There have been a lot of allegations about how rich Trump is not. Don’t get me wrong. Trump is rich compared to you and I and 99% of the world.
But Trump claims to be worth $10 Billion. Which turns out to be as suspect as claiming 10 inches. He’s just super cagey about showing off the actual meat that makes up his $10 Billion.
He won’t show his tax returns which all modern Candidates do. If you will recall, Romney was very reluctant too. He managed to hold out until September, with reporters making huge hay over his reluctance. I’m not sure how long Trump will hold.
But Trump’s reluctance, unlike Romney’s, is not centered on trying to avoid the perception of being one of the elite super rich. No. Trump is ALL ABOUT BEING RICH. So why is he being shy?
Well, most pundits think it’s because he’s been exaggerating the inches cash and assets. Most of these people still think he’s a Billionaire. One source called him a Low Ball Billionaire. Can you imagine? Somehow being a billionaire comes with a status indicator. What the Fuck?
Anyway. Forbes thinks he’s got 4.5 Billion. What I find mind boggling is that people seem to think this makes a difference. $10 Billion vs 4.5 Billion. Whaaat? Are they kidding? Do they have any concept of what a billion is?
But there are others who would lower him down to mere Millionaire Status, saying he’s not even a Billionaire. In 2006 when Trump was claiming a mere $6 Billion, Timothy O’Brien claimed he was only worth between $150 million and $250 million. Trump sued him and lost. Now Trump claims $10 Billion.
Here’s the thing, Trump is selling assets to pay for this campaign. He’s not particularly liquid in cash. But that’s doesn’t mean he’s not a Billionaire. Or just a super rich Millionaire. He’s rich. Very Rich. Liquid Money is money that isn’t earning much or any money. It would be a foolish Billionaire who was very liquid.
Trump is embarrassed about how rich he is. Not because he’s too rich, like Romney was. Because he’s not rich enough. He’s been bragging about his size and now people want him to drop trou and he’s feeling all kinds of awkward about being found short.
Add into his natural inadequacy all the ways he manipulated those tax returns to minimize his taxable income and gains and he’s going to look VERY short of his boasts. He thinks no one will understand that he’s really rich.
I bet he isn’t even thinking about how we will be pissed about his tax avoidance. He’s worried that we will realize he’s not as Rich as He Claims to Be. He thinks we be will be focused on how short it seems.
Which considering the length and breadth of his lies to date is an interesting insight into his psyche. He’s an unrepentant and unembarrassed liar. But he feels inadequate about money.
He wants to be seated near the Head of the Table by Bill Gates, but he’s afraid everyone will find out that maybe he’s not even IN the Billions Club, much less being anywhere close the head of the table.
He feels insecure about how he’s not rich enough.
It’s pathetic. And disturbing that this is the sort of person people want to run this country. A man who’s house of cards will be brought down by a dick wealth measuring contest.
It's a Thought 
I think a big thing for both Romney and Trump is how little taxes they pay compared to normal people. Romney paid less than half the rate I do and wrote off things like race horses and trips to Europe. Tax returns don’t really show how much money you have at a given time but how much you earn, and how much taxes you paid on it. Or didn’t pay. My guess is Trump paid less than 10% of his income on taxes, possibly even 0%, and might have had large subsidies, meaning his tax rate is negative – he is getting more from the government than he’s paying in. That might not make people who are paying 33% + (including SS, medicare, state taxes, etc.) on their meager incomes happy. Truth is, “welfare” for the rich is much much larger than welfare for the poor and people like Trump don’t want the general population to realize it – Fox News has already made the poor the villains of our economy, if people knew the real villains were the rich we might have another revolution….
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You are right that its disgusting that he and all the rich people are paying so little while pretending they aren’t getting any “entitlements” from the government.
But I doubt he’s worried about that. I could be wrong. He loves that he’s super rich. His supporters love that he’s super rich. He gets pissed when people say he’s not as rich as he says he is.
I still think he’s more worried about that than at what rational people will be legitimately upset about.
Maybe you are right. Being rich was hard on Romney’s campaign. And he wasn’t as rich as Trump. But Romney was an idiot about it. He should have claimed his richness and been as proud as Trump.
The monkey brains love confidence. They despise shame. I think our perception that Romney was somehow trying to hide his Elite Rich thing hurt him more than Trump’s irrational pride over it.
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You could be right – he does like to talk about how rich he is and attacks anybody who contradicts it.
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It’s been my experience that people like Trump are sensitive about things like that for one of two reasons; A) they are using the thing in question (money, boat, car, whatever) as a way of compensating for some personal inadequacy, either mental or physical. Or B) it gives them a feeling of satisfaction for being something rare, part of an exclusive group, being something special. Sometimes the two needs overlap.
In Trump’s case, it’s probably A, he becomes extremely defensive about his wealth because, to him at least, it is being subconsciously (probably) used as a substitute for some personal inadequacy. That’s why he’s so defensive about it – someone criticizing his wealth threatens to expose him. Not him lying about how much money he has, but expose whatever inadequacy he possibly does not consciously realize he is compensating for.
Who knows? Maybe he really does have “small hands”?
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