I Remember A Conversation From 2016

 It is now 4 years ago, but I remember a conversation I had with an American. Trump was campaigning for president and this American told me that America needs to be run like a business, and since Trump was a successful business tycoon, he should be the next president of the United States. I disagreed and we haven't spoken ever since.

We all know what happened and today we also know the results.

A stunning New York Times exposé of the President's tax returns Sunday revealed a pitifully inept businessman and a serial tax avoider crushed by massive debts that could expose him to conflicts of interest given his position as President and power to help undisclosed lenders.

Certainly, this is not a surprise. Trump didn't want to show his tax returns because it would have revealed his financial standing. He would have lost all credibility and, worse, the lenders would have moved in on him. He just couldn't afford it. 

If a man likes to brag about his wealth and his success in business he would LOVE to show that he paid his taxes. Trump didn't do it, because there was nothing to brag about. The history of his business ventures is all too embarrassing for him. Confronted with the NY-Times article he said:

"It's fake news. It's totally fake news. Made-up, fake. We went through the same stories, you could've asked me the same questions four years ago," the President said, again inaccurately saying he couldn't release his tax returns because he was under audit.
"I mean the stories that I read are so fake. They're so phony," he said, claiming to pay a lot in taxes.

"This is a con man in the White House," presidential historian Douglas Brinkley told CNN Sunday, referring to a President who shattered convention by refusing to release his tax records to the public while running for office.

The Times reports that within the next four years, more than $300 million in loans -- for which Trump is personally responsible -- will come due. That opens the extraordinary possibility that the lenders could be called upon to decide whether to foreclose on businesses owned by the US President while he is in office if he is unable to pay the money back. Trump is therefore in danger of becoming deeply compromised.

So I am wondering what my former friend in the States is thinking at this crucial moment. "America should be run like a business", he said. But don't we all know that businesses can fail? Don't we know that many business owners are masters in cheating? And that they don't always let us know the truth?

And are the people of an entire country served with being treated as a business collateral? Wouldn't that be unethical? When a business gets into financial trouble it lets workers go. And that's exactly what we are witnessing today. This is also what the Trump organisation has practiced. 

I am just reading Mary L. Trump's book "Too much and never enough". In it she describes how Donald became the person we see today. His failed ventures, his entire failed personality leading to cheating his way through life. As the second son of Fred Trump he was a con-man in the making, perfecting his cheating skills as an adult.

The revealing Times report is not a surprise. 

Will it change the course of the election? 

It is up to the American voter to decide. Is it a decent responsible political leadership or the scandalous actions and behavior of a con-man discrediting and betraying the United States internationally Americans prefer?