Can Businessman Trump Run The Country

This has been the most volatile and repugnant election cycle in recent memory. And the start of Trump's first year as President has not been any less chaotic. He told the electorate he as the great negotiator, and that only he could save the country. He projects himself as the ultimate businessman. Is he? And can business be applied to government?


On the face of it one would say, why not? Maybe common sense business tactics can clean up government and get it clicking like a well-oiled machine. Cut out waste, stop taking care of everyone, let's look after ourselves. There are several divisive discussions you can have when you talk about Trump.

• Policies, and should the government be run like a business?
• If we run the country like a business, should Trump be the one running it?
• and, lastly, what is his perception of a "great" America?

Some will say he is a narcissistic opportunist that lies at every turn, always has been, and that tigers don't change their stripes. We'll save policy discussion, and whether the government can run like a business to a subsequent discussion. Let's focus on the man himself to determine whether he is the only man who can save America. Once you get past all the spin, all the rhetoric, all the name-calling, and insults, the President you'd think stands for something, some agenda that drives him. The question is, what is it? First, let's examine what he says.

Donald Trump's main talking points have been:

1. Our politicians are stupid; we need a successful businessman who understands how things work, can negotiate, isn't beholden, or tied to any outside influence.
2. We're being overrun by illegal immigrants that are stealing local jobs.
3. We're being played by China, who is stealing our jobs and manipulating currency.
4. Open trade is a disaster. Canada is taking $17 B
5. We need law & order to bring crime in line.
6. Isis and Muslims are a national threat
7. We have to resist political correctness.
8. Repeal & Repeal healthcare - he has something much much better.
9. Tax Reform.

So let's begin with item #1, that Donald J. Trump claims he is a hugely successful businessman who can run the economy, negotiate international trade deals, and is so un-politically correct that it makes him tough.

But before we get there, it is worth pointing out that Trump supporters seem to have demonstrated limited hearing. They didn't hear Trump admit to sexual assault, they heard locker room talk; They didn't hear him insulting the Gold Star family whose Muslim son gave his life for THIS country; they didn't hear him insult Mexicans or the 'Mexican' judge, or the wives of Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz (not that Cruz didn't do the same); they didn't hear him accuse our sitting president of lying about his birth for the last five years, or recognize the pit of mud he has dragged our civility into, making insults and hate speech trendy.

When Trump goes off on his tangents and tantrums his followers don't seem to care. In my discussions with them, they simply said: "we don't care, our gut says he'll be good for America." No one can really debate how another feels. Whether your gut motivates you to like Trump or not, we're all entitled to that personal right. We should respect it.

America didn't become great in the first place from being overtly nasty, being stronger, or being ignorant. We became great because of our innovative spirit, our national willingness to rally around a gentler sense of humanity, always do the right thing regardless of whether or not we had our own internal self-interests for doing so. We've risen up to empire status in the world, not by strong-arm tactics like the previous empires before us (Romans, the Greeks, Turks, the Spanish, British). But rather as corporate raiders selling democracy.

We have to be honest about who we are: we believe in capitalism, democracy, humanity (we have the highest rate of philanthropy in the world, dwarfing the next five countries combined). And as an Argentine reporter once cited -- after a Nobel prize winner used his podium to denounce American imperialism -- that despite our motives, as an empire we've produced more benefits to the world than any other empire before us.

When Trump insults people, infers that as President the free press may no longer be a free press as we know it, they don't care. It appears that all they hear and care about is that he will build a wall to stop the inflow of Mexicans (and the Caribbean) -- even though the rise of the Mexican economy these last years as reversed the immigration trend; ban Muslims to stop the inflow of Jihadists -- even though homegrown terrorism, including white supremacists, accounted for 73% of all U.S. terrorism since 9/11; support law & order -- regardless of whether the police are in the right or wrong on a case by case basis; use his business deal-making experience in trade deals, and punish foreign governments for 'stealing' American jobs.

None of his negative character traits seem to matter in the eyes of his followers because, according to him, he is a successful businessman, a guy who wins -- "I've been winning my whole life, it's what I do. You're going to get tired of all the winning" he declares.

Let's Not overlook his successes. He has had some. The Grand Hyatt at Grand Central Station was part of the renovation of the city, as was Trump Plaza on 5th Ave. Both were hits. I, like many New Yorkers at the time, was impressed when he took over the city's failed attempts to rebuild Wollman Rink in Central Park; which he completed ahead of schedule and under budget.

These three projects collectively made him the prince of the city. In recent years he has also had success with his golf resorts, something he is quite passionate about and has knowledge of.

Words Matter

He is continually frustrated by a free press that is actually going to fact-check him when he speaks, and point out when he lies, which he does often. "All politicians lie" you might say, but Trump is in a class of his own. His claims, about crime rates, his electoral collage win as the biggest, his inaugural crowd size the biggest, that his predecessor wiretapped him, that his repeal and replace was days from done and going to be terrific, that he'd build a wall that Mexico would pay for, that the pipeline would be built with American only products, that he got NATO to pay up (that was negotiated in 2014), claims of murders and riots that didn't happen, that he didn't claim Climate Change was a hoax by the Chinese, that he didn't say Japan and Saudi Arabia shouldn't have nuclear weapons, that N. Korea would be easy to get in line, that Middle East Peace would be easier than anyone thought, that healthcare would be "easy", that he wouldn't touch Medicare, that China stopped manipulating their currency because of him (they stopped in 2014), that "no one had any contacts with the Russians", that he has never had and doesn't have any business dealings with Russians (he forgot a small $100M) and many more, weren't even close.

The Chief Executive's Skills

As President, he claims he can use his business acumen (which he pronounces 'a cumin' -- because he knows a lot of words) and apply that to running the country. But there is a lot he doesn't seem to understand. The scariest aspect is that he doesn't know what he doesn't know. He claims he knows everything, that he "has a very smart brain", that he is the smartest guy in every room, yet when asked what he felt was the strongest leg of the Triad, he responded "the nuclear option" -- not knowing all three legs of the Triad are nuclear.

He seems to be way out of his depth. Paul Ryan cuts him slack saying "he's new to this." Somehow a guy who has demonstrated a short attention span and lack of understanding of the very government he is running is worrisome. Moreover, he doesn't get that because he gives the order -- that unlike running his privately owned business -- those around him are not his employees, they are public servants: they are not supposed to be loyal to him, but rather the Constitution and rule of law.

This clearly seems to rankle him.

The Historical Management Style and Results of Donald J. Trump

When we look at the historical managerial experience of Donald J. Trump -- because historical fact trumps promotion --, he has left a string of failures in his wake. A friend of mine told me "He is highly successful, made billions, every businessman has failures, it's not important."

In general, that may be a fair statement. But in Mr. Trump's case, the history reveals something else -- HE HAS NOT SUCCEEDED IN ANYTHING BEYOND SELF PROMOTION AND REAL ESTATE; specifically: The Apprentice, the licensing of his name, and real estate. And it's not the failures on their own that stand out, but also the mistakes he made as Chief Executive.

Many of the Trump failures didn't have to be failures, according to many experts in related fields. Before the Taj Mahal Hotel & Casino even opened in Atlantic City, NJ, Marvin Roffman, a highly-respected analyst in the gaming industry. predicted its failure, which was published in the Wall Street Journal, while Donald had been heralding the coming Taj to be fabulous, stupendous, like nothing you've ever seen before ...

He then called Mr. Roffman's firm and threatened a lawsuit if the article wasn't retracted. Mr. Roffman offered a written apology, but the next day recanted it to stand by his prediction and was promptly fired. He noted that Trump has financed the Taj with high-interest junk bonds and that after the initial few months of hyping its opening, the Taj would buckle under the huge debt-load Trump had created. He was correct.

When Trump's top three Atlantic City casino executives died in a crash, Steve Wynn, the very successful Las Vegas casino operator, suggested to Donald to get on the ground, get into the books, get intimately familiar with his properties and operations.

But like his prep for the debates, homework is not something he seems to engage in. At the debates, when asked his preferred leg of the Triad, Trump responded "I like the nuclear option," not knowing that all three legs of the Triad are nuclear options.

Bad management bad planning, and bad economic decisions -- at a time when "if a monkey threw a dart at the stock market, on average that stock would have made 150% during those times" Warren Buffet had said --, he managed his casinos into bankruptcy; a business he bragged in his book 'can only make money, you can't lose money.'

BUT IT WASN'T HIS money! He borrowed from banks, then passed off the debt to working people who bought the stock because he sold them on the idea that he'll WIN, and just like the voters, they TRUSTED HIM. In the end, everyone lost, except Donald, as he claims "I made money, I'm a winner."

Is this the guy you want to entrust with your entire country, a guy who considers himself a winner even though he ruined everyone else? Not competitors, but his own partners?

Let's then consider this list of losers by his hand. And remember that while some were just bad projects, others were premium projects that were simply mismanaged by Trump, who created enormous debt loads that were unsustainable. It's worth pointing out that had he taken his inheritance and simply put it into T-bills, he'd be wealthier than he is today.

BIG BRANDS THAT FAILED UNDER TRUMP MANAGEMENT

• Trump Plaza Casino
• Trump Taj Mahal Casino
• Trump Castle
• The Plaza Hotel NYC
• Trump Air
• Trump on the Ocean 
• Trump Soho (and countless other real estate projects) 

BAD IDEAS THAT FAILED -- THOSE TRUMP TOUTED AS the 'BEST' "AMAZING' etc.

• Trump Mortgage -- launched without any vision of the looming housing collapse.
• NJ Generals football team - he was largely blamed by many for bringing down the entire USFL when he insisted the league sue the NFL [boasting they can't lose the 1.6B suit; they did, they were awarded $3, and the league folded.

MORE MARKETING FAILURES

• Trump Steaks
• Trump Magazine
• Trump New York Magazine
• GoTrump.com
• Trump Water
• Trump Vodka
• Trump -- the game
• Trump University (he had to settle the lawsuit for 25 M)
• Trump ICE water
• The Trump Network
• Trumped, a radio show
• Trump New Media

Whether Trump is good-intentioned or not, which is a big debate in of itself, his driving force seems to be rooted in his own populism; this then supports claims that he is really just a self-interested opportunist looking to build his brand. He claimed he'd drain the swamp, chastising Clinton for taking speaking engagements at Goldman Saks, then turns around and appoints the Goldman Saks Chief to his cabinet; railed against the elitists, then loads his cabinet with millionaires and billionaires with huge conflicts of interest. He continues to throw more alligators in that swamp, many not even qualified for the job at hand. There is no doubt that he is a good builder, and very capable of negotiating land deals to his benefit. But he doesn't seem to possess any special skills at managing anything. Many years ago a friend once told me that your success is not based on what you have, but how far you've come from where you started. Trump has a lot of wealth but hasn't moved very far forward with what he started with. So then how does his success being a builder -- coupled with his failure at everything else -- make him suited to try yet another venture outside his expertise, running the government?