When he had his financial problems ca. 1990, Spy magazine claimed that the divorce from Ivana was what triggered everything, basically starting a ‘run on the bank’.
When Trump first made noises about running for president in 1988, his image was much less buffonish than it is today - people forget how much gravitas he tried to project. It was also an era where populist resentment of extreme wealth was at a low. Ten years later, Trump was taken much less seriously by most of the public. I thought it was absurd for him to ask people to consider him as president. But today, with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Venture able to get elected, and porn stars running in special elections, Trump might have as much of a shot as he ever did, which is to say, not much. Even if he were serious about it, which he isn’t.
I dunno. The guy clearly knows a thing or two about money, given that he has a net worth of $2.7 billion. If he actually ran, he could fix a few of our financial woes. I remember him saying that NAFTA was a bad idea, and 12 years later, he is correct as to how NAFTA and other foreign trade agreements have allowed companies to ship jobs away and give them to Chinese kids who work for as much as $5.00 a day, while Big Business rakes in more profits. Let me be very clear: I’m not against Big Government(nor do I support it). I just don’t like big CEO’s strolling onto Capitol Hill with their money and their lobbyists, and getting lawmakers to do whatever they want them to do.
Take a look at Trump’s Wiki page and consider the extraordinary number and range of Trump’s accomplishments and all that he’s involved in now, and then decide for yourself whether a man like that would know enough accomplished and capable people, and posess the qualities needed, to cope with the complexities of life in the White House.
Now, having said that, I still don’t think that Trump will actually run for office. As I’ve said, I think he loves what he does too much and that he would find White House life stifling. But there’s little doubt in my mind that he would do a fine job were he to be elected.
It reflects name recognition and nothing else. Trump’s a billionaire real estate developer, TV show host, and a self-promoter of enormous proportions. He’s got that in spades - and not much else. I am still skeptical he’s going to run at all. The Iowa caucuses are on February 6th and the intensity of the campaign is still pretty low.
I have to say that at least since the Reagan nomination, it’s been my contention that the Republican Party decides it’s candidates using two main criteria: Name recognition and controllability.
It’s interesting that the candidate who came out on top in this poll is the one of the few GOP candidates who, to my knowledge, has not questioned the President’s birthplace. I’m not sure what Gingrich has said about it.
‘Controllability’ by who? The parties are less powerful than ever - the GOP especially since they’re trying to keep up with the Tea Party - and it’s the voters who pick the candidates. McCain won almost by process of elimination when Giuliani and Romney and Huckabee couldn’t win over the party faithful.
Mr. Trump’s personality aside, CEOs tend to be uniquely unsuited to be President. A CEO has ultimate authority over a large organization focused on a single thing, making widgets or doing deals or whatever. And when Mr. CEO becomes President CEO, he snaps his fingers and says “Let’s do this,” only to have Harry Reid or John Boehner or John Roberts or whoever look straight at him and say “Screw you. I don’t work for you.”
That is very unlikely, he has been on the record saying that he is not a believer or an agnostic, that alone will kill him with a good chunk of the Republican base.