Something Suspect About Trump’s 1995 $916 Million Loss
So, hard to imagine anyone has escaped hearing or seeing the New York Times story about Trump’s 1995 tax fillings and his reported loss of $916 million. If you haven’t seen it, here it is….
Donald J. Trump declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax returns, a tax deduction so substantial it could have allowed him to legally avoid paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years, records obtained by The New York Times show.
nytimes.com
Now firstly, there’s nothing new about writing losses off against taxes, nor is writing off losses illegal. But when one is a braggart like Trump, bragging about his great business acumen, and then considering the number of times his businesses have filed for bankruptcy, and how ke keeps stiffing people, this NYT story doesn’t make him look exactly stellar. And this story made me curious about something.
I’m sure many of you will know that for example, Forbes claim Trump’s wealth as one figure, while Trump claims his wealth is far greater than Forbes’ figure. I was curious, how much would you have to be worth to be able to lose close to a billion in a year? And here’s where it get’s interesting….
Using another NYT article from 2005 which was about Trump’s worth, and provides his position on the Forbes list year by year, shows this:
1990 Dropped from the list! Forbes explains: “In 1990 the rich have been getting poorer. Trump is the most noteworthy loser. Once a billionaire, Trump’s net worth may actually have dropped to zero.” (That makes things clearer. Was he ever a billionaire? Maybe his net worth just stayed the same? Maybe it always had been zero?)
1991 AWOL.
1992 AWOL.
1993 AWOL. (These are the times that try men’s souls. Hang in there, Donald.)
1994 AWOL.
1995 AWOL.
1996 He’s back. Rank: 373; $450 million.
nytimes.com
There’s a number of things, but the two major points are, he probably wasn’t even worth a few hundred million in 95, how could one lose a billion? And secondly, how does one go from losing a billion one year, to being worth $450 million the next? Keep in mind that 20 years ago, those are not little numbers, they’re hooge.
The smell of rotten fish is strong around Trump.