Bankruptcy was trump's favorite business strategy. Whenever any of his businesses foundered he tended to add to the burden of debt and then declare bankruptcy. He was particularly enamored of this strategy when he totally failed in Atlantic City. That's when papa Fred came down and bought tons of chips to create an illusion of solvency. Nothing worked. By the end of the 1990s insolvency was rampant and Trump was almost broke by his privileged standards.
Criminals and TV gigs
Trump was able to surmount his bankruptcy phase by forming partnerships with criminally-tied money men and by doing things like Trump Soho with companies like Bedrock with associates like Felix Sater.
These names will soon be more newsworthy because Mueller's prosecutors will be on the lookout for Trump Russia ties over the years. Sater helped Trump parlay his name into money via licensing.
Felix Sater: Donald Trump’s Original Russia Connection https://t.co/Ol59t2yYJT via @intelligencer
— Stephen C. Rose (@stephencrose) August 7, 2017
A great big heavy lump of coal
Trump is now back on top, to put it mildly. Today he is swinging his septuagenarian golf clubs at Bedminster (if it doesn't rain). And his underlings in DC are trying to ensure that he does the right thing by Coal, in harmony with his fond wishes. You see there is no global warming in the president's universe. And creating more coal and the jobs that come with it are part of the chief executive's pledge to his base.
The payoff to the devil
So what does this have to do with bankruptcy? A lot. Trump is unleashing a strip-mining boom that will ravage national lands but that is only part of the problem. Even if every false argument for coal was ignored the big B would still emerge to ensure that the mess that is left after the ravaging will remain.
The companies can simply declare bankruptcy and go away to strip another day.
Just as Trump has done
Under Trump, Coal Mining Gets New Life on U.S. Lands https://t.co/26lspi4x1S
— Stephen C. Rose (@stephencrose) August 7, 2017
The ugliness is real. The environmental damage is measurable. The waste is computable. But none of this makes a difference.
Since Teddy Roosevelt, we have been able to be thankful for federal lands that have survived regardless of who is in power. Forget about it. WIth Trump at the helm, anyone who disses coal is an enemy.
Grounds for removal
There is enough on this very page to make Trump's removal possible on grounds of his past association with fraudulent business operations and money-laundering enterprises. If Trump was decent and honorable and all other good things, he might emerge as a penitent boy who once had some shady friends. But these are still Trump's favorites.
We have a fox in the chicken coop. He wants to savage national parks to revive obsolete businesses and protect them with laws that make savagery permanent.