r/technology • u/Wagamaga • 2d ago

Energy Trump halts construction on nearly complete wind farm off Rhode Island

https://thepublicsradio.org/environment/trump-halts-construction-on-nearly-complete-wind-farm-off-rhode-island/
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u/Notgreygoddess 2d ago

So, private companies be warned; if your Dear Leader doesn’t like you, he can shut you down. So much freedom, eh?

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u/OrderlyPanic 2d ago

The action itself is illegal but Trump has realized you can just do things. If it costs tens of millions in legal fees and years of delay in court to prevail then that will ruin the economics of almost all renewable energy projects. This isn't a one off either, he's even gone so far as to instruct the FAA to scrutinize proposed wind farms on private land due height (previously a routine matter of informing the FAA so they can make where the wind turbines are).

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u/stadchic 2d ago

This is how he ran all of his businesses. He would do things like, have different companies work on different floors of a hotel to break up the contract amounts. Then, he wouldn’t pay and mostly got away with it because the legal fees would be too costly for the smaller companies.

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u/TigerUSA20 2d ago

This is why I think people are just stupid too. Was this swindling people out of their work some sort of secret in the construction industry? I would never have even hammered a nail-pop for this guy.

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u/MetriccStarDestroyer 2d ago

It's a common modus used by realty oligarchs.

The Philippines has the Villar family. They never pay and decalred their non-developed empty lot to be equivalent to the property value of the country's financial center worth 1 trillion.

Thank God third party auditors flagged it and they got sued.

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u/kermityfrog2 2d ago

He's a smooth talker (confidence man). I like you and would never swindle you. I'll swindle all the other guys working on the other floors, but never you. Swindles you. Cue surprised Pikachu face.

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u/RhoOfFeh 2d ago

Only the rather dull find him smooth.

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u/a_shootin_star 2d ago

The smooth brains find him smooth

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u/coffeelover3333 2d ago

No it wasn’t a secret- but people always think “ it can’t happen to me.”

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u/Notgreygoddess 1d ago

Back then, Trump was like a Kardashian. Famous for no apparent reason. He was on Letterman, and it was rumored he was “Big” in Sex and The City. (Gross, I know). Worst mistake honest tradespeople make is thinking Rich people pay their bills. Truth is, many “rich” people just have multiple lenders, or got rich by stiffing employees.

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u/Hour_Reindeer834 1d ago

I started in the trades in 2008 and I remember the topic of Trump fucking over contractors coming up occasionally, so yeah its been known for a long time.

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u/NorthernerWuwu 2d ago

It's a big part of why the new-generation tech bros like him. They've gotten rich off "break things, do what you want and then sort out the repercussions later".

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u/feketegy 2d ago

Didn't he almost go to jail because of things like this before he got elected president in 2016? At least according to that Netflix documentary series, season 1, episode 6: The Confidence Man is about him.

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u/IntelligentStyle402 1d ago

Really was heartbreaking to watch his evil cons on 60 minutes, decades ago. He ruined so many lives, because of corruption, dishonesty and greed.

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u/oldtownmaine 1d ago

Also what someone in Devil in the White City did - just sayin

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u/ilski 1d ago

Long boring intro to short story. 

Recently there was World Justice Forum in my city. Was working for company who put together this whole event.  Whole bunch of lawyers , active and inactive politicians and policymakers from around the world were there. 

So there was that one senior gentleman , lawyer from New York. I was tasked with assisting him around our local healthcare, as he needs frequent regular medical checks. 

Anyway, had a chance to talk with him quite a bit. And conversation ofcourse went to Trump as after all it was subject relevant to whole forum.

He said he met Trump few times during his new york era. Business kind of meetings. He said he wasnt so bad in person, but he also said " anything he said, was a lie. Nobody wanted to work with him because he never paid." also that you could talk to him only on subjects he wanted to talk about at that time 

So yes, there is that little story.