The news broke this past Tuesday that Donald Trump, real estate mogul and reality television star, will run for the office of the President of the United States. He announced his bid which involves his intention to Make America Great Again.
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As part of his appeal to the masses, Trump suggested that the American Dream is dead, but can be resurrected under his expert stewardship.
Let us consider this presidential proposal.
Table of Contents
Business Credentials to Make America Great Again
The business accolades of Donald Trump are extensive. He has differentiated himself to the masses at many levels. This includes success with the “Trump” brand name across real estate, resorts, and golf courses. Likewise, he is quite recognizable based on his haircut alone.
Trump has been prominently airing his television show, The Apprentice, since January 2004. In this way he has connected with a wide cross-section of the American population and become a household name.
“The Donald” has written a series of bestselling books. Of these, I enjoyed Think Like a Champion which was published in 2009. It’s a collection of short essays on business and life success which is worth a spot on any business bookshelf.
Trump’s Personal Wealth
Trump is reportedly worth somewhere in the ballpark of $8 billion USD. In many ways, this speaks for itself. Not many people make it to a billion dollars by accident. Even fewer maintain their wealth over extended periods of time as Trump has.
One of the interesting parts of Trump’s campaign is that he intends to self-fund his entire operation. This lends credence to the notion that he is taking this race seriously. He’s also likely doing so for reasons beyond the career politicking that tends to happen in Washington.
On this metric, it is fair to say that Trump has earned his stripes. He is certainly no novice with large-scale money management.
Political Views
Trump is known for his strong views. Whether political or personal, he never fails to make a headline with what he has to say. As far as his political ideals, let us consider three that have been getting attention in the press:
- Foreign Relations:
- Trump intends to be tough on the ISIS terrorist network which has firmly established itself over the past year as a serious threat to national security.
- Trump plans to fortify the US-Mexican border with a huge fence.
- Currency Manipulation
- Trump will go after countries he perceives to be manipulating their currencies. He plans to protect the US Dollar.
- Job Creation
- Trump says he will unlock the power of job creation through use of his business savvy. Most presidential nominees say this, so we shall see.
I will refrain from commenting overtly on these political views as that is not the intention of this post, nor is it the goal of this financial website to push a political agenda.
Has America Lost Its Greatness?
This is the heart of what I have been getting at with this post. While the tagline of making America great certainly resonates, has the country truly fallen off a cliff as this suggests?
I will say that I entirely disagree that the American Dream is dead or even that it is dying. We should never forget that the real elixir of wealth in America is, and always has been, individual drive and ambition.
The entire dividend growth investing community is built around the notion that you can begin with very little and achieve something great.
While other countries may be developing their middle classes and eventually surpass the US in terms of GDP, this certainly should not lead anyone to believe that it is not possible to make it in the US if they have the desire to make it happen.
Conclusion
I believe that America is as great a nation as has ever existed. From the founding fathers to the present day, it is a country built on the belief that anything is possible with hard work.
Trump’s campaign is one I intend to follow with rapt attention. We shall see whether his unique track record and credentials will give him a leg up in the proceedings.
What do you think of Trump’s presidential run?