Donald Trump tried to talk “jobs, jobs, jobs” in Springfield, Ohio today—claiming that would be his primary focus if elected president. But job creation is another reason why Americans should be wary of a Trump presidency. Trump has a history of swindling small business owners out of money owed, destroying communities through lost jobs and unfulfilled promises, and treating his employees as second class citizens–across the country.
Take a look:
CNN MONEY: TRUMP’S ECONOMIC PLANS WOULD COST THE U.S. 3.5 MILLION JOBS
Just how bad would it get? The downturn under a President Trump would last longer than the Great Recession. About 3.5 million Americans would lose their jobs, unemployment would jump back to 7%, home prices would fall, and the stock market would plummet, Moody’s predicts.
NEWSWEEK: “HOW DONALD TRUMP DITCHED U.S. STEEL WORKERS IN FAVOR OF CHINA”
A Newsweek investigation has found that in at least two of Trump’s last three construction projects, Trump opted to purchase his steel and aluminum from Chinese manufacturers rather than United States corporations based in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin. In other instances, he abandoned steel altogether, instead choosing the far-less-expensive option of buying concrete from various companies, including some linked to the Luchese and Genovese crime families.
NEW JERSEY
”LEFT NOTHING BUT RUINS EVERYWHERE HE’S GONE”
Paul Friel’s dad was “living the American Dream.” His family cabinet-making business had grown, and Donald Trump hired it to make all the cabinetry in his new Trump Plaza in Atlantic City. But after the job was done, Trump refused to pay the full amount of what was owed. Friel’s father filed a lawsuit, but his lawyer advised him the legal fees would outweigh the cost of the cabinet work. Friel decided to cut his losses and drop the suit — but Trump blacklisted Friel’s company anyway. Friel eventually had to lay off many of his workers, who had become his family. “Donald Trump thinks he can make America great again, but he’s left nothing but ruins everywhere he’s gone,” Paul says.
FORMER ATLANTIC CITY MAYOR: TRUMP FIT PERFECTLY IN A “CARNIVAL TOWN”
Jim Whelan, now a New Jersey state senator, was the mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey, from 1990-2001. While Trump tends to gloss over his business failures in Atlantic City, Sen. Whelan remembers them well. In this video, he tells the story of those left behind: the contractors who got shortchanged, the workers who lost their jobs, the companies that closed their doors because of Trump’s business practices.
HOW BAD OF A BUSINESSMAN IS DONALD TRUMP? HERE’S HOW.
How bad of a businessman is Donald Trump? Two experts, and one person impacted by Trump’s business deals, discuss his record. Marvin Roffman, an analyst, took Trump to court after getting fired for telling the Wall Street Journal that Trump’s plan for the Taj Mahal was financially irresponsible. Trump settled the case and Roffman won financial compensation. Prudence Gourguechon, past president of the American Psychoanalytic Association, argues that Trump views his business partners and even the banks which lend him money as expendable since he can just use them until he gets a better deal. “Donald Trump’s handshake, his signature and his word mean absolutely nothing in Atlantic City,” says Paul Friel, whose father’s cabinetry business was never paid in full for the work it completed on Trump Plaza.
INDIANA
GAMBLING GARY’S FUTURE: TRUMP AND HIS INDIANA CASINO ESCAPADE
Donald Trump applied for one of two licenses available. He made commitments to the community and its people — including a $10 million renovation of the city’s Sheraton Hotel. Trump was awarded a riverboat casino license, but when his riverboat failed to attract enough customers, he sold it and Trump Indiana, Inc. left town. The Sheraton Hotel was never renovated. Macarthur Drake is a former City Attorney of Gary, Indiana, who advised the mayor on applications for riverboat casino licenses. In this video, he describes the impact of Trump’s broken promises to Gary.
HOW TRUMP THE “SELF-PROMOTER” SOLD THE IDEA OF HIS CASINO TO GARY, INDIANA ON FALSE PROMISES
Chuck Hughes, a former city councilman in Gary, Indiana, describes how Donald Trump applied for a casino gaming license in Indiana and spun a “great yarn” of how the attractions at his riverboat casino would change lives in Gary. Trump made made flamboyant promises and a slick marketing campaign to get the Indiana Gaming Commission to select his bid. Trump’s promises were not a plan and his stories had no substance. He ended up “taking advantage of our community,” Chuck says.
HOW DONALD TRUMP BROKE PROMISES TO GARY, INDIANA WITH THE MISS USA PAGEANT
Chuck Hughes, a former city councilman in Gary, Indiana, discusses the big promises Donald Trump made when he brought the Miss USA Pageant to the city — and how Trump broke those promises. He failed to invest in the city like he said he would, and Gary, Indiana had to pay millions of dollars just to host the pageant. “It was great for Trump, but none of that had a positive impact on Gary, Indiana,” Chuck says.
NEVADA
DONALD TRUMP’S LAS VEGAS EMPLOYEES “SHOULD NOT BE TREATED AS SECOND-CLASS”
“We should not be treated as second-class employees,” says Maria Mendoza, an employee at Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas who decided to organize with her coworkers to fight for fair wages and working conditions. They joined Culinary Workers Union Local 226, but Donald Trump refuses to recognize the union or meet with union representatives.
DONALD TRUMP AND THE WORKERS HE’S EXPLOITING: ELEUTERIA BLANCO
Eleuteria Blanco describes excessive working conditions and abuse of power at Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, where she works. Eleuteria and her coworkers organized to join Culinary Workers Union Local 226 to fight for fair wages and working conditions. They make about $3 less than other employees on “the Strip,” she says. But Donald Trump refuses to recognize the union or meet with union representatives.
DONALD TRUMP AND THE WORKERS HE’S EXPLOITING: GEOCONDA ARGUELLO KLINE
Geoconda Arguello Kline is the Secretary-Treasurer of Culinary Union Local 226 in Las Vegas. Here she talks about Trump’s refusal to engage with his own employees to cooperate for fair wages and working conditions. If Trump really wants to change people’s lives as president, Geoconda says, he has 500 workers waiting for him to change their lives right now.