CNN’s John Harwood said the New York Times bombshell revealing a trove of information from President Donald Trump’s tax returns is “a devastating picture of a president who is bleeding financially and depending on the presidency to prop him up financially.”
Speaking after Trump’s White House press conference — in which the president dismissed the Times story as “fake news” — Harwood cited spending at Trump properties as evidence of his claim.
The Times reported that Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017, the year he won the presidency and his first year in office. In 10 of the previous 15 years he paid $0 income taxes.
Trump, a self-proclaimed billionaire, was able to pay so little in taxes mostly because he reported losing far more money than he made, the Times reported.
Harwood noted that the Times also revealed a staggering bill that is coming due for the president: in the next four years, Trump will be personally responsible for $300 million in loans — “indicating the financial stress that he is suffering,” Harwood said.
According to the Times, that could lead an unprecedented scenario:
This time around, he is personally responsible for loans and other debts totaling $421 million, with most of it coming due within four years. Should he win re-election, his lenders could be placed in the unprecedented position of weighing whether to foreclose on a sitting president.
Watch above, via CNN.