Public Comment

Trump often boasts that his negotiating skills as a successful business tycoon would be used to make ‘America Great Again’ if he is elected president. But a close examination of court records reveal details of how the robber baron tycoon actually bankrupt his Atlantic Casinos but was still able to walk away with millions. Investing little of his own money he secured large loans at high interest using his high profile name and his casinos as collateral. Collecting significant portion of the profits and paying himself a high salary and bonuses and shifting his personal debts onto the casino books, he amassed millions before driving his poorly managed casinos to bankruptcy. He sought protection from the courts and persuaded bond holders to settle for less.  

Unabashed, he boasted that “The money I took out of there was incredible.” Duped by ‘Don the con’ his investors lost millions. He narrowly escaped financial ruin in the 1990s by delaying payments on his debt. To avoid staggering losses he took his casinos public shifting the risk to stockholders. His stock and bondholders lost more than $1.5 billion and many contractors and service providers suffered financial ruin when he failed to pay them but that did not stop him continuing to use the casinos as his personal ATM. Do we really want a con artist as our next president?