How The U.S.’s 'Donald Trumps' Get Rich (and Stay Rich)

Stockhouse readers currently following the political scene in the United States will be aware that one of the battles in which President Donald Trump is embroiled is his efforts to prevent Congress (and the American people) from getting a look at his tax records. A recent Bloomberg article sheds light on Trump’s extreme reluctance to reveal these records.

Want to Make Millions and Pay No Taxes? Try Real Estate

The sub-title offers additional guidance here: “property tycoons [like Donald Trump] get a host of special breaks not available to other investors.” Bloomberg provides an illustrative example: Harry Macklowe. Described as “a New York City Developer”, Macklowe hasn’t paid any taxes since the 1980’s despite amassing a fortune recently estimated at over US$650 million. Nice.

Along the way, Macklowe “built a reputation as a dealmaker willing to take big risks.” Why not? In the United States, when a real estate mogul crashes-and-burns due to poor business decisions, “hard landings are rare”. Macklowe’s risk-taking resulted in several meltdowns in his real estate wheeling-and-dealing. But with laws that protect the very rich in the United States from their own greed (and stupidity), Macklowe had no difficulty bouncing back.

Then there is U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump was a rich kid who was handed $1 million by his daddy to begin building his own (tax-free?) real estate empire, most recently valued at more than $3 billion. Trump amassed his $3 billion despite no less than six bankruptcy filings. Six bankruptcies, but zero hard landings for The Donald.



Trump is notoriously unapologetic for the long trail of unpaid creditors and failed businesses left in his wake.

“I have used the laws of this country just like the greatest people that you read about every day in business have used the laws of this country, the chapter laws, to do a great job for my company, my employees, myself and my family.” [emphasis mine]

And from that boast, we can deduce what makes a “great” American in the eyes of Donald Trump:

• A born-wealthy American who amasses fabulous wealth while paying little (no?) taxes
• Someone who takes advantage of a System (again and again and again) that makes it virtually impossible for the very-wealthy to ever lose their wealth
• Someone who walks away from their bankruptcies with no remorse, while gloating over how they did “a great job” for their own inner circle (and, of course, themselves)

Trump says (above) he did a “great job” looking after his employees. Really? Clearly, he is only referring to his own personal entourage, since many (most? all?) of the actual employees of Trump’s bankrupt enterprises would have lost their jobs.

Steven Rosenthal, a senior fellow with the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, put taxation in the United States into context in the Bloomberg article.

“As Leona Helmsley said, ‘Only the little people pay taxes.’ ”

Yes, in the United States, only the Little People pay taxes (i.e. the vast majority of the American population). They’re also the only ones who suffer when the U.S.’s “Donald Trumps” go bankrupt – and walk away from their business failures scot-free.