The decline and fall of the Trump empire

It would take a miracle for Donald Trump to win the US election, so – to the fury of the Republicans – he has checked out and is turning his attention to his ailing brand. But will his empire survive?

At around 5.30am last Wednesday, a man dressed in construction worker garb strolled down Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame. He arrived well ahead of the droves of tourists that gawp at, and trample on, the 2,592 pink terrazzo and brass stars that commemorate the famous, the celebrated and the newly notorious.

He was wearing a hard hat and a reflective vest and carried a pickaxe and a sledgehammer. When he stopped at 6801 ...