Disgrace and ruin

| 6:00 pm EST February 18, 2024
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Donald Trump has not been incarcerated – yet. Make no mistake, he will be. He will be. His first trial is coming up soon, and the DC trial will follow. And Trump will go on trial FOUR times. This will happen because he will lose the 2024 election, and he will not be able to squirm out of any of his trials.

But I want to talk about what happened to Donald Trump this week. Because while it did not involve prison, it was just bad for him in its way. For years upon years, Donald Trump bragged about his “brand.” This “brand” was the pride and joy of Donald. His life made him feel like a big shot, and he never missed an opportunity to say just that in many interviews.

What did Trump lose this week? Well — he sure did lose lots of money. Trump and the green are not easily parted. So, of course, he was miserable and enraged about that. But Trump lost something else, and it’s vital to understanding just how miserable the old man must be now.

Trump lost his brand. He lost the Trump name. That, for Trump, is death by a thousand paper cuts. This was what he was most proud of. How often did you turn on the TV and see a proud orange traitor bragging about how he defined New York with his buildings? How many times did he brag – and brag — and brag?

Now he can brag no more. I am not the only one saying that; Sidney Blumenthal wrote a column for The Guardian remarking on how Trump has Been steering the family legacy “onto the rocks.”

“Judge Arthur Engoron’s ruling on Friday concludes the nearly century-long history of the Trump organization in New York in disgrace and ruin,” Blumenthal wrote. “Disgrace and ruin.”

How shaming for Trump. And before anyone says Trump can’t feel shame, I say he can. He’ll never admit it. But sure, he can.

For Trump, being an antisocial personality and a narcissist, his shame would not seep out where one could see it. But imagine the hopes and the dreams smashed on Friday.

The man can’t do business in New York for three years. He lost hundreds of millions, And the Trump name is synonymous with — with — with FAILURE. It is also synonymous with being a loser.

I imagine much of Trump’s outrage is over this glorious fact – that the Trump name is no more. When people think of the brand “Trump,” they will think only of ruination, dishonesty, and fraud.

And it’s all Donald Trump’s fault. HE LET HIS FAMILY DOWN. The Trump brand was entrusted to him, and he treated it with disrespect and indifference. He didn’t value it. And now it’s gone, finally and forever.