On CNBC this morning, in an interview conducted entirely off camera and by phone (possibly because the interviewee may well have a debilitating, secret disease that’s forcing him to hide from the public), American Business Guru and GOP Presidential Nominee Donald J Trump was asked about the purpose and implications of interest rates remaining low.
In his response, he made a stunning and incredible (and I mean that in the literal sense of the word) revelation: when he “decided to do this,” he completely divested himself from the stock market, as he felt investing in the market would be perceived as a “conflict of interest.” Check it out:
Well it’s staying at zero because it’s obviously political. She’s doing what Obama wants her to do. And I know that’s not supposed to be the way it is, but that’s why it’s low. Because as soon as they go up, your stock market’s gonna go way down. Most likely. Or possibly. And don’t forget I called Brexit, I did a lot of calling. And what they’re doing, is, uh, you know, just it’s just a, I believe it’s a false market. Because money is essentially free.
I don’t even invest in the stock market and I think you saw the stocks I bought. I bought a lot of stock. I’m not a stock market guy. And I bought it cuz it’s like, I didn’t use borrowed money when I invested but it’s it’s like free money and the stocks went way up, and then I sold them because I you know, when I when I did this, you know, when I decided to do this I figured maybe there’s a conflict of interest who knows, you know with them they accuse you of anything so I figured I’d sell but anybody could have made money but let’s see what happens when interest rates go up. Now I think they’re keeping them down, and they’ll keep them down longer …
video.cnbc.com/…
He blathered on uninterrupted for a good 3 minutes here (probably because it’s considered rude to interrupt a male candidate who might for all we know be suffering from a secret, debilitating disease), but the above is the important part.
Now, one wonders what precisely Trump meant by the word “this” in his phrase, “when I decided to do this.” It cannot have been run for president, as his 97 page financial disclosure signed in July of 2015 reveals investment in many stocks. One page is at the top of this diary. Here are a few more pages listing some (not all) of Trump’s investments in the stock market he doesn’t invest in.
Similarly, on his more recent, even bigger, 104 page financial disclosure, he lists, according to a May 18, 2016 article in the NY Times,
Stock and Funds: At Least $61 Million
Mr. Trump has invested a small portion of his assets in hedge funds, mutual funds and stocks.
$25 million in a hedge fund managed by BlackRock
$22 million in stocks through Barclays Bank, Oppenheimer, Deutsche Bank, and J. P. Morgan
These investments earned him at least an additional $4 million in interest, capital gains and dividends during the filing period.
So when did this happen?
I sold them because I you know, when I when I did this, you know, when I decided to do this I figured maybe there’s a conflict of interest who knows
What was the “conflict of interest” that caused Mr. Trump to risk capital gains tax on the sale of some $61,000,000.00 in stocks? Was “this” the CNBC interview? What exactly is “this” referring to? Perhaps the media, at some point during one of his off camera monologs, could rudely interrupt Trump and ask him. If they’re not too busy examining the HRC faint tape with an electron microscope.