The following exchange took place between Donald Trump, who is expected to declare his candidacy for the presidency later today, and Des Moines Register reporter Josh Hafner
Trump: I'm the most successful person ever to run for president. I mean, off the record, Ross Perot isn't successful like me. Romney was — I have a Gucci store that's worth more money than Romney.
Hafner: You gotta give me that quote on the record. That's amazing.
Trump: I'll give it to you on the record. You know my store on Fifth Avenue and 57th. It's called Gucci, right?
Hafner: Yeah, I know Gucci.
Trump: You know Gucci. Gucci store is worth more money than Romney. Romney disappointed us. He ran a horrible campaign. We can't let that happen again. [Aside to press secretary Hope Hicks, who was also on the call] I knew he'd like that quote. I was afraid, Hope, that he'd like that quote.
The U.S. Office of Government Ethics in 2012 placed Romney's net worth between $84 million and $256 million, and a 2012 Forbes examination of various disclosures sharpened that estimate to $230 million, according to DMR.
And then DMR provides us with this info:
In 2014, 24,700 square feet of retail space in the St. Regis Hotel at Fifth Avenue and 55th Street — a block from Trump Tower — sold for $700 million. If the Gucci space sold at the same price per square foot, the price would be $1.3 billion — far higher than Romney's estimated net worth.-RW
I like watching Trump bash everyone. It's fun.
ReplyDelete(this isn't an endorsement for Trump as President either, I prefer "no one" for President)
When we bash pols, most of the world doesn't really see it because we are out of the MSM loop. I really love Rockwell's sardonic commentary, Political Theater is great, I'm glad he started it back up- but Lew isn't quote in the MSM too much.
When Trump does it, the MSM gobbles it up for ratings and everyone gets a good laugh because many times he's both right & insulting.
He's like an insult comic running for office. More please!
Trump doesn't own Gucci. Gucci is his TENANT. For him to call it "my store" is appalling. It's unclear if he owns Trump Tower outright. He owns very little of what has his name on it, and almost invariably owns only only the piece with rights to naming and, typically, market and/or manage the retail, commercial, and residential spaces.
ReplyDeleteSo Trump certainly has Trump Tower leveraged with debt, and may simply only own a piece of it. If he owns it outright, it would be absurd not to leverage it by borrowing against it, and against the Gucci space as well, thus the NET value is probably no more than one-tenth the value of the appraisal of the space's value.
If you are the landlord then you are the owner dummy! Trump has very little debt. Forbes and Bloomburg have picked thru his holdings and peg him conservatively at $4.5 billion.
DeleteTrump Tower is owned by and serves as the headquarters for The Trump Organization and houses the primary penthouse condominium residence of Donald Trump.
ReplyDelete