If Trump Loses, Trump, Inc. Becomes A Political Money-Making Behemoth, and possibly kills the GOP

By Joe Rothstein

What happens next if Donald Trump loses? The Internet is churning with what-ifs about the prospect. Who picks up the Trump mantel? Do the never-Trumpers take back the party? If the party is routed, losing the U.S. Senate and many state legislatures, will there be a backlash against him?

The Trump presidency has been all about HIM. It’s reasonable to assume that for Republicans, the post-Trump presidency would be all about HIM, too. Trump will continue to be in our face even if he’s not in the White House.

For one thing, Trump’s “brand” will be more valuable than ever. Making and keeping money, legally or illegally, ethically or fraudulently, has been Trump’s lifelong MO. You can count on him turning his legion of followers into what amounts to a broken slot machine, one that keeps funneling cash into Trump, Inc. for years.

He didn’t even wait until taking the oath of office before profiting from the presidency.

It began with his inaugural, and the $100 million or so that was raised for the celebration. Like most things Trump touches, the inaugural bank account has drawn a criminal investigation into who contributed, and why, and how it was spent.

Then there’s the Trump hotel near the White House which continues to do a brisk business hosting lobbyists and foreign officials who see the wisdom of booking rooms and events there rather than other D.C. hotels.

Every time he goes to Mar-A-Lago or one of his other resorts, Secret Service, staff, media and others go with him, running up bills paid by the taxpayers. When Mike Pence traveled to Ireland, he and his entourage booked in at a Trump property that was on the other side of the country from where he was scheduled to speak.

Let’s not forget that when Trump became president, son-in-law Jared Kushner was in desperate financial trouble over a commercial property in New York City. He was bailed out by a Canadian investment company with close financial ties to Qatar. Qatar originally refused to get involved, but then a strange sequence of events took place. The Saudis, backed by Trump, set up a blockade of Qatar, a key U.S. ally. Not long after, Kushner got his money. And after that, Trump dropped his backing of the blockade. Were these events connected by design or coincidence? Not being told the whole story permits us to speculate.

Like the N.Y. Times (May 28, 2018) speculated about this business arrangement involving Ivanka Trump:

“China this month awarded…