So our government's employees, contractors and suppliers would likely fare poorly under a Trump administration. How about the country's creditors? In "How Donald Trump Bankrupted His Atlantic City Casinos, but Still Earned Millions," The New York Times found that Trump structures company borrowing to enrich himself. He runs up tremendous debt, taking cash out for himself, then the businesses fail, harming creditors:
"But even as his companies did poorly, Mr. Trump did well. He put up little of his own money, shifted personal debts to the casinos and collected millions of dollars in salary, bonuses and other payments. The burden of his failures fell on investors and others who had bet on his business acumen.
"[. . .] 'Early on, I took a lot of money out of the casinos with the financings and the things we do,' he said in a recent interview. 'Atlantic City was a very good cash cow for me for a long time.'"
Others were hurt.
The Times report suggests how Trump might manage the country's finances:
"'People underestimated Donald Trump's ability to pillage the company,' said Sebastian Pignatello, a private investor who at one time held stock in the Trump casinos worth more than $500,000. 'He drove these companies into bankruptcy by his mismanagement, the debt and his pillaging.'"
Trump himself has indicated that he would handle the country's finances, threatening to default on the country's debt obligations. In May, the Times reported, in "Donald Trump's Idea to Cut National Debt: Get Creditors to Accept Less":
"Asked on Thursday whether the United States needed to pay its debts in full, or whether he could negotiate a partial repayment, Mr. Trump told the cable network CNBC, 'I would borrow, knowing that if the economy crashed, you could make a deal.'
"He added, 'And if the economy was good, it was good. So, therefore, you can't lose.'
"Such remarks by a major presidential candidate have no modern precedent. The United States government is able to borrow money at very low interest rates because Treasury securities are regarded as a safe investment, and any cracks in investor confidence have a long history of costing American taxpayers a lot of money."
Translation: He would tell creditors to take less than they are owed. This means defaulting on our country's debt obligations, which has never happened. The country's record of always repaying its debt is the reason the dollar is a reserve currency, and interests rates are extremely low. If the U.S. defaulted, the risk of it happening again would always be there everafter. No one would loan money to the U.S. government again except at very, very high interest rates.
The Times report summed up the problem:
"...Mr. Trump's statement might show the limits of translating his business acumen into the world of government finance. The United States simply cannot pursue a similar strategy. The government runs an annual deficit, so it must borrow to retire existing debt. Any measures that would reduce the value of the existing debt, making it cheaper to repurchase, would increase the cost of issuing new debt. Such a threat also could undermine the stability of global financial markets."
Purpose Of Government vs. Purpose Of Business
The popular definition of the purpose of business today is to make money for its owners. Businesses serve the interests of the business' owners by cutting costs (maybe moving production to countries with low wages and few worker or environmental protections), cutting product quality, cutting customer service, and passing everything gained to a few. Trump appears experienced and skilled in these areas.
But the purpose of We the People organizing a government for ourselves was to do things together that make our lives better. We jointly make decisions. We jointly finance government's operations. As our Constitution states, we formed this government to:
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