Thread by @eisingerj

Yet another failed Trump Org project, this time in Uruguay. @JesseDrucker has details. Man oh man those Trumpees must just be lousy at business. Or are they? Here’s a theory of failure. nytimes.com/2019/06/02/bus…

Drucker found that like other Trump projects, it has dubious partners and the condos are being snapped up by some real sweeties.

Add this name to other failures. Or “failures”: Panama (detailed by @hvogell, @AndreaWNYC, @Meg_Cramer here: features.propublica.org/trump-inc-podc…), Baku, Trump Soho, Vancouver, Baja, Toronto, etc. etc.

So what’s going on? Are Eric, Ivanka, Donnie & DJT just cretins? Don’t answer that!

Think about it: Could anyone in the world, even the most ill equipped failsons & daughter, rack up this streak of failures? In a decade of economic growth and booming real estate?

Seems highly... unlikely.

So my theory: the projects are meant to fail. Another possibility: the projects are not intended to succeed. Because they are not about building buildings.

They are about money laundering. Not just the condos but the buildings themselves. The Trump Org plays a key role as a third-tier stop in the global laundromat. (The first tier are big,
“respectable” banks like ones that rhyme with Schmeutsche Schmank.)

Why wouldn’t you want to end up with a successful building at the end? Wouldn’t that throw off money?

No.

That would bring too much scrutiny. Serious lenders would want to lend against it, and want to scrutinize the books. Regulators and tax authorities would come a’callin’.

It’s better to have the thing go on and on and on but never reach the finish. The Trump Org is the Xeno’s paradox of real estate.

Anyway, just a theory. If there were only some kind of investigative body with subpoena powers that could attempt to answer these mysteries.

Read the whole thing, also by @manuelaandreoni, here: nytimes.com/2019/06/02/bus…