The president of the United States has any number of ways to get rid of debt very very quickly. We can come up with a few easy ways just off the top of our head, even though we’re not financial experts (or experts in anything, really, ‘cept maybe law). Pretend that Donald Trump is about to sign a deal with Vladimir Putin in which each side is giving each other first options on oil sales at a discounted price in an attempt to improve relationships between the countries (such a deal would likely be illegal, probably impossible, it’s just an example of the “type” of thing he can do). Five days beforehand, Trump gets word to a few pals who short Exxon, BP, and every other damned oil company stock on earth. There’s a quick few billion right there.

Trump decides he isn’t going to sign any sort of stimulus package that doesn’t include more money for airlines, let’s some friends know five days ahead of time. Buy lots of stock in Delta, American, United. There’s a half billion right there. Trump decides he is rescinding environmental protections for certain areas and opening up land previously protected from mining, of course it comes with a price, paid through about 40 LLCs, but paid.

Or we get into the real big stuff, Saudi Arabia is tired of dealing with Iran and Iran’s oil production facilities. It is worth $4-5 billion if the U.S. would strike certain Iranian plants as payback for … something made up, something Iran did to the U.S. and the U.S. says that if Iran were to strike Saudi Arabia, it would consider it an act of war against the United States.

You get the point. There are a LOT of ways for the United States president to make money, when he needs it, without charging extra for fees to Mar-a-Lago.

According to Forbes (which is particularly good at this stuff):

Whether or not Donald Trump wins the election, lenders will expect his businesses to pay back an estimated $900 million in the next four years, an alarmingly accelerated timetable that involves more than twice as much debt as the president previously indicated. In order to emerge unscathed, Trump will likely have to engage in a series of high-stakes, big-money transactions—deals that could produce arguably the biggest conflicts of interest that an American president has ever had to face.

About half of the debt coming due from the start of 2021 to the end of 2024 is secured against assets that the president and his children own outright. He will have to pay back loans against his hotel in Washington, D.C., his golf resort in Miami and his tower in Chicago. He’ll also have to sort out the debt against Trump Tower and Trump Plaza in New York City.

Whether Trump currently has the assets to pay back the loans or not is NOT the issue. Is it not easier to pay back loans without having to use your own money? Always?

This is why government employees – except for some reason the United States president – are not allowed to have conflicts of interest and must disclose their business relationships AND get in real trouble when they mix their official policy with policy that helps them along personally.

This has been the story of the Trump administration from day one, but on day one we didn’t exactly know how much he owed and to whom. We are getting closer and closer. Once one knows, then it is possible to see those deals being made, and catching them when they happen.

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Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @JasonMiciak