Literary Corner: Made of Garbage

Via eBay (sold already).

Star-Maker

By Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America

Nobody had ever heard
of some of these people
that worked for me in D.C.

All of a sudden, the Fake
News starts calling them.
Some of them—by no means all—
feel emboldened, brave, and
for the first time in their lives,
they feel like "something special,"
not the losers that they are—
and they talk, talk, talk!

Many say I am the greatest
star-maker of all time.
But some of the stars I produced
are actually made of garbage.

Needless to say, Trump was not self-funding, and after naming his biggest donor, professional wrestling magnate Linda McMahon ($7 million!), to head the Small Business Administration (not just a thank-you gift, I'm sure he expected her to help in his long-term project of defining the Trump Organization as a small business with access to the federal benefits that entails), he moved on to the six-figure patrons:

billionaire philanthropist Betsy DeVos as education secretary, restaurant mogul Andy Puzder as labor secretary and billionaire investor Wilbur Ross as commerce secretary. And four days before Election Day, Department of Housing and Urban Development secretary nominee Ben Carson’s old presidential campaign committee likewise gave a pro-Trump super PAC $100,000.

Not to mention special access and sometimes titles to Robert and Rebekah Mercer, Peter Thiel, Joe and Todd Ricketts (the latter got deputy commerce secretary), and Sheldon and Miriam Adelson (finance vice-chairs of the inaugural committee, now under investigation by the District of Columbia district attorney's office for its evident funneling of cash to the Trump Organization).  

Not that he has regarded any of these people as "made of garbage". He wasn't very kind to Ross behind closed doors, accusing him of falling asleep at meetings and also of not being qualified for his job,

“These trade deals, they’re terrible,” Trump said, a source who was in the room for one of the meetings told Axios. “Your understanding of trade is terrible. Your deals are no good. No good.”

But he didn't regard these as firing offenses, and Ross was one of the very last survivors clinging to his position on 20 January.

In the end, Trump has only the two big criteria—you should give him money and say "nice things" about him (as even the legally blind Chris Cillizza noticed)—and if you can't even do one of those, like General Milley, what good are you?