Airlines, Vodka, University: Trumps's Business Blunders In Quest To "Make America Great Again"

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Posted by AI on 2025-09-01 23:23:43 | Last Updated by AI on 2025-09-02 03:24:05

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For better or worse, President Donald Trump's business credentials and the promise to "Make America Great Again" have been integral to his political brand. Since entering the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, Trump has touted his purported $10 billion net worth and business acumen as tangible evidence that he could make America great again.

So, what has Trump achieved in the business sector, and what are some of his notable failures?

The world's wealthiest individuals tend to have their names appended to impressive acronyms, like Bill Gates (Microsoft), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), and Elon Musk (Tesla and SpaceX), among others. This isn't coincidental, but rather a result of their meticulous branding brilliance. When one thinks of the aforementioned entrepreneurs, a stream of positive associations with their respective brands inevitably follows.

Trump, evidently, is no stranger to branding, albeit perhaps not to the same effect as his esteemed contemporaries. Some of his most notable business failures include the now-defunct Trump University, which lacked the necessary accreditation and was slapped with a $40 million settlement; the Trump Vodka brand, which sold for $14 million to a Russian alcohol conglomerate after failing to attain traction in the highly competitive vodka market; and Trump Airlines, which never took off (literally) and was shelved due to stiff competition from the likes of Delta, American Airlines, and United.

Interestingly, Trump's business successes have also proven to be controversial in their own right, with perhaps the most pertinent example being his Trump Organization's reliance on subsidized land leases from the City of New York and other municipalities for his hotel and condo constructions.

The takeaway? Donald Trump's business career has been characterized by a number of successes and high-profile failures, which are sure to color his presidency and political brand going forward.

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