"Lucky loser:" New book details how Trump got rich
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The New York Times reporters who uncovered Donald Trump's tax returns are out with a book Tuesday offering a gripping look at how Trump got rich.
Why it matters: Core to the former president's pitch for office is that he's a successful businessman. Relying on interviews with hundreds of former Trump associates, financial statements, confidential business records and public filings, the book dismantles that notion.
- It's called "Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father's Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success," by Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig.
Zoom in: The authors identify three main sources of Trump's wealth, adding up to more than $1 billion. None appear to have anything to do with his acumen as a real estate tycoon or entrepreneur:
- There's the roughly $400 million Trump inherited from his father, as they reported in 2018. A lot of that was plowed into money-losing businesses, including failed casinos and an airline.
- He cashed in on "The Apprentice," from both being on the show and then licensing deals where he endorsed various products. His appeal to advertisers was enhanced based on a portrayal of him that was manufactured by the TV show's producers. (Read that reporting here.)
- A New York real estate deal that he tried, and failed, to get out of ultimately wound up being profitable.
Between the lines: The book takes down decades of business reporting that portrayed Trump as a successful New York City builder who was a millionaire, even a billionaire — before he had come into that money.
- That includes a 1970s NYT article claiming he was worth hundreds of millions when at the time he was simply working with his father's money and telling people it was his.
- Mike Wallace — one of the most prominent journalists of the time — teed up a segment on Trump in 1985 like this: "[T]here's a new billionaire in town. Trump's the name. Donald Trump."
- Only a few years before Forbes had estimated his net worth at over $600 million, the authors note. At the time, it wasn't true.
In that segment, Trump says he's going to build the tallest building in New York. That never happened.
For the record: Trump's campaign communications director, Steven Cheung, called the book "a desperate attempt to interfere" in the election.
- Calling the book "lies" and "incoherent nonsense," he said it "either belongs in the discount bargain bin in the fiction section of the bookstore or should be repurposed as toilet paper."
