Donald Trump's Tax Returns Release Has Americans Weighing In

The New York Times published President Donald Trump's tax return information on Sunday, instantly [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

The New York Times published President Donald Trump's tax return information on Sunday, instantly becoming a major subject on Twitter, with many debating how the revelations would impact the 2020 presidential election. The Times obtained data for Trump and his companies from the past two decades, providing the most detailed look at his finances ever made public. Trump has long refused to make his tax returns public, becoming the first presidential nominee to do so since 1976.

Some of the key findings in the report include the revelation that Trump paid no federal income taxes for 11 of the 18 years the Times looked at. In 2017, Trump's first year as president, he paid just $750 in income tax. He has been under audit from the IRS due to a $72.9 million tax refund he claimed since 2011. Many of his businesses, including golf courses, have reported losing millions of dollars, which allowed Trump to lower his taxes. Trump also owes over $300 million in loans, which will come due soon, the Times found.

Trump also continued living a lavish lifestyle while racking up business losses. He took tax reductions on things most people would consider personal expenses, like aircraft, homes, and a $70,000 hairstyling bill. Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, received "consulting fees" while working for the Trump Organization to help lower the Trump family tax bill. The documents also show Trump has received more money from foreign sources than previously known, but there were no previously unreported connections to Russia revealed. The Times plans on publishing more details from the documents in the coming days.

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During his Sunday press conference, Trump called the reporting "fake news" and said he still cannot release his tax returns because he is under audit. "It's totally fake news. Made up, fake," Trump said, reports The Guardian. "We went through the same stories, you could have asked me the same questions four years ago, I had to litigate this and had to talk about it. Totally fake news. Actually, I paid tax. And you'll see that as soon as my tax returns – it's under audit, they've been under audit for a long time, the IRS does not treat me well, they treat me like the Tea Party, like they treated the Tea Party, and they don't treat me well."

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