A foreign government or American billionaire will rescue him. Probably the billionaire.
A foreign sovereign fund is a possibility, but I think an American billionaire is more likely. A billionaire could act quickly and impulsively. And why not?
At some point, money loses its meaning except a way to signal status or values. Once you have private jets, multiple houses, and university presidents that fawn on you, what else is a billionaire to do with money that has meaning or consequence?
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| Only $500 million |
The 50th richest American has more than $16 billion, according to the Forbes list. Some of the people in this pool are politically active. (George Soros has only about $10 billion. If he were an American he would be ranked around 90th-richest.) What is the marginal utility of yet another jet, private island, or post-nuclear-war getaway in New Zealand? There is no status gained from having more toys.
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| Only $350 million |
The way to show off status is to own a professional sports team, a major news organ, or a Supreme Court Justice. What tops owning a Supreme Court justice? Owning POTUS.
A loan of $500 million to Trump elevates some run-of-the-mill multi-billionaire to the A-list. That billionaire gains an immediate platform. He could pick an issue to serve as the excuse for the loan.
"Trump supports Israel."
"Trump support oil."
"Trump is pro-family."
Any of those will do.
Trump reversed positions 180-degrees on TikTok after meeting with billionaire GOP donor Jeff Yass. Yass owns $15 billion worth of ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok. I had never heard of Yass until a week ago. Now he is bigger than Harlan Crow, who sponsors a mere Supreme Court justice. Yass showed that he has the power to move Trump, and with him the GOP. Yass stepped up.
Trump's opposition to TikTok was transactional. Republicans don't seem disgusted by Trump's switch. They are falling into line, scrambling to reverse policy, now talking about face-saving tinkers, not bans. After all, Gen-Z likes TikTok.
Saudi Arabia's investment with Kushner proved that no one cares about Trump grift. It is a given. Harlan Crow showed that Democrats are helpless to complain about corrupt appearances, and Republicans don't care. They love Clarence Thomas. The process stinks, but they like the result: The Kushner/Trump family is richer and Thomas and his wife are happy.
Which is the better way to be a "person of consequence?" A $500 million gift to one's alma mater or a $500 million loan to Trump that may never be paid back? Would you rather be treated very nicely by a college president or a United States president? If you are a multi-billionaire, you can have both. And why not?
University gifts are a risk. Snot-nose humanities majors at the graduate school with your name on it might start mouthing off about Palestinians getting a raw deal. Ken Griffin learned that the hard way.
Trump cannot be trusted to stay bought any more than Harvard could, but at least Trump can be trusted to do what is in his own best interest. Harvard couldn't even do that. If it's in Trump's best interest to stiff you -- and it almost certainly is -- you don't fuss about getting stiffed. Let it go. He might stay grateful and happy. So it's not a loan; it slowly becomes a gift over time. Your accountants will work out the details. And so what? You have billions to spare.
Win or lose in 2024, Trump will be around, shaping a political party for at least a decade. Being a "friend of Trump" is good currency with GOP officeholders. Get Trump in your debt and you buy a whole party.
I predict some Republican billionaire will step up. Democrats will say it is corrupt. Of course it is corrupt, but Republicans will say "so what?" and swing voters think everybody in D.C. does it so it won't sway many votes. The billionaire will get to play some golf with Trump and Lindsay Graham. People will pay attention to the billionaire for a while.
Money well spent.
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9 comments:
"...at least Trump can be trusted to do what is in his best interest."
If that were true, why did Trump steal all those top-secret documents? Was that just bathroom reading, or was he planning to sell them? Even without the secrets, I’m sure Putin would be happy to help him out. MAGA is like Russia’s fifth column.
What we heard from Trump in 2016: “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing, I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”
What I’d like to hear from Biden: “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you still have Trump’s pee tape. If you leak it, I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”
Today's post is both staggering and commonplace. The conflicts of interest and grifting discussed are not surprising any more.
It caused me to remember William Proxmire, Senator for 31 years from Wisconsin. He refused campaign contributions and mailed back any which came to him unsolicited. He paid the filing fees for each of his campaigns out of his own pocket. He didn't take reimbursements for official travel. No one agreed with him on all issues, but he was respected for his honesty and independence.
Not every politician can be a William Proxmire, but no one has to be a Trump or a Trump sycophant.
I think the biggest shocker would be if nobody stepped up to help him . Luckily, no one can help him in a felony charge. That one he’d have to do himself.
"Luckily, no one can help him in a felony charge."
It sounds like there are judges on the Supreme Court and in Florida willing to help him all they can.
What you write sounds reasonable, but I wonder since Trump's dilemma is so widely known, that anyone who comes to his aid will be under the microscope, harassed and publically vilified. Most super rich (with some exceptions) like to keep a low profile.
Also "Leverage" is Trump's brand; it's how he was able to borrow against overvalued assets. But getting bailed out by another billionaire's largesse makes him look weak and beholden to someone he likely despises.
We'll see.
When I was a kid in the 1950s, I read a sci-fi novel called The Space Merchants, by Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth.
It featured a future America where jewelry was made out of wood because trees had become so rare.
At one point in the story, a bill needed to be passed through the US Senate to enable the colonization of Venus (this was before we knew that the surface temperature of Venus is 867 °F, and it rains sulfuric acid). Legislative characters included the Senator from General Motors, the Senator from Coca-Cola, etc.
Money talks… 😡😱
We already have congress bought by GM, Coke, Exxon.
Our legislators and courts no longer work for us
As Mark Twain said, we have the best government money can buy.
"Snot-nose humanities majors"
Rude, gross, anti-intellectual and anti-education. Our undereducated population is why we are in this mess. Computer science and business programs of study do not count.
A little late, but did readers see the Kennedy Family photo at the White House on St. Patrick's Day? A large group of Kennedy family members assembled at the WH to support the re-election of President Biden (not the election of their brother/uncle/cousin).
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