Just more to add to the long history of others getting the shaft, once they throw in behind Donald Trump.

An investigation published in the Toronto Star shows that going into a partnership with Trump to build luxury condos in the Toronto area, back in 2012, was a bad move, for everybody except Trump.

The $500 million condo-hotel high rise faced a tumultuous beginning after it was revealed that its lead developer had fled to Toronto after facing bankruptcy fraud and embezzlement charges.

Crazy how these people seem to gravitate to Trump.

His name was  Leib Waldman. He was caught and eventually extradited to the U.S., and then, prison.

Under the weight of foul weather delays, project costs that went well over budget, and an opening date that was six months behind schedule, investors lost, bigly.

Toronto billionaire Alex Shnaider, a principal investor in the project, saw his company Talon file for bankruptcy in 2016. In the filings, the company reported that it still had $301 million to repay of a $310 million loan it borrowed nine years ago for the Trump Toronto project.

I suspect that when a billionaire files bankruptcy, it doesn’t mean the same thing as if you or I had filed bankruptcy, but it still means there was considerable loss.

Shnaider’s spokesman felt that there were other reasons the project went belly up.

“Mr. Shnaider lost more money on the Trump Tower Project than anyone else,” a spokesperson said. “The project was unsuccessful, in Mr. Shnaider’s opinion, because of the global financial crisis and its effect on buyers’ and potential buyers’ ability to close or obtain funding to close, and because of inexperienced management.”

Possible.

We certainly went through a period where the market was very soft.

Trump, however, walked away from the project with millions, according to the Toronto Star’s report.  He collected $1.7 million in management fees between 2014 and 2016, as well as a further payout of at least $6 million after walking away from the project.

This isn’t an unusual story for Trump’s various dealings.

Somehow, someway, somebody else ends up holding the bag, while he walks away with his pockets stuffed.

So why do I bring it up (since I can already hear the protestations beginning)?

As a reminder of who Trump is.

When he walks away with stuffed pockets and leaves behind a bankrupt nation, left barren of security, civility, and our position of advantage on the world stage, just know that not everybody bought the carnival act.