Donald Trump is insane. Really. From ABC’s interview with Trump which aired this morning, comes a barking, loud, outrageous statement from Trump, one of many. According to Trump, his multiple bankruptcies were ‘negotiations’, not bankruptcies. Emphasis mine.
Stephanopoulos: There was one more question on that from Michael Swaile of Toledo,Ohio. He asked, "How would you defend any fiscal policy, considering you’ve had to declare bankruptcy numerous times?”
Trump: I never went bankrupt.
Stephanopoulos: Declared bankruptcy.
Trump: And it’s such-- excuse me. I never went bankrupt. And let me just tell you. If you look at our great businesspeople today, Carl Icahn, Henry Kravis, (UNINTEL)-- Leon Black of Apollo. All of them have done the same. They use and we use the laws of this country, the bankruptcy laws, because we’ll buy a company. We’ll have the company. We’ll throw it into a chapter. We’ll negotiate with the banks. We’ll make a fantastic deal. We’ll use those. But they were never personal. This is nothing personal. You know, it’s like on the Apprentice. It’s not personal. It’s just business. Okay? If you look at our greatest people, Carl Icahn with TWA and so many others. Leon Black, Linens-n-Things and others. Henry Kravis. A lot of ‘em, everybody. But with me it’s "Oh, you did--" this is a business thing. I’ve used the laws of this country to pare debt. In one case, with the casinos, which I don’t-- which I haven’t even run for many years. But I did very well with the casinos, very well. But then what happened with Atlantic City was Philadelphia happened, lots of other places happened, Delaware and such. And what I did is reduce the debt from a billion eight to like $300 and some odd million, by using intelligently the laws of this country. Now, people could say, "Oh, gee, isn’t that terr--" I never declared-- this is nothing to do with me, personally. This is just a business. I haven’t even run these things. I only owned a piece of them. I didn’t own the whole thing. I owned a piece of them. But if you look at our greatest businesspeople, most of them, in order to pare debt or change a company or change a structure, most of them and many of them and some-- the best ones, and I name some of ‘em. I could name 25 more. Have used the laws to take a deal. I mean, as an example. I bought a house out of bankruptcy. A house-- I bought it for $41 million. I sold it for $100 million a short time later. I paid $41, I sold it for $100. I bought it at a bankruptcy. The bankruptcy laws could be used to your advantage. I just did another thing. A big winery right next to Washington in Virginia. Just--
Stephanopoulos: Kluge winery.
Trump: Last week. The Kluge Estate. It’s a whole big mess. And it’s-- I bought it. I used those laws to my advantage. But again, that’s a businessman. We have to have that kind of thinking in this country. But people say, "Oh--" these are stupid people that say this. "Oh, didn’t Trump declare bankruptcy? Didn’t he go bankrupt?" I didn’t go bankrupt. And by the way, Henry Kravis, Carl Icahn. Look at the people. Same thing.
Stephanopoulos: Ever--
Trump: And it’s called. You know what it’s called? It’s called negotiation.
Watch (the section on Trump's bankruptcies begins at approx. 3:10):
UPDATE: I had to remove the video because it no longer appears to be available for viewing. Not on ABC, or anywhere else. Interesting.
