Like he does about most things, Donald Trump has ALWAYS lied about his wealth. Hey, don’t take my word for it. Take his. During the presidential campaign, he claimed he was worth $10 billion, but on his financial disclosure form, he claimed he was worth $1.4 billion. The truth is probably somewhere in between those numbers, but whatever it is, Trump is lying.
He’s also lied about the way he gained his wealth. He’s always claimed he was a self-made billionaire, and only got a teeny, tiny, little pittance of a loan from his father, Fred Trump, of $1 million, you know, like most Americans get from their fathers. Journalists have known for a long time that’s not true, and he received much more. There are public records of it. But, Trump sycophants don’t listen to journalists.
Now, an investigative piece by The New York Times has revealed that Trump received the equivalent today of at least $413 million from his father’s real estate empire. There’s a serious problem with this, and not just with the lying. It appears that Donald Trump engaged in nefarious lawbreaking activities with Daddy Trump to acquire this wealth.
Trump’s parents transferred over one billion in wealth to him and his siblings, which could have produced a tax bill of at least $550 million under the 55 percent tax rate on gifts and inheritances that was in place at the time. Helped by a variety of tax dodges, the Trumps paid $52.2 million, or about 5 percent, tax returns show.
Trump’s lawyers are calling the report false and that any blame belongs to tax professionals. But, do you know that line at the end of your tax statement that you sign swearing against penalty of law that everything is true? Yeah, you still gotta sign that if a professional, or anyone else, does your taxes.
Whitehouse Spokesgoon Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the report false, while not being able to cite any specific detail to debunk. She said, “I’m not going to sit and go through every single line of a very boring 14,000-word story.” I’m going to guess she wouldn’t have been able to go through every line if it was only a 14-word story.
She said the only thing accurate about the story was that it showed how much faith Fred had in Donald as everything he touched turned to gold. Yeah, it showed that Fred had enough faith in Donald to make him a partner in crime. As for that line about everything he touched “turning to gold,” Fred bailed out one of Trump’s Atlantic City casinos by purchasing $3.5 million in casino chips without placing a bet. That’s an illegal loan under New Jersey gaming laws.
Fred created a company that was a purchasing agent for his buildings, from boilers to cleaning supplies. But, it didn’t actually do that. They simply marked up prices on items purchased by his employees, then flowed that money to the co-owners (Donald, his siblings, and a cousin), which became untaxed gifts, then used the purchasing company’s receipts to pad the rent of thousands of low-income tenants. That scheme alone made millions.
As for that “one million dollar loan” which Trump claims he had to pay back with interest, it was actually around $60.7 million which amounts to $140 million in today’s dollars, most of which Donald never paid back. How do you pay interest on loans that you never repay?
Donald needed to be bailed out by Fred often. In 1987, Fred bought a 7.5% stake in Trump Tower with $15 million, which he turned around and sold to Donald for…wait for it…$10,000. If that was simply a loan for Donald to never pay back, then he would have owed millions in taxes. But with this trick, they made it an unreported multimillion-dollar gift and an illegal tax write-off.
The Times documented 295 distinct streams of revenue Fred Trump created over five decades to channel wealth to his son. Fred helped Donald create and sell the myth of being a self-made billionaire. This great self-made businessman had to be bailed out by his father time and time again.
Fred also lowered the inheritance tax for his children by claiming the properties, including 25 apartment buildings, he was leaving them was worth only $41.4 million, which banks later valued a decade later at nearly $900 million.
The Times article doesn’t imply or suggest that Donald Trump committed fraud. It outright states it. That is huge for a news outlet. To make such a claim, the newspaper has to have heavy proof. This is The New York Times. The paper Trump calls “failing” is going to send him to court, and probably his sister, who is a federal judge, as she participated in these schemes as well. She’d been safe if she only committed perjury by lying about torture, receiving stolen documents, and the definition of boofing.
I believe if Trump sycophants discover that Trump isn’t as rich as he claims that they’ll drop their support. But, they won’t believe it. They don’t care that he’s a con man. They don’t care that he’s a fraud. They don’t care he’s in bed with Russian gangsters. They don’t care that he rips off contractors. They don’t even care that he steals from charities. So, they’re probably not going to care about this. Let’s hope law enforcement cares about it. Let’s hope the state of New York cares about it.
I used to believe Trump would never run for president because it would make people, journalists, and government officials start to look at his crimes. I was wrong. Apparently, Trump didn’t believe they would. He was wrong.
Donald Trump will be indicted one day. He’ll probably also be found guilty. It may not happen until after he leaves office. No matter how long it takes, I’m looking forward to that day.
Watch me draw.
Email Clay Jones at [email protected]