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1/ Trump has indeed lost a fortune as president. One of the great ironies is that if he'd just divested at the start, then plowed the proceeds into the S&P 500, Trump would have avoided all these ethics complications--and he would be hundreds of millions of dollars richer today. https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1315280931977146368
2/ That's what the ethics experts suggested that he do at the time. Trump, however, insisted on hanging onto his properties. At the time, it wasn't heard to tell that this was a risky political decision, which could mire his presidency in ethical controversies.
3/ But at the start of the presidency, it was difficult to tell whether this would be a good or bad *business* decision.
Would Trump make money on the presidency? Or would politics damage his companies? We didn't know, because no one had really done something like this before.
Would Trump make money on the presidency? Or would politics damage his companies? We didn't know, because no one had really done something like this before.
4/ But now, the results of the experiment are in.
Make no mistake, Trump has tried to make money on politics. In some cases, he has succeeded, like at Mar-a-Lago. Trump said so himself, in this 2016 deposition.
Make no mistake, Trump has tried to make money on politics. In some cases, he has succeeded, like at Mar-a-Lago. Trump said so himself, in this 2016 deposition.
5/ But business is complicated. Just because you try to profit off of something doesn't mean you actually do. Trump's tax representative later explained, in sworn testimony, how politics crippled business at Doral. See more detail on that in this thread. https://twitter.com/DanAlexander21/status/1313509201008787459
