There is no other word for it. No matter how creative one becomes to describe the prospects of President Trump’s Doral resort in Miami, the most accurate term is failure. Doral appears to be going belly up. Operating revenue, income generated by primary business activities, is down 69% since 2017. That’s known as a hemorrhage. Instead of a waiting list for new applicants to be considered, hundreds of former members are waiting for refunds of membership payments management is in no hurry to make good on, yet another platoon in the sad army of those the Trump Organization has welched on its financial obligation to.
The reasons vary depending on who you talk to. Most notable, and most probable, is the damage Trump’s chaotic reign has done to a brand that was never mistaken for IBM. Indeed, it makes perfect sense that the last person a decent, informed and empathetic fan of US democracy would want to swipe an Amex gold card for to play a $300 round of golf, followed by a $28 club sandwich and $12 bottle of Heineken, would be the ugly personification of the polar opposite of such qualities. Just because the GOP has no concern about emoluments, doesn’t mean the market place can’t reach its own verdict on the matter.
Of course the top of the Trump Organization food chain – his children – have a host of other explanations, provided with the let’s-see-what-sticks haphazardness their father passed down. Everything from Zika fears to hurricane interruptions have been offered with straight faces. To be fair, Eric and Don Jr. are between a rock and a hard place created by their parallel play of looking to turn a business profit by day, which affords no partisanship, and heading to Sean Hannity at night, where they label more than half of America socialist termites in league with satan. A very tricky balance beam to walk.
When Trump purchased Doral in 2012 out of bankruptcy for $150 million and excitedly trumpeted his plans to return the resort “back to greatness,” he was a reality tv star who engaged on the side in ugly, racist conspiracy theories about our first black President. A nasty gadfly with more of a following than he deserved. Nobody cared about Doral, except maybe the PGA, who had hosted a tournament at the “Blue Monster” for decades. Whatever Trump could or couldn’t do with the property was his business… God’s speed….. Things are surely different now.
Three years into the Trump Presidency we know him better than we wish we did. The pattern is always the same. Like Verruca Salt in Willy Wonka, it follows several distinct stages. First, try and sweet talk the objective forward, Trump’s idea of reasonable. When that goes nowhere shift gears and start taking names, implying without facts made up reasons as to why opponents may be refusing to budge on the matter. Finally, when it’s certain no means no, throw a tantrum on Twitter and as the chopper awaits, insulting any and all deemed responsible for the outrage of refusing L’Enfant Terrible his way.
Incredibly, it’s not a stretch to contend that Trump’s primary purpose for attending the G7 Summit in France was to begin floating the idea of Doral hosting the gathering next year. Certainly, he was never more enthusiastic and animated throughout the long weekend than when making his pitch for Doral. He couldn’t be bothered to even attend the discussion of Climate Change, nor was he remotely prepared to defend his arbitrary tariff regimes against China, and Russia’s hegemony over Ukraine was dismissed simply as Putin “outsmarting” Obama, but Trump was clear and determined when listing the “advantages” Doral enjoys for hosting next year’s event. It’s not hyperbole to contend leading other leaders on a tour of “his” 800-acre club would constitute a high point of his time in office. It would replace “the biggest landslide in history” as the lead fish story for his rallies…. “they kept asking how I could be such a great President AND run such a first class facility. They were, frankly, stunned it was possible!”
As usual, what Trump declares to the camera, or pecks into his Twitter feed, and the White House talk track are out of sync. Trump seems to be using the assumptive close. He implied the deal is done and, after an exhaustive search by above board government advance teams, who “went to places all over the country,” Doral was declared the perfect spot. “It’s not about me,” insisted the President, it’s “about getting the right location.” Yet and still, the White House is mum on the matter, refusing to respond to Washington Post inquiries on how the resort will bill the parties involved, and how it doesn’t amount to one monstrous conflict of interest.
Trump for his part, seems to be expecting everybody to rely on his word and good faith that a successful G7, or whatever it will be called if he invites Russia as he declared he will, is his entire focus. The G7 deserves the best facilities and everybody is saying my club fits the bill…. “I don’t care about making money,” he said in France with a straight face, even as reporters laughed.
Trump outrages on every front – moral, ethical, institutional, legal, etc. – long ago exceeded our ability to track without creating tranches and assigning values as to just how destructive each is to previous standards and guideposts of behavior. As far as Trump’s refusal to accept any limits on his continued involvement with properties his family business owns, the numbers tell the story. He has visited Mar-a-Lago, Bedminster, Doral, et al literally hundreds of times before even serving 1000 days in office. Moreover, he has hosted foreign delegations from Japan and China, along with their full entourages. Did they stay for free? Yea… right.
It bears repeating here, just for context, that Jimmy Carter placed his beloved peanut farm in a blind trust to prevent any whiff of impropriety. God bless him. Ask Trump’s wretched core about the wafting stench emanating from his flagrant efforts to involve properties he owns in global events his elected office plays THE leading position in overseeing and they’ll shrug and tell you a guy as rich as Trump isn’t concerned about such chump change. He’s a billionaire. Money doesn’t mean anything to him! It’s all a personal sacrifice. After all, he’s working for free. Sure he is! When he starts melting down if his long con designs get taken to task – even cabana boy Rick Santorum bristles at the idea – we’ll all see just how genuine his public service inclinations are…… “I want it now!! “ BC
The emperor has no clothes