Bloomberg's theory of Trump
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Others have tried this tactic without success — remember Hillary Clinton? — but Mike Bloomberg plans to attack President Trump on his business record.
One difference: Trump's pre-White House career can now be linked with his decisions as president. Another difference: Bloomberg will be making this argument as a multibillionaire who built a multinational company.
Between the lines: The crux of Bloomberg's argument is that Trump has only ever had to think about crushing his next adversary in a deal rather than building a long-term customer relationship — and that this short-term, win-at-all-costs mindset defines how Trump operates as president, and with allies.
- "He is a real estate promoter as opposed to a businessman," Bloomberg told me at a campaign stop last Monday in Compton, south of downtown LA. "And they have very different ways of going about things."
Bloomberg's full comments:
"A promoter does one transaction and is never going to see that customer ever again. In his case, he sells a building to you and chances are he'll never have you as a customer again. So he can be much more aggressive in terms of trying to get the best deal for himself.
A businessperson, you always want to leave something on the table for the other side of the transaction because you're going to come back and try to have another transaction. And in fact, in this day and age, you can be a customer of another firm, they can be a customer of yours, you can be partners with them, you can have a lot of different relationships.
So the business world is much more complex, and you don't behave that way. And I think that explains a lot of ... his demeanor here versus other presidents or what I would do. ... That's the way I've always thought about it. Because you look at him and you say, 'Why does he do this?' That's what my conclusion is."
