Trump has always done business this way - he learned it from his father. Back in the 60s, Fred Trump got caught skimming money on federal low-cost housing construction. He admitted that he overstated the costs and kept the difference. He did it again in the 70s, and after that, he was prohibited from the federal construction programs.
Trump would probably have been able to continue with this kind of stuff, but he decided to become POTUS - and all of a sudden there was all of this scrutiny about his business practices that he never really faced before. He was used to dealing with the press in NY and quickly learned how to play them, but now it's a different game. This kind of stuff is just going to cntinue coming out into the open. |