How Trump Really Got Rich

Oct 03, 2018 · 19 comments
DesertFlowerLV (Las Vegas, NV)
The Trumps are the real life Dallas Ewings and the Sopranos. I enjoyed both of those series immensely, but in the real world I am not amused. When does the weight of their corruption finally bury them all? Thank you, Times. It's a Herculean task, but you're doing a great job.
Tom (Maplewood NJ)
Please, remain a reading endeavor versus wasting heaps of time and bandwidth on needless videos... excepting that informative reporting!
David Lloyd-Jones (Toronto, Canada)
An interesting five minute read condensed into a 34-minute turbitude of yap. Ain't technology wunnerful!
Joe Rockbottom (califonria)
One question: If Trump was getting at least 200K per year since he was a little kid why did he "need" a "loan" from his daddy to start a business? Simple interest calculations on his "allowance" (assuming he was not spending it significantly) shows he would have had at least $7-8 million in his own name by the time he was 21.
Carl (Trumbull, CT)
@Joe Rockbottom: The "loan" was a "story" created a few years ago to make him look like an entrepreneur, when he ran for President. Just another of his 500+ lies...
Patricia (Saint Petersburg, FL.)
@Joe Rockbottom. He stole from his father, the taxpayers in the 80’s, filed bankruptcy 4 times and paid not a single person back. He is as corrupt as he was raised to be!
Donald W. (Ottawa, ON)
If you want to know what previous investigators have found out about Donald Trump and his empire building, check out the Village Voice articles from the 1970's: https://www.villagevoice.com/2015/07/20/how-a-young-donald-trump-forced-... Anyone who wanted to know who Trump was from his earliest real-estate days to the presence should read this. I find the most interesting part is Trump's relationship with Roy Cohn.
James Young (Seattle)
@Donald W. If you really want to know Trump, watch this PBS Frontline documentary. https://www.pbs.org/video/trumps-showdown-jqp2qd/
Capt. Penny (Silicon Valley)
Forensic accounting is incredibly tedious but very rewarding once you discover how to link the facts. It's a bit like doing your tax returns and looking through receipts you found under the front seat of the car or the bottom your business suitcase trying to recall what you did months ago, and coming across a long forgotten receipt worth a week's pay. I'm reminded of several litigation cases we worked on with 9 digit figures at issue where one founder had been defrauded, or where the company had literally shipped crates full of bricks fraudulently marked as precision machinery. I'm curious about how the IRS prosecutes fraud across the decades.
Joe Rockbottom (califonria)
@Capt. Penny "I'm curious about how the IRS prosecutes fraud across the decades. " They don't, unless some politician has a need to punish someone...Which is why the IRS under Trump is a very dangerous organization.
May (Illinois)
@Joe Rockbottom No, the IRS is actually pretty independent. Through many Republican budgets, the IRS has been starved of funds and has had multiple cut-backs in resources. They are understaffed and overworked, and when they do take on large stakes fraud cases, the plaintiff sends someone to tell incessant lies to the court--and they get off, and the IRS moves on to the next case. Notice the comfort with lying as a matter of course with high-stakes financiers. Years of practice, and no fear of prosecution.
Son Of Liberty (nyc)
Journalists really doing their job! Thank you NYTimes for shining the light into the vile essence of a man who is nothing.
Madeline Conant (Midwest)
"It has not been easy for me. It has not been easy for me. I started off in Brooklyn. My father gave me a small loan of a million dollars. I came into Manhattan, and I had to pay him back, and I had to pay him back with interest. But I came into Manhattan and I started buying properties, and I did great." ----Donald Trump --Video from the Today Show on October 26th, 2015
Javaforce (California)
This story pokes big holes in Trump’s wild exaggerations about being a self made billionaire. It’s just a wild guess but Trump may have started fibbing and making outright false statements to get hIs father Fred Trump’s attention. It sounds like Fred Trump was a good and successful businessman while Donald was losing money as fast or faster than Fred could make it.
nytrosewood (Orlando, FL)
@Javaforce The apple does not fall far from the tree. His grandfather, Fred Sr., fled Germany to avoid the draft (just like 45, he was a draft-dodger and then lied about being German once he got to America. His father, Fred Jr., was investigated by the U.S. Government for profiteering. Fred was also arrested for marching in a KKK parade in Queens. Let these facts do the talking- when you are raised to be a cheat, racist and liar, unless you make the decision to change, that is what you will be when you die.
Rowena DeMio (Clinton Twp. Michigan)
Super podcast ! How can I get a transcript of "How Trump Really Got Rich"?
Michael Gallagher (Cortland, NY)
So why wasn't this reporting done years ago? Trump could not have promoted himself if the Time and other media outlets helped him. That's how he built the cult of personality he rode to the White House. If the Times had done this in the 1970s or '80s, we might not have to suffer through his presidency now. Thanks, Times, thanks a lot.
JANET (Minneapolis)
How is this not being prosecuted? Can't the IRS go after the Trump empire at this point? This is scandalous, our president is a fraudulent criminal.
Mae Lee (NC)
Totally grateful for the journalists and investigation completed the by the NYT. Somewhere down the line, the entire story of Trump must be revealed and the Russian links to his finances will unmask the entire deception.