He will do for us what he did for himself. The second is: He’s not a politician. He says what he means and he means what he says. We can trust him. She now addresses these two main themes that have his followers in lock step.

“He is a successful businessman/He is rich. He will do for us what he did for himself.”

“He is a successful businessman/He is rich.” The fact is that Trump is rich. Very, very rich, although in the absence of tax returns we don’t know what he is actually worth. His empire was financed by a huge inheritance and steamrolled by practices that have resulted in countless lawsuits alleging discrimination, and non-payment of fees to contractors and workers. He has declared bankruptcies, resulting in employees, workers and investors not being paid. He has made money, not from building but from leasing his name to numerous building projects. The bottom line is that, had Trump invested his inheritance and done nothing more than that, he would be worth more than he is now. In other words, his fortune has actually been diminished by his business abilities.

“He will do for us what he did for himself.”At no point in the decades in which he has been a builder has he made any decision that has benefitted minorities or people of lesser means. He has established a foundation, and has contributed a mere pittance of his own money into it. He has not used his political clout to advance worker’s rights, women’s rights, or the rights of minorities. He has hired women simply because they make money for him. He has hired minorities simply because they make money for him. In other words, his power has been used solely for his own self-enrichment. 

“He’s not a politician. He says what he means and he means what he says. For that reason, we can trust him.”

“Trump isn’t a politician.”  True. But he has supported politicians across the board, not because he believed in what they stood for, but, in his own words, because it was good for his business. In other words, his politics came down to what benefitted him. 

“He says what he means and he means what he says.” Trump certainly isn’t shy about saying what he means. The issue is that what he says either changes moment-to-moment, or he uses words that can be taken in a variety of ways. His communication skills are either extremely limited, or he reacts to events around him in the moment, with little thought. The greatest consistency he has shown has been his immediate knee-jerk reaction to anyone who he believes has personally disrespected him. In other words, Trump’s belief system is built solely on a foundation of self-protection and self-promotion. 

“For that reason, we can trust him.” Trust is the foundation of any relationship, whether it be love, family, friendship, business. It’s a matter of public record that Trump has violated the trust of ex-wives, workers, investors, and the public.

His much-self-touted book, The Art of the Deal has been found to be a fabrication. The medical letter he submitted to show the status of his health has been found to be a fabrication.  People who track such things have noted that he utters an untruth at the rate of one every five minutes. Trump says what he wants to hear, with little or no regard for reality. His standard of truth has always been himself.

LBL knows that this post won’t change the minds of even a single Trump supporter. She simply wants to use one recent example to show what Trump is all about. His campaign headquarters are in Trump Tower. The monthly rent  he charges his own campaign to occupy that space is now $169,758, up four times the amount it was four months ago. In effect, his campaign fund is putting money into his own pocket.

His supporters will say “Bravo to him! This shows what a brilliant businessman he is!”  LBL has a different take. She sees, instead, a man whose entire life has been about one thing only: his own self-enrichment. He is devoted solely to the deal and what he can get out of it.  The United States is now his goal, the biggest and wealthiest deal of his life. His ardent supporters will find that, if Trump has his way and wins this ultimate deal, it will be them who pay the price.

*****

Note to Readers: LBL apologizes for subjecting them to yet another Trump rant. She agrees that the man has way too much visibility already. She will try to spew in private from now on, and will return to making fun of life in general.