Catherine Rampell Profile picture
Sep 27, 2020 9 tweets 3 min read Read on X
NYT: Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes the year he won the presidency. In his 1st year in White House, he paid another $750.
He paid no income taxes at all in 10 of previous 15 years — largely because he reported losing much more money than he made nytimes.com/interactive/20…
His returns “reveal the hollowness, but also wizardry, behind self-made-billionaire image...that helped propel him to White House & that still undergirds loyalty of many in his base. Ultimately, Trump has been more successful playing a business mogul than being one in real life”
His tax returns show how misleading his public financial disclosures — where he has reported gross revenues, not profits — have been. In 2018, Trump said in his public disclosure filings that he had made at least $434.9 million. The tax records show $47.4 million in losses.
Some other numbers that stand out: Over all, since 2000, Trump has reported losses of $315.6 million at the golf courses that are his prized possessions. His Washington hotel, opened in 2016, has not fared much better. Its tax records show losses through 2018 of $55.5 million.
Also, tax law requires Joint Committee on Taxation to weigh in on all refunds >$2m to individuals. Results of an audit of a disputed Trump refund were sent to committee in 2011. Which means some of Trump’s returns have been sitting at a congressional office building for years
The returns also suggest a strange arrangement in which Trump appears to have paid Ivanka a fee as a “consultant” on the same hotel deals that she helped manage as part of her job at her father’s business. Possibly a way to transfer assets without incurring gift tax.
Story documents lots and lots and lots of questionable business deductions - every part of his “lifestyle,” such as his haircuts, plus a criminal defense atty
Some great details here about how much more money Trump made from people/corps that appear to be purchasing access through his clubs and other properties.
One of the main takeaways from NYT's examination of the enormous losses Trump reports on his taxes: He has been an absolutely terrible businessman, or has been stiffing Uncle Sam, but most likely both.
Another takeaway: Losing re-election could be enormously expensive for him

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More from @crampell

Nov 6
Voters' complaints about inflation seem to have handed the election to Trump.
Alas, Wall Street analysts are now forecasting *higher* inflation/interest rates as a result of Trump's win.
A thread 🧵
Capital Economics projects slower GDP growth, higher inflation, higher interest rates Image
Evercore ISI: "reflationary" for the US, lower GDP growth, higher interest rates.
Wild cards still remain about Trump's efforts to politicize the Fed. Image
Image
Read 5 tweets
Oct 30
Sen. Ted Cruz tells @edlavaCNN that he won't talk about abortion access because it's only "the press" that is "obsessed" with the issue. Not voters.
Meanwhile, Texan women are going into sepsis & dying because the TX abortion ban delayed their ability to receive emergency care🧵
Josseli Barnica is one of at least two pregnant Texas women who died after doctors delayed emergency care. This issue probably matters to the daughter and husband she left behind, among her other loved ones.
Texan Amanda Zurawski was denied abortion care after she experienced preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM) at 18 wks
She went into sepsis, causing one of her fallopian tubes to become permanently closed, compromising future ability to have kids
bbc.com/news/world-us-…
Read 6 tweets
Oct 22
YouGov blind-tested voters on 100+ Trump/Harris policies, i.e. without candidate names attached. Results:
1) Harris's agenda is way more popular than Trump's
2) Even on issues like crime
3) But unfortunately voters often don't know which ideas are hers 🧵
wapo.st/4dQpNUgImage
In general, Harris's policies poll much better than Trump's.
Nearly all of hers get majority support; only around half of Trump's do.
wapo.st/4dQpNUgImage
Trump's agenda actually fares better now than it did a few months ago. That's because of his recent pander-palooza, promising tax breaks to everyone & everything. E.g., his most popular idea overall is recent promise to exempt Soc Security income from tax
wapo.st/4dQpNUgImage
Read 13 tweets
Sep 26
Brief thread of independent economic analyses of a 2nd Trump presidency. They generally show he'd spike inflation, reduce growth, and/or increase federal deficits. 🧵

First, here's @PIIE today, looking at effects of his deportation, tariff, Fed policies: piie.com/blogs/realtime…Image
Pantheon Macroeconomics, from a few days ago
Goldman Sachs Economic Research: higher inflation, lower GDP Image
Read 8 tweets
Sep 17
The SALT cap exists because of Trump's own 2017 tax law!!
My view: It's better policy to keep cap on SALT deductions in place. Lifting it, as Trump seems to propose, is expensive & very regressive. 70% of benefit of ending it would go to those making $500k+
But...I'd love to know where Harris stands on the issue, which has divided Dems
SALT cap is very unpopular in blue states like NY, NJ, CA. Letting it lapse is a priority for Schumer and Dem reps in swing districts. Harris sponsored legislation in 2019 to repeal cap.
But again, lifting the cap (or letting it lapse as scheduled) is costly/regressive
Read 5 tweets
Sep 15
"In Texas, a woman whose water broke at 18 weeks—far too early for her baby to survive outside the womb—was unable to get an abortion until she became septic. She spent three days in the ICU, and one of her fallopian tubes permanently closed from scarring. In Tennessee, a woman lost four pints of blood delivering her dead fetus in a hospital’s holding area. In Oklahoma, a bleeding woman with a nonviable pregnancy was turned away from three separate hospitals. One said she could wait in the parking lot until her condition became life-threatening." theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…
Read 5 tweets

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