Trump’s Tax Returns Are Only Part of the Picture
The former president’s filings outlined questionable business deductions, but how much are we still missing?
What’s in your wallet?
Photographer: Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg
Democrats released six years’ worth of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns last Friday, confirming earlier findings outlined in a pair of congressional analyses of the records: Trump took hundreds of millions of dollars of questionable business deductions to lower his tax bills, paid a token amount of income tax in two years and paid nothing at all during the final year of his presidency.
The tax returns also re-confirmed previously reported truths about Trump’s businesses and personal finances. Even though he’s almost 77, he remains a haphazard operator reliant on the financial cushion of his late father’s wealth. He appears to donate little to charity and may not have made good on his promise to give away his presidential earnings. And his filings are pockmarked with tragicomic Trumpian flourishes; in some years, he gave the unlikely name of “Unreimbursed Expenses” to several of his business partnerships.