Three new and deplorable stories about Trump came out yesterday. Not one, not two, but three within one 24 hour period.
The first had to do with his foundation. As reported by the Washington Post: "Donald Trump’s charitable foundation — which has been sustained for years by donors outside the Trump family — has never obtained the certification that New York requires before charities can solicit money from the public, according to the state attorney general’s office."
What this means is not only that the foundation solicited money illegally, but that there has been no responsible monitoring of whether the money spent by the foundation was in fact used for charitable purposes rather than for personal gain. (Since it has already been reported that $258,000 from the foundation had been spent to settle legal problems and that $10,000 had been spent by his wife to purchase a portrait of Trump, this new evidence about the lack of certification raises an even larger question about the use of the foundations funds.)
The second involved expenditures in Cuba during years when such spending was under embargo. As reported by Newsweek: "A company controlled by Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, secretly conducted business in Communist Cuba during Fidel Castro’s presidency despite strict American trade bans that made such undertakings illegal, according to interviews with former Trump executives, internal company records and court filings." The funds were given to a contractor and disguised as having a charitable purpose....the only kind of expenditure then permitted.
Very simply this means that Trump violated US law and put his own business interests above those of the nation. One has to wonder whether his attempt to develop a chummy relationship with Putin is but a current-day version of these priorities.
Of course, the third involved women (yet again) and involved the treatment of women (waitresses and others) at Trump clubs. As reported in the LA Times: "Donald Trump wanted only the pretty ones, his employees said. After the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes opened for play in 2005, its world-famous owner didn’t stop by more than a few times a year to visit the course .... When Trump did visit, the club’s managers went on alert. They scheduled the young, thin, pretty women on staff to work the clubhouse restaurant — because when Trump saw less-attractive women working at his club, according to court records, he wanted them fired." At least two individuals have taken this to court and some sort of settlement without admission of liability was reached; in addition, all employees had to sign non-disclosure agreements when hired so public discussion would have put them at risk of losing their jobs or being sued.
This story (especially when combined with his continued attacks and "fat-shaming" of former beauty queen Alica Machado) just further underscores his obsession with the female appearance; this is a man with a sick mind who minimilizes women (as well as others) and treats them as objects for his personal use. Little question remains of his misogynistic traits.
These three stories....all in one day....come on top of many others: defrauding students at Trump University, discriminating against tenants who were "colored" (coded with a c) who applied for apartments in buildings he and his family owned and ran, not paying (stiffing) numerous contractors who provided services, numerous bankruptcies (leaving those he owed without pay for services they provided), criticizing a judge because of his Mexican heritage,,,and, well, the list goes on.
This is a man without morals. He is an ugly human being. Yet he retains support. How and why remain a mystery.....
