# What the hell is Trump? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 30, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581 "2015-07-30T15:21:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 119
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/119 "2015-08-02T15:05:24Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > You don’t get extra credit for running your dad’s business into the ground, using your dad’s name to get favorable corporate bankruptcy provisions, and then climbing out of it to achieve an annualized rate of return that is lower than investing in index funds would have been over that time period. He is not a good businessman. His dad was though. Oh, please. He built the business up to levels his father never reached…and in Manhattan, where his father was afraid to operate. He was a huge success and had already become a multi-billionaire by the time he ran into trouble in the early nineties. (This would be some twenty years after being handed the reins of the Trump Organization, btw, and in no rational sense his father’s business.) He fought long and hard to emerge from the downturn that saw him almost personally bankrupt and has battled back since to earn another multi-billion dollar fortune. Twice he’s earned multi-billion dollar fortunes and of course he gets credit for that. Building a fortune is building a fortune, and building one again from scratch after almost losing it all is even more impressive, as it demonstrates ability and not just luck. Every day Donald Trump deals effectively with highly intelligent and highly educated architects, bankers, investors and businessmen, most of whom are at the top of their game. He is probably a genius and is and more accomplished by orders of magnitude than almost anybody. He’s not just one in a million but one in three hundred million, as there doesn’t seem to be anyone else the country remotely like him. Others have made bigger fortunes, but not in as difficult a way or as difficult a business as real estate development. If you want to cover your ears and go “LALALALALA” to keep from having to face the facts about a guy you don’t like and are loathe to give credit to, that’s your prerogative, but I wouldn’t expect to win over many converts with the claims and denials you’re making if I were you. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581)._