So how do you like the fact that Donald Trump, as president of the United States, is the country's most famous tax cheat and has paid less federal taxes in the last two years than many people who get by on the minimum wage?
How do you like the fact that the $750 per year Trump paid in federal taxes in 2016 and 2017 was the first federal income tax he paid for more than a decade, despite his claim of being a wealthy billionaire and genius businessman?
What about the fact, as revealed in the New York Times bombshell report Sunday night, that Trump even deducted his haircuts as a business expense?
And how do you like the fact that the IRS is auditing Trump over a $72.9 million tax refund that he was granted in 2010? The question being examined by the IRS is whether that refund, granted after Trump claimed extensive business losses, was legitimate, and if Trump loses that fight, according to The Times, he could be on the hook for more than $100 million.
Trump, of course, had a detailed response to all of the newspaper's charges, which were based on years of tax returns that it obtained legally.
"Fake News."
Here's what he tweeted today:
"The Fake News Media, just like Election time 2016, is bringing up my Taxes & all sorts of other nonsense with illegally obtained information & only bad intent. I paid many millions of dollars in taxes but was entitled, like everyone else, to depreciation & tax credits.....
".....Financial Statements, from the time I announced I was going to run for President, showing all properties, assets and debts. It is a very IMPRESSIVE Statement, and also shows that I am the only President on record to give up my yearly $400,000 plus Presidential Salary!"
Yea, right. Except, according to the documents examined by The Times, Trump has personally guaranteed hundreds of millions in loans, some from foreign countries, and those loans are about to come due. As some observers pointed out today, his financial situation is so shaky that if he were to undergo a security check for any federal position, he would not be accepted.
To whom does he owe this money? Who has leverage over him? Who is pulling the strings? We need to know. How does this affect Trump's decisions, including those involving the nation's security?
All of this indicates why Trump is so willing to go to any length to win reelection, because once he's out of office he could could face prosecution for multiple counts of tax fraud, or worse.
However, should he defeat his Democratic opponent Joe Biden, will these charges be further investigated and serve as the basis for another impeachment initiative? And if Democrats take control of the Senate, he certainly would not be able to count on another acquittal as was the case the last time around with the Republicans in charge.
“As the leader of Congress’s fight to obtain Donald Trump tax returns, this blockbuster report confirms some of our worst fears,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-NJ). “Trump’s titanic financial losses confirm that while he campaigned as a so-called brilliant financial wizard, Trump is a cheat, a fraud and perhaps the worst businessman in the world.”
All of this is appalling, but not surprising. It has been obvious ever since he first ran for the presidency that Trump is a liar and a cheat. But the fact that he simply has not paid taxes, using every conceivable loophole, including some that aren't real (like the haircuts), is simply disgusting.
Millions of Americans pay their taxes legally and on time every year. Millions of Americans do that even as they struggle to make ends meet, and whose financial situation has become ever more difficult as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, which Trump has famously mishandled.
How must they feel?
Certainly, many must be disappointed to say the least. But will these revelations change the minds of his lemming-like followers, his so-called base? Probably not.
Here's what one tweeted out this evening:
Incredible.
November 3.