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Text|severn
In 2016, Trump, a self-proclaimed "successful businessman", stepped into the United States**, defeated Hillary Clinton in a devastating posture, and was elected as the United States**.
Eight years later, Trump is once again seeking to enter the White House, but this time his image as a "successful businessman" has been severely challenged.
On February 16, 2024, a New York court filed an economic lawsuit against TrumpThe sky-high fine of $4.5 billion fell on Trump's head.
While this is the largest fine Trump has faced to date, the actual impact has not been significant.
Lu Xiang, an expert on the United States at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: "Although this matter is significant, it does not pose a mortal threat to Trump. ”
Why?
Sky-high fines
The Trump financial fraud case has been brewing for more than two years.
In September 2022, New York Attorney General Laetitia filed a civil lawsuit against him, accusing him of alleged financial fraud.
After a year of investigation, Judge Ngron from the New York Supreme Court decided:Trump has committed serious economic fraud.
The ruling pointed out that in the decade from 2011 to 2021, Trump defrauded banks, insurance companies and other institutions by inflating his net worth on instruments used for transactions and financing.
Mr. Trump and his executives have also repeatedly falsified data on financial statements to obtain favorable loan terms and lower insurance costs.
After the ruling went into effect, some of the business licenses of Trump's companies were confiscated and operations in New York were halted.
At the same time, Englon suggested that an independent regulator must be brought in to oversee Trump's operations.
Trump was unhappy with the verdicts and appealed them.
But in the face of the facts found by the court, Trump's indictment did not take effect.
On February 16 of this year, Englon delivered the final verdict in a Manhattan court in New York.
In the 93-page verdict, Mr. Engron used extremely harsh terms to portray Mr. Trump as an unrepentant, near-pathological economic criminal.
Mr. Ngron determined that Mr. Trump had provided false data to accountants in order to obtain more financing.
Based on this, Engelon imposed a penalty of 3 on Trump$5.5 billion in fines.
Add to that the $100 million penalty interest, and Trump has to pay $4 to the court$5.5 billion in total fines.
According to Western**, this is the largest fine Trump has faced so far.
Add in the $83.3 million fine in another defamation case and the constant legal fees associated with other criminal cases, and Trump's total financial burden is approaching $600 million.
After Englon's verdict came into effect, the huge fine continued to cause a stir in the United States.
The question that everyone is concerned about is whether Trump can come up with so much money.
According to Forbes magazine, Trump's personal net worth is about $2.6 billion, and the Bloomberg Rich Index believes that Trump's assets are at least $3.1 billion.
However, most of these assets come from fixed assets such as real estate, hotels, resorts, clubs, etc., and cash flow must be used to pay fines.
Last year, Mr. Trump revealed that he had more than $400 million in cash, but that was not enough.
After the verdict was handed down, Trump immediately proposed to Englon to suspend the payment of the fine for one month, but it was not agreed.
That means Trump has less than a month left to raise the fine.
Even if he appeals to the court, the fine must be paid within 30 days.
In the eyes of the West, Trump's current financial situation is very unoptimistic.
The New York Post said: "Trump's golf course, $300 million Trump Tower, and 200-acre estates could all be sold to pay the fine." ”
"He must decide as soon as possible what to do with his assets to raise the money through a liquidation operation," a federal prosecutor said. ”
It is widely believed that this verdict will make all the cash accumulated after Trump leave the White House go down the drain.
Even insiders in Trump's circles have made pessimistic statements:"After this fine, I can't imagine that he would still be able to hold any assets in New York State. ”
In addition to facing hefty fines that are difficult to pay, the verdict has dealt a severe blow to Mr. Trump's image as a "successful businessman" and shaken the foundations of his business empire.
So, how should Trump deal with the double crisis of huge fines and image disillusionment at a critical moment?
Trump's response – selling shoes
After Englon's verdict was announced, Trump said as soon as he said that night: "I will appeal, and I will win the lawsuit!" ”
In his speech at Mar-a-Lago, Trump denounced Englon as "dishonest and corrupt."
Trump then issued a social manifesto defining the verdict as "downright **".
In a press interview, Trump called the verdict a "ploy" by the Democrats to add obstacles to his campaign.
Trump contemptuously claimed: "A dishonest judge who has ruled against me without any evidence is going to succeed in such a conspiracy." ”
He further stated: "This is a political ** against me, and Engelon presupposes an unfavorable verdict against me before taking up this case." ”
Trump appealed: "I started a great company, but now they forbid me to do business, and this case should be decided by the Department of Commerce!" ”
Engron responded: "I will never allow this to happen." ”
Seeing that he could not win the upper hand through a war of words, Trump simply stopped entanglement with Engelon and launched an incredible counterattack - selling shoes!
The day after the verdict was announced, Trump made a surprise appearance at the Philadelphia sneaker trend show.
Trump has become a "trendsetter" and has unveiled his new sneaker collection.
Among them, a pair of sneakers printed with the national flag is priced at $399 and is limited to 1,000 pairs worldwide.
On the major sales**, this pair of shoes is defined as "Trump's official sneakers".
At a critical moment when lawsuits are entangled, competition is fierce, and huge fines are released, Trump has sold sneakers, which is really incredible.
But with a little scrutiny, it will be found that Trump has actually taken a "smart move" in selling shoes.
Most of the outside world's interpretation of Trump's purpose in selling shoes is to obtain more cash and relieve financial pressure.
But Trump's move obviously has a deeper meaning.
First of all, the sale of shoes by candidates can divert the public attention to the greatest extent.
If he doesn't, Trump's hefty fine will make headlines across the U.S. weekend.
Originally, all the major ** had done a good job of reporting on the fines, but they were unexpectedly robbed of all the attention by Trump selling shoes.
Trump has always been very good at creating **, and he doesn't want negative news like "Trump's huge fine" to make headlines, so he wants to create more topical gimmicks to divert public attention.
As the New York Times analyzed: people's attention is easily drawn to such a ridiculous event!
Second, Trump sells shoes for another purpose — to cater to young voters.
Sneaker culture is rife in the United States, and many young people and African-Americans have the habit of collecting sneakers, and these two groups are crucial to both Biden's re-election and Trump's return to the White House.
Not long ago, Biden launched TikTok to cater to young voters.
Now Trump's use of shoe sales is also seen as a signal to march into the younger demographic.
Therefore, the seemingly absurd "former ** selling shoes" has a lot of benefits behind it.
As for the huge fines, although they cannot be offset or completely diluted by the shoe selling incident, the matter itself is not as serious as the external ** estimate.
As Lu Xiang, an expert on the United States at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: "Although this incident is significant, it does not pose a mortal threat to Trump." ”
The fine is not fatal
First, Englon's verdict, though ruthless, did not kill the Trump Organization.
Although Engron made it clear in the verdict that Trump was not allowed to hold any position in a New York company, and the Trump Organization was not allowed to apply for loans in New York, the validity period was only three years.
On the other hand, Englon's verdict is more directed at Trump himself than his company, because the Trump Organization's business license has not been revoked outright, but it needs to operate under supervision.
This means that as long as Trump survives until the end of the campaign, he will be able to usher in a situation of peak and loop.
At that time, if he can be successfully elected, he will naturally pardon his crimes and lift the ban on himself and the company.
Even if he loses the election, he can deal with the mess in his hands wholeheartedly, and he will not be as anxious as he is now.
Second, fines are not necessarily a bad thing for Trump, as he can win the sympathy of more American voters.
The business empire is on the verge of the abyss, giving Trump the opportunity to portray himself as a "victim of partisanship."
On the campaign trail and on social media, Trump has repeatedly stressed the need to "fight injustice."
Mr. Trump's actions will only cement the link between the chain of events and his belief in "making America great again" voters.
The advantage of being a "victim" in the campaign is that Trump can win the sympathy of voters, and every time he wins or turns the tide in the campaign, this feeling is further exacerbated.
As it turns out, many voters are reckless with Trump.
Shortly after the fine was issued on the 16th, its supporters immediately launched an online fundraiser.
The campaign promoter claimed: "We are going to stand behind him, this is an unjust verdict, and we will raise money for him." ”
In just a few days, more than 4,600 people participated in the fundraising.
Therefore, it is unclear whether the fine will be good or bad for Trump.
More critically, the fines do not seem to have affected Trump's voter harvest.
On Feb. 24, Trump defeated his rival Haley in South Carolina by a huge margin of 20 percentage points, even though Haley was a former governor of South Carolina.
Trump's ability to defeat his opponents on his home turf despite hefty fines and the shattering image of a successful businessman means that it is almost impossible for anyone in the Republican Party to shake his position, and the summit showdown with Biden at the end of the year is already a foregone conclusion.
And as long as Trump's campaign situation is not affected, it is difficult to say that he is under mortal threat.
Conclusion
The arrival of the sky-high fine bill once made all walks of life pronounce a "death sentence" on Trump.
But only Trump's financial situation and personal image have been affected, and his most important candidate status has not been fundamentally impacted.
Under Trump's series of shoe hype and "victim" image building, this matter is even very likely to turn sharply and become one of the help to help Trump enter the White House.
References
Li Zhun, heavy responsibility. 4.500 million "fines" jeopardize Trump's business empire [n].Global Times, 2024-02-19(016).
Liao Qin. Trump's win over South Carolina is a warning? [n].Liberation**,2024-02-26(007).
Sun Ding. What does Trump sell shoes for?Xinhua Daily Telegraph, 2024-02-22(008).