What was interesting in hearing the Donald respond to questions about the New York Times expose of his tax returns, is that he didn't really deny the story. He hemmed and hawed and said he paid a lot of other taxes, but seemed genuinely taken aback that his tax record for the past 20 years has finally been revealed. The New York Times paints an ugly picture. It's not jsust that he paid so little in personal income taxes, it is the methods he used to avoid paying those taxes. To hear Trump talk, he's the world's greatest businessman, but to look at his record, he's the world's greatest tax cheat, finding highly questionable ways to avoid paying any income tax for 10 out of 15 of those years, thanks largely to the enormous losses he reported on his hotels and golf clubs.
Of course, tax avoidance is nothing new. If you have a good tax accountant, or an army of tax accountants in his case, you can find ways to write off anything like $70,000 in haircuts or charging out your daughter as a paid consultant. But, he had to come up with a lot more expenses than those to offset his hefty income from The Apprentice, so it seems he sunk his money into his failing resorts, reporting mammoth losses that would be enough to cripple any businessman.
Trump is apparently so deep in debt that he ran for president largely to lift his brand name, as proceeds from The Apprentice and the marketing of his name had started to dwindle. Basically, he was looking for a new audience, using his red MAGA trucker's cap as a hook. He should have gone a step further and traded in his golf courses for truck stops around the country. Probably would have turned more of a profit. It was said that he didn't expect to win, but since assuming the role of POTUS, he has cashed in on that name as well, as anyone who wants access to him has to stay in his hotels and/or take out memberships in his golf clubs. As a result, the Trumps have raked in nearly $2 billion while Papa Trump has been in office. Mighty generous of him to donate his $450,000 annual salary each year.
One would like to think that these stories will poke a yuge hole into the myths he has created about himself but at this point his following is so devoted to him that they would probably start a gofundme page to pay off the penalties the IRS may levy against him for the $70 million refund he claimed. This is what the audit he keeps referring to is all about. But, what this report does is give any reasonable Republican a moment of pause, and has to make him or her really wonder who this guy is?
Paying taxes, like joining the military, is for losers and suckers. Trump has long reveled in his unique ability to avoid paying taxes. He says it makes him a smart businessman. No one really knew the actual number as he refused to divulge his tax returns in 2016, and fought all the way to the Supreme Court to avoid exposing them as president. You knew there was something he was hiding. In order to avoid paying his fair share of taxes he had to make himself look like the world's worst businessman, reporting losses that far exceeded profits on his lucrative brand name and resorts.
It was the same with local property taxes. He would purposely devalue his properties for tax purposes, but inflate them for real estate purposes, so that he could secure larger loans. An accounting trick, not the mark of a great businessman. This is what has landed him in such hot water in New York. However, the reality is that he owes substantial amounts of money on loans for these properties, some of which are due within the next two years, including on his revered Trump Tower.
It also creates a yuge conflict of interest, especially given some of his creditors are foreign entities. This only adds to the speculation that he is being blackmailed by Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, some of whose prominent citizens have invested heavily in his properties. Many of them with ties to the heads of state of these countries, notably the Agalarov family in Russia. No wonder he wants another term so badly, or even a third and a fourth term. Once he is out of office, he is of no value to these foreign leaders, at which point his massive loans will become due.
So far, Joe Biden has taken a subtle approach to this news, but as the New York Times unveils more juicy stories of his money-laundering schemes, the temptation will be too great not to weigh in. Who knows Joe may even bring it up at tonight's debate?
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