The Rembis Report And Other Fascinating Topics - Volume CXLV

It can’t just be me.

In fact, I know it is not just me, because half of polled registered voters these days inform that they are voting for Kamala Harris, just like me. So, it makes me wonder, what do the other half of the polled registered voters who champion Donald Trump see in him?

How did one man, who has done so much for himself, and so little for others, divide the nation? Was it his plan all along? How did he know exactly what to sell to those, both with, and without money? How did he know they would buy it?

It takes great insight to uncover vulnerabilities and exploit them. This is why we must not dismiss Donald Trump as a madman, but accept with horrific fascination that he is an evil genius. He knows how to manipulate people. Right now he is manipulating millions of people into voting for him. He got 62 Million votes in 2016, and won, then got 74 Million votes in 2020, and lost. We’ll find out what happens this time around next week.

But why? What’s so great about Donald Trump?

There are loads of things to unpack here. Look at his first term as president. Misogyny and racism were voiced openly as mainstream values, fearlessly, in spite of persecution and shame, and still are. Decisions to save wilderness areas were reversed to make way for pollution, which many still lobby for. Millions of people disclaimed the reputability of science, despite volumes of proof that global warming is real, even denying that Earth is round, and still do. The world clamored forth to the brink of nuclear holocaust, and is still inching over the precipice.

Trump saw it coming. Instead of doing something good for the world, however, he looked at the problems of humanity and asked “What’s in it for me?” His answer was to not get caught in the tidal wave of war, distrust, and climate control, but to rise above it, and watch the disasters unfold. He knew that people would fight about such issues with or without him. He also knew that he could take advantage of the really stupid ones.

So, it’s a marketing scheme.

Indeed. What happens when the leader of the United States, commonly referred to as "The Free World," tells the country that he is right and the experts are wrong? When too many people believe him in spite of facts, which are supported with common sense and scientific proof? Society fractures and insurrection bolts forward as it did on January 6th, 2021, four short years ago.

There was no way to stop this from happening. Especially when viewed in retrospect. It is evident that stupidity had been growing for a long time and Donald Trump had the expertise to harness and exploit that stupidity.

Donald Trump is not stupid. He may be greedy, but I think not. He may be a thief, but not in conventional terms. He may even be defined as socially inept, but he is not stupid. He understands exploitation and has a unique grasp of how to use people. He mastered how to find what people want and promise it to them, even without any intention of delivering on the promise, and getting what he wants.

A mastermind of public persona. An architect of self. He has orchestrated his path to become loved, feared, and loathed. But how? And who is he, really? Let's take a look at the facts.

IT STARTED WITH REAL ESTATE

Donald Trump was born into wealth. His parents paved the way for him to attend University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and join the family business. Like any ambitious capitalist, he set out to invest in things and find leverage to boost that wealth. His first major achievement was turning a profit on the foreclosed Swifton Village apartments in Cincinnati. He did this by remodeling and bringing the occupancy rate to 100%, from roughly 800 vacancies to fill the 1,167 unit complex, over an eight year period. His father had purchased the property in 1964.

Donald invested time, and paint, and polish, and made the property nice. Part of keeping it nice was keeping out black people. The first lawsuits were filed in 1969. In 1972 Donald sold the property for a $500,000 profit and moved on. He had other properties to spit and shine.

Trump's father once owned nearly 40 buildings with over 14,000 apartments throughout New York City. In 1973, The U.S. Justice Department filed suit against The Trump Organization when it found systematic discrimination against African Americans. Black families who had applied for tenancy brought allegations against 17 Trump properties. Investigations revealed that doormen told blacks that no apartments were available and apartment managers would use the letter "C" for colored, or the number "9" to flag black applicants.

Trump hit back at the Justice Department with a $100 million counter-suit claiming that his reputation was damaged. The case was dismissed.

By 1975, an agreement was reached to bring The Urban League in as an intermediary to represent every fifth rental applicant so that The Trump Organization did not have to accept welfare applicants unless they met all other criteria to qualify for residency, as any other applicant. The Trumps made no admission of wrongdoing. This behavior would set the stage for his appeal to the far right white voters who have no issues with discrimination, because it does not happen to them.

Then there were his initial forays into Manhattan real estate development. Upon turning the failing Commodore Hotel into the Grand Hyatt Hotel, next to Grand Central Terminal, he would begin construction of Trump Tower, a massive monument to himself. Building it required the demolition of a famed landmark, the Bonwit Teller department store, which sported massive art deco sculptures on the façade. The friezes which overlooked the city were 15 feet tall, carved by Beaux-Arts trained sculptor Rene Paul Chambellan in 1928 and were so culturally significant to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, they begged Donald Trump for their donation to the museum, valuing the work at approximately $200,000. After making a promise to deliver the art to the MET, he reneged and personally ordered their destruction, later boasting that the décor of his Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City included "Real art, not like the junk I destroyed at Bonwit Teller." Some see this action to be on par with ISIS, who destroyed the Roman Ruins in Palmyra Syria, as a crime against humanity.

When writer Mark Singer interviewed Donald Trump for The New Yorker in 1997, they met in Donald’s Trump Plaza penthouse, where Mr. Singer could not help but notice the two story high ivory frieze that adorned the dining room. Trump said “I admit that the ivory’s kind of a no-no,” while bragging about the massive fifty-three room apartment being the best in the world.

In that interview Donald Trump stated “Whatever complicates the world more - I do.”

Mr. Singer wrote Come again?

“It’s always good to do things nice and complicated so that nobody can figure it out,” said Trump.

This statement has proven to be the key to his success. A complicated person living a complex life so intricate that dissemination by anyone becomes nearly impossible. He is not only financially complex, but personally. Singer witnessed Trump stopping his driver so he could jump out of the car and tell laborers on one of his job sites what great work they were doing, adding to his personal mystique. There may be no logical way to delve into every aspect of The Trump Organization and see how the pieces fit together, and that is by design. Throughout Trump's first presidential campaign, he spent much of his money at Trump properties and throughout his presidency, he kept doing so. Every time he visited anywhere, including his home estate at Mar-A-Lago, taxpayers would foot the bill.

“I don’t think people know how big my business is,” Trump told Singer.

I don’t think people realize how complex his mind is.

This is because Trump has put himself out there for so long, staying in our faces every chance he got, that many people dismissed him. They thought that he could not be as smart as he claimed nor as dumb as he looked. Can anyone really fake being themselves 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, plus leap day, for decades?

Somehow Donald has duped almost everyone, supporters and detractors alike. He took ‘fake it ‘til you make it’ to a whole new level. His rise to stardom continued in the entertainment world - first as owner of the Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA beauty pageants, then as host of NBC reality show, The Apprentice.

The whole time, with plenty of brick and mortar, what he was truly building was his brand. He emblazoned hotels and golf courses and a short lived airline with TRUMP. Some properties licensed his name to add mystique or style to their buildings, with the idea that it exuded luxury. He sold clothes with his name on the labels. Bibles. A school. Vodka. Steaks. There is even toilet paper with his picture on it. I wonder what he gets paid for that.

Hey Mike, you called Trump a career criminal. None of this sounds illegal. What gives?

We all have our own definitions of legality. I consider racial discrimination and destruction of art to be criminal. I even sided with Donald Trump, hypocritical though he may be, when he condemned the destruction of Confederate statues. They are still art. The statues didn’t do anything wrong. Sorry, dead artists of the past, nobody is ever going to see your work again. But that is how it goes sometimes.

Great career criminals generally don’t get caught or do jail time. They have patsies, like Michael Cohen, and tons of money to throw at other attorneys who will line up to take it as long as there is something to defend and appeal. Trump, more specifically, his company The Trump Organization, inflated the value of his properties to such an extent they were found guilty of fraud in 2022. They were fined $355 million plus interest. He sexually assaulted E. Jean Carroll in the 1990’s. In 2023, she was awarded $83 million. Trump was also charged with 37 felonies for possession of sensitive documents taken from the White House when he left office. That case was dismissed by a federal judge when she decided that the prosecutor’s appointment was unconstitutional. Finally Trump was convicted of 34 felonies this May for falsifying business records in connection to a payment Michael Cohen made to porn actress Stormy Daniels on Trump’s behalf. Sentencing is scheduled for November 26th, three weeks after Election Day, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

So, does all this really make him a career criminal?

Again, judge for yourself and choose your own definitions, but when this much evidence is presented it is safe to say that a commanding effort was put into each and every deed. This is just the tip of the iceberg. A humongous, blinding, monstrous iceberg. Remember, what is visible above the surface is a mere fraction of what lies beneath. It is fair to ask what else is down there, that you don’t know about. What was successfully drowned?

TRUMP HAS MANY ICEBERGS

Between building Trump Tower and lots of other buildings, all the pageantry on and off-screen, and emblazoning TRUMP on whatever he could, Trump got into the casino game. He knew it was a safe bet because there are two fundamental rules in gambling: A fool and his money are soon parted and the house always wins. The casinos were a conduit for money, plain and simple. He knew they would rake in cash, not just from the patrons who filled the hotels and slammed money into slot machines, and let’s face it, anybody laundering cash can dump it here, click the payout button and get fresh new money.

Then, you have investors. These were the suckers he was really after. The big money. They fell starstruck for TRUMP, the brand. They saw busloads of conventioneers filling the banquet halls and exhibit floors, unfolding wallets and spilling out purses. Entertainers rolled in to perform. Gaudy, gold-trimmed, lights everywhere. OMG! Awesome! Mucho Grande! Spectaculario! Atlantic City is back, baby! They were going to be rich!

Oh, yes, money rolled in. TRUMP, the brand, was a winner-winner, chicken dinner. Until it wasn’t. Investors weren’t worried. “He’s Donald Trump! He’s good for it.” 

This was not to be. The mastermind behind the scheme did everything right. He took money from whoever would give it to him, and when it was time to pay it back, and the books said he didn’t have it, he just went bankrupt. It’s the American way. Maybe not a perfect solution, but a perfectly legal one, nonetheless. Were the bookkeepers right? Maybe. Maybe not. Even I have gone bankrupt. It’s not a crime.

But doing it over and over again, six times, is a bit of a stretch, isn’t it, Mike?

Well, you have got me there. I wish I were rich enough to go bankrupt six times.

The six bankruptcies were the result of over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York: Trump Taj Mahal (1991), Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino (1992), Plaza Hotel (1992), Trump Castle Hotel and Casino (1992), Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts (2004), and Trump Entertainment Resorts (2009). A total of $1,800,000,000.

That’s a lot of ice cubes. How does anyone recover from that?

This is when the evil genius really kicks into high gear. It is 2009. He has transfixed himself on TV’s The Apprentice, where he has been allowed to do and say nearly anything within network censorship limits. He does not care about another bankruptcy, he has been filing these for 18 years. When he does the math all he sees is that he was able to get away with blowing $100 million dollars a year of other people money and they just keep coming to him for more stuff. Endorsements. His opinion. That billionaire smile.

Once it was apparent he could get away with all that at once, and had gotten away with so many other things, grabbing whatever he got his hands on, it only made sense to step into the political arena and take control, despite having no traditional political experience. He wasn’t just some actor who would become mayor of a small beachside community, like Clint Eastwood, or govern a state, like Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was not an actor. He was a genuine self-made personality, and he knew it. He had no need to learn how to act. He knew he could make his way onto the most provocative stage on the planet as himself, and in six more years he did. Upon manipulating just enough of the electorate to make it happen, he assumed the presidency, and the US taxpayers covered his costs for food, lodging, and travel for the next four years. He won. Bigly.

Despite warnings from liberal pundits and seasoned reporters like NBC’s Andrea Mitchell and Katy Tur, who sounded the alarm early in his 2016 campaign about Trump being unfit for office, a robust marketing effort rebranding Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential run flooded the Republican party with red and white MAGA hats and the most prolific cult in American history was born. Votes prove membership in the tens of millions. Compared to other native American cults, Mormons have about 17 million members worldwide, and Scientologists are estimated to be around 40,000 worldwide, though the Church of Scientology claims membership of over 4 million.

Clinching the presidency was a pivotal moment not just for Trump, but for the country. His campaign style proved that there was more to America than meets the eye. New icebergs splintered off and popped up everywhere. Factions of all kinds coalesced under the MAGA banner. Staunch Republicans, Christian conservatives, NRA loyalists, white nationalists, pro-lifers, and anti-vaxxers all found common ground. Trump made friends with Kim Jong Un of North Korea, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu. In a weird way, Donald Trump was bringing the world together.

He did that by denying the credibility of established news media. Anything negative was deemed “fake news.” He tweeted his way to the top. Speaking directly to the masses, who preferred what Kellyanne Conway coined as “alternative facts,” got him in front of people who Hillary Clinton did not. Then, he kept it up. 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl was the first to interview him upon his win. She described his demeanor immediately following the election results as somewhat stunned, and suddenly more serious than he had been in a prior meeting, as a candidate. The most important thing she gleaned from his communication style was that he realized the world had changed, that he could speak unfiltered, and deliver exactly whatever message he wanted.

The fan base ate it up. He wasn’t just some boring politician, here was a guy who spoke their language. Before entering the White House, somehow, all those bankruptcies, all those wives and girlfriends, all those people he fired on TV, all those lawsuits and indictments didn’t matter. The fans picked a side. Even though many said there was a lot not to like about him, they believed many of his outright lies, fell for drastic conspiracy theories, sent him money, and bought his swag. It was a brilliant marketing plan. Free advertising from news media 24/7 and millions of people repeating and retweeting his words of alleged wisdom, whether true or false.

But the 2016 election was not about winning for Trump. It was about free advertising. Win or lose, it would still be a win for all things TRUMP. The icebergs he had created on the cruise to Washington D.C. would pay off in cold hard cash no matter what happened. Days before the results turned in his favor he called the election “a rigged system.” He was ready for a fight. And more free advertising. The kind you get from suing the government and taking up space on the news.

He did not receive the popular vote. Hillary Clinton did. But, lo and behold, he won. Even with nearly 3 million more votes, she lost through the electoral college, a system that Trump himself said was rigged.

The reason Trump veered toward calling the system rigged was because he himself was a puppeteer. Throughout his career, and then on The Apprentice, he called all the shots, hiring and firing. It didn’t even matter that the election was legitimate. He kept on calving icebergs of doubt, knowing this would keep him in the spotlight, because wherever they point the spotlight, that’s where the money is at.

Four years later, days before the 2020 election, he sat down with Lesley Stahl again for another interview. Trump said “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have social media - but the media is fake, and frankly, if I didn’t have social media, I’d have no way of getting out my voice.”

Lesley Stahl pointed out to him “You told me a long time ago, when I asked you why you keep saying fake media, you said to me, ‘I say that because I need to discredit you,' so that when you say negative things about me, no one will believe’.”

Then he denied that, saying, “You discredited yourself.”

Social media paid off. He got a new plane. First class worldwide service with an elite security detail. Every camera pointed at him blasting his image around the globe. McDonald’s any time he wanted. No reason to seek safe harbor now. Bring on the waves. If he won the 2020 election - Great! If not - Full steam ahead to “Stop The Steal.” In the vast ocean of his mind it was sweeps season, icebergs be damned.

He claimed fraud. It was a ploy to win the election and he thought that by simply saying he won the election, he would. He knew he could fool some of the people all of the time, and that was enough to turn a protest into a fiasco that would morph into insurrection at the January 6th election certifications.

Of course, we know how that turned out. But the important thing for Trump was that he remained in the spotlight. That’s all he really wanted. Just to be looked at. Admired. Complimented. Talked about. Arrests and court drama come with the territory. Convictions don’t even matter. The ever loving light of the midnight special is all about him. News is continuous. The same show, every day, that never gets cancelled, and as long as he is the star, he writes us a script where he gets to say and do anything. There are no guardrails in that icy ocean. It doesn’t matter what anyone tells him to do, because like he told us before, “It’s always good to do things nice and complicated so that nobody can figure it out.” And he does.

NO END IN SIGHT FOR THE TRUMP SHOW

Sweeps season is upon us again, this time with an all new supporting cast. Instead of a cordial old man for Trump’s antagonist, a younger, dynamic mixed race woman is his adversary, along with her chummy sidekick, the high school coach; good people who tell it like it is. Then, Trump’s co-star, a younger puppet than he had the last time around. Bright shiny eyes and a beard, because, why not? We haven’t seen a beard on a politician in like, a century. A faithful lap dog with no thoughts of his own, just a repetitive talking head who says what Trump tells him to say. Roll the laugh tracks.

But wait, there’s more! A new Speaker Of The House is now sailing right through those frigid waters, navigating by the map of Project 2025. Catch the whole gang of representatives avoiding every direct question with misguided strategic deflection to subjects nobody asked about. Plus, fresh out of prison, chief tale-spinner Steve Bannon is back, and boy, he is looking for trouble.

If that’s not enough of a supporting cast to compel you stock your liquor cabinet and take advantage of all those ice cubes, hold on sailor, the whole armada of zealots is gearing up for a new round of TRUMP WON AGAIN - 3 TIMES IN A ROW!

But, what if Kamala Harris wins? Will the Trump Show be cancelled?

If Democratic oracle James Carville is right, she will be taking the helm of the country in January. In a normal, civilized society where everything goes right with democracy, Trump voters will says “Aw, shucks,” and get over it. For Kamala voters, all those fears about Trump becoming a fascist dictator will melt away, former US Representative Liz Cheney won’t face a firing squad, women won’t need to worry about being protected by a convicted criminal known for sexual assault, and since he won’t be moving to the White House, he can start serving whatever sentence is handed down for his felony convictions three weeks from now in the big house. Then Tucker Carlson will suddenly disappear, nobody will notice, and all will be right with the world.

But, no. It won’t be that simple. The Trump show will go on even if he loses. As of this publication, two days before the election, I assure you, that is the plan. Because the cult has been brainwashed. They have been primed to believe that losing is impossible. That it can only happen by fraud, which is simply not true. This is why they are dangerous.

THIS IS A LOSE-LOSE SITUATION

Think about everything you have seen up to now. Everything Trump, his associates, and supporters have done. Constant lies. Criminal convictions. Inciting violence. A Nazi rally. This is why the National Guard is on standby in Washington state, Oregon, and Nevada. The MAGA cult has been primed to believe only what Trump and his supporters say. It is a misinformation machine which feeds and eats itself.

As Donie O’Sullivan reports, Trump voters are so dedicated to the belief they outnumber Kamala Harris voters, they have prescribed to the preconceived notion that if she wins, it can only be fraud, which will simply not be true. Our elections are free and fair and votes are counted correctly. I have absolute faith in this.

I also have absolute faith that Donald Trump is a true threat to democracy as stated by former generals under his command and the many liberal pundits and reporters who make it their business to study him and inform us. For you Trump supporters reading this, if you have not yet cast your vote for him, don’t do it. He is the bad guy. You might not like Kamala Harris, but that is only because he told you not to. A vote for anyone else is better than a vote for Trump.

Maybe you think your finances will suffer with Democrats in charge. They won’t. You are going to be just fine. It hasn’t been terribly different year after year no matter who the president was, and it’s not going to make a huge difference as long as we keep democracy in place. If you are worried about jobs, don’t. As long as you are willing to work you will find a job. By the way, immigrants don’t want your job, they want their own job, and they bring a lot more good to our country than some people who were born here. Ladies and gentlemen, abortion is not a crime. It is health care. If you think a fetus has a soul, that is your right, and you can visit those angels if you get to heaven.

If you are a Trump supporter, are you ready to change the United States Of America? Are you really ready to turn on your neighbors, bust heads, kill, and jail people? Would you actually do that? Are you so loyal to this one person who has never done anything for you, and never will do anything for you, that you would do anything he asked? Really? If so, you are in a cult, and I hope you get out. Start by voting against him, because a vote against Trump is a vote for America.

Donald Trump is steering the MAGA movement into civil war. January 6th was a dress rehearsal for the next election denial. Project 2025 is meant to destroy the country as it is and build it into a sickening church state, a dictatorship that nobody likes. Read it.

At one rally Trump said “One rough hour — and I mean real rough — the word will get out and it will end immediately, you know? It will end immediately,” in describing law enforcement cracking down on crime. He calls the January 6th insurrectionists heroes. They are criminals. Just like him. This is a diabolical man. A true super-villain. The many followers who cheer these statements do so because they are sucking down that ice cold Kool-Aid. All because he is infatuated with himself and thinks his life is a reality show.

Time to change the channel.

Take care, and thanks for reading!

If you are new to the Rembis Report and would like to read any of the previous issues, PLEASE CLICK HERE to access the archives. To read it from the beginning, PLEASE GET A COPY of The Rembis Report: An Observation.