Tax filing becomes public: insight into Trump’s finances

How rich is Trump? Has he really hardly paid any taxes for years? Does he get money from China? Many Americans are hoping for answers to these questions – today Trump’s tax documents will be published.

Donald Trump’s finances were already an issue in the 2016 presidential campaign. Hillary Clinton went straight for the candidate, who didn’t want to make his financial situation public: “Maybe he doesn’t want America to know that he didn’t pay any federal taxes?”

What was formulated as a slanderous question at the time has already been partially answered today. The New York Times revealed that in 2016 and 2017 Trump paid less federal income tax than an elementary school teacher: just $750. In 2020 he didn’t pay a cent.

Trump speaks of a shortened presentation. He checked again with his tax advisors. They would have assured him: “Sir, you had paid tens of millions of dollars in advance!” That and the skillful offsetting of losses from failed investments with actual profits explain the low tax burden.

Nevertheless, Trump has resisted disclosing his finances to the last. The Supreme Court had to clear the way for this; and then a Democratic-led committee in the House of Representatives: “24 votes to 16 – today’s publication was approved with a democratic majority,” it said.

Much to the chagrin of Trump’s party friends, Texas Republican MP Kevin Brady, himself a committee member, said: “Unfortunately, the Supreme Court did not intervene to stop the flimsy and purely partisan attack on Trump.”

The usual tax audits did not take place

In fact, the findings from the tax documents could politically damage Trump, who wants to run again as a presidential candidate. First because of the inconsistencies: It is already clear that the US tax authority IRS did not carry out any of the tax audits customary for presidents in 2017 and 2018.

Why? It’s not just MP Dan Kildee who’s asking himself that, Democrat from Michigan. He was shocked by it, he says.

But what is likely to hurt and damage Trump most is how badly the sobering numbers could tarnish his image. That he’s just not as fabulously rich as claimed. That his business isn’t doing as well as he’d like to believe. Trump’s worst fear is that if the myth is damaged, voters might turn their backs.