For journalists who have chronicled fraudster and pathological liar Donald "Not Exonerated" Trump, the recent reporting on his Federal income taxes between 1985 and 1994 that disclose his massive losses, recklessness and failure as an actual businessman wasn't a surprise at all. But one book review by Michael Lewis from September 2, 1990 of Trump's
"Filled as it is with Mr. Trump's usual commercial sadomasochism, ''Trump: Surviving at the Top'' is already out of date. Mr. Trump can no longer afford to insult at will. He can no longer sow salt in the real estate of his enemies. We now know Mr. Trump's business, based as it was on rising property prices and foolish bankers, has collapsed. He is losing money. He is a virtual slave to external forces. With his debts possibly exceeding his assets by as much as $250 million, his bankers watch and advise his every move. He has had to agree, for example, not to spend more than $450,000 a month on his personal expenses. Yet he still insists, like a captured tyrant, that he is in charge." (our emphasis)Lewis writes that Trump's entire persona and business is a facade, and woe to any reporter or individual that chips that facade away:
"Mr. Trump's relentless accumulation leads people often to mistake his motive for greed, when what drives the man seems to me to be more a pathological need for control. But control of what? Perhaps there was a time when he wanted to control his business; now he seems merely to want to control the opinion others hold of him. Mr. Trump has come to believe that if he nurtures his fame his business will follow. 'Success,' he writes, 'so often, is just a matter of perception.' That may explain why he goes berserk when a journalist tries to tinker with his image..." (our emphasis)For something written almost 29 years ago, it's as fresh and current as it can be. It's the window into the life of a world-class con man, then and now.
(h/t to Raw Story)
