The meaning of "pay about a dime on the dollar of sincerity"
[Quote]
Over the weekend, Donald Trump did what he always does when things go south for him. He walked away. He announced he is not the man at 70 he had been at 59 when he had boasted of sexual assault, and he pledged “to be a better man tomorrow.” With that, he effectively declared moral bankruptcy, paying about a dime on the dollar of sincerity.
[Unquote]

The last sentence is what confuses me.

I guess 'paying about a dime on the dollar of sincerity' means Trump overshadows his mistake with less costs that it needs to be paid, because it said 'effectively' in the early part. In other words, he should have paid one dollar or so but he just paid a dime (not literally), which seemed to be a small amount of it, in exchange for his sincerity. Does that make sense?

Making sentences is difficult as well as asking a question.
I hope you understand what I meant.

Question

The meaning of "pay about a dime on the dollar of sincerity"
[Quote]
Over the weekend, Donald Trump did what he always does when things go south for him. He walked away. He announced he is not the man at 70 he had been at 59 when he had boasted of sexual assault, and he pledged “to be a better man tomorrow.” With that, he effectively declared moral bankruptcy, paying about a dime on the dollar of sincerity.
[Unquote]

The last sentence is what confuses me.

I guess 'paying about a dime on the dollar of sincerity' means Trump overshadows his mistake with less costs that it needs to be paid, because it said 'effectively' in the early part. In other words, he should have paid one dollar or so but he just paid a dime (not literally), which seemed to be a small amount of it, in exchange for his sincerity. Does that make sense?

Making sentences is difficult as well as asking a question.
I hope you understand what I meant.

Answer

This author is using money as a metaphor for sincerity [an honest apology]

When you declare bankruptcy - you claim that you don't have enough money to pay back all the people that leant you money. Once your bankruptcy declaration is accepted you pay back a token (a very small amount) of original debt back.  (usually 10%)

In this case, the writer is saying that that Trump has claimed 'moral' bankruptcy - ie, he doesn't have enough sincerity to make (pay) an full apology. Instead, he's only making a token (tiny) apology - just for appearances and is incapable of providing anything beyond that.