The Apprentice: Season Finale - Guest MINDSETTER™ Westerkamp

Friday, November 27, 2020

Chris Westerkamp, Guest MINDSETTER™

 

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President Donald Trump

A friend of mine called with a question: do you think Trump will leave the White House peacefully or will he have to be physically removed? My first thought was that Trump would scurry down to Mar A Lago a day or so before the inauguration and hold a protest rally while Joe Biden is being sworn in. I couldn’t fathom that Donald Trump would allow himself to be embarrassed by the sight (and video) of federal law enforcement showing him the door.

But wait.

Then I realized that in Trump world, anything is possible. If we’ve learned anything, we know that the President looks at the world in terms of reality TV. Every day is another episode.  When TV producers write their final series episodes, they strive to make it shocking, exciting, clever and memorable. Think of M*A*S*H or my favorite, Bob Newhart (where he wakes of from a dream in bed with his wife from his previous sitcom).

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So it’s possible that Donald Trump is contemplating whether the video of him being physically removed from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue would serve him in his post-presidential TV show. Would it help him advance his story that he was a victim of his enemies, radical socialists, the deep state, and of course, George Soros? He could arrange a spectacular mob of right-wing, white supremacist, gun-toting, Tiki-torch carrying Trumpers to literally enflame his base. What a way to literally burn down Democracy’s house and salt the soil for Joseph Biden jr., who cleaned his clock in the election.

He’ll be off to Mar A Lago, one last time on the taxpayers' dime.

If he’s going to create a post-White House life with a power base, he needs a spectacular finally that will incent his base and some very wealthy people to step up and finance his next media venture. A cable news network is an expensive venture. The 24-hour news cycle is a hungry animal and it costs a lot to keep it fed. Trump viewers want fresh meat every hour and DJT will not be able to fill that much time. And the other thing we know about Trump is he is lazy.

Who would put up the money for such a venture? Who would support a man who has had so many spectacular bankruptcies and business failures? A man who leaves his lenders holding the bag and stiffs his vendors? A man who may very well be prosecuted for financial fraud and defamation? What kind of sponsors and advertisers would Trump TV attract? The pillow guy, male enhancement pills, reverse mortgages, Trump memorial gold medallions. It’s more likely that Trump TV will resemble Alex Jones InfoWars and Glen Beck in their basements shouting stuff on the Internet.

The Trump Inc. balance sheet is a disaster. All but three of his golf resorts are losing money – millions every year. He has according to the NY Times, nearly a billion in outstanding debts, not just $400 million. He doesn’t have the money or time to launch any venture.

No longer the president, the money spigot will be turned off. Lobbyists, foreign governments, and corporation that have poured money into Trump resorts and hotels to curry favor with Trump have no reason to continue to do so. Trump can’t grant any favors worth buying. He’s carrying some big notes with Deutsche Bank for several of his properties. We don’t know how much he owes to other companies or countries. Will Putin return his phone calls? Maybe he wants to be paid.

When he became President, he doubled his membership fee to Mar A Lago to $200 thousand a year. It’s likely that some people will have some second thoughts about that. Even rich people are prudent.  As taxpayers, we have spent millions to support his golf habit. Room fees for the secret service of $650 a night? All that goes away.

So Donald Trump does not have so many options and he will have a lot of slap shots to deflect personally and financially. Who will care what he Tweets come February 2021? He’ll probably go back to attacking old marks like Rosie O’Donnell. On the campaign trail, he said he’d be so busy working as President, he would not have time for golf. Of course, he lied. So it’s ironic, that with all his post-presidential problems, facing bankruptcy and jail (including his adult children), he may not have time for the links and leisure.

It’s reported that Barack Obama has already sold more than 900,000 copies of his book in the first week. Perhaps Trump could write a book - “I was robbed”! (I sank that putt!)

 

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