Category: Business

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Business Donald Trump The Trump Organization

Trump’s Financial Lies Just Got Him Booted From The World’s Most Exclusive Club

The same financial lies that have gotten disgraced, multiply-indicted ex-president Donald Trump in big trouble with the state of New York now have him in hot water with the most exclusive club in the world: The Forbes 400 ranking of America’s richest people.

Forbes announced today that as a result of Trump’s “relentless” lying to reporters for decades in a pathetic attempt to boost his ranking on the list, he has now been dumped from it completely.

His net worth is down more than $600 million from a year ago. The biggest reason: Truth Social, his social-media business. Trump once envisioned a significant percentage of the country logging onto the platform. But that never happened. Roughly 6.5 million have signed up so far, about 1% of the total on X (né Twitter). Trump’s 90% stake in Truth Social’s parent company has plummeted in value from an estimated $730 million to less than $100 million.

The failed former president is also failing badly on the real estate front, Forbes reports, with his Trump branded properties down in value by a staggering $170 million. That figure could be increasing by even more as the state of New York has also banned Trump and the Trump Organization from doing business in the state and are seeking at least $250 million in financial damages for the crimes allegedly committed by the company.

Is anything going well in the business world for Trump? Well, his golf clubs are at least making money.

As fewer people spend time in the office, more are goofing off on the golf course. That’s especially good news for Trump National Doral, the former president’s most valuable golf property, purchased for $150 million in 2012. Trump commenced an extensive renovation of the Miami resort, reportedly injecting more than $200 million of additional cash, before politics spoiled his investment.

The Donald has been off the list before, only to slither back onto it years later, Forbes notes.

In the 1990s, Trump took out enormous loans that resulted in well-publicized bankruptcies. He made a comeback from that but fell off once more in the midst of the Covid pandemic which hit the hotel and travel industry hard, leading to gigantic losses that he hoped would be offset by the launching of his Truth Social platform, which has been a total bust, with only 6.5 million users. That’s about 1% of the total who are on Twitter. Overall, Trump’s 90% stake in Truth Social’s parent company has fallen in value from $730 million to less than $100 million.

Can Trump reinvent himself this time and make a financial comeback? Considering that he’s 77 years old and facing decades in prison, it seems beyond impossible, especially for a man who doesn’t have an ounce of truth in his enormous, bloated body.

 

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Business Donald Trump The Trump Organization

Trump Tower Tenants Refusing To Pay Their Rent And Moving Out

Not so many years ago, Trump Tower was one of the most prestigious addresses in all of Manhattan. There was 100% occupancy and a waiting list to rent even the smallest spaces in the building.

But those days are gone, and Trump Tower is now at less than 75% occupancy, the lowest level since 2013, and a sign that times are indeed tight for the Trump Organization, which is facing a major loan payment later this year, the Washington Post reports:

“In its midsection, Trump Tower is something more prosaic: a Manhattan office building, with 12 floors available for lease. The Trump Organization’s headquarters occupies two other office floors.

“The leased floors serve as part of the collateral for one of Trump’s biggest outstanding debts, a $100 million loan with the full amount due next year, according to data kept by the real estate analysis firm Trepp.”

One of the former tenants that went belly up, ironically, was Marc Fisher Footwear, which used to manufacture shoes that carried the name of Ivanka Trump:

“But earlier this year, the Trump Organization sued Marc Fisher Footwear for unpaid rent. The suit said the shoemaker had stopped paying rent in November 2020, and owed more than $1.4 million.”

One tenant, however, is indeed paying their rent on time and at an exorbitant rate: The Make America Great Again PAC, which rents the 15th floor of Trump Tower, providing $37,541.67 a month in guaranteed revenue for Trump and his company, which some suggest may be legal but is certainly not kosher:

“He’s running a con,” said Paul S. Ryan, a campaign-finance expert at the watchdog group Common Cause. “Talking about political expenses — but, in reality, raising money for self-enrichment.”

Then again, Donald Trump has always run a con. In his days as a real estate mogul, he was doing little more than leveraging properties with borrowed money so he could pay off other loans he owed to other banks.

It’d be tempting to call Trump’s entire life a giant Ponzi scheme, but that’d be an insult to anyone who ever ran one of those.

 

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Business LGBT Issues

Walmart Gives Anti-Pride Activists The Middle Finger – Refuses To Pull LGBTQ Merchandise

After anti-LBGTQ bigots started boycotts of Bud Light, Kohl’s, and Target for daring to express their support for LGBTQ equality and Pride Month, many other corporations were worried they might be next.

But the largest retailer in the country, Walmart, is making it clear they won’t be intimidated by bigots and homophobes, letting the world know they will not be pulling any of their Pride Month merchandise for anyone and no matter the consequences.

Yes, Walmart.

Reuters reports that Walmart isn’t about to be intimidated and isn’t making any concessions to bullies.

Walmart on Wednesday said it has not made any changes to its LGBTQ-related merchandise tied to Pride Month, or to security measures in place at its stores, a week after rival Target pulled some LGBTQ-themed products following customer backlash.

“We haven’t changed anything in our assortment,” Latriece Watkins, Walmart’s chief merchandising officer, said.

And if you’re thinking that Walmart doesn’t have to change anything because they don’t offer much in the way of LGBTQ merchandise, consider that they carry “rainbow-adorned flags, clothing and accessories. Its ‘Pride & Joy’ collection includes a $7.98 set of enamel pins with messages such as ‘Be you. Be Proud.’ and ‘You are enough.'”

Watkins also noted that there has been no need to increase security at its stores, many of which are located in deeply red states.

“In this particular case, when we think about security … we have not done anything in particular differently related to security in our stores.”

Online reaction to Walmart’s hardline stance has been muted, and there have been almost no calls for a boycott of the retailer. Kind of makes you wonder why the haters have chosen to exclude Walmart.

 

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Business Elections GOP Ron DeSantis

Florida Loses 2,000 Jobs After Disney Pulls $1 Billion Development Project From The State

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) loves to say that if he becomes president, he’ll run the country much the way he runs the Sunshine State.

If that’s true, news today from the Walt Disney Company suggests the United States would be in a deep recession within six months of DeSantis taking the oath of office.

According to CNBC and The New York Times, Disney has scrapped plans to open a new employee campus in Lake Nona, Florida, a decision that will cost the state 2,000 jobs and over $1 billion in potential profits.

Citing “changing business conditions” and the return of CEO Bob Iger, Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney’s parks, experiences and products division, penned a memo to employees Thursday, announcing that the company will not move forward with construction of the campus and will no longer be asking more than 2,000 California-based employees to relocate to Florida.

“This was not an easy decision to make, but I believe it is the right one,” D’Amaro told employees.

The decision by Disney is the latest sparring between the company and DeSantis, who has targeted the multinational corporation simply because it dared to publicly disagree with his anti-LGBTQ law — “Don’t Say Gay” — that limits the discussion of gender identity or sexual orientation in Florida classrooms, even if the topic is raised by students.

Disney has also filed suit against the state for targeting its special Reedy Creek Improvement District, which allowed the company to operate virtually independent of any government intrusion.

DeSantis is expected to announce his bid for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination sometime next week.

 

Categories
Business Donald Trump

REVEALED: Ex-Prez Donald Hypocrite Owns Millions In Anheuser-Busch Stock

Ever since many conservatives began calling for a boycott of Bud Light in response to the beer’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, partnering with transgender TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney, one figure in the right-wing community has remained silent: Failed former president Donald Trump, who has yet to say a thing about the boycott.

And now we know why.

The Independent reports that Trump has a major stock investment in Anheuser-Busch and clearly doesn’t want to see the company suddenly start losing millions of dollars due to a boycott.

According to data reviewed by The Independent, it’s possible that Mr Trump’s reluctance to criticise the company that makes the middling American beverage stems from his personal financial interests.

Mr Trump’s most recent financial disclosure shows he holds a significant financial interest in Anheuser-Busch InBev, the company that produces Bud Light.

A recent disclosure report filed by Trump with the Federal Elections Commission on April 14 shows that the indicted ex-president owns between $1 and 5 million of Anheuser Busch InBev stock, which is shown under an account listed as “DJT Trust — Investment Account #2,” Business Insider notes.

However, despite the millions in Anheuser-Busch stock the twice-impeached former president owns, that doesn’t mean he isn’t a bigot when it comes to the trans community.

For example, in a video he released as part of his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump specifically remarked that if he’s elected again, he will “stop the chemical, physical, and emotional mutilation” of transgender children in the United States and vowed to use federal law enforcement against any doctor or healthcare provider who provides gender-affirming treatment to any member of the trans community.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0zRRSH_pQ0

For now, Trump is happy to hold on to his Anheuser-Busch stock and expect handsome returns in the the long run, even though he won’t be able to spend any of the profits when he’s incarcerated.