The revelation that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax returns has touched off another stormy discussion.
After The New York Times broke the story the real estate tycoon faces a double-edged proposition in light of the possibility that he may not have paid any taxes for 18 years.
First, if he had filed such a massive loss, Trump cannot claim to be a successful business all the way. Secondly, what does his self-praise as being smart on the issue mean? A plethora of interpretations.
But perhaps more crucially, how will Trump handle the issue in upcoming presidential debates what impact the revelation might have on his election odds.
Reacting to the Times story, the Trump campaign posted a statement which neither appears to deny nor dispute a single fact in the newspaper’s story, but asserts the document was “illegally obtained.”
The statement also accuses the Times of operating as an extension of the presidential campaign of Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
Meanwhile, the Hillary Clinton campaign has called the tax report publication as a bombshell.
For its part, the newspaper said it had obtained Trump’s 1995 tax records and that they showed he received the large tax benefits from financial deals that went bad in the early 1990s.
Jumping into the fray Trump himself tweeted early Sunday: “I know our complex tax laws better than anyone who has ever run for president and am the only one who can fix them.”
Interestingly he would not deny or dispute the Times’ findings.
Throughout the election season, Trump has based his campaign on his experience as a thriving businessman. He has also promised to his followers that he would amend international trade agreements and make deals with other countries in a way that bring jobs back to the United States.
Trump’s prominent Republican supporters including former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani have said if Trump has not paid taxes, as reported, the candidate is a genius.
Trump has declined to release his tax returns, and Clinton brought this into focus in the first debate last month.
When his Democratic rival pointed out that a couple years of returns when Trump was trying to get a casino license showed he didn’t pay any federal income taxes, Trump respondded: “That makes me smart.”
A Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon tweeted after the Times story: “Trump’s returns show just how lousy a businessman he is AND how long he may have avoided paying any taxes.”
How will American voters react to the taxing question about Trump’s tax record remains to be seen, just as is the case how the Clinton campaign deals with the issue before November 8 election.
