'Easy mark': Why Trump's $464 million bond failure makes him a 'massive national security risk' - Alternet.org
By: David Badash (Alternet. org)
An observation I have been making. This is obvious.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
National security, legal, and political experts are lining up to sound the alarm about the potential national security risks swirling around Donald Trump, and those warnings are getting stronger.
One month after Trump descended the Trump Tower escalator in 2015 to announce his run for president, CNN reported on the real estate mogul's repeated claims of great wealth. At one point Trump told supporters he was worth "well over $10 billion." At other points Trump says, "I'm very rich," and "I'm really rich." CNN's John King noted, "some voters see this as a virtue, in the sense that they think politicians are too beholden to special interests."
Days later Politico ran with this headline: "Donald Trump's new pitch: I'm so rich I can't be bought."
Fast forward nearly a decade later.
Donald Trump's attorneys declared in court documents Monday that 30 companies all refused to secure a $464 million bond for Trump, which he owes the State of New York after losing his civil business fraud trial.
The sirens are now wailing.
Citing a Washington Post report, MSNBC's Steve Benen writes, "it's now 'expected' that Manafort will be hired" to work on the Trump 2024 presidential campaign, "at least in part because the former president is 'determined to bring Manafort back into the fold.'"
Manafort is Paul Manafort, Trump's former 2016 campaign chairman who in 2017, "surrendered to the F.B.I. and pleaded not guilty to charges that he laundered millions of dollars through overseas shell companies," according to a New York Times report in October of 2017.
The Times also noted that Special Counsel Robert Mueller had "announced charges … against three advisers to President Trump's campaign," including Manafort, "and laid out the most explicit evidence to date that his campaign was eager to coordinate with the Russian government to damage his rival, Hillary Clinton."
In 2019, NPR reported, almost as a footnote, that "a court filing that was inadvertently unsealed earlier this year, revealed that Manafort shared polling data with a business associate who has ties to Russian intelligence services."
In his MSNBC report, Benen noted, "the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee concluded that Manafort 'represented a grave counterintelligence threat' in 2016 due to his relationship with a Russian intelligence officer."
"'The Committee found that Manafort's presence on the Campaign and proximity to Trump created opportunities for Russian intelligence services to exert influence over, and acquire confidential information on, the Trump campaign,' the Senate report added." Benen also reported: "When the Senate Intelligence Committee's report literally pointed to a 'direct tie between senior Trump Campaign officials and the Russian intelligence services,' it was referring in part to Manafort 'directly and indirectly' communicating with an accused Russian intelligence officer, a Russian oligarch, and several pro-Russian oligarchs in Ukraine."
Benen reinforced his thesis, writing on social media: "When the Senate Intelligence Committee pointed to a 'direct tie' between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence services, it was referring in large part to Paul Manafort — who's reportedly now headed back to Team Trump."
Add to all that this plea from The Atlantic's Tom Nichols, a retired U.S. Naval War College professor and expert on Russia, nuclear weapons, and national security affairs.
"According to reports last week, the U.S. intelligence community is preparing to give Donald Trump classified intelligence briefings, a courtesy every White House extends to major-party candidates to ensure an effective transition. An excellent tradition—but not one that should be observed this year," Nichols wrote at The Atlantic in a piece titled, "Donald Trump Is a National-Security Risk."
"Indeed, if Trump were a federal employee, he'd have likely already been stripped of his clearances and escorted from the building."
After discussing "Trump's open and continuing affection" for authoritarian dictators, Nichols notes, "even if Trump could explain away his creepy dictator crushes and clarify his byzantine finances, he is currently facing more than half a billion dollars in court judgments against him."
"That's a lot of money for anyone, and Trump's scramble to post a bond for even a small portion of that suggests that the man is in terrible financial condition, which is always a bright-red light in the clearance process."
Political strategist Simon Rosenberg on Monday warned: "If Trump is given access to national security briefings he will now have someone with a proven history of selling stuff to the Russians on his team to help facilitate the movement of our intel to our adversaries."
Also on Monday, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) wrote on X: "We cannot emphasize this enough: Trump's mounting court fines make him a massive national security risk."
"After multiple losses against E. Jean Carroll and New York Attorney General Letitia James, Donald Trump is facing judgements that could end up costing him upwards of $600 million," CREW reported February 29. "But these rulings are more than a financial headache for Trump, they are an unprecedented opportunity to buy influence with a leading presidential candidate and a sitting president should he be re-elected."
Diving deeper, CREW notes, "Trump left the presidency with at least $1.1 billion dollars in debt tied to the COVID-weakened commercial real estate market, the vast majority of which would come due in a hypothetical second term in office. These rulings would make that number 50% higher."
"Giving the highest and most powerful office in the land to someone deeply in debt and looking for ways to make back hundreds of millions of dollars he lost in court is a recipe for the kinds of corruption that aren't theoretical when it comes to Trump. There's a reason that you can't get a job in the military or the financial services industry, or even referee a major sporting event, if you have a massive amount of debt. And you certainly aren't getting a security clearance because you become too big of a target for corruption."
Bloomberg Opinion senior executive editor Tim O'Brien, an MSNBC political analyst and author of "TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald," observed, "Trump's financial trap — he can't come up with the cash to appeal his $454 million civil fraud judgment — may ravage his business. More directly: It intensifies his threat to national security by making him an easy mark for overseas interests."
"There's no reason to believe that Trump, whose businesses collected millions of dollars from foreign governments and officials while he was president, won't have a for-sale sign out now that he's struggling with the suffocating weight of court judgments," O'Brien continues at Bloomberg. "Trump is being criminally prosecuted for allegedly misappropriating classified documents and stashing them at Mar-a-Lago, his home in Palm Beach, Florida. Without a trial and public disclosure of more evidence, Trump's motivations for taking the documents are unknown, but it's reasonable to wonder whether he pondered trying to sell them. Monetizing the White House has been something of a family affair, after all. His son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has been busy trading financially on his proximity to the former president, for example."
O'Brien concludes, "the going is likely to get rough for Trump as this plays out, and he's likely to become more financially desperate with each passing day. That's going to make him easy prey for interested lenders — and an easy mark for overseas interests eager to influence US policy."
An irrational, vindictive narcissist with the power of the presidency is a terrible situation for this nation.
trump and his family have all shown they have no concern for the emoluments clause of the constitution...
As long as there are republicans in Congress he will not be called to task for it either.
True as long as they hold a majority.
Or a fairly large minority in the Senate.
Pretty sure even Putin is broke these days.
Putin's never-ending-war has him poor as well.
Doubt ugly gold shoe sales will be helping Trump.
His narcissistic trading cards shot crap as well.
Looks like it's coming down to selling Mar A Lardo.
Maybe Disney and BLM will make a joint offer.
pretty sure Putin is Not, poor, and his wealth would be in Bezos and Musk
compare as ment, and not the Trumpullthinskin
embareassmeant !
Nah, I'm sure Putin has billions squirreled away in private bank accounts around the world. He'd never touch that money. But if you're talking Russia itself, then yes, I'm sure they are hurting far worse than any will admit.
I still crack up thinking about them and his gold shoes which have not even been made yet. And don't forget his Trump money.
Still available on Amazon , BTW...
If Trump suddenly posted a bond at this point it would raise a huge red flag.
It should.
He'll get it from his butt-buddy Vlad
Or Jared's buddies in Saudi Arabia.
geez, what a choice if they don't get paid back. fall out of a window or butchered and buried in the turkish desert.
Looks like even Vlad considers Trump a bad credit risk.
trump's new campaign slogan is "for sale"...
whoever has a week left to try and launder the money. this is probably just another stall and fund raising angle, but his legal team not pulling it at the last minute does highlight the question of his actual liquidity. I wonder how his business partners like watching daddy piss away their family legacy on his ego.
Just so the country doesn't piss away its legacy on his ego.
some patriot would take one for the team first ...
Some needs to start a "go fund me" account . At 15 cents a pop , it'd be worth a fortune !
To cover Trump's current bond, every citizen of the USA (including children) would need to donate $1.33
the check's in the mail...
no stamp, wrong address, no signature...
... bad check written on a closed account.
Whoever loaned Trump that much would own Trump...
Let's call Soros and see what we can do. I'll kick in a few bucks.
Always wanted to own a jet with gold toilets. I'd take Tay, Trav, Mahomy, Andy and all the Chiefs for rides to wherever and back.
Trump wouldn't mind his former jet being finally put to good use.
whoever loaned trump that much would never be repaid...
I wouldn't loan him 5 bucks.
I'd spring for 2 quaaludes, a dress, a bus ticket to el paso, and then superglue a wig to his shaved head...
I don’t think that you can get real ludes now, what kind of fake shit are you buying?
india. I only vape thc. it helps me sleep and keeps me from the gun cabinet if I'm around maga morons.
I'm trying to quit before november ...
Morning..can always migrate to the Rock..
there's a slogan for El Paso hot sauce
Pass the old El Paso
lol
old white guys from america are considered undesirables in most countries for some reason now ...
Had to quit smoking due to the long covid so nothing keeps me from the gun safe these days (I can even remember the combination).
Possible outcome....
Trump will simply stall and not pay the outrageous fine for doing an accepted business practice where overvaluing assets is part of the bargaining process, while continuing to campaign. Would these fools hold him in contempt and attempt to arrest him after he has been chosen to be the Republican candidate? Most likely not, as this would amount to prima facie evidence of blatant election interference.
At any rate, this continued political persecution would very likely cause a large number of the electorate to feel that the Democrats are trying to rig the election to their benefit, and cause a great deal of sympathy for Trump, and a substantial shift away from Biden, resulting in Trump's election.
Except, there is no need to hold Trump in contempt of court for not paying as required by the judgement. They will merely seize properties and sell them to the highest bidder until the judgement is paid...
You should become his lawyer and get disbarred as well.
Trump is only running to win and be able to pardon himself of all of the crimes he has committed.
If he doesn't win he goes to prison. It's that simple.
If he does win he will still be found guilty in state court.
Trump is a lifelong criminal. No way he should ever be president.
Trump is a right wing fascist. The world doesn't need another Hitler.
No shit?
The company that posted a bond for the Carrol case, Chubb was one that turned down Trump on this bond. If he puts up RE as his collateral the companies will probably dismiss him as giving false value to his RE...KARMA.
Trump is a risk under any circumstances and now with this situation hanging over his head security risk should jump to the top of the list.
his properties leveraged up to his eyeballs, his golf courses are losing money, and I doubt he has a half billion in total equity. gee, what a bummer ...
One thing that is known about Trump is that he lives a life of smoke and mirrors. Lying is his modus operandi. It is what he does. His dishonesty goes beyond his utterances into the legitimacy of his enterprises. His books are dishonest. His valuations are dishonest. It is all a grand game of deception to make himself appear much more than what he really is.
And, quite amazingly, he has been able to do this for decades.
Seems his only hope now is to be elected PotUS so that he can dishonestly abuse the powers of his office for personal benefit.
"Oh... You're a very bad man."
Seinfeld. Babu Bhatt?
I know. I was kidding.
Humor? (Turn sound on)
Maybe if he signs over his stock that he just got from Un-Truth Social...
He could indeed have worked out a deal where he trades the future value of a certain number of shares for immediate cash. The buyer would own Trump's shares and then six months after the IPO, would be able to sell those shares.
Not likely, but possible.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
So does him going to jail increase or decrease the value of his stock??
His base is not a bunch of wealthy individuals. And the current membership of Truth Social is approximately 5 million people. So let's (generously) assume each of them bought $500 of Truth Social stock (when the IPO allows for them to buy stock). That adds a market capitalization of $2.5 billion. I am not so sure what large scale investors think of Truth Social, but I suspect they see it as very risky and lacking much intrinsic value. The value of a social media site is the number of members and the business model that would project growth in membership at a rapid clip. Truth Social is not impressive in either regard.
Thus the market capitalization of Truth Social will, IMO, come largely from low income / modest investors. This does not look very promising.
I would not consider a $500 million purchase of Truth Social stock based on its valuation 6 months from the IPO. I would be very interested to hear the logic of anyone who would think this is a good deal for them.
Agree. Meme stock in a company with low cash reserves and has never made a profit. The value depends on Trump supporters, not any market fundamentals.
Seems that way to me. A key question for a serious, sophisticated investor will be how Truth Social will grow tenfold. Twitter has about 450 million users while Facebook is almost 3 billion. Truth Social is currently (generously) at 5 million. That is a little more than 1% of Twitter's market share and ~0.17% of Facebook's.
Further, both Twitter and Facebook offer an international appeal whereas Truth Social is centered around Trump cultism.
The 'story' that would show how Truth Social would increase even tenfold in a normal expected time frame (which is less than 5 years) would be quite a yarn IMO. And even then , they would have 50 million (generously) users which would still be about about 11% of Twitter and 1.7% of Facebook.
Not an exciting prospect. And much worse if Trump loses the election.
I didn’t buy any although it might see short term growth.
If you are referring to stock 'DJT', there is nothing yet to buy.
Thanks, I thought that it went on the market yesterday.
But I am going to make you an offer that you just can't refuse...
From the New York Times :
Indeed,
I do not see an offer that I cannot refuse.
I would much rather invest in the burgeoning AI market.
Ummmm... Try viewing it from the perspective of your article with the "offer" being made to Trump by well, take your pick of nefarious actors
I've already seen talk of a short scam expected on the stock offering.
If one had just awoken from a decades long coma, one might surmise that AI was in play here, as Trump continues to lead his cult over the cliff while piping like a pied piper cub attempting to imitate a Kamikaze piloting his Boeng. 737 Max into the side of a growing mountain of evidence that Trump has succeeded at establishing a cult with a chore, of leading those Hillary did deplore, into a place quite impure, and asz the GOP does abide, they apparently have no problem with this ride, that they have so enabled. They deserve to be thoroughly crushed come November, so let US hope enough do Remember, what was unfortunately NOT AI, and caused people to die, as it threatens our Democracy , that should be easy for any to see, yet willingly blinded, so many have yet to find it, and that needs to change. But with legal maneuvering and bias judgment, one cant be sure justice will catch Trump, for if he is able to get over that hump, he'll be fckn US some more, like another rape victim, porn star, or Russian whore.
Sad state of affairs, that arent.
.
Only supporters of the former 'president' are on truth social and they are losing a lot of members - it doesn't appear to be worth shit.
Yeah, I am scratching my head on how this IPO is valuated.
it's a scam that will eventually leave a bunch of suckers with nothing, which is what trump does best...
An IPO requires a formal process. It is thus legitimate legally. But the valuation of the IPO is subject to substantial freedom.
Be interesting to see who is buying this stock.
Chinese, Russians, Iranians...
No one can trade on this for months from what I heard.
The private shareholders in an IPO are typically restricted from selling their newly converted public shares for a period of time (usually months). This is to allow the market to stabilize. If this is not done, the value of the IPO could immediately plummet.
Those directly purchasing the IPO stock have no such restrictions.
trump is majority holder and those trading rules can change...
Trump can promise shares that cannot be liquidated until a future date for $$$ now. If he signs over the number of shares to net, say, $600 million, that is a great ROI.
The risk is that Trump’s shares in aggregate could drop below $600 million by that date.
the devout turd is now pimping God Bless the USA bibles.
'Happy Holy week. Let's make America pray again. As we lead into good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless the USA bible for 59.99"
JFC
shouldn't that Bible price read $56.66 `?
$66.60...
included with a copy of the maga constitution and revised 1st amendment...
Karma is the Trump who is going to prison..... TS
Karma, what an unusual, unscientific belief.
So you don't believe that a life of evil deeds should eventually catch up to you and destroy you and all of your ill-gotten gains?
The bigger they come, the harder they fall.
No, I don’t believe in Karma. What’s the science that you see in it?
No science. Just observation.
I did not used to believe in Karma. But then I observed instant Karma up close and personal.
Trump's far right wing MAGA supporters should be very careful that his inevitable demise doesn't sink their ships next to his. America trashed far right fascism once and we can do it again!
Trump and the far right are aligning themselves with Putin and fascist Russia. This is treason in so many ways.
When I took an oath It said to defend the constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic.
Seems our enemies these days are mostly domestic fascists who use hate of the other as a creed.
Much like Hitler did back before WW11.
Hmmmmm .........
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,/Than are dreamt of in your philosophy (, 1.5. 165–66).
Instant Karma's gonna get you
Gonna knock you right on the head
You better get yourself together
Pretty soon you're gonna be dead
What in the world you thinking of
Laughing in the face of love
What on earth you tryin' to do
It's up to you, yeah you
I've also heard that described as
What you send out comes back
or
What goes around comes around
or
Your actions have consequences
He needs Manafort back because he needs his money laundering skills
And a patsy to take the fall when it blows up in his face.
... somebody very familiar with russia, you know, just in case...
maybe that luxury condo deal in downtown moscow can be revived...
I'm sure there are a couple of KGB Red Sparrows whose testimony would be golden.
... beside the one he married?
Putin probably would frown on that testimony.
Depending on how "Golden" is defined
Putin used his Red Sparrows (KGB trained whores) against every diplomat who ever visited Russia.
Trump (as a whore monger) was very susceptible.
Trump would rather sell out the USA than have those very embarrassing 'golden shower' films released.
Trump even denied ever visiting Moscow once even though it was well documented that he had been Putin's guest while negotiating a Moscow hotel deal.
Is this really the whore mongering POS who has been submitting to Putin blackmail that you want to be USA POTUS?????!!!!!!
I heard from my BFF that he bought her because she gave the best golden showers.
she promised she would never cheat on him, with a man ...
Opinion from Alternet. I am surprised NT allows them as a source.
LEFT BIAS
These media sources are moderate to strongly biased toward liberal causes through story selection and/or political affiliation. They may utilize strong loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by appealing to emotion or stereotypes), publish misleading reports, and omit information that may damage liberal causes. Some sources in this category may be untrustworthy. See all Left Bias sources.
Do you have any substantive rebuttal for the facts stated in the seed?
[✘]
of course not...
didn't trump stall the POTUS transition by refusing intel briefings to biden?
i believe he did
you'd think he'd still have enough stolen classified documents left to sell...
Doesn't mean It's not true. I can back up all my statements.
hey, 7. 10 split,
is that what you got, to back up your No argument you seem to know oh so well, cause there is Demonstrable PROOF , proof that Trump and chump have had many ties to zmutha Russia, but the GOPEE on Trumpp zParty for all those slick denials, or young girls formerly accusing 45 of Denial, R on file,
and purrrrhaps, Trumpp will use this file to break the barz that a tempt him to service Bubba, long time.
cause
[deleted]
[deleted]
Don't even remember what I wrote but it probably had something to do with the truth.
There should be a way to find out what deleted comments actually said so we can learn from our mistakes.
There is, go to my comments and the Easy Mark article, 7.5
not necessarily...
Why not, works for me.
.
I seem to be missing a lot of comedy gold...
filler.
Trump has until Monday to post the bond (or get an answer from the appeals court), but James is already making moves to freeze accounts and seize assets.
I'm really going to enjoy watching james financially dismember that POS. since trumpco is over 500 separate entities, I'm sure the court appointed business monitor has been very helpful to her.
Yeah, didn't she discover that 48 million that he lent to himself?
there's talk about another trumpco oversight position that can be appointed by the court. with every trumpco transaction documented and above board, I don't see trump legally surviving the financial minefield.