Page 57 - Forbes Magazine-October 31, 2018

THE PRICE

OF THE

PRESIDENCY

Donald Trump’s White House tenure—and his polarizing politics—has
actually dented his net worth. But it’s not for a lack of trying to cash in.

BY DAN ALEXANDER AND CHASE PETERSON-WITHORN

hen Donald Trump opened Trump calator to launch his campaign, in this very building, no one
Tower in 1983, it marked a seminal mo- could have predicted the chain of events that would lead to
ment in American retail, as six stories this point. Even among those who gave his moon-shot pres-
of glitzy shops like Harry Winston and idential bid a chance of success, the assumption was that
Cartier beckoned luxury buyers who Trump would dump his assets before taking office.
strode past a live pianist and a 60-foot in- By refusing to divest, Trump raised an unprecedented
door waterfall. “We got the highest rents ever, anywhere,” says question: How would the most divisive presidency in mod-
former Trump Organization executive Barbara Res, standing ern American history affect a company built on the pres-
in the pink atrium four decades after she helped build it. ident’s persona? Forbes has been working to answer that
Times have changed. Gazing around, almost all the ten- question since the moment Trump got elected, interview-
ants are now gone. The hollowing-out began years ago, but ing nearly 200 colleagues, partners and industry observers.
it has only gotten worse since Trump entered politics. Nike While the experiment continues to unfold, in real time, the
abandoned its attached flagship store earlier this year, and early results are in. Much as he’s trying—and he’s definitely
Ivanka Trump’s accessories business closed up shop as well. trying—Donald Trump is not getting richer off the presiden-
What’s left is basically nothing but Gucci, Starbucks and The cy. Just the opposite. His net worth, by our calculation, has
Donald, wall-to-wall. Trump Bar sits atop Trump Grille, next dropped from $4.5 billion in 2015 to $3.1 billion the last two
to Trump Café, the Trump Store and Trump’s Ice Cream. It years, knocking the president 138 spots lower on The Forbes
is unlikely Trump pays himself rent for any of them. “Things 400.
are all different now,” Res says. Three factors are at play. Much of that decline is due to
That difference includes profits. Net operating income deeper reporting, which revealed, for example, that the pres-
dropped 27% between 2014, the year before Trump an- ident had been lying about the size of his penthouse. Some
nounced his run for president, and 2017, his first year in the of it is due to larger market forces. Trump owns commercial
White House. When the real estate mogul descended the es- space at a time when e-commerce is decimating brick-and-

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