Trump's business success claims questioned

By: Joshua Norman
Topics: Campaign 2012

Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action conference on February 10, 2011, in Washington.

(Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

There is at least one thing that is unassailably true about Donald Trump: He's great at getting attention.

As Trump publicly flirts with a GOP presidential bid, his public claims have even drawn the close attention of the news division for the network that carries his hit "Celebrity Apprentice" TV show, NBC.

NBC correspondent Michael Isikoff looked into Trump, Inc., the Donald's sprawling business empire, and found that his claims of great business success aren't always true.

Trump hotels and casinos in Atlantic City have filed for bankruptcy protection three times. While Trump blamed market forces, he has long been chairman of the board for the casino businesses.

In his defense, Trump said he "didn't run the company." Isikoff then asked why he was paid $2 million per year to chair the board of that business. Trump replied: "Excuse me. Because I'm a genius, okay."

Trump said many different businesses license the use of his name, but he's not directly involved in their operations.

Casinos have not been the only weakness in the Trump empire. There have been many high profile bankruptcy filings, bad real estate deals, and a trail of ongoing lawsuits accusing him of bad business practices.

Another questionable move was "Trump University," an online, for-profit business education firm. The attorney general in Texas ordered him to stop using the word "university" in its title. Trump said his company was unaware of restrictions on the use of that word.

Isikoff also said he asked Trump if he thought the state of Hawaii was lying in regards to Obama being born there, and he did not answer the question.

In summation of his experiences that qualify him to be President of the United States, Trump told Isikoff: "My successes...have been vast. I don't even view myself as having failures, and I certainly learned from things that don't work out as well."

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Joshua Norman
Joshua Norman is an associate editor at CBSNews.com.

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by MMS5468 May 13, 2011 2:21 PM EDT: dude, What "real" issues have Trump addressed since his presidency 2012 video tour? So far I have seen him take credit for Obama's birth certificate release and dodge any question that might make him look bad. Kind of like when a reporter asked him what his investigators found in Hawaii that trump promised was an incredible find and Trump just blew him off by reiterating his honor for his birther role. When the reporter asked him to actually answer the question, Trump said that he did. Is this the type of leader you want in the White House? Do you really believe that he is capable of doing anything for someone not named Donald J Trump Sr.? I think you might have received your education from Trump University... oh yeah, it's not Trump University anymore, is it? How about explaining why that is? Maybe you can tell us why ye olde Trump U got a D minus by better business practices? How about the half built buildings in Ft Lauderdale and Baja that many people lost most of their savings buying into? Maybe you can explain, with your vast knowledge of everything important, why Trump refuses to refund the hundreds of thousands of dollars that honest AMERICANS put into projects with his name on them that were never built? He has almost as much money as Oprah but he can't refund families that put $150,000 down on an apartment that they can never live in? Trump was more than willing to put his name on those properties but when the project goes under, he just takes the money and run. If he is so willing to screw honest AMERICAN investors out of their savings just to make a few extra dollars that he doesn't need, then what possible qualification does he have for presidency?

By the way, chapter 13 is a CHAPTER of the bankruptcy CODE that allows the debtor to keep the property and pay back over time. It is a saving grace for Chapter 7, where all assets are liquidated. CHAPTER 13 IS STILL BANKRUPTCY. And if you want to claim that everyone gets paid, you should talk to a few of the investors of Trumps Ft Lauderdale project. Here is a link to the story:

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2011/05/failed_fort_lauderdale_project_1.html

Read that article then come back and tell me that Trump is a responsible businessman capable of running the White House. Trump is a liar, he is a thief, and if you thought that George W Bush and his buddies stole a lot from the government, just wait. If Trump is elected, he WILL be the most corrupt president in our nations history. That is how he is.; Reply to this comment


by marrabella April 26, 2011 3:03 PM EDT: OMG! Have you harpies lost your mind? Compared to Obama, Trump is a giant.
Obama has done NOTHING to prove he has any experience running anything.
Trump is right .... Obama has hidden ALL his records because they show he was not a good student, did not deserve to go to Ivy League schools.
He did not write his books (even though he actually bragged about writing "Dreams".)
Obama is a fraud and a cheat.
I am a lifelong Democrat but if you research just a little you will find a fabricated image of Obama.
This POTUS is a sham and a liar. IMO; Reply to this comment

by Lindag10 April 20, 2011 9:35 AM EDT

Oh, Sarah is sooooo jealous. The Trumpet is getting all the attention now. Heard she has a new website though......

Reply to this comment


by Riverjump April 20, 2011 10:40 AM EDT: Trump's got a billion bucks. Who they gonna point the cameras at when they want them to? That seems to be the common thread. We have sunk so low as humans, we relegate happiness and despair, to life and death, on a form of currency that is now an entity instead of a tool. Maybe we should start over with tree bark.


by Riverjump April 20, 2011 8:48 AM EDT: A self proclaimed "genius". No ego there, huh? wow.; Reply to this comment


by ariz_1944 April 20, 2011 8:19 AM EDT: Just keep watching, the truth will come out, this guy is A Total "POS"!!!; Reply to this comment


by busterdawggy April 20, 2011 5:53 AM EDT: If in the extremely unlikely event he were to become president, would we have to address him as "President The Donald?"; Reply to this comment


by 167irishboy April 20, 2011 3:27 AM EDT: Just what America needs, another con man that has some great real estate in a swamp to sell all of us.; Reply to this comment


by peidmontcitygirl April 20, 2011 2:09 AM EDT: Why is The Donald so orange? Its as if he's been hitting the self-tanning lotion a bit too hard these days...; Reply to this comment


by svivar9087 April 20, 2011 12:05 AM EDT: Trump is a genius alright, a genius at shortcuts, mooching and talking smack....as they say on the streets.; Reply to this comment

by nearl451 April 20, 2011 12:03 AM EDT

It never hurt GWB to be bad in business.

Trumps arrogance is beyond question, however.

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by jimbom121 April 20, 2011 10:58 AM EDT: Who are the Texas Angels???

Bush failed in running 2 companies (Arbusto Energy & Spectrum 7) Spectrum 7 was merged into Harken, where Bush sold his stock in the company...which was also investigated for insider trading.

He bought the Texas Rangers with help from his father's friends, who financed most of the purchase. Bush took out a loan to pay his share. Harken also went belly-up just after Bush sold his shares to pay back the loan on his investment in the Rangers.

Bush did receive 15m for his share of the Rangers sale to Tom Hicks, who of course bid against himslef for ARod.

Seems Bush was more lucky than good. Like the saying goes, its better to be lucky than good.