Illustration by Michael DiMilo
By Geoff Carter
The housing market is tough these days. Interest rates are soaring, prices are high, and inventory is low, but none of this is deterring Vladimir Putin, who seems to be ready to become involved in the housing market. He has recently showed significant interest in purchasing the property at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. The present owner, Joseph Biden, is not inclined to sell, but if he is forced into early retirement, as he could be this coming November, his successor, Donald Trump, might be very inclined to negotiate with Mr. Putin.
Because of a cornucopia of legal problems, Mr. Trump is in deep financial difficulties. He must come up with a $175 million dollar bond (recently reduced form $454 million) in order to satisfy a judgement against him for fraud in his business practices. In he does not come up with the bond—or cash—New York Attorney General Letitia James has promised to start seizing Trump’s assets, including his properties. Trump has already posted a bond to satisfy an $85 million dollar judgement leveled against him for defamation. He is also in the middle of a presidential campaign that is running dangerously low on funds. As of this writing, the Trump campaign has less than half the funds available to Mr. Biden and his small-donor pool seems to be drying up. Contributions from these donors is down over sixty percent from the last election cycle.
So, the man would be king needs cash in a big, big way. And if past behaviors are any indicator, Donald Trump is, has been, and would be willing to sell anything or do anything for money. He has bent the truth (or outright lied) for cash, he has stiffed his creditors, and he has over and underinflated the values of his properties to cheat on taxes or artificially exaggerate his monetary worth. All of this is a matter of public record.Â
This situation begs the question of what a man this desperate for cash would do if he regained the office of the presidency. Would he accept money from foreign interests even though that is strictly forbidden by law—but what does Donald Trump care for the law unless there’s something in it for him? What would he promise to his creditors, foreign or domestic? Would he deny aid to Ukraine to satisfy Vladimir Putin? Would he deny humanitarian aid to Gaza to gain Netanyahu’s favor? Sure, he would—for a price.
Since his election in 2016 (the one he actually won), the ex-president has been the leader of the Republican Party. Even after his defeat in 2020 (yes, Virginia, that’s what happened), he has led the Party—from exile in Florida, as it were. He endorses far-right MAGA Republican candidates, most of whom have lost, and endorses or condemns pending legislation with a simple yes or no. The recent comprehensive immigration bill, penned by conservative Republican senator Lankford and approved by the majority of congressional Republicans was killed by a simple shake of the bizarrely coiffed, cunningly combed over, and excessively hair sprayed head of the ex-president. (Think of Joaquin Phoenix giving the thumbs down sign in Gladiator).
Mr. Trump recently voiced his opposition to then head of the Republican National Committee Ronna McDaniel. She stepped down and was replaced by North Carolina GOP Chair Michael Whatley, a Trump enthusiast. He will be co-chair with (wait for it) his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, formerly a TV producer. She has stated that one of the GOP priorities would be to support Mr. Trump by helping to pay for his legal bills.
Elon Musk—the billionaire, that one—was recently invited to visit the ex-president at his palatial (and overvalued) estate in Mar-a-Lago. Afterwards, Mr. Musk stated he would not be making donations to any political parties. I suppose one may reasonably assume that a statement like that would have been precipitated by a request for a sizable donation. I would assume the ex-president asked for donations or bail money (as it were).
Later that same week, hedge fund manager Jeff Yass, a supporter of the conservative Club for Growth political group and who also has a huge interest in the social media platform TikTok. A recent bill proposing a ban of TikTok because of fears that a data breach in the platform could be accessed by the Chinese government has been making the rounds in Congress, with Mr. Trump’s approval. He has long advocated a ban of the company until… Mr. Yass visited him.
Yass just happens to own a major interest in TikTok’s parent company, the China-based ByteDance. Shortly after his visit to Mar-a-Lago, the ex-president did an abrupt about-face, stating that Facebook poses a far greater evil to American security than TikTok.
Let’s see. Trump opposes TikTok. Trump needs money. Significant stakeholder in TikTok, and billionaire, comes to visit Trump. The ex-president suddenly reverses his former position concerning the China-based company. Coincidence—or quid pro quo (emphasis on the quid—millions of them).
TikTok is only the canary in the coal mine. Right now, at this juncture in his career as a criminal defendant, Mr. Trump is hanging on for dear life. He does not want to see Ms. James seize Trump Towers or 40 Wall Street or Mar-a-Lago or any of his golf resorts. These are not just properties to this man—they define him. He has long touted himself as a brilliant and ruthless businessman, a real estate tycoon, a captain of industry, but now he is exposed for what he is—a wealthy heir who hangs onto his financial assets by hook or crook.
As proven in court, he has misrepresented the value of his properties repeatedly to acquire loans or to dodge taxes—to the tune of about $500 million dollars. He has been banned from conducting business in New York City for three years. It is common he refuses to pay lawyers, contractors, and others for services rendered, yet for all that, he is in the hole.
This is a man who has proven time and again that he is willing to do absolutely anything to further his own interests. He will stop at nothing to put more cash in his pockets. During his last administration, he encouraged (to put it mildly) representatives from other governments to stay in his hotels, charging them exorbitant rates. For some reason not yet understand, his son-in-law Jared Kushner received two billion dollars from the Saudi Arabian government.
Should this man be elected president (and perhaps even if he is not), there is no doubt in my mind that he would be willing to sell national secrets—after all, he was seen showing classified documents to guests at Mar-a-Lago and bragging about them—and jeopardize our national security.
In normal times, this man is bad news. When he is backed into a corner, as he is now, he, like a rabid honey badger, will do anything to survive. And to him, animal survival is not protecting his family or his principles (if he had any), but it is preserving and enhancing his fortune and himself. To do that, he would (and probably has) sold his soul to the devil.
Sources
- https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/26/michael-whatley-officially-announces-for-rnc-chair-00143364#:~:text=The%20announcement%20comes%20after%20Ronna%20McDaniel%20announced%20she%20would%20depart%20the%20committee.&text=North%20Carolina%20GOP%20Chair%20Michael,Republican%20National%20Committee%20on%20Monday.
- https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/08/us/politics/trump-rnc-lara-michael-whatley.html
- https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trumps-tiktok-ban-reversal-after-meeting-megadonor-stake/story?id=108013785