When buyers put up six-figure deposits on a Trump-branded condo project in Mexico, all they got for their money was a hole in the ground. Trump pitched the project, and the promotional materials made it sound like he was the developer, but he wasn’t. He merely sold his name to a developer. And when the buyers sued him, he disclaimed responsibility. This wasn’t an isolated incident; it’s a pattern. There have been a number of such failed developments, followed by lawsuits against Trump, who in each case merely licensed his name and and provided promotional services.
His lawyer blames the real estate crash, not Trump. He says Trump saw it coming and shifted from owning buildings to selling his brand name. He calls it a brilliant strategy.
“Some people would say that licensing during an economic downturn actually protected Trump but left investors out in the cold. What do you say to that?” Goldman asked Garten. “I believe I thought it was brilliant on his part to see the bubble coming and decide to focus more on licensing than development,” Garten said. “I think what he saw was real estate prices at all-time highs and he just didn’t see the value there. I don’t think it left buyers out in the cold; I think buyers each need to make their own decision.” [Emphasis added; click here for story.]
Some people might feel otherwise. They would argue that when you lend your name to a business or product, you vouch for it, and if customers who trusted you don’t get what they paid for, you should make it good. That’s basically what you’re being paid for when you license a brand to others. But not Trump. He takes the money and runs, and washes his hands of deals gone bad. That’s not a brand I would trust.
I think it’s entirely reasonable to view Trump’s business practices as a metaphor for what a Trump presidency would be like: Buyer beware; I promise everything, but guarantee nothing, and won’t stand by my promises. After all, he’s basing his whole campaign on a promise to bring his business acumen to the White House and use it to solve the country’s problems. So it’s perfectly logical to look at what his business practices are. And that’s not encouraging.
Trump has rocketed to the top of the GOP field on the strength of his salesmanship. But he’s clearly overpromising, and even cursory examination of his claims reveals that he won’t be able to deliver on his promises. Any of them. To hear Trump tell it, Putin will back off from Ukraine and Syria if Trump merely asks (or tells) him to. Not a chance. This week he unveiled his tax plan, and it’s the same old tried-and-failed Republican nonsense that cutting taxes on the rich will boost the economy so much that deficits will magically disappear. This is basically the George W. Bush tax plan of 2001 that produced record deficits during his entire presidency. And Trump also says he can solve the illegal immigration problem by getting Mexico to pay for a massive wall on the border. Really? Think of it as Trump’s Maginot Line.
Yes, Trump sounds good. He makes it all seem so easy. That’s how he peddled the failed real estate projects bearing his name, too. But when those who believed in the Trump name and risked their life savings on Trump-branded projects were left in the lurch, The Donald was nowhere to be found. That’s what you’d likely get with a Trump presidency, too.
Photo: Dunno about you, but I wouldn’t buy a used car from this man.