As Tenants Hightail It From Trump Tower, Campaign Money Used To Fill The Gap
What could go wrong?
And as for these poor “tenants” … I feel sorry for them. Imagine their surprise upon waking up one recent morning only to find they’ve been living in a building with Trump’s name emblazoned all over it. Yikes!
“the transactions would only be illegal if it could be proven that the Trump Tower space was serving no actual purpose for the campaign.”
Gee, that law’s basically unapplicable. Serving Trump is serving the campaign. Shoulda passed stricter laws. Is that part of HR1?
Sadly, some of those people own condos in the building - I suspect the value of their units isn’t what it used to be - and their worth continues to drop every day trump’s name remains on the building.
I have a colleague whose ex-wife has a condo there (he lived there too until they split 6 years ago). They bought it precisely because it had Trump on the facade and she was a big-time Trump supporter (she works in NYC real estate and I am sure got a sweetheart deal). I recall a few times with her when she would nastily disparage Obama for not running the country like a corporation. So no, I am not sorry for her. Not at all. She has glorious views of Central Park from her perch.
…the transactions would only be illegal if it could be proven that the Trump Tower space was serving no actual purpose for the campaign.
Sounds like a poorly drawn piece of legislation. By that logic, a campaign could pay exorbitant rent for millions of square feet of office space owned by the candidate, as long as there was one person sitting there who answered the telephone with “Joe Blow for President. How may I help you?”
Of course, we’re now realizing that our entire system has been caught off guard by Trumpism. We have a host of laws and regulations that are simply toothless in the face of a lawless administration, particularly one that has installed its own pet Attorney General. How can an administration be prevented from spending non-appropriated funds, if the A.G. won’t prosecute those who do it? How can Congressional subpoenas be enforced if the Judiciary says, “this is a political fight, so we won’t wade into it?”
Sounds like we need to call Gort.
…When you’re selling condos in one of the hottest real-estate markets on the planet and you lose money…
Best. Businessman. Ever.
I wonder if it’s dawned on her that Trump is, indeed, running the country like a corporation. The problem is that he’s running it like one of his corporations, and we know how those usually turn out, to wit, in the crapper.
As long as those people are getting screwed, all is good.
I have NO problem with this. In fact, I don’t understand why Trump doesn’t raise his payments to himself to $1,000,000 / month.
If Reich-wingers continue to be dumb enough to keep sending him piles of money - fleece them like the sheep they love to be. They will love Trump all the more for the in-their-face con.
Trump Tower serves only one purpose.
One more failure for the Donald.
True enough. It’s not taxpayer money that’s being poured down a rathole - it’s the donations of the dim. Better to have the money funneled into Trump’s pocket than have it be used to conduct an effective campaign.
This places Trump into an unaccustomed quandary, of course. His 2016 bid was intended to be a publicity stunt, and it worked a little too well. So now he’s in the White House, and is still motivated primarily by self-dealing and grifting. But at the same time, he needs to get reelected to evade the legal woes that are gradually gathering around him, occasioned by the unwanted attention produced by his new celebrity. Forget the obstruction of justice - I’m thinking about the more mundane, easy-to-prosecute stuff like money laundering, bank fraud, and tax fraud. So does he siphon off the donated funds, or does he use them to run a strong campaign? I think I’d put my wager on “grifting.” It’s in his nature.
We need to find a way to get occupancy in Trump Towers world wide to zero. That way, by 2020 he will be diverting significant funds into his pocket rather than his reelection and pissing off anyone who can tell a scam when the see one.
Grifters gotta grift. The campaign couldn’t just use the empty TRUMP apartment to meet in?
I can see why the law would be written to give campaigns the benefit of the doubt – otherwise every incumbent with a friend in the DA’s office could get investigations going against any campaign that spent more than absolute rock bottom. But a case of blatant overpriced self-dealing like this one at least deserves a look from the authorities.
that’s exactly what’s happening. people having serious problems trying to unload their apts; and then, when they do, taking a big hit in the markdown. iirc, it’s Saudis and dubai tenants buying them now…
Trump Tower has become one of New York City’s least desirable luxury buildings, a new report suggests.
Apartment prices at the 58-storey skyscraper have fallen and huge tracts of office space have been left vacant since Donald Trump was elected US president in 2016.
Dont worry , the Orange Blob is fiddlin the situation .
Once Trump is imprisoned and his properties forfeited to the Government, we’re going to have to have that building torn down, the rubble isolated in a containment area somewhere, and a whole bunch of priests performing an exorcism on the grounds before we can use that land again.
I marvel that this is considered worth paying a premium for. You can get great views of parks for a lot less by not living in NYC.
Trump raised 30 mil in the first quarter. He can do both. And will.