Ten years of Trump tax info obtained by NYT shows he was 'The Biggest Loser'
All along, even in 1987 at the peak of his myth when this Newsweek cover touted him as an icon of wealth, Donald Trump was a fraud. And the press played right along with the fraud.
"Newly obtained tax information reveals that from 1985 to 1994, Donald J. Trump's businesses were in far bleaker condition than was previously known," report Susanne Craig and Russ Beutner at the New York Times in a major investigative feature.
Donald Trump paid zero income taxes in 8 of the 10 years examined by the Times.
"His losses were so big that in 1991 they accounted for fully 1% of all business losses declared that year by individual American taxpayers," wrote Susanne Craig.
The data - printouts from Mr. Trump's official Internal Revenue Service tax transcripts, with the figures from his federal tax form, the 1040, for the years 1985 to 1994 - represents the fullest and most detailed look to date at the president's taxes, information he has kept from public view. Though the information does not cover the tax years at the center of an escalating battle between the Trump administration and Congress, it traces the most tumultuous chapter in a long business career - an era of fevered acquisition and spectacular collapse.
The numbers show that in 1985, Mr. Trump reported losses of $46.1 million from his core businesses - largely casinos, hotels and retail space in apartment buildings. They continued to lose money every year, totaling $1.17 billion in losses for the decade.
In fact, year after year, Mr. Trump appears to have lost more money than nearly any other individual American taxpayer, The Times found when it compared his results with detailed information the I.R.S. compiles on an annual sampling of high-income earners. His core business losses in 1990 and 1991 - more than $250 million each year - were more than double those of the nearest taxpayers in the I.R.S. information for those years.
Over all, Mr. Trump lost so much money that he was able to avoid paying income taxes for eight of the 10 years. It is not known whether the I.R.S. later required changes after audits.
The kicker is one for the ages:
While Donald Trump reported hundreds of millions of dollars in losses for 1990 and 1991, Fred Trump's returns showed a positive income of $53.9 million, with only one major loss: $15 million invested in his son's latest apartment project.
Go read the whole thing, then go subscribe to the New York Times:
Decade in the Red: Trump Tax Figures Show Over $1 Billion in Business Losses
"He was just bleeding money every year."
The New York Times journalist @susannecraig shares details from recently
published reporting on Donald Trump's finances.According to Craig's findings, Trump lost more than a billion dollars from 1985 to 1994. https://t.co/RZVfV9Xura pic.twitter.com/1p3Oiyavq2
- CNN (@CNN) May 8, 2019
This is an incredible chart from @russbuettner @susannecraig's new blockbuster on how "year after year, Mr. Trump appears to have lost more money than nearly any other individual American taxpayer" https://t.co/PlaHRr5e7U pic.twitter.com/0uED0F41hs
- David W. Chen (@davidwchen) May 8, 2019
JUST POSTED: The New York Times has obtained 10 years of previously unrevealed figures from Donald Trump's federal income-tax returns - from 1985 to 1994. Trump ran up $1.2 billion in core business losses in the decade we examined. LOTS here
https://t.co/Yc23kj9HEa
- Susanne Craig (@susannecraig) May 7, 2019
We don't have Donald Trump's actual tax returns. Rather we obtained printouts from his official I.R.S. tax transcripts, with figures from his federal 1040, for 85 to 94. Here's an explanation of our sourcing -> pic.twitter.com/OwhXPgprpM
- Susanne Craig (@susannecraig) May 7, 2019
Donald Trump paid no income taxes in 8 of the 10 years we examined. His losses were so big that in 1991 they accounted for fully 1% of all business losses declared that year by individual American taxpayers. w @russbuettner https://t.co/Yc23kj9HEa
- Susanne Craig (@susannecraig) May 7, 2019
FATHER & SON: We now have tax info on Fred Trump & Donald Trump for a number of years. The upshot: Fred always made a lot of money. Donald always lost a lot of money. For a reminder on just how rich Fred was, here's our 2018 tax fraud investigation. https://t.co/9is4ZcpOY4
- Susanne Craig (@susannecraig) May 7, 2019
Donald Trump reported $52.9M in interest income in 89. The number is BIG, according to IRS data we examined. We don't know what Trump owned that could produce this type of $. The answer is on schedules we don't have & underscores the importance of seeing Trump's full tax return
- Susanne Craig (@susannecraig) May 7, 2019
If Donald Trump's modern taxes ever come out it's important we see the 1040 form AND the attached schedules. The schedules will tell us sources of his income / how profitable (or not) his individual businesses are and more. So all the pages, as seen here
- Susanne Craig (@susannecraig) May 7, 2019
Reminder that Trump's sister - a federal judge - resigned last month to end an investigation into "whether she violated judicial conduct rules by participating in fraudulent tax schemes with her siblings."https://t.co/miS76gBtj0
- shauna (@goldengateblond) May 7, 2019
Takeaways of NYT report on Trump taxes
= In multiple years he appears to have lost more $ than nearly any other ind. taxpayer
= he paid no fed. income taxes for 8 of the 10 yrs
= his interest income spiked in 1989 at $52.9 million, tho. source is a mysteryhttps://t.co/SVbxzHZ32x- Michiko Kakutani (@michikokakutani) May 7, 2019