Fmr. Trump ghostwriter: "Trump's portfolio did not jibe with what I saw each day--

[kpete]

Link to tweet

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A real go-getter, right? But Trump’s portfolio did not jibe with what I saw each day — which to a surprisingly large extent was him looking at fabric swatches. Indeed, flipping through fabric swatches seemed at times to be his main occupation. Some days he would do it for hours, then take me in what he always called his “French military helicopter” to Atlantic City — where he looked at more fabric swatches or sometimes small samples of wood paneling. It was true that the carpets and drapes at his properties needed to be refreshed frequently, and the seats on the renamed Trump Shuttle required occasional reupholstering. But the main thing about fabric swatches was that they were within his comfort zone — whereas, for example, the management of hotels and airlines clearly wasn’t. One of his aides once told me that every room at the Plaza could be filled at the “rack rate” (list price) every night, and the revenue still wouldn’t cover the monthly payment of the loan he’d taken out to buy the place. In other words, he’d made a ridiculous deal. Neither he nor the banks had done the math beforehand. Or perhaps Trump knew it because someone had told him, but didn’t want to think about it. The one thing he is above-average at is compartmentalization.

On days when there were no broadlooms or chenilles to ponder, we would sit around his office and shoot the breeze while (as we now know) out there someplace in the real world, his businesses were hemorrhaging cash. He’d talk about the Yankees, show me pictures of Marla Maples (whom he was then romancing while still married to Ivana) and tell me obviously made-up stories, such as how he had just the other day seen a beautiful, completely naked woman on the street. “Put that in the book!” he’d say, and I’d pretend to write it down.

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In the final weeks of working on the book, we attempted to explain away his disasters, such as the forced sale of his yacht. “As much as I’ve enjoyed it until now,” he (I) wrote, “and as impressive as it’s been to my casino customers, I think I’m giving up the game of who’s got the best boat. ... I don’t need it anymore, I don’t want it anymore, and, frankly, I can find better things to do with the money.”

Translation: I’m broke.



the rest:
https://news.yahoo.com/trump-the-billiondollar-loser-his-ghostwriter-recalls-the-king-midas-years-090000640.html

[empedocles]

1. Surprise. No idea that fabric swatches cut into his time-consuming perusal of

news pics and coverage of . . . trump.

[lunatica]

2. Image is everything

That’s why he appears to be untouchable arrogant in public. It’s all for show and the show is all that counts with him and his family. They’re profoundly fake through and through. The Botox family.

[malaise]

4. NBC help him to reinforce that fake image

They must not be forgiven

[jayschool2013]

12. The entire network?

Or just the entertainment division?

[malaise]

14. The other sections promoted the show

and he was a regular on cable shows for quite some time

[monmouth4]

3. So, he's been sort of a nut for quite some time..n/t

[Grammy23]

5. So many people who know the truth about tRump.

NOW they speak up to reveal what they know. Where were they pre-2016? Were they afraid of him? Did they think he was a buffoon and would never succeed in winning the presidency? Why, why, why???

It just baffles my mind how so many people who encountered tRump know the truth but have failed to make even a small dent in his following. His people (base) are loyal and even seeing the chaos of the past two years, they choose to continue being loyal. They listen to HIM. It’s as if he is the Pied Piper, wooing his followers. Do they ever wonder if their man is leading them astray? Most cannot point to anything positive from his leadership — if they are honest. But they still give him credit for keeping his promises.

Brainwashing is a difficult thing to understand but that is the only thing that really explains their devotion. What is the antidote to it? Reverse brainwashing?? Someone or some entity needs to step up quickly and help. tRump may not have really wanted the Presidency but once there, he has realized his fondest wish — unrestrained power at his fingertips. If something does not stop him, we are in for a very rough ride — much worse than what we’ve already seen these last two years.

[ginnyinWI]

7. Probably wouldn't have done any good.

Most of us immediately saw through this con job. The rest were primed and ready for a "leader" like this to come along.

[William Seger]

9. I saw Charles Leerhsen on MSNBC several times in 2016

Last edited Fri May 10, 2019, 11:54 AM - Edit history (1)

The question should be, where were the other networks.

(EDIT: Sorry, I was thinking of Tony Schwartz, who wrote "The Art of the Deal." I'm not sure I saw Leerhsen.)

[airmid]

10. To be fair, there is literally 40+ years of print, audio, and video, showing what a despicable

excuse for a human being he is and has always been. You would need to be lazy and apathetic, willfully ignorant, or just like him, to not know what a waste of skin he is. He fits right into the Republican Party.

[KSNY]

11. This was mostly already known for those who look beyond corporate media

However, the networks, cable stations, and mainstream press (I include the New York Times), uncritically repeated the fake mantra "billionaire businessman, Donald Trump" and gave him and his hate rallies free air time during the 2016 campaign.
Wasn't it Les Moonves from CBS who said that Trump may be bad for America, but he was good for CBS?
...and though I do not watch television, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski gave a regular platform to Trump during the 2016.
While the mainstream, corporate media was happy with Trump's carnival barker sideshow in 2016, Mother Jones and other publications produced work documenting Trump's frauds and quoting those who knew he was a fraud.

[Owl]

6. Wow!

[Botany]

8. The Art of the Deal

"One of his aides once told me that every room at the Plaza could be filled at the “rack rate” (list price) every night, and the revenue still wouldn’t cover the monthly payment of the loan he’d taken out to buy the place. In other words, he’d made a ridiculous deal."

[smirkymonkey]

13. There is nothing there.

The man is a complete phony. An empty shell with not one redeeming quality who projects a vile image to protect his fragile ego.

[Danascot]

15. So the current fabric swatches

are Fox Noise and Twitter?

[mopinko]

16. i saw this story, and realized

yeah, this is why there was never gonna be a pivot.
here is the thing about age and the brain-
i think we know that when we get older we get 'set in our ways'.
our brains are just not plastic enough anymore at a certain point. our brains get rigid. this point is different for everyone, and not tied to a number, but it happens to us all if we are lucky enough to get really old.
so he is just doing what he has always done, what has always worked, because he is too geriatric to change ANYTHING.

(and this is why i think bernie has an old brain. he kept giving the same speeches, and making the same points, no matter the circumstances. rigid.)