For years Donald Trump was the host of The Apprentice, a reality TV show in which contestants vied for a management job within his organisation and he would deliver the verdict: “You’re fired!”

It cemented the image of Trump as an assertive chief executive who had conquered New York, an image that still proves seductive to millions of voters who want him to run America like a business. But like much else about the 45th US president, it was all a lie.

On Tuesday a judge found that Trump’s business empire was built, at least in part, on rampant fraud. Justice Arthur Engoron of the New York state court in Manhattan said Trump and his adult sons wildly inflated the value of his properties to hoodwink banks, insurers and others.

The decision will make it easier for state attorney general Letitia James to establish damages at a civil trial due to start next week; she is seeking a penalty of about $250m. Engoron ordered the cancellation of certificates that let some of Trump’s businesses, including the Trump Organization, operate in New York – just possibly the beginning of the end of his empire.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Hurting him financially is a good thing, isn’t it? And not being able to do business in New York is a huge loss to the Trump family business. This isn’t a small thing. This means they have to do things like unload Trump Tower. Without making a profit.

    • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Hurting him financially is a good thing, isn’t it?

      In the same way that a slap on the wrist is better than nothing. As I explained above, it’s just a temporary setback that he’ll recover from quite easily since rich grifters can always get more money.

      And not being able to do business in New York is a huge loss to the Trump family business.

      Yes and no: the main family business is political grifting now, which much more than makes up for the loss

      This means they have to do things like unload Trump Tower. Without making a profit.

      Nope. It specifically says in the article that he gets the money from selling the businesses. Even when you factor in the fine, he’s gonna profit from that. Maybe even more than he would from running the companies.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        “It’s the corporate death penalty,” said Diana Florence, a veteran financial crimes prosecutor for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, now in private practice.

        “This ruling essentially dissolves his company,” she said, though she predicted that years of appeals may pass before anything actually happens.

        https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-new-york-judge-finds-business-2023-9

        Think I’ll take a veteran financial crimes prosecutor for the Manhattan DA’s word over yours, sorry.

        • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Again, says it’s a death blow for the corporation, not him. Also doesn’t say that he doesn’t get to profit.

          None of what I’ve said has contradicted anything that she said, so it’s not the “either or” situation you’re imagining it to be.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Why you seem to think his corporation going under doesn’t hurt him at all is beyond me. It’s like if Tim Cook became a politician and you claiming that Apple going under because of an antitrust case doesn’t hurt Tim Cook. Of course it would. He’s built his entire reputation on being a successful businessman.

            • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              I’m not saying it doesn’t hurt him at all, I’m saying it doesn’t hurt him anywhere near enough.

              If Tim Cook pivoted to getting many times more of his personal income from political scams than from Apple, then your comparison MIGHT make sense, except even then it would be very far from an apples to apples comparison, pun intended.

              He’s built his entire reputation on being a successful businessman.

              He’s built his image on PRETENDING to be successful businessman and then pivoting to leader of a Christofascist cult.

              He was never good at business (as evidenced by losing a billion dollars total in a decade where every other ultrarich person was profiting like crazy) and he no longer needs the real estate empire.

          • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Again, says it’s a death blow for the corporation, not him. Also doesn’t say that he doesn’t get to profit.

            None of what I’ve said has contradicted anything that she said, so it’s not the “either or” situation you’re imagining it to be.

            The fine itself is less than what he raised in 8 weeks to pretend to investigate imaginary election fraud.