Former U.S. President Donald Trump's cutting rhetoric and divisive politics enabled him to effectively take over the Republican Party. His fans are so loyal that the vast majority of them believe his bogus assertion that he lost the 2020 election due to voting fraud.

However, the same techniques that have generated such fervent political support have harmed Trump's company, which is based on real-estate development and branding partnerships that have allowed him to make millions by licensing his name.

Trump's corporate brand was formerly linked with riches and success, an image that now dramatically contrasts with a political brand founded in the rage of his predominantly rural and working-class voting base. Many people identify his administration with its violent conclusion when supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Those harrowing visuals, combined with years of venomous speech, are costing Trump money. According to Trump's financial disclosures as president, Trump Organization records filed with government agencies, and reports from companies that track real-estate company finances, revenues from some of his high-end properties have declined, vacancies in office buildings have increased, and his lenders are warning that the company's revenues may not be sufficient to cover his debt payments.

Prospective renters in New York are avoiding his properties to avoid being connected with Trump, according to one real-estate broker. Golf tournament organizers have canceled events on his courses.

According to one hotel industry veteran, Trump's concentration on his political brand has increasingly trumped his identification as a real-estate billionaire.

“Before his political career, the Trump brand was about luxury - the casinos, the golf resorts,” said Scott Smith, a former hotel executive and hospitality professor at the University of South Carolina. “When he entered into politics, he took the Trump brand in an entirely different direction.”

Trump's business is also being investigated for criminal fraud by the Manhattan District Attorney's office and the New York Attorney General. The corporation and its longtime CFO, Allen Weisselberg, have been charged with a payroll tax evasion scheme, and investigators are still looking into whether Trump or his representatives committed fraud by falsifying financials in loan applications and tax filings. Weisselberg and the business both deny any wrongdoing and are fighting the allegations.

Trump has announced his first significant agreement since leaving office, and it has nothing to do with real estate. On Oct. 20, he announced the creation of a new social media platform geared in part at providing him with a political forum after being barred from doing so by Facebook and Twitter, who claimed after the US Capitol riots that Trump exploited their platforms to promote violence.

That contract might be profitable for Trump regardless of whether the platform is successful. Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp, a publicly-traded blank-check acquisition business that wants to merge with the newly announced Trump Media and Technology Group, were snapped up by investors.

The value of Digital World shares has risen to almost $2 billion. Trump's new media business will possess at least 69 percent of the merged corporation, although Trump has not declared his share in Trump Media.

Trump has also been gathering funds for his political organization, which had $100 million on June 30 as he hinted at a presidential bid in 2024.

 

with Reuters