This just in: Trump has successfully marketed himself as a Deal Maker. I beg to differ. In fact, his sense of deals, business and the economy are all at a level of what I would suspect is a D level student.

Let’s start with his bankruptcies...

Trump has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy 6 times. That is 6 times more than I have.

Let’s look at his known taxes from the mid 80’s into the 90’s…

Trump lost over $1 billion. One of his ways of making money back then was to buy a lot of stock in a company and then let it leak out that he wanted to buy that company. This would cause the stock price to rise. When it did, Trump would sell at a profit. This worked for a couple of years until people found out he was conning them. Trump then lost all of the money he’d made through this scam.

Let’s look at his deal making...

So far he has reneged on the Paris Climate Accord, the Russian Missile Treaty, the Iran Nuclear Treaty, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and NAFTA. None of these has been replaced. He claims great progress is being made on all of these….He also claims that he has a plan for great health care so we know what to expect…nothing. How are you going to make a deal when you have a legacy of failure, conning and reneging?

Let’s take a look at his tariffs…

Tariffs are taxes paid by the country that is importing goods to the United States. So, if China wants to send us $100 of goods, they have to pay $25 in taxes. Trump claims this is hurting China and making us rich. However, a recent study showed that China is just adding that extra cost on to whatever they sell us. So, what you used to buy from China for $100 is now costing us $125. This means that it is the American Economy that is footing the bill for Trump’s tariffs. At the same time, China retaliates with tariffs on our exports to them. So, American soybeans now cost more in China. what happens? China buys soybeans from someone else. We lose again.

Everyone is welcome to like whatever political person they want. However, If you think Trump is a Deal Maker; if you think he is an economic genius…you are holding the score card upside down.

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim