The Trump family’s decades long financial controversies span charity misuse, to business fraud findings, to large civil and criminal penalties, including the dissolution of the Trump Foundation, and a $25 million Trump University settlement.
During both terms of his presidency Trump has successfully increased the wealth of himself and family members, including payments from foreign governments and state-linked firms in apparent violation of the Emolument Clause of the US constitution.
Author Maria Konnikova explores how con-men are artists of persuasion and exploiters of trust that keeps us falling for the con, over and over again. We don’t fall for cons because we are greedy or stupid. We fall for them because we are human and are susceptible to compelling stories. Con artists exploit this by building trust so we never verify their stories.
We are most susceptible to cons when we are in a state of emotional vulnerability, when for instance, the world has changed. In these moments, we crave certainty, making us prime targets.