Wouldn’t You Like to Know If Trump Can Be Bribed?
He’s released his personal financial disclosure, but that’s not enough. Releasing his tax returns would be better.
Much is still in the shadows.
Photographer: Mark Wilson/Getty Images
President Donald Trump, courtesy of the Office of Government Ethics, gave the public its annual look at his business holdings on Thursday afternoon. According to Trump’s personal financial disclosure form, his boutique portfolio of golf courses, hotels, real estate and other ventures had revenue of at least $435 million in 2018, about $30 million less than the year before. (An undisclosed portion of this lands in Trump’s wallet as personal income.)
Trump owes banks and other lenders at least $315 million, and Deutsche Bank AG – a German financial titan that has drawn repeated scrutiny from regulators and the U.S. Congress – remains one of his single largest creditors. Business at Trump’s Washington hotel – a favorite haunt of foreign diplomats and lobbyists courting the federal government – was relatively steady, with revenue of about $41 million. Revenue was up modestly at Turnberry, a golf course on the west coast of Scotland. Elsewhere, business was soft. For example, Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Palm Beach resort, saw revenue drop 10% to about $23 million.