If you're not listening to Trump, Inc., you should be.
This podcast, which is produced by WNYC and ProPublica, looks into President Trump’s businesses, which are busy enriching him while he is busy pissing all over the Oval Office. Start with the episode from last week that's included below, about how Trump is currently suing at least nine municipalities across the U.S. because, he says, his property taxes are too high.
The irony of the situation is that Donald Trump, a man who exaggerates about everything from his height to his net worth, is arguing in court that his properties are actually worth less than assessed. In Chicago, for instance, there's the Trump International Hotel and Tower, a gleaming 92-story mixed-use condo/hotel/retail space. While on the Apprentice, Trump bragged that the building would be worth billions and would change architecture as we know it. Seven years later, he has yet to attract a single retailer for the space, and now claims that space is worthless.
As Trump, Inc. reports, "The Trump Organization, through its subsidiary 401 Wabash Ventures LLC, has appealed valuations for Trump Tower Chicago and lowered its tax bills by over $14 million dollars over the years through settlement negotiations. Not satisfied with those cuts, the Trump Organization sued, first in 2001, and then repeatedly in subsequent years. Currently, there are five open cases filed on behalf of the Trump Organization against the county, all regarding Trump Tower. The Sun-Times reported that, according to documents filed with the Cook County state attorney’s office, tax refunds from the cases could total more than $3 million."
And that $3 million refund will come right out of Cook County taxpayers' pockets. And there's soooo much more of this bullshit. From Ossing, New York, to Palm Springs, Florida, Trump—the same dude who sued a writer who said that he wasn't actually a billionaire—consistently tries to devalue his own properties when tax season comes around.
The whole series is worth a listen, but maybe take your blood pressure meds first.
