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OPINION
Donald Trump 2016 Presidential Campaign

Trump's lesson in politics for profit: Column

Whether he wins or loses the presidency, the Republican nominee stands to make a lot of money.

Steven Strauss
A Trump supporter at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

Donald Trump says he‘s running for president because he loves America, cares about ordinary people and wants to Make America Great Again. However, Trump’s entire life has been about making money, and he has a history of business deals that harmed ordinary people while benefiting Trump. His standard business practice is structuring deals where he invests relatively little — but even if everyone else loses in the venture, Trump benefits. This is a pretty good description of his campaign strategy too; he seems to be risking little of his own fortune.

Trump is 70 years old. He’s not going to change. Maybe he is running for president to make money.

First, let’s consider the scenario where Trump isn’t elected. It’s estimated he has received about $2 billion in free publicity, and he's reportedly weighing plans to monetize it by creating his own media empire, Trump TV. If Trump merely becomes a paid TV news personality, he could make $10 million to $30 million a year for part-time work (Bill O’Reilly, who has nowhere near Trump’s visibility, is estimated to receive $17 million a year). Even if Trump loses the election, he’ll end up far richer because of all the publicity he has received.

Now consider the money-making opportunities if he wins the election. Former president Ronald Reagan received $2 million for an eight-day visit to Japan, and both former presidents Bush have made millions since leaving office. Here are just a few ways Trump can enrich himself as president:

Billions in fundraising opportunities for the Trump Foundation. The Clinton Foundation has raised an estimated $2 billion. In theory, the foundation is philanthropic. But it has been plagued by accusations that it is the Clintons’ “slush fund” and publicity machine, and that its powerful fundraising operation relies on donors (often despots, billionaires and unsavory foreign governments) who give to gain access to America’s "corridors of political power".

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Trump also has a foundation (although very small scale compared with the Clintons’; it currently has a budget of just a few million dollars a year). Trump also mixes philanthropic activity with politics and business (his foundation has similarly been described as a “slush fund”). As one example, while Trump University was being investigated by the Florida attorney general, Trump’s foundation made an illegal donation to the attorney general’s political campaign. The foundation’s donations to veterans' groups also had the appearance of furthering Trump’s political campaign as their chief purpose.

On the donor side, Saudi Arabia has been generous to the Clinton Foundation, and if Trump is elected, I’m betting it will be generous to his foundation also. The Saudis’ gratitude to Trump will be particularly great if he follows through on his promise to tear up the Iran nuclear deal, which the Saudis hate. And no, I don’t think Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric will prevent him and the Saudis from having a mutually beneficial relationship.

Billions in potential profits for the family business (the Trump Organization). Trump has already indicated that if elected, he’d place his children in charge of the family business. You don’t need to be a cynic to realize that corrupt groups around the world would love to have the U.S. president’s children as business partners, and would offer very favorable terms.

As one conflict of interest example, Trump and his various entities owe about $2 billion to Deutsche Bank. We’d have the uncomfortable spectacle of an American president in hock to a foreign bank that is regulated by various federal agencies the president oversees. What could possibly go wrong?

Protection from litigation. A USA TODAY investigative report revealed that Trump has been involved as a claimant or defendant in more than 4,000 lawsuits (on fraud, non-payment, breach of contract and other claims). Trump has already used his candidacy to mount a racist attack against the presiding judge in one lawsuit filed against him (when you can't win on the law or the facts, claim bias). Only a brave litigant would sue Trump when his appointees control the Department of Justice, the IRS and much else. The chilling effect on lawsuits would be a great savings for the Trump empire.

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Look, if Trump is really a billionaire, running for president for love of country, he could easily prove it by self-funding his campaign the way real billionaires do (instead of sending out hysterical emails begging for donations), releasing his tax returns as has been customary for presidential candidates since the early 1970s, and committing in writing to place his assets in a blind trust and to not enter into transactions with dubious entities. Trump has criticized the Clinton Foundation as a source of corruption. He should close his own foundation, for the same reason.

But he is doing none of these things.

The Clintons and other presidential families have pushed the ethical borders between money and politics, but I’m not implying equivalence between prior presidents and Trump. Trump’s career suggests he’d be incredibly aggressive about making money from the presidency. The way he is running his campaign sends the same message.

Steven Strauss  is the John L. Weinberg/Goldman Sachs & Co. Visiting Professor at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Follow him on Twitter: @Steven_Strauss

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