Donald Trump's Precarious Finances - the New York Times Study of His Taxes Summarized

The New York Times study of Donald Trump’s tax returns revealed a few remarkable things. You’ve probably heard that he paid only $750 in federal income taxes the year he won the presidency and then another $750 in taxes the year he moved into the White House.

It gets far more interesting.

One, the only time in this century that he actually made money was when he was on TV playing a guy who made a lot of money. From 2005 to 2007, he made $120 million - mostly from the Celebrity Apprentice.

Sadly for him, he has not found another way to make money.

In the early 1990s, he nearly lost everything, taking nearly $1 billion in losses.
Then he had success with the Celebrity Apprentice TV show.
Then he began losing money again.

“Since 2000, Mr. Trump has reported losses of $315. 6 million at the golf courses that are his prized possessions.”
His Washington Hotel, opened in 2016, showed losses of $55.5 million through 2018. “And Trump Corporation, a real estate services company, has reported losing $134 million since 2000.”

You may wonder how someone can sustain losses like that. Well, in addition to TV revenue, he’s been taking out loans and liquidating assets.

In 2014, he liquidated $98 million in stocks and bonds.
In 2015, another $54 million.
In 2016, another $68.2 million.
Also, in the last five years, he’s drawn down his cash reserves $23 million.

Where does that leave him?

As of July, he has only $873,000 in securities left to sell and another $34.7 million in cash. You may think that $35.6 million is a lot. The problem is, those assets pale in comparison to what he owes.

Donald Trump currently has $421 million in loans outstanding, most of it coming due within four years.

Joe Biden should not be surprised to find that Donald has taken out a mortgage on the White House before he leaves.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/27/us/donald-trump-taxes.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage