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Donald Trump on Budget & Economy

2016 Republican incumbent President; 2000 Reform Primary Challenger for President

 


Federal Reserve chair flips a coin on interest rates

Q: The Federal Reserve. You say you don't want interest rates to go higher?

TRUMP: It depends on the jobs. Look, I think it's the greatest job in government. You show up to the office once a month and you say, "let's see, flip a coin." And everybody talks about you like you're a god. "Oh, what will he do?" I mean, before, the guy used to walk into my office. He was like begging.

Q: You talked about removing him once.

TRUMP: I did because he was keeping the rates too high. And I was right.

Source: Chicago Economic Club transcript: 2024 Presidential hopefuls , Oct 16, 2024

Kamala doesn't have an economic plan; just run-Spot-run

HARRIS: Donald Trump has no plan for you. His economic plan is all about tax breaks for the richest people. Goldman Sachs said that Donald Trump's plan would make the economy worse. The Wharton School said Donald Trump's plan would actually explode the deficit. Sixteen Nobel laureates have described his economic plan as something that would increase inflation and by the middle of next year would invite a recession.

TRUMP: Look, I went to the Wharton School of Finance and many of those professors, the top professors, think my plan is a brilliant plan, it's a great plan. It's a plan that's going to bring up our worth, our value as a country. It's going to make people want to be able to go and work & create jobs & create a lot of good, solid money for our country. And just to finish off, she doesn't have a plan. She copied Biden's plan. And it's like four sentences, like run-Spot-run. Four sentences that are just "oh, we'll try and lower taxes." She doesn't have a plan. Take a look at her plan.

Source: ABC News 2024 Presidential debate in Philadelphia , Sep 10, 2024

Shrinkflation is just INFLATION, from spending trillions

The sight of a feeble Joe Biden talking about "shrinkflation"-- the term he uses--is one of the most ridiculous things this country has ever seen. Shrinkflation is just another way of saying INFLATION--it means that you're losing a lot of money because these people don't know what they're doing. It was all caused by Crooked Joe and the people that surround him--and they are radical Left Marxists and Fascists and Communists and Socialists. We have people running our country the likes of which we have never seen before.

He and the Communists in his party looted TRILLIONS of dollars from you and spent it on illegal aliens and the Green New Scam, triggering the highest inflation in many, many decades. If your packages are getting smaller, that's the reason why. Under my leadership, there was NO inflation. We had the greatest economy in the history of the world.

It's time to tell Crooked Joe Biden, "YOU'RE FIRED."

Source: Trump Prebuttal to 2024 State of the Union address , Mar 7, 2024

We will build new "freedom cities" along the frontier

We will hold a competition to build new freedom cities along the frontier and to be a populous America with a new shot at home ownership. I will challenge the governors of all 50 states to join me in a great beautification campaign. We will rename our schools and boulevards not after Communists but after great American patriots. We will get rid of bad and ugly buildings and return to the magnificent classical style of western civilization. We will support baby bonuses for a new baby boom.
Source: Speech at the 2023 CPAC Conference in Maryland , Mar 4, 2023

Worst inflation in history due to energy & food costs

Biden and the radical Democrats have wasted trillions of dollars and caused the worst inflation in half a century. Real wages are down 21 months in a row. Gas prices have soared. And are now going up much higher than even before and the typical American family is paying $2,200 in increased energy and food costs each year. 
Source: Trump recorded prebuttal to 2023 State of the Union speech , Feb 7, 2023

House stimulus was bailout of badly run Democratic states

TRUMP: The bill that was passed in the House was a bailout of badly run, high crime, all run by Democrat cities and states. It was a way of getting a lot of money, billions and billions of dollars, to these guys. It was also a way of getting a lot of money from our people's pockets to people that come into our country illegally. This was a way of spending on things that had nothing to do with COVID, as per your question. But it was really a big bailout for badly run Democrat cities and states.

BIDEN: This HEROES Act has been sitting there. And look at what's happening. When I was in charge of the recovery act with $800 billion, I was able to get $145 billion to local and communities that have to balance their budgets. [If they cannot], then they have to fire firefighters, teachers, first responders, law enforcement officers, so they could keep their cities and counties running. They have not done a thing for them. And Mitch McConnell said, "Let them go bankrupt. Let them go bankrupt."

Source: Third 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Kristen Welker , Oct 22, 2020

We have a V-shape recovery; it's coming back

TRUMP: We had the greatest economy in the history of our country last year, including the state of Florida. In Pennsylvania, in North Carolina, in Ohio, every place. We had the greatest economy we ever had. We had to close it down, we saved two million lives. We're opening it up. We have a V-shape and it's coming back. It's coming back very fast.

BIDEN: When you allow people to get back in the game and have a job, everything moves. Right now, you got the opposite. Last year during this pandemic, the wealthiest billionaires in the nation, made another $700 billion. He talks about a V-shape recovery. It's a K shape recovery. If you're on the top, you're going to do very well. If you're in the middle or the bottom, your income is coming down. You're not getting a raise.

Source: Second 2020 Presidential Debate/NBC Town Hall Miami , Oct 15, 2020

Biden wants to shut down the country; I want to open it up

TRUMP: [Biden] wants to shut down this country and I want to keep it open, and we did a great thing by shutting it down. He wants to shut down the country. We just went through it. We had to, because we didn't know anything about the disease. Now we've found that elderly people with heart problems and diabetes and different problems are very, very vulnerable. We learned a lot. Young children aren't, even younger people aren't. We've learned a lot, but he wants to shut it down. More people will be hurt by continuing. If you look at Pennsylvania, if you look at certain states that have been shut down, they have Democrat governors, all, one of the reasons they shut down is because they want to keep it shut down until after the election on November 3rd.
Source: First 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Chris Wallace , Sep 29, 2020

When stock market goes up, that means jobs & 401(k)s

When the stock market goes up, that means jobs. It also means 401ks. If [Biden] got in, if you ever became president with your ideas, you want to terminate my taxes. I'll tell you what, you'll lose. Half of the companies that have poured in here will leave. And plenty of companies that are already here, they'll leave for other places. They will leave and you will have a depression, the likes of which you've never seen.
Source: First 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Chris Wallace , Sep 29, 2020

When stocks go up, everyone does well, not just the wealthy

Q: You talk about a super V [recovery from the pandemic recession]. A lot of people say it's more like a K-shaped recovery. The people at the top who have a lot of stocks are doing pretty well.

TRUMP: They're doing well.

Q: But we've only gotten half the jobs back.

TRUMP: Stocks are owned by everybody. They talk about the stock market is so good, that's 401(k)s. As long as they didn't sell when the market went down, if people held onto their stocks, people that aren't wealthy have done well because of the stock market. I've set records on the stock market even during the pandemic. And that doesn't happen by accident. If Joe Biden ever got this position--and that's a headwind on the stock market-- our stock market would be much higher if it weren't for that [pandemic]. If Joe Biden ever got in, I think you'd have a depression the likes of which we have never seen in this country.

Source: ABC This Week: special edition 2020 Town Hall interview , Sep 15, 2020

AdWatch: market crash due to lack of coronavirus action

Source: AdWatch: American Bridge 21st Century PAC 2020 ad on Trump , Mar 21, 2020

OpEd: Trump should take responsibility for corona panic

[One-minute TV ad, "Failed to Act," playing in PA/MI/WI; second half]:

Trump: "The country's in great shape; the market's in great shape"

Text: L.A. Times: Investors Panic Over Stock Market Free-Fall"; DJI -7.77%

NBC News headline: "Dr. Fauci on Virus Testing: 'It Is a Failing'."

Text: Mar.3: 359 cases; more than 20 deaths

Trump: "No, I don't take responsibility at all."

Text: Mar.16: 4,019 cases

Reporter: "On a scale of 1 to 10, how do you rate your response to this crisis?"

Trump: "I'd rate it a 10; I think we've done a great job."

Washington Post headline: Squandered Time: Trump Lost Control of Coronavirus

Text: Spinner exceeds 5,000 then 6,000 then 7,000 cases

CNN headline, Mar.14: "NIH's Dr. Fauci: It's Going to Get Worse; Possible Millions Could Die"

Voiceover: And now, here we are. Trump canot be trusted, with our economy, our health, and our future

Text: Paid for by AB PAC, www.AmericanBridgePAC.org

Source: American Bridge AdWatch on 2020 presidential hopefuls , Mar 21, 2020

Coronavirus: People spending money in US; I like that

Q: What's the impact on the economy and also, potentially, on your reelection?

TRUMP: I think people are viewing us as having done a very good job. Nobody is blaming us for the virus. People are now staying in the US, spending their money in the US, & I like that. You know, I've been after that for a long time. They've sort of been forced doing that. It's all going to work out. I just made a great China deal. China is paying us billions of dollars because of what I did to them with tariffs. I mean, to a point where my farmers are in love with me because I took some of that money and gave it to them.

Q: Do you care about the national debt?

TRUMP: I do. Very much. Now, the good thing about the debt is we're paying very little interest--almost nothing. In fact, I want to refinance the debt.

Q: So this would be a focus of a second term?

TRUMP: Oh, absolutely. Now, again, we were disturbed by what's going on with the virus, but that's going to be fine. But, you know, that was a disturbance.

Source: Fox News Town Halls at the Scranton Cultural Center , Mar 5, 2020

I alone can fix it, with massive tax cut

The Republican Party nominated a candidate who promised to deliver "a giant, beautiful, massive" tax cut; pass "one of the largest increases in national defense spending in American history"; and "not touch Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid." How would Donald Trump pull off this math-defying act? "I alone can fix it," he had claimed in his nomination speech. He would erase our debt in eight years by "vigorously eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government, ending redundant government programs, and growing the economy," as well by "renegotiating all of our [debt] deals." What he actually did was cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans and explode our deficit.
Source: Land of Flickering Lights, by Michael Bennet, p.149 , Jun 25, 2019

Economy was ready to collapse in 2016; now it's the best

Obama had somebody that kept the [Federal Reserve interest] rates very low. I had somebody that raised the rates very rapidly. Too much. He made a mistake. That's been proven. And yet my economy is phenomenal. We have now the best economy, maybe in the history of our country. When I took over, this country, the economy was ready to collapse.
Source: Meet the Press 2019 interview series , Jun 23, 2019

1999: one-time wealth tax on top 1% to reduce national debt

Sen. Elizabeth Warren wasn't the first major American politician to put the idea of a tax on large fortunes on the political agenda. Indeed, it's been kicking around in one form or another since the late 1990s, when an influential then-independent rolled out a proposal that he framed as a way to reduce the national debt while preserving the interests of the 99%.

Here's how the plan's architect described it: "By my calculations, 1 percent of Americans, who control 90% of the wealth in this country, would be affected by my plan. The other 99% of the people would get deep reductions in their federal income taxes."

His name? Donald Trump.

Trump's idea was that paying off the national debt would reduce federal interest rate costs, allowing for a middle-class tax cut. Instead, the debt volume has increased dramatically since 1999, but federal debt service payments as a share of GDP are actually lower than they were back then, since interest rates have fallen dramatically.

Source: Vox.com analysis of 2019 Trump Administration , Jan 31, 2019

FactCheck: Economy turned around before Trump took office

Among the president's top 10 whoppers of 2018:WE PULLED OFF AN ECONOMIC TURNAROUND OF HISTORIC PROPORTIONS.

"We've accomplished an economic turnaround of historic proportions," Trump said in a July 2018 Rose Garden press conference.

This is false. The economy wasn't hurting when Trump took office, and it hasn't turned around in just two short years. The economic turnaround Trump refers to is actually credited to his predecessor, President Barack Obama, who steered the country from a devastating recession into booming growth.

Economists told NBC News that Trump might have given the economy a boost with the tax cuts and dampened it with the trade war, but he didn't turn things around. Economies do not turn on a hair with a new presidency. While Obama can look back on his eight years and see his leadership play out, Trump's effect is still not yet known.

Source: NBC Fact Check on 2018 Trump Promises, "10 falsehoods" , Dec 20, 2018

Restart engine after worst financial recovery in 65 years

We must honestly acknowledge the circumstances we inherited: 94 million Americans are out of the labor force. Over 43 million people are now living in poverty. More than 1 in 5 people in their prime working years are not working. We have the worst financial recovery in 65 years.

We've lost more than 1/4 of our manufacturing jobs since NAFTA was approved, and we've lost 60,000 factories since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. Our trade deficit in goods with the world last year was nearly $800 billion dollars.

To accomplish our goals at home and abroad, we must restart the engine of the American economy--making it easier for companies to do business in the United States, and much harder for companies to leave.

Right now, American companies are taxed at one of the highest rates anywhere in the world. My economic team is developing historic tax reform that will reduce the tax rate on our companies so they can compete and thrive anywhere and with anyone.

Source: 2017 State of the Union address to Congress , Feb 28, 2017

Our jobs are fleeing to Mexico; China uses us as piggy bank

Our jobs are fleeing the country. They're going to Mexico. They're going to many other countries. You look at what China is doing to our country in terms of making our product. They're devaluing their currency, and there's nobody in our government to fight them. And we have a very good fight. And we have a winning fight. Because they're using our country as a piggy bank to rebuild China, and many other countries are doing the same thing. So we're losing our good jobs, so many of them. When you look at what's happening in Mexico, a friend of mine who builds plants said it's the eighth wonder of the world. They're building some of the biggest plants anywhere in the world, some of the most sophisticated, some of the best plants. With the US, as he said, not so much. So Ford is leaving. You see that, their small car division leaving. Thousands of jobs leaving Michigan, leaving Ohio. They're all leaving. And we can't allow it to happen anymore. [See OnTheIssues Fact-Check!]
Source: First 2016 Presidential Debate at Hofstra University , Sep 26, 2016

The Fed should refinance debt to reduce interest payments

Trump boasted how "I would borrow, knowing that if the economy crashed, you could make a deal." When pressed, though, he said a country is different and he didn't mean to renegotiate the U.S. debt, only to "refinance" existing debt. Of course, refinancing debt saves money only when rates go down, which raises the question of what the Fed should do with rates.

Trump wants rates to remain low to prevent the dollar from appreciating, which would bring "major problems." But another consideration, he noted, was the [interest payments on the] national debt: "What do we do with all of the money that we owe everybody when rates go up and now all of a sudden we have to borrow at two points more? One point more, even, is devastating. It has to be handled very, very carefully." For the Fed to base interest-rate decisions on the national debt would blur the lines between monetary and fiscal policy. It's heresy by today's standards, but [was done in the 1960s].

Source: Wall Street Journal, "Lean on the Fed?", by Greg Ip , May 6, 2016

People with lots of money avoid consequences of bankruptcy

The Trump Plaza in Atlantic City folded, leaving some one thousand employees without jobs. Donald Trump, meanwhile, was on Twitter claiming he had "nothing to do with Atlantic City" and praising himself for his "great timing" in getting out of the investment.

In America, people with lots of money can easily avoid the consequences of bad bets and big losses by cashing out at the first sign of trouble. The laws protect them through limited liability and bankruptcy. But workers who move to a place like Atlantic City for a job, invest in a home there, and build their skills have no such protection. Jobs vanish, home values plummet, and skills are suddenly irrelevant. They're stuck with the mess. Bankruptcy was designed so people could start over. But these days, the only ones starting over with ease are big corporations, wealthy moguls, and Wall Street, who have had enough political clout to shape bankruptcy law to their needs.

Source: Saving Capitalism, by Robert Reich, p. 59 , May 3, 2016

Make economy dynamic; bring back jobs from China & Mexico

We're going to make a dynamic economy from what we have right now. We're going to bring jobs back from Japan, we're going to bring jobs back from China, we're going to bring, frankly, jobs back from Mexico where, as you probably saw, Nabisco is leaving Chicago with one of their biggest plants, and they're moving it to Mexico. We're going to bring jobs and manufacturing back. We're going to cut costs. We're going to save Social Security, and we're going to save Medicare.
Source: GOP "Your Money/Your Vote" 2015 CNBC 1st-tier debate , Oct 28, 2015

Strong on debt limit; ask for a pound of flesh

Q: Would you be willing to use a debt limit and risk the possibility of the country going into default to get more spending cuts?

TRUMP: OK, I would use the debt limit. I want to be unpredictable, because, you know, we need unpredictability. Everything is so predictable with our country. But I would be very, very strong on the debt limit. And I could see asking for a very big pound of flesh if I were the Republicans.

Source: Fox News Sunday 2015 Coverage of 2016 presidential hopefuls , Oct 18, 2015

Grow the economy at 6% annually by ending inversions

TRUMP: Under my plan we're going to grow the economy. If China does a 7%, they're having a terrible year. We're saying we can't do a 3% and 4%.

Q: But we just had 4% the last quarter.

TRUMP: But if you look at the overall average, we're doing less than 2% for the year. If China can do 7% -

Q: Right, but an emerging economy is always going to do 6%, 7%. Our sweet spot is 3% to 5%.

TRUMP: Right. If we do 6% or 7% under my plan, everybody benefits in jobs.

Q: We've never had a year of 6% or 7%. How is that gonna look?

TRUMP: Well, number one, corporate inversion is a big deal. There are many companies right now that are talking about very seriously leaving this country. And you're talking about thousands of jobs.

Q: What you're saying is, you make it all up with growth.

TRUMP: Not all up with growth. We also start cutting.

Source: Meet the Press 2015 interview moderated by Chuck Todd , Oct 4, 2015

Cut defense budget, & entire EPA & Dept. of Education

Q: Are you going to get rid of entire departments?

TRUMP: I would get rid of some. For example, the Department of Education. I would certainly get rid of a lot of it. I want local education. We could save a fortune with Environmental Protection--

Q: what is another agency you'd get rid of?

TRUMP: Even in the military, I'm going to build a military that's much stronger than it is right now. But you know what? We can do it for a lot less.

Q: So you believe you can spend less money on defense than we do today?

TRUMP: I think we can make our defense much stronger and spend somewhat less money.

Source: Meet the Press 2015 interview moderated by Chuck Todd , Oct 4, 2015

If debt reaches $24T, that's the point of no return

If we have another 3 or 4 years--we're at $8 trillion now--we're soon going to be at $20 trillion. According to the economists--who I'm not big believers in, but, nevertheless, this is what they're saying--that $24 trillion--we're very close--that's the point of no return. $24 trillion. We will be there soon. That's when we become Greece. That's when we become a country that's unsalvageable. And we're gonna be there very soon. We're gonna be there very soon.
Source: 2015 announcement speeches of 2016 presidential hopefuls , Jun 16, 2015

We prospered after 9/11; we'll prosper after Great Recession

What transpired on Wall Street on September 15, 2008, is one day for the history books. I had predicted this would happen about two years ago and again about eight months ago when I appeared on Neal Cavuto's show. That the landscape of Wall Street could be altered this rapidly is something we should think about. Sept. 15, 2008, was the worst day on Wall Street since right after 9/11 attacks, with a fallout of some financial giants that we thought were untouchable.

Here's my view of this situation. We survived and prospered after 9/11, and we will do the same this time. The components are different, but I believe the government is doing the right thing with this financial mess. They have worked hard and long, but a mess is a mess. I won't equivocate on that. I saw the indications that the world was in for a tough period of time, so I can't say I'm terribly surprised.

Source: Think Like a Champion, by Donald Trump, p. 83 , Apr 27, 2010

One-time 14.25% tax on wealth, to erase national debt

Trump wants to soak the rich, including himself. He proposed a 14.25% tax yesterday on the net worth of wealthy Americans.
Source: (X-ref Tax Reform) Boston Globe, p. A19 , Nov 10, 1999

Predicts 35% boost to economy from eliminating national debt

Financial analysts said that Trump’s proposed tax on assets over $10 million could be a financial disaster, pricking the stock market bubble or risking capital flight out of the country. Trump dismissed the doom-and-gloom scenarios. “It would not be a shock to the system,” he said, predicting a 35% boost in economic activity after he eliminates the debt, cuts income taxes and erases the inheritance tax.
Source: Boston Globe on 2000 race, p. A19 , Nov 10, 1999

Rent control only benefits a privileged minority

At 100 Central Park South, many tenants were fighting to protect the ultimate in New York real estate: beautiful apartments with great views-at an unbeatable location. Most important, with rent control and rent stabilization, they were enjoying one of the great windfall subsidies in the free world.

Rent control is a disaster for all but the privileged minority who are protected by it. As much as any other single factor, rent control is responsible for the desperate housing crisis that has plagued NYC for the past 20 years. Like a lot of failed government programs, rent control grew out of a decent idea that ended up achieving exactly the opposite of its intended effect.

Unlike most developers, I don’t advocate eliminating rent control. I just think there ought to be a means test for anyone living in a rent-controlled apartment. People with incomes above a certain sum would be given a choice between paying a proportionally higher rent for their apartment or moving somewhere else.

Source: The Art of the Deal, by Donald Trump, p.167-69 , Jul 2, 1987

Donald Trump on Personal Finance

I don't want to be Herbert Hoover, and I won't be

We have a situation which I believe the stock market goes up because I'm leading. I think if I wasn't leading, the stock market would be 25% lower. And I think frankly, if I didn't win, I think the stock market would crash, I believe. And I say that and I do not want to be Herbert Hoover. Do you know who Herbert Hoover was? 1929 he was the president and that was not a good time to be. I don't want to be Herbert Hoover. And I won't be Herbert Hoover.
Source: Fox News Town Hall 2024 pre-Iowa caucus , Jan 10, 2024

FactCheck: Paid income taxes for 3 years out of 5 in 1970s

Clinton said of Trump's tax returns, "Maybe he doesn't want the American people to know that he's paid nothing in federal taxes, because the only years that anybody's ever seen were a couple of years when he had to turn them over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino license, and they showed he didn't pay any federal income tax." That's not correct.

Trump paid federal income taxes in three out of five years from 1975 to 1979, according to a report to the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, which viewed Trump's tax returns when the Trump Plaza Corporation applied for a casino license in the state in 1981.

Although the returns were not disclosed, the report indicated that Trump paid $18,714 in taxes on $76,210 in income in 1975, $10,832 in taxes on $24,594 in income in 1976 and $42,386 in taxes on $118,530 in income in 1977. Trump reported income losses of $406,379 in 1978 and $3,443,560 in 1979, and thus paid no federal income tax for those years.

Source: USA Today fact-check on First 2016 presidential debate , Sep 27, 2016

Not paying income taxes makes me smart

CLINTON: For 40 years, everyone running for president has released their tax returns. You can go and see 39 years of our tax returns. So you've got to ask yourself, why won't he release his tax returns? And I think there may be a couple of reasons. First, maybe he's not as rich as he says he is. Second, maybe he's not as charitable as he claims to be. Third, maybe he doesn't want the American people, all of you watching tonight, to know that he's paid nothing in federal taxes, because the only years that anybody's ever seen were a couple of years when he had to turn them over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino license, and they showed he didn't pay any federal income tax.

TRUMP: That makes me smart.

CLINTON: So if he's paid zero, that means zero for troops, zero for schools or health. And I think probably he's not all that enthusiastic about having the rest of our country see what the real reasons are, because it must be something that he's trying to hide.

Source: First 2016 Presidential Debate at Hofstra University , Sep 26, 2016

Keep mortgage interest deduction; knock out carried interest

Q: What tax loopholes would you close?

TRUMP: I'm going to be bringing back jobs from China, from Japan, from India, from Brazil. This is going on at a level that you have never seen before. We now have corporate inversions, where companies are moving out of the United States. And they will be moving out in big numbers if we don't do something quickly. And my plan stops all of that.

Q: So, you want to close the loopholes for tax havens?

TRUMP: And I want to bring back trillions of dollars that is stuck in other countries that we won't let back in because we don't have intelligent people running our country.

Q: What about other loopholes on the personal side? Mortgage interest stays in there? Charitable giving?

TRUMP: That's right. Mortgage interest deduction would stay, absolutely. Carried interest, though, would not stay. One of the ways that the hedge fund guys who make a lot of money pay very little tax, the carried interest deduction. I'm knocking that out.

Source: CBS Face the Nation 2015 interview by Bob Schieffer , Nov 8, 2015

We owe $19T and we need a businessman to bring us back

Q [to Fiorina]: You've dismissed Donald Trump as an entertainer. Would you feel comfortable with Donald trump's finger on the nuclear codes?

FIORINA: I think Mr. Trump is a wonderful entertainer. He's been terrific at that business. One of the benefits of a presidential campaign is our judgment and temperament is revealed over time and under pressure.

Q: And his temperament regarding the nuclear codes?

FIORINA: That's not for me to answer; it is for the voters of this country to answer.

TRUMP: As far as temperament, I think I have a great temperament. I built a phenomenal business with incredible, iconic assets. And I may be an entertainer, because I've had tremendous success with #1 bestsellers all over the place. But I will tell you this: What I am far and away greater than an entertainer is a businessman, and that's the kind of mindset this country needs to bring it back, because we owe $19 trillion right now, $19 trillion, and you need this kind of thinking to bring our country back.

Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary debate on CNN , Sep 16, 2015

Known for "You're Fired!" but it's unpleasant & disruptive

It's ironic that I'm most known for the phrase, "You're fired!" [the catchphrase from The Apprentice]. It shows the power of television. I've come to terms with being so closely identified with a phrase that no one likes to hear or say. Firing anyone, even the worst, most unpleasant, inept jerk, isn't fun. It can also be very disruptive to your business. Making the decision to fire an employee can be agonizing, and actually firing the worker can be tough to carry out.

Firing an employee can leave your business in a hole; that's why so many companies hang on to less- than- desirable workers. To replace an employee, you have to go through the entire costly and time- consuming hiring process again. But frequently, you have no choice. If your business is to move forward, unproductive people must go.

Firing can be an essential and responsible business decision. It isn't pleasant, but lopping off a branch can save the tree.

Source: Trump 101, by Donald Trump, p. 32-3 , Oct 20, 2006

Money is part of your reward for succeeding

I'm the last person you would expect to downplay the importance of money, since I've been fortunate to earn lots of it. People associate me with money, and it's given me a remarkable life. But making money should not be your primary purpose because if it is, you can end up with little else.

In reality, most of us need to make money; we have bills to pay. However, other objectives can be equally, or more, important, including the stimulation and satisfaction you receive from your work and its challenges. There's also the pleasure of helping others and doing good or the opportunity to learn, grow, and deal with outstanding people, to name just a few.

Source: Trump 101, by Donald Trump, p. 85-6 , Oct 20, 2006

In early 1990s, I was $9B in debt; but I never went bankrupt

In the early 1990s, I had some financial troubles. In fact, I was $9 billion in debt. This amount of indebtedness would have crushed most people, but it made me determined to fight back. I took an attitude check and resolved to remain positive about my circumstances. I knew the conditions would change for the better, and they certainly have.

I honestly believe that my attitude, willingness to work hard, and determination pulled me through. Things are so much better now than they were back then, and I came out of it better than I had been at my previous best.

The most important lesson I learned from that ordeal was that I could handle pressure. At that time, many of my friends also fell deeply in debt. Some went bankrupt. Despite my tremendous debt and all the pressure, I never went bankrupt. I was able to work it out, and I learned I could take the heat. You don't know what pressure is until you owe billions of dollars to banks and they all want their money at once.

Source: Trump 101, by Donald Trump, p.122-3 , Oct 20, 2006

Brush with bankruptcy: $700M loss in debt restructuring

A story in the Times contained a reference to his past "brush with bankruptcy," and Trump took umbrage. He "never went bankrupt," he wrote in a letter to the editor nor did he "ever, at any time, come close." In fact, a debt restructuring began in the spring of 1990 and continued for several years. In the process, six hundred or seven hundred or perhaps eight hundred million of his creditors' dollars vaporized and drifted wherever lost money goes.
Source: Mark Singer in New Yorker magazine, "Trump Solo" , May 12, 1997

Sponsored bill for $900 billion COVID relief package.

Trump signed Consolidated Appropriations Act (COVID Relief bill) - Executive Signed

NPR summary of HR133:

Argument in opposition: Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV-2) said after voting against H.R. 133: `Congress voted to spend another $2.3 trillion [$900 billion for COVID relief], which will grow our national debt to about $29 trillion. The federal government will again have to borrow money from nations like China. This massive debt is being passed on to our children and grandchildren. With multiple vaccines on the way thanks to President Trump and Operation Warp Speed, we do not need to pile on so much additional debt. Now is the time to safely reopen our schools and our economy. HR133 was another 5593-page bill put together behind closed doors and released moments prior to the vote.`

Legislative outcome: Passed House 327-85-18, Roll #250, on Dec. 21. 2020; Passed Senate 92-6-2, Roll #289, on Dec. 21; signed by President Trump on Dec 27 [after asking for an increase from $600 to $2,000 per person, which was introduced as a separate vote].

Source: H.R. 133 20-HR133 on Jan 15, 2020

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