Another day, another indictment. The latest charges against Donald Trump do not involve paying hush money to a porn star or conspiring to subvert the 2020 election. They appear in a new book which strikes at the heart of the Trump myth: the notion that he is a self-made billionaire who personifies the American dream.
“Lucky Loser”, an exhaustive study of Trump’s business record, suggests exactly the opposite. Trump owed everything to his father Fred, one of the country’s top housebuilders who made his fortune in the post-second world war construction boom. With a couple of exceptions, Trump’s own casino and real estate deals veered between indifferent and disastrous.
In every instance, owning or having an option on trophy assets beat building profitable businesses. Trump was going nowhere fast until he debuted as the blowhard host of NBC’s “The Apprentice” — a gladiatorial management contest filmed inside his gilded tower on Fifth Avenue. The show skyrocketed in ratings, providing Trump with a financial lifeline and a platform for his successful campaign for the White House in 2016.
“Lucky Loser” draws heavily on previous exposés by New York Times journalists Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig. Digging through mountains of tax records, they discovered that Trump paid $750 in federal income tax in 2017, the year he became president. In 2008, he paid no federal income taxes during a year in which he collected $14.8mn from ”The Apprentice” and $18.5mn from celebrity endorsements and licensing deals. In fact, Trump paid no federal income tax in 11 of the 18 years they examined.
Buettner and Craig’s work earned them a Pulitzer Prize along with David Barstow but had little impact on Trump’s fortunes until ordered by US Supreme Court to hand over his tax returns in 2021.
There are sharper portraits of Trump as relentless self-promoter who combines animal cunning with whiny narcissism; however by far best is “Too Much and Never Enough”, written by his niece Mary – trained psychologist – where she tells story about how allegedly pushed aside her alcoholic older brother Freddie Jr — Mary’s father — to take over family empire; this comes across little tame compared to “Lucky Loser”.
In their opening foray Buettner & Craig blame Americans’ awe towards celebrities for allowing someone like him rise up so high despite lackluster business record & dubious financial practices; also point out how media credulousness fueled rise too – journalists swallowing claims huge wealth without questioning it enough times appeared regularly print/on air even NY Times itself hardly immune but even Mike Wallace CBS’s “60 Minutes”, supposedly toughest interviewer around swooned when interviewing him.
New York banks were equally gullible lending freely based solely upon personal guarantees given by him; Wall Street only wised up after casino empire collapsed mid-1990s forcing wholesale disposal assets yet escaped personal bankruptcy allowing comeback reality TV star via show called “The Apprentice” where winning apprentice would receive $250k + year placement within organization but authors show image success illusion reality skewed selection process capricious bullying host according Jeff Zucker boss NBC News/Entertainment admitted “You were casting actor… He was playing part… It’s called reality television never real per se.”
Until it was real: Donald J.Trump really did become America’s forty-fifth president & now running again for White House if makes it top again somebody should write another book about enablers helped him way up people looked away lies system allowed lead such charmed life.
