What Trump’s Branding Of Business Globally Could Mean For An American Presidency

Donald Trump is campaigning to “make America great again,” but if he becomes president, he’d have to focus on the world, not just the United States. As a businessman, Trump has tried to build a global empire of his own. But we don’t know how well he has done.

What we do know is that 7 percent of Trump’s wealth is beyond the United States, and 66 percent is made in New York, the Economist reported Saturday. Trump is estimated to be worth $4.5 billion, according to Forbes. Most of Trump’s wealth, an estimated 80 percent, is nestled in real estate.

But that real estate is not all in America. He also licenses his name internationally. These licensing deals, which include hotels, menswear and energy drinks, are increasingly becoming a larger part of Trump’s portfolio, representatives told the Washington Post in July.

His energy drink company, Trump Drinks Israel, generated $50,000 to $100,000 in 2014, Politico reported. His bottled-water company, Trump Ice, pulled in $280,185 that year.

When Trump announced his campaign, his licensing and brand development was reported worth more than $3.3 billion, generating $68 million in income in 2014, the Economist said.

But Trump has developed no clear successful venture nationally or abroad in the past decade. Trump now works with 487 companies, a significant bump from 136 in 2004, before he kicked off his reality TV show, “The Apprentice.” The Economist noted 11 of the licensing and branding companies he has created since 2004 have generated more than $1 million in income.

He also may not be honest about his successes or ready to admit his failures. Trump has repeatedly claimed that he has never gone bankrupt. However, that statement has been fact-checked as untrue. His first bankruptcy was in 1991 for Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the National Journal reported, identifing three other times he had filed for bankruptcy.