Discussion: All Bark, No Bite: Trump Ain't The Negotiator He Bragged About

TPM Article Topics
#61

And think about how trump learned to sell empty air. His father taught him how to be a chiseling crook. Roy Cohn showed him how to pretend to be a player in Manhattan. The real author of “Art of the Deal” fabricated the legend and made up the title. The producers of The Apprentice handed trump scripts, staging, willing dupes and TV ratings.

None of it had any substance. An analysis of his business history shows a string of bankruptcies and failures, scams and lawsuits.

Republicans made a myth out of Reagan, too. Phony and demented as Reagan was, he had more credibility than trump.

9 Likes
#62

Nailed it! This point - “so who exactly lent him the money, when no reputable banks would” - needs to be the focal point. And can not be emphasized enough. Well done.

1 Like
#63

Actually, I don’t think he realized it would be a struggle, and I don’t think he values knowledge or sees it as a requirement. From what we can observe, he thought he could just bully and bluff his way through being president, while restructuring it to rake in big profits for himself.

Today he finally acknowledged for the first time that the job was far more difficult than he expected. He is a deluded narcissist, and after experiencing one failure after another in the first 100 days, it sounds like reality has begin to seep through that ferret on his head and he’s ready to pull out of this particular deal.

3 Likes
#64

Frank Rich sez:

6 Likes
#65

"Mexican Prime Minister Enrique Peña Nieto"
Sorry but the last time I looked Mexico had a President, not a Prime Minister. This kind of a mistake is very much like what I would expect from Little Donnie Trump.

1 Like
#66

The other 16 were afraid of being publicly humiliated by trump, and they wanted to be in a position to take over his rabid base.

Of course, they lost on both counts because trump manipulated a willing media. In this sad episode, both trump and the media were indifferent to truth, devoid of ethics and gluttonous for ratings.

4 Likes
#67

President Whiny couldn’t negotiate his way out of a pay toilet even if he was spotted 4 cents.

4 Likes
#68

Great pooch!

#69

There’s a few million that bought a ticket to THIS FREAK SHOW,
Yeah, yeah…step RIGHT up folks, do I have a deal for you…

He’s a BARKER alright.

#70

One other aspect. His self-image as a “tough accomplished deal maker” is also largely based on his penchant for abusing those with much less power - his contractors and suppliers.

Once he incurs a debt to them, he refuses to pay it without being hauled into court. Thus they are faced either with non-payment (and likely bankruptcy if this was a major contract for them), taking him to court at their own expense to get paid (at great cost, and likely bankruptcy against Trump’s team of shake-down lawyers), or settling for a fraction of what they are owed. In Trump’s mind, that is his “savvy deal making”. Breaking contracts and making money doing it.

2 Likes
#71

More Frank Rich:

4 Likes
#72

He is nothing whatsoever.

He is the single biggest nothing of all time. I’ll give him that - he wins the Nothing and the Loser awards for all time.

4 Likes
#73

I’d quibble with: “He has yet to gain legislative ground on the Mexico border wall, tax reform and infrastructure, three signature planks of his campaign platform”.

He’s been actively burning up any legislative ground he might have had to the point that even the Republicans are starting to cut off his credit line - just like the US banks did quite a few years ago.

2 Likes
#74

The press is giving us a matched set; for every article about how DT is utterly bad at the job, we get one explaining how people who voted for him are still with him/not racists/economically insecure/in need of respect.

At some point the collection begins to tell its own tale, which is of course the tale HRC told in her campaign. He’s unfit. Half his voters are deplorable people. The other half got conned, hard.

4 Likes
#75

I read last night on Rawstory that the Congressional GOP think the Wall is as stupid as we think it is and he’s never going to get funding for it out of them.

2 Likes
#76

Who would have believed that a big orange clown with a 100 word vocabulary and likely lower IQ would be able to get anything accomplished in Washington, or God forbid do any actual presidenting.

3 Likes
#77

Farley the wonder boy BEST.DOG.EVER.
I know everyone says that
Rescue pup
Therapy dog
Chaser of Bats and Buzzards
Indeterminate parentage maybe Border Collie /Bearded Collie

4 Likes
#78

I have been perplexed by the absolute negotiating incompetence shown by Trump’s team. He starts late and folds early. He doesn’t give his position a chance to ripen. There are all kinds of recognized negotiating strategies, but what he does doesn’t fit any of them. He has proven to be a pushover. Loser.

I would suggest he read some books maybe starting with Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War.”

1 Like
#79

More like …

1 Like
#80

I never thought I would see something so utterly terrible in my lifetime.

2 Likes
Comments are now Members-Only
Join the discussion Free options available