Deadline Poet / September 9, 2025

Stable Business Genius

Calvin Trillin
Donald Trump speaks to members of the media as he departs a House Republican meeting at the US Capitol on May 20, 2025, in Washington, DC. Trump joined conservative House lawmakers to help push through their budget bill after it advanced through the House Budget Committee on Sunday evening.
Donald Trump speaks to members of the media as he departs a House Republican meeting at the US Capitol on May 20, 2025, in Washington, DC. Trump joined conservative House lawmakers to help push through their budget bill after it advanced through the House Budget Committee on Sunday evening.(Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)

“President Trump has unmatched business instincts.”
    —Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary

As wily businessman, he’d had the aim
Of branding acquisitions with his name.
Those Trump-themed ventures were a masterstroke.
However, didn’t a lot of them go broke?

Calvin Trillin

Calvin Trillin is The Nation’s “deadline poet.”

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