Trump's disastrous business legacy: How he destroyed every venture he touched

Robert Reich
October 13, 2024 

Trump’s entire candidacy is based on a lie.

TRUMP: I’m really a good businessman. I’m so good at business.

Not true. Trump is a business failure. Almost every business he’s touched, he’s driven into the ground


MARCO RUBIO: You ever heard of Trump Steaks?

TRUMP: Trump Steaks are the greatest steaks, and I mean that in every sense of the word!

RUBIO: You ever heard of Trump Vodka?


TRUMP: It’s a smooth vodka. It’s a great-tasting vodka.

RUBIO: All of these companies that he’s ruined!

It’s true! Trump had a failed board game …


TRUMP: My new game is Trump the Game.

… a failed bicycle race called the “Tour de Trump” …

TRUMP: I think this is an event that can be tremendous in the future. And it can really rival the Tour de France.


… a failed football team.

TRUMP: It’s gonna stay strong. It’s gonna stay strong for a long time.

Trump decided it was a good idea to start a mortgage company in 2006.


TRUMP: It’s a great time to start a mortgage company.

That failed in less than two years. Let’s see, what else was there?

ELIZABETH WARREN: Trump Travel, Trump Ice …


JOHN OLIVER: Trump Magazine, which folded, Trump World Magazine, which also folded…

MITT ROMNEY: Whatever happened to Trump Airlines?

Oh! That was a good one! One of his planes had a crash landing within the first two months, which he insisted was the “most beautiful” landing you’ve ever seen. The business failed within three years.

Trump has even managed to bankrupt multiple casinos. How do you lose money running a casino, when the house always wins?

There’s an old joke that the easiest way to make a small fortune is to start with a large one. And that’s exactly what Trump did.

Multiple analyses show that if Trump had simply invested his multimillion-dollar inheritance in an index fund and not touched it, he’d be a lot richer than he is now. Think about that. His entire life’s work has been less successful than if he’d done nothing.

And when he was president, Trump ran the country like he ran his failed businesses. He added $8.4 trillion to the national debt — largely through his tax cuts for the rich and big corporations.

Trump has managed to survive every one of his business failures by leaving other people on the hook — leaving workers unpaid and shafting his investors.

The whole idea that Trump is good at business was a carefully crafted illusion — concocted for a reality TV show. And as with a lot of reality TV shows, we’ve come to learn it was all show, and no reality.

The only business Trump has been successful at is conning people. Now he’s trying to do it again. Don’t fall for it.



Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/.