"Trump is placing big, dangerous bets, but he will not cover the losses if they go wrong." This is precisely how he behaved before politics, and one horrifying aspect of his ascendency is that many Americans saw that behavior as a mark of "success." (1/x) vox.com/2020/5/18/2125…
There are, of course, a number of acts in Trump's Shakespearean saga, including — before the birtherism that brought him finally, fully into politics — about a decade playing a brilliant businessman on the Apprentice.
But, at least for someone of my generation (born 1982) Trump became a household name as a loser—as the face of a spectacular and shameless bankruptcy.
Before that experience, he was famous in the New York tabloid sense, maybe a little bit more. But the legendary failure of bankruptcy marked his reputation so totally that even he — incapable of acknowledging failure or defeat — had to mention it in the opening of the Apprentice.
It's not just that he places bets without ever intending to cover losses, it's that even his biggest losses have ultimately paid off for him, at least as he tells the story. (x/x)
