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Trump's 'brand' is dead and he may have to hold a 'fire sale' on prized properties: report
January 15, 2021
According to Bloomberg's Tim O'Brien, Donald Trump is about to leave the political minefield over a second impeachment trial and enter a new minefield where he is faced with enormous loans coming due at a time when the Trump "brand" could hardly be more toxic.
As the only president to be impeached twice exits the Oval Office next week, Trump will turn his full attention to his financial situation valued at over $3.4 billion but heavily loaded down with debt.
<p>With Deutsche Bank announcing earlier in the week that <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/12/investing/deutsche-bank-trump/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">they will no longer lend to Trump</a> and his Trump Organization, and Signature Bank saying it has started closing Trump's personal accounts before calling for the president to resign, the president will find far fewer options when it comes to loans than when he entered office in 2016.</p><p>According to OBrien, who has reported extensively on Trump's finances for years, the president shouldn't expect to be able to trade on his name as he seeks financial help.</p><p>"What does the Trump brand represent?" he wrote for Bloomberg. "And how valuable has it been, really — even before the president alienated half of the country and untold millions overseas, bungled the federal response to a deadly pandemic and got himself impeached for the second time by convincing a confederacy of dunces, thugs and white supremacists to lay siege to the Capitol?"</p><p>The answer, he suggests, was that the Trump name was already damaged for branding purposes before the election after a string of spectacular failures including a "university" that was shut down after being deluged with lawsuits.</p><p>"Do you remember Donald J. Trump Eyeglasses, Donald Trump Regency Collection lighting, Select by Trump coffee, Success by Trump cologne, Trump Home mattresses and furniture, Trump Ice bottled water, Trump Steaks, Trump: The Game, Trump Vodka, or the Donald J. Trump Signature Collection of underwear, ties, shirts and suits? Does the Trump PrivaTest at-home urine test ring a bell?" he wrote before pointing out that the majority of Trump's wealth is tied up in high-profile properties like Trump Tower in New York City at a time when commercial properties are facing a downturn due to the COVID-10 9 pandemic.</p><p>Adding to that are the president's golf courses th<a href="https://www.rawstory.com/trump-golf-2649719801/" target="_self">at have been bleeding money</a> even before the PGA announced it would n<a href="https://www.rawstory.com/trump-wall-street/" target="_self">o longer hold any more tournaments</a> at Trump-owned properties.</p><p>All of this may force the president, who is looking at <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2020/09/that-makes-him-a-mark-trump-biographer-reveals-presidents-debt-far-worse-than-421-million/" target="_self">a reported $421 million in loans</a> to come due in the next two years, to sell off some of his more valuable assets., O'Brien writes.</p><p>"Urban real estate, now sideswiped by Covid-19, is the core of Trump's wealth, and has generated some of his most lucrative streams of income. As is his wont, he has saddled his holdings with lots of debt. Forbes <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2020/10/16/donald-trump-has-at-least-1-billion-in-debt-more-than-twice-the-amount-he-suggested/?sh=8c451d843306" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">estimates</a> Trump's total indebtedness to be about $1.1 billion, and about <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2020/10/19/trump-will-have-900-million-of-loans-coming-due-in-his-second-term-if-hes-reelected/?sh=5168aa4b5f37" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">$900 million</a> is coming due over the next four years, some of it this year," he explained. "Trump is not broke, as some have speculated in recent months, but he could wind up in a very nasty cash squeeze. If his properties don't generate enough money to pay down the debt, he'll have to sell something — and may have to unload trophy properties in fire sales that leave him with less than he might have secured if he'd sold them just a year ago (or if he had properly divested his businesses before he was inaugurated in 2017). If the economy continues to struggle in coming months, the valuations of everything Trump owns will be tested."</p><p>You can <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-01-15/it-s-trump-s-money-not-his-brand-that-should-worry-him" target="_blank">read more here</a>.</p>
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Fox News could make big changes as ratings plummet after calling the election for Biden
January 15, 2021
Fox News boss Rupert Murdoch has taken a more hands-on role in network operations as rivals cut into their dominance over conservative media, according to a new report.
Ratings are down after President Donald Trump urged follows to switch over to rival Newsmax, and CEO Suzanne Scott and president Jay Wallace could be out of a job after Fox News lost the ratings battle to CNN and MSNBC, reported The Daily Beast.
<p>"I mean, Rupert got involved with the shuffling of the lineup, so that's never a good sign for someone in charge," one current Fox staffer told The Daily Beast. "What is the point of having a manager running your business if you have to run the business yourself?"</p><p>Ratings <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fox-news-lands-third-cable-232700701.html" target="_blank">have drooped</a> since the November election, despite one dramatic event after another, and Scott was already mistrusted by staffers who say she hasn't been held accountable for helping to enable late founder Roger Ailes' sexual misconduct.</p><p>Scott has told more than one Fox executive that she doesn't care if she's fired because she's "got enough money now to never work again," according to one source who has spoken to her, although a Fox News spokesperson strongly denied that claim.</p><p>Insiders told The Daily Beast that David Rhodes, a former Fox News president and the libertarian brother of former Obama national security aide Ben Rhodes, could be tapped to replace Scott, who the Murdochs always considered a "temporary solution."</p><p>Wallace, the current network president, has been under fire since the Fox News decision desk correctly projected Joe Biden as the winner in Arizona -- which angered Trump and helped drive some viewers over to Newsmax.</p><p>The rival network has beaten Fox News in some head-to-head matchups since November, and CNN and MSNBC finished in the top two spots in daytime ratings for the first time since 2000.</p><p>"They are reaping the whirlwind of having gotten their audience hooked on the heroin of outrage because as soon as someone comes along and is more outrageous those addicts will move over there," said Jon Klein, former president of CNN/US and current chairman of TAPP Media. "They don't care where they get their fix from, so whoever ends up running Fox News is going to have to wrestle with that conundrum."</p>
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Trump rioters say a Capitol cop congratulated them for breaking in: 'It's your house now!'
January 15, 2021
A man accused of taking part in last week's deadly Trump-incited riot at the United States Capitol claims that a Capitol police officer openly welcomed him into the building.
BuzzFeed News justice reporter Zoe Tillman on Friday flagged a recently filed criminal complaint against two alleged Trump rioters who both say a Capitol Police officers shook their hands and congratulated them after they broke into the building.
<p>
The two alleged rioters, identified by prosecutors as Robert L. Bauer and Edward E. Hemenway II, shared nearly identical stories about their encounter with an unidentified law enforcement official during the Capitol riots.
</p><p>"Both men remembered encountering a police officer after they entered," prosecutors allege. "According to Bauer, the police officer grabbed his hand, shook it, and said, 'It's your house
now.' Bauer believed that the policeman was acting out of fear. Hemenway similarly
recalled the officer shaking Hemenway hand and Hemenway said, 'Sorry,' to which the
officer replied, 'It's your house now, man,' and gave Hemenway a half-hug."</p><p>Although there have been rumors that the pro-Trump rioters received help from rogue Capitol police officers during their attempted insurrection, so far no charges have been filed against any officers. Two officers have been suspended and at least 10 are under investigation for their conduct during the siege, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/11/politics/capitol-police-officers-suspended-tim-ryan/index.html" target="_blank">according to CNN</a>.</p>
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