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> I'm sure he'll see a very significant ROI on his $1M once the government starts awarding contracts very conveniently to companies of which he owns a portion.

> I'm sure he'll see a very significant ROI on his $1M once the government starts awarding contracts very conveniently to companies of which he owns a portion. Wasn't Trump rallying against such crony corruption aka 'pay for play'?

zump 10y ago
get ready to be surprised.
notgood 10y ago
"pay per play" is the game he has always played, that's why people like him can be fined for the many of his scandals[0] but still end up profitable in the long shot. [0]http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/10/donald-trump-scandals/474726/ http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/10/donald-t...
- sdenton4 10y ago
  I mean, it's basically his platform, too. All the stuff about only doing anything abroad it other countries are paying the US...
noobermin 10y ago
Yes. He lied, as many on the left said he was. Here[0], there is talk Jamie Dimon was considered by his advisors for Treasury. To be fair, Dimon declined, but it shows that Trump at least surrounds himself with people who don't give two shits about his "helping the little man." [0] http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/10/donald-trump-advisors-considered-jpmorgans-jamie-dimon-for-treasury-secretary-sources.html http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/10/donald-trump-advisors-conside...
- privong 10y ago
  > He lied, as many on the left said he was. Please drop the partisan angle on this. This isn't a left/right difference. Obama campaigned with a similar promise and he still selected lobbyists for his administration: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/08/15/there-are-65-former-lobbyists-currently-working-in-the-obama-administration/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/08/15/th... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Wheeler https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Wheeler
  - noobermin 10y ago
    I never said people on the left don't do it. Yes, Obama did it too. The point is Trump isn't what he appears to be, in fact he appears very similar to Obama in the sense that he convinced many people there would be change for the better but all evidence points to that he will just perpetuate the system which he rallied against (which Obama did too).
    - tempestn 10y ago
      Legitimate question: what could Obama have done better? Being Canadian I didn't take as close an interest as I would have in my own government, but it seemed from my perspective like he was doing everything he could to bring about change. The problem appeared to be that he had a very different idea of what that change should be than the Republican Congress, and short of utterly capitulating, I'm not sure how you unilaterally engender cooperation in that situation. I'm sure that I'm both biased and largely uninformed though, so I'm interested in the counter-argument.
      - zardeh 10y ago
        Very little, Obama didn't have the advantage of a friendly congress.
        Turing_Machine 10y ago
        Obama had both houses of Congress for his first two years. He could have passed any law he wanted (indeed, that's how Obamacare got passed).
        Jtsummers 10y ago
        Which wasn't even the bill he wanted (Obamacare). They lacked a super majority (two thirds) in the Senate, so lots of compromises still had to happen. Fortunately, the Republican's also lack a super majority in the Senate this time around.
- losvedir 10y ago
  I'm not sure what he promised or where the contradiction is, but Jamie Dimon would be a very strong advisor. I think he's considered one of the smartest of the leaders of the wall street banks, and JP Morgan was one of the few banks that was strong going into 2008. I wasn't a Trump supporter, but that at least shows good judgment to me.
- praisewhitey 10y ago
  >He lied, as many on the left said he was And many on the right.
  - noobermin 10y ago
    I should have revised it to "many" fullstop. I just wanted to use a word that meant many people without making it sound something like, "informed sources say...". The point is many public figures and thinkers distrusted Trump's rhetoric.
- rdtsc 10y ago
  Alright, who do you think he should have picked for you to say "not bad, that's a good choice?"
stormbeta 10y ago
Sure. But nobody who paid attention to how Trump has done business in the past actually believed a word of it. And now we're being proven right.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
Lagged2Death 10y ago
Wasn't Trump rallying against such crony corruption aka 'pay for play'? He straight bragged about participating in such schemes from the other side.
- Dagwoodie 10y ago
  Thiel is an experienced, proven, intelligent, capable technologist and gay man. If there's someone better who didn't donate $1m fine, but it seems like Thiel would be qualified for his cabinet and we might want to give him a shot be condemning him.
Rapzid 10y ago
If we believe all the recently headlines about who he's bringing in it appears pure "pay to play". Lots of individuals who Trump "owes" through either money or support they provided to him; pure cronyism. I'm not sure Trump realizes what worked best in business, or what he felt worked best for him in what business he has done, is not necessarily best for operating policy. I'm not sure he cares. I suspect he might though. Dude looked humble-struck in the video today with Obama; almost worried about what he got himself into.
- raspasov 10y ago
  "humble-struck" - can't agree more, lol.
  - ajeet_dhaliwal 10y ago
    If he treated it like a game that you win, he won, but he can't just go home now, he's signed up to be on call 24/7. I'm not wealthy but I've treated job interviews like this and been unhappy after "winning". Now I'm highly selective about what I do. Losing such personal freedom needs someone with a real conviction about the job and stamina, he may have it, otherwise he'll be miserable. The White House probably came across as a dump compared to what he's used to.
- threeseed 10y ago
  Trump I suspect will be very similar to George W Bush. From all accounts he simply doesn't have the intellectual stamina to handle the rigours of the job. And I don't mean that in a negative way he is just more of a hands on, energetic, get shit done sort of guy. So in order to survive he is going to delegate to people like Guilani, Christie, Gingrich, Carson etc. Some of the most shameless, self serving and unethical people around in politics.
  - maverick_iceman 10y ago
    Last time I read the constitution there was no "intellectual stamina" requirement to become the President. Also if Hillary was elected would she have surrounded herself by Gandhi-like selfless advisors?
kafkaesq 10y ago
Wasn't Trump rallying against such crony corruption aka 'pay for play'? He may have, but like most everything he says it needs to be understood as "post-truth", and meant for the emotional impact only -- not the actual substance.
- D_Alex 10y ago
  This "post-truth" does not need to be understood, it needs to be rejected, as hard as possible.
  - sangnoir 10y ago
    Post-truth is pretty much Donald's lifestyle. He testified under oath that his net worth "depends on how he feels at that moment" (paraphrasing). His state of mind defines reality/truth
    - WalterBright 10y ago
      Net worth is a pretty slippery concept. For example, what is your house worth? You cannot know it with any sort of precision.
rahrahrah 10y ago
You are aware that Trump contradicted himself every time he opened his mouth, right? Is there any reason to believe this will be the one time when he's self-consistent?
BurningFrog 10y ago
Just because some random internet commenter is sure this is part of a crony capitalist deal, doesn't mean that is an undisputed fact.
Terr_ 10y ago
Trump knows all about sobering up government: Take it from an alcoholic, he knows all the tricks :P
tptacek 10y ago
Every successful politician in the last hundred years has "rallied against crony corruption".
chrischen 10y ago
You have to realize Trump complained about the "rigged" Republican primary and then after he won he literally said it doesn't matter anymore because he won. Means to an end kind of guy.
sharer 10y ago
It's only pay to play when it's people you don't want to play with.
cmurf 10y ago
Trump rallying against the Electoral College in 2012 as bad for democracy. Now that it gives him the win contrary to democracy what's his opinion? https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/266038556504494082?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/26603855650449408...
- DefaultUserHN 10y ago
  He tried to change the rules, to make it fair. They won't change it. So he played it by their stupid rules and won. Now, they're complaining that he's playing by their rules.
macca321 10y ago
HAHAHAHAHAHA!
mfukar 10y ago
I hope you're not implying a politician may stay true to their word.
jackmott 10y ago
he was lying, which was obvious.

zump 10y ago

get ready to be surprised.

notgood 10y ago

"pay per play" is the game he has always played, that's why people like him can be fined for the many of his scandals[0] but still end up profitable in the long shot. [0]http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/10/donald-trump-scandals/474726/ http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/10/donald-t...

sdenton4 10y ago
I mean, it's basically his platform, too. All the stuff about only doing anything abroad it other countries are paying the US...

noobermin 10y ago

Yes. He lied, as many on the left said he was. Here[0], there is talk Jamie Dimon was considered by his advisors for Treasury. To be fair, Dimon declined, but it shows that Trump at least surrounds himself with people who don't give two shits about his "helping the little man." [0] http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/10/donald-trump-advisors-considered-jpmorgans-jamie-dimon-for-treasury-secretary-sources.html http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/10/donald-trump-advisors-conside...

privong 10y ago
> He lied, as many on the left said he was. Please drop the partisan angle on this. This isn't a left/right difference. Obama campaigned with a similar promise and he still selected lobbyists for his administration: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/08/15/there-are-65-former-lobbyists-currently-working-in-the-obama-administration/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/08/15/th... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Wheeler https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Wheeler
- noobermin 10y ago
  I never said people on the left don't do it. Yes, Obama did it too. The point is Trump isn't what he appears to be, in fact he appears very similar to Obama in the sense that he convinced many people there would be change for the better but all evidence points to that he will just perpetuate the system which he rallied against (which Obama did too).
  - tempestn 10y ago
    Legitimate question: what could Obama have done better? Being Canadian I didn't take as close an interest as I would have in my own government, but it seemed from my perspective like he was doing everything he could to bring about change. The problem appeared to be that he had a very different idea of what that change should be than the Republican Congress, and short of utterly capitulating, I'm not sure how you unilaterally engender cooperation in that situation. I'm sure that I'm both biased and largely uninformed though, so I'm interested in the counter-argument.
    - zardeh 10y ago
      Very little, Obama didn't have the advantage of a friendly congress.
      - Turing_Machine 10y ago
        Obama had both houses of Congress for his first two years. He could have passed any law he wanted (indeed, that's how Obamacare got passed).
        Jtsummers 10y ago
        Which wasn't even the bill he wanted (Obamacare). They lacked a super majority (two thirds) in the Senate, so lots of compromises still had to happen. Fortunately, the Republican's also lack a super majority in the Senate this time around.
losvedir 10y ago
I'm not sure what he promised or where the contradiction is, but Jamie Dimon would be a very strong advisor. I think he's considered one of the smartest of the leaders of the wall street banks, and JP Morgan was one of the few banks that was strong going into 2008. I wasn't a Trump supporter, but that at least shows good judgment to me.
praisewhitey 10y ago
>He lied, as many on the left said he was And many on the right.
- noobermin 10y ago
  I should have revised it to "many" fullstop. I just wanted to use a word that meant many people without making it sound something like, "informed sources say...". The point is many public figures and thinkers distrusted Trump's rhetoric.
rdtsc 10y ago
Alright, who do you think he should have picked for you to say "not bad, that's a good choice?"

stormbeta 10y ago

Sure. But nobody who paid attention to how Trump has done business in the past actually believed a word of it. And now we're being proven right.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

Lagged2Death 10y ago

Wasn't Trump rallying against such crony corruption aka 'pay for play'? He straight bragged about participating in such schemes from the other side.

Dagwoodie 10y ago
Thiel is an experienced, proven, intelligent, capable technologist and gay man. If there's someone better who didn't donate $1m fine, but it seems like Thiel would be qualified for his cabinet and we might want to give him a shot be condemning him.

Rapzid 10y ago

If we believe all the recently headlines about who he's bringing in it appears pure "pay to play". Lots of individuals who Trump "owes" through either money or support they provided to him; pure cronyism. I'm not sure Trump realizes what worked best in business, or what he felt worked best for him in what business he has done, is not necessarily best for operating policy. I'm not sure he cares. I suspect he might though. Dude looked humble-struck in the video today with Obama; almost worried about what he got himself into.

raspasov 10y ago
"humble-struck" - can't agree more, lol.
- ajeet_dhaliwal 10y ago
  If he treated it like a game that you win, he won, but he can't just go home now, he's signed up to be on call 24/7. I'm not wealthy but I've treated job interviews like this and been unhappy after "winning". Now I'm highly selective about what I do. Losing such personal freedom needs someone with a real conviction about the job and stamina, he may have it, otherwise he'll be miserable. The White House probably came across as a dump compared to what he's used to.
threeseed 10y ago
Trump I suspect will be very similar to George W Bush. From all accounts he simply doesn't have the intellectual stamina to handle the rigours of the job. And I don't mean that in a negative way he is just more of a hands on, energetic, get shit done sort of guy. So in order to survive he is going to delegate to people like Guilani, Christie, Gingrich, Carson etc. Some of the most shameless, self serving and unethical people around in politics.
- maverick_iceman 10y ago
  Last time I read the constitution there was no "intellectual stamina" requirement to become the President. Also if Hillary was elected would she have surrounded herself by Gandhi-like selfless advisors?

kafkaesq 10y ago

Wasn't Trump rallying against such crony corruption aka 'pay for play'? He may have, but like most everything he says it needs to be understood as "post-truth", and meant for the emotional impact only -- not the actual substance.

D_Alex 10y ago
This "post-truth" does not need to be understood, it needs to be rejected, as hard as possible.
- sangnoir 10y ago
  Post-truth is pretty much Donald's lifestyle. He testified under oath that his net worth "depends on how he feels at that moment" (paraphrasing). His state of mind defines reality/truth
  - WalterBright 10y ago
    Net worth is a pretty slippery concept. For example, what is your house worth? You cannot know it with any sort of precision.

rahrahrah 10y ago

You are aware that Trump contradicted himself every time he opened his mouth, right? Is there any reason to believe this will be the one time when he's self-consistent?

BurningFrog 10y ago

Just because some random internet commenter is sure this is part of a crony capitalist deal, doesn't mean that is an undisputed fact.

Terr_ 10y ago

Trump knows all about sobering up government: Take it from an alcoholic, he knows all the tricks :P

tptacek 10y ago

Every successful politician in the last hundred years has "rallied against crony corruption".

chrischen 10y ago

You have to realize Trump complained about the "rigged" Republican primary and then after he won he literally said it doesn't matter anymore because he won. Means to an end kind of guy.

sharer 10y ago

It's only pay to play when it's people you don't want to play with.

cmurf 10y ago

Trump rallying against the Electoral College in 2012 as bad for democracy. Now that it gives him the win contrary to democracy what's his opinion? https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/266038556504494082?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/26603855650449408...

DefaultUserHN 10y ago
He tried to change the rules, to make it fair. They won't change it. So he played it by their stupid rules and won. Now, they're complaining that he's playing by their rules.

macca321 10y ago

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

mfukar 10y ago

I hope you're not implying a politician may stay true to their word.

jackmott 10y ago

he was lying, which was obvious.