Ivanka Trump’s shoe brand is causing Trump Tower to go broke
How many times have you winced after someone told you Donald Trump is a successful businessman and that’s what the United States needs? While the latter point is debatable, the first is so laughably incorrect. Trump’s illegal and unethical dealings coupled with his colossally poor decision-making have blazed an unremitting trail of bankruptcies, lawsuits, and mounting debt.
The association of “Trump” with success has been this con artist’s fixation, which is why we still don’t have complete access to his tax returns. Indeed, this quote from The Art of the Deal underscores Trump’s intense need to have others believe the myth of his grand, self-made wealth: “Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score. The real excitement is playing the game.”
Trump has always been obsessed with appearances. No matter what the reality, Trump and his minions continue to dismiss bad press as fake news. They also take pains to come across as if they’re always winning bigly, hoping to scare us into defeatism with their arrogant attitude, as if they know something that we don’t.
However, facts tell a different story. A Washington Post report on Friday exposed the failing financial health of Trump Tower in New York City. Six long years after Trump infamously descended an escalator to warn of Mexican rapists, the building appears to be exacting a karmic revenge on the cretin.
Trump Tower’s commercial space is now only 75 percent occupied, the lowest level in nearly a decade. With one notable exception, its remaining tenants are “imploding.” Marc Fisher, which manufactured Ivanka Trump’s now-defunct shoe brand, fell $1.5 million behind on rent; Marcraft Clothes, which sold pricey Trump suits, shut its doors last year after owing $664,000 in rent; and the Kardashian-associated Legacy Business School fell $198,000 behind, according to court filings.
Of course, the “one reliable, high-paying tenant” left at Trump Tower is none other than Trump’s Make America Great Again PAC. As the report details, this is thanks to Trump taking advantage of loose regulations and gullible supporters to underhandedly enrich himself. For a while, the PAC even forked over a $3,000 monthly rental fee to the Trump Organization for a retail kiosk in a closed lobby.
In a related development, an Axios report this morning revealed that Trump is in “advanced talks” to sell rights to Trump International Hotel, which is leased federal property in Washington, D.C. Although the details aren’t known, sources believe Trump will get less than the $500 million he apparently wanted two years ago. It’s also only a matter of time until the huge, golden “TRUMP” is booted from Pennsylvania Avenue.
If we rely on Trump’s outward confidence as a barometer for anything—the country’s progress, Trump’s chances of winning the 2024 presidential election, or the likelihood of Trump heading to prison—we do so at our own peril. These new reports are the latest confirmations of reality, that Trump’s world is crumbling beyond his control. The truth is a juggernaut that will eat Donald Trump alive.
Ron Leshnower is a lawyer and the author of several books, including President Trump’s Month