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.
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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.
Noticing a lot of people on Lemmy scoffing at this development, which I suppose is their right. But you know what? I see this as a real win; Trump Org no longer being able to operate in NY is a big fucking deal.
Yes, he’ll likely make up the difference through donations from his rabid base. No, they won’t know about it because the right wing disinfo machine won’t tell them.
So what? It’s a fucking win, nonetheless. It ain’t shooting him and his ill gotten gains into the sun, but it is very well the first of a series of deathblows.
Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good, and all that.
Totally agree, but I’d also like to hear more about this ‘sun’ idea you have.
Man, if they were any actual fairness/justice in this world, the “canon into the sun” business would be booming!
(HA, booming! Get it???)
It’s the start of accountability (at to least some degree) and it should definitely be celebrated imo. I feel like the people dismissing it are the same people complaining that trump needs to be held accountable. This is a good start!
Hell yeah, cheers to consequences! 🍻
I get it though. I want to see him barred from running for president for insurrecting and in cuffs and a jumpsuit for his myriad crimes about as much as anyone. However, if that means death by 1000 cuts rather than an immediate removal from society, I’ll take it.
One thing worth noting is it is easier to fire something out of the solar system than it is to fire it into the Sun. In fact firing something into the Sun might actually be impossible with our current technology!
His fans will never know. They’ll continue to think of him as a business genius because he says he is and whatever he says is gospel to them.
“I done seent it on the TV! He was a BIG old smart business man on The Apprentice what when he done made them city folk do all the tasks every week and then said ‘you’re fired!’ Hur hur hur!”
Fraud is just good business practice! He’s so smart for that
This is exactly what they will think. Remember during the 2016 campaign when the left was angry at him for not paying taxes? The right wing masses said they thought it was smart. They think cheating the system is a good thing. Except when someone on welfare does it. Then we have to dismantle the whole system.
Yea I guess I should have used /s on that comment. That’s exactly what I was referencing
Whoever picks the photos for these articles about shithead picks absolute bangers every time. Ducklips Trump here is fucking hilarious lol.
Would have been a lot more of a blow to him if his crimes were tried in CRIMINAL court where such cases belong, for once!
He keeps being found guilty of crimes that would land someone less rich and powerful in jail for several years and getting only a fucking fine!
this assumes that the rich and powerful people they ripped off didn’t have them dumped at sea, or in the hudson or buried into a concrete footing…
Far as I can tell, Trump is, regrettably, still on dry land and alive, so I don’t really know what you mean…
the average person rips off a rich fuck, and it’s very likely that they’re dead. Trump is one of them. Or is perceived to be. different story for him, right?
Pretty much, yeah
I agree he should be in jail, but this is going to stop him from doing business in New York, where he built his empire and where a huge amount of his business is still done. So this hurts him even though it isn’t criminal.
It won’t hurt him other than financially and he’ll just get loans from various corrupt foreign entities and donations from his cult following to cover it. What are they going to do, slap his wrist harder? 🙄
It won’t hurt him other than financially
I promise you it will. Mar a Lago may be his home, but NY is his ‘spiritual home’ (if you can compare his lust for money and power to religious fervour).
Trump is incredibly thin-skinned. Being convicted of such large-scale fraud and banned from doing business in NY will be a massive blow to his giant ego. Further, angry people get sloppy and tend to make silly (sillier?) mistakes.
You know what would be a MUCH worse blow to his ego btw?
Several years of community service. Forcing him to be genuinely helpful towards those less fortunate than himself would be much worse for him than prison and would actually have him be a benefit to society for the first time in his miserable hyperprivileged life.
Agreed, but in life we don’t always get what we want. I’m taking my usual approach with this trump saga… prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
I get what you’re saying, but this is so close to nothing compared to the magnitude of his multiple crimes over the last 40 years or so that it might as well be nothing.
NY is his ‘spiritual home’
Used to be, but now he despises it and the feeling is mutual.
Trump is incredibly thin-skinned. Being convicted of such large-scale fraud and banned from doing business in NY will be a massive blow to his giant ego
True, but so was being indicted at all. Hurting his fragile ego is a REALLY low bar when it comes to holding him accountable for his lifetime of crimes.
Further, angry people get sloppy and tend to make silly (sillier?) mistakes.
For which he’ll ALSO get a slap on the wrist, if anything.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
