Hi speedwell,
Just so long as you realize that your response started out with 'maybe' nothing. I think a lot of us have seen that if there's any way that Donald Trump can scam a system...he will. He's a lot like those who decry those who own 'welfare cadillacs'. They've just found ways, and often spend a great amount of time looking for ways, to scam what is supposed to be a good system for the betterment of others.
He scammed millions, perhaps billions of dollars through his Trump 'foundation'. He just knew that by forming what others have done in creating a charitable foundation that he can get his hands on more money with little oversight. Just by creating paper trails, he uses a good portion of those charitable proceeds for his own needs. He learned that 'trick' from his father. Fred taught him years ago how, especially in real estate, you can make a bill for just about anything and create a receipt that no one's really going to check if it's genuine or not, and pocket a lot of cash. Fred Trump scammed New York and Federal housing authorities for years using that tactic. He would present them with overinflated or just plain bogus bills and the various housing authorities that were trying to do good in getting housing built would pay them. Donald Trump did exactly the same thing with his Trump foundation.
Then we have the Trump University scam. Before that it was the refusal to pay righteous bills for agreed upon work when he was building his empire of casinos. I'm only guessing of course, but I'm certainly confident that's why he doesn't want us to see his tax returns. While the Federal tax authorities aren't likely to go researching receipts for writeoffs, if fact checking organizations get a hold of them, I imagine there'll be a watershed of bogus receipts. It's how his father taught him to do business. It's why the operational officers of his corporations are family members. He is teaching them the same things that his father taught him and they care about their father and have been indoctrinated into his understanding of 'scamming is winning!'
Lately he's tried to steer government business to his hotels and resorts. He just this week laid out that he wasn't going to work with any governors who didn't support him. Donald Trump is an egotistical despot dictator and it's the way he's run his businesses and it's the way he's now trying to run the country. Fortunately, the country has some checks and balances in place to prevent him running roughshod over everyone like he has done in his business life.
That's Donald J. Trump. It's who the man is and it's why, no matter his political agenda, I don't find him to be a qualified candidate to serve in a public office. There is no understanding of, 'my job is to work for the betterment of others', in his thinking. His personal nature is a blasphemous blowhard, narcissistic niggler and iron fisted despotic authoritarion. None of which, to me, are good qualities in a public political officeholder.
God bless,
In Christ, ted
