Is Donald J. Trump really a Billionaire?

[Archbob]

So now we must ask the question that Donald J. Trump cares more about than anything else in the world -- His net worth. He claims he's worth $10 billion, Forbes has him at $3.7 billion, but what statements he has released tell a much different story and since he won't release his tax return, we can't be sure. But watching these videos:

And the fact that made lost over $900 million dollars and was able to use that to not pay taxes over the next 18 years(suggesting that he failed to make the $900 million back in the 18 years), screams "Not a Billionaire".

In valuing his own Net Worth, he only counts his assets and not his liabilities, like debt, which is completely ridiculous.

So, is he a Billionaire or is his whole existence a lie?

 

[Perfection]

Whether or not he's a billionaire his whole existence is a lie.

 

[warpus]

Trump is actually a hobo who owns a shoe and a piece of rope, but has succeeded convincing the public that he is actually very rich using charisma and optical illusions

 

[onejayhawk]

Who cares at this late date? This was something to raise months ago.

J

 

[Archbob]

Trump's built his whole reputation on being a Billionaire.

 

[Agent327]

Well, watching videos wont'make us wiser. However, since you mentioned Fortune, they have been watching Mr Trump since way before he became a political factor. And then, of course, there was the lawsuit Mr Trump engaged in because a reporter said he wasn't worth $ 5 billion. He lost, not producing any evidence to counter the claim. Other than that: yes, who cares?

 

[El_Machinae]

No wonder he has to raid his Foundation to pay his son's boyscout registration fee

 

[Archbob]

Well, watching videos wont'make us wiser. However, since you mentioned Fortune, they have been watching Mr Trump since way before he became a political factor. And then, of course, there was the lawsuit Mr Trump engaged in because a reporter said he wasn't worth $ 5 billion. He lost, not producing any evidence to counter the claim. Other than that: yes, who cares?

People should care because he built his campaign on "I can be successful running the country because I'm successful in running my business". If that whole thing is a sham and he really has no more than what he inherited, it's actually a big deal. It proves he's a loser and not a winner.

 

[timtofly]

Or an American instead of an internationalist.

 

[El_Machinae]

I've not watched yet. I'm skeptical we can tell. It's very possible he is. At his level of silver spoon, America is not really a meritocracy

 

[metalhead]

Who cares at this late date? This was something to raise months ago.

J

It was raised, many times. You dismissed it out of hand, I guess because you fell for the con. It matters a great deal, even now, because Trump's whole argument for why he's fit for the office of the presidency rests on him being a successful businessman. If it turns out he isn't a successful businessman, then it defeats his argument and provides conclusive proof that he is completely unfit for office.

Ask yourself why he has been totally unwilling to provide any proof of his wealth. And why he hasn't released his tax returns. If they show that he is the wealthy, successful businessman he claims to be, then he has every reason to release them. And, more importantly, he has zero reason not to. The fact that he hasn't released anything tells most of the story. Circumstantial evidence in the form of old tax returns and his complete lack of charity tells the rest.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Based on the fact that he says he is there is about a 75% chance that he is not, given his whopping lie rate.

 

[BvBPL]

Whether or not he’s a billionaire will not change anything material about this election.

 

[El_Machinae]

It should. It means he cannot be trusted to operate without a blind trust

 

[BvBPL]

No, it shouldn’t. No one should be voting based upon whether or not Trump has ten digits in his bank account. There are immensely more important and relevant means for a voter to make up his mind in this election.


If it came out tomorrow that he was definitely, or definitely not, a billionaire, it would not change anything significant about the election. People who were previously his partisans will continue to be so and people who were previously his detractors would not be swayed.


The question of Trump’s wealth is the most BS, penny-ante nonsense in the world that only serves to support the confirmation bias of everyone involved.

 

[Archbob]

No, it shouldn’t. No one should be voting based upon whether or not Trump has ten digits in his bank account. There are immensely more important and relevant means for a voter to make up his mind in this election.


If it came out tomorrow that he was definitely, or definitely not, a billionaire, it would not change anything significant about the election. People who were previously his partisans will continue to be so and people who were previously his detractors would not be swayed.


The question of Trump’s wealth is the most BS, penny-ante nonsense in the world that only serves to support the confirmation bias of everyone involved.

That would be true if he didn't build his entire campaign around how rich he is.

 

[BvBPL]

He premised his claim of economic expertise on his business acumen (which is different from his wealth), sure. But to say his whole campaign is based upon it is a gross overreach. His immigration policies, law and order campaign, and him being the first GOP candidate to express support for gay rights, among many other things, have zip to do with it.

What’s more, his economic policies are not appreciably different from any other GOP candidate so his wealth doesn’t have anything to do with anything at all because Rubio, Cruz, or whomever would still be pushing the same economic policies. The only thing that his wealth is relevant to is his credibility as to his economic policies. And even then, it’s is undeniable that he’s really, really rich even if he only has nine digits in his worth so even if he isn’t a billionaire, he can still stand on his wealth as being an incredibly wealthy person.

All of which means that the only voter to whom that matter is one who is making his decision based solely upon economic grounds, and not just based upon economic grounds but upon the economic credibility of the candidates, and who somehow sees someone who is worth billions of dollars somehow being more credible by dint of that wealth than someone who is merely worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

That’s not a sizeable enough constituency upon which a candidate can rest his hopes.

 

[El_Machinae]

I guess if people don't care about the Blind Trust issue, they don't care about another lie. He holds it as a major credential of his that he's a multi-billionaire. And it's ... what? ... his only stated credential left that has any teeth whatsoever?

 

[Gori the Grey]

Lawrence O'Donnell did a good segment on this about two or three weeks back. There is one tax return from the nineties. It shows 3 million in income, the amount one might draw from 50 million in investments. You'll say, that was back in the nineties; maybe he's grown his wealth since then. He was already claiming to be a billionaire at the time.

Trump has carried forward his father's fortune. No one knows how well or poorly, but at best he deserves whatever credit a snowflake deserves for keeping an avalanche moving downhill.

 

[JollyRoger]

Trump is a number of B words, with billionaire being the least likely. Bankrupt has been confirmed.