Donald Trump declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax return, allowing him to legally avoid paying taxes since. The mogul has been loath to come clean with his tax affairs as the November 8 poll approaches.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/W. McNamee
Advertisement
Trump's 1995 tax records - which had previously been undisclosed - show "the extraordinary tax benefits" that Trump "derived from the financial wreckage he left behind in the early 1990s through mismanagement of three Atlantic City casinos, his ill-fated foray into the airline business and his ill-timed purchase of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan," The New York Times reported late Saturday.
The Trump campaign issued a statement that did not address the $916 million loss. "Mr. Trump is a highly-skilled businessman who has a fiduciary responsibility to his business, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required," the statement said. "That being said, Mr. Trump has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in property taxes, sales and excise taxes, real estate taxes, city taxes, state taxes, employee taxes and federal taxes," it added, giving no specifics.
Hotels, resorts and a big ego
Donald Trump's newest 5-star hotel is situated in Washington's Old Post Office and is just one kilometer from the White House. It's the latest addition to the business empire of the US president-elect.
Image: picture-alliance/NurPhoto/C. May
New luxury in a historic landmark
The site of the new Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC is known as the Old Post Office and Clock Tower. The historic landmark on Pennsylvania Avenue was built in 1899 and stands near the halfway point between the White House and the Capitol.
Image: Getty Images/M. Wilson
Prime property in famous buildings
Piercing through the San Francisco fog, this brownish office tower is of one of the city's well-known buildings. Situated at 555 California Street and built in 1969, the high-rise used to house the headquarters of the Bank of America. It was the tallest building on the West Coast until the Transamerica Pyramid was completed in 1972.
Image: Imago/UPI Photo
Golfing with a view
Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles is situated on the Pacific coast in Rancho Palos Verdes, just a 30 minute drive from downtown LA. It is not only used for golfing but also as a film and photo location for movies and commercials.
Image: Getty Images/S. Shugerman
Trump just loves real estate
"It's tangible, it's solid, it's beautiful. It's artistic, from my standpoint, and I just love real estate," Donald Trump wrote in one of his posts on Twitter. But his business empire contains more than luxury hotels, golf resorts and high-rise office buildings.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. York
Empire and Success
Trump's merchandise includes fragrances like Empire; a scent "for the confident man determined to make his mark with passion, perseverance and drive." Success by Trump, on the other hand, promises to be an inspiring blend of fresh juniper and iced red currant, "brushed with hints of coriander." Other aromas include "a masculine combination of rich vetiver, tonka bean, birchwood and musk."
Image: Trump Fragrances
Making money with good looks
Trump Models, "the brainstorm and vision of owner, Donald Trump," is based in New York City. One of the agency's models is Hong Kong-born Mia Kang. This year, the Korean-British model has been voted winner of Sports Illustrated’s 2016 global model search contest.
Image: Getty Images/B. Raglin
Casinos
Trump inaugurated the Trump Taj Mahal casino and hotel complex on the famous Boardwalk in Atlantic City in 1990. But after years of ownership changes, it closed on Oct. 10.
Image: Getty Images/W.T.Cain
'Debts and opaque ties'
According to the New York Times, Trump's real estate empire in the US is "a maze of debts and opaque ties" - his companies having "at least $650 million in debt." However, Trump's latest hotel development in the Old Post Office Tower is the third-tallest building in the US capital, and likely a prime location for his inauguration party.
Image: cc-by-nc-nd-Aidan Wakely-Mulroney
8 images1 | 8
The campaign team for Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, weighed in on the accusations. Campaign manager Robbie Mook said that "this bombshell report reveals the colossal nature of Donald Trump's past business failures and just how long he may have avoided paying any federal income taxes whatsoever."
Mook said that the New York Times report showed that the real estate mogul had lost nearly a billion dollars, "stiffed small businesses, laid off workers, and walked away from hardworking communities."
The latest revelations should now compel Trump "to go ahead and release his returns," he said.
