On Sunday, the New York Times revealed that it had obtained President Trump’s tax returns for much of the past 20 years — a trove of never-before-seen financial data from inside the president’s private business.
Trump had refused to release those returns himself, unlike all other recent presidents. And he had gone to the Supreme Court to stop Congress and the Manhattan district attorney from obtaining them.
The Times report shows one reason Trump might have wanted to keep the returns secret. It said Trump had paid just $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and again in 2017 — and no federal income taxes at all in many previous years. The reason: Trump’s businesses routinely reported losing more money than they made, a fact that saved Trump on his taxes but belied the gold-plated-CEO image he presented to the public. Continue reading.