‘Horrible Things’: Donald Trump Responds to House Release of 2015-2020 Taxes with Ominous Threats
The House Ways and Means Committee has officially released the full (redacted for privacy) tax filings for Donald Trump from
Tristan Green
The House Ways and Means Committee has officially released the full (redacted for privacy) tax filings for Donald Trump from 2015-2020.
While the public had an idea of what they would contain, people are now pouring over the details now that the full taxes have been released.
Trump wasted no time logging into Truth Social to clap back with a statement, and it contains some ominously threatening language that promises some “tit for tat” weaponizing of federal agencies.
Donald Trump Warns of ‘Dangerous Two-Way Street’
He knew it was coming, but the House releasing his taxes seemed to still take Trump somewhat by surprise.
The former POTUS took to Truth Social today with an “official” statement on Trump letterhead and it contained some alarming language.
The statement read in part, “The Democrats should never have done it, the Supreme Court should never have approved it, and it’s going to lead to horrible things for so many people.”
Trump then warned, “The great USA divide will now grow far worse. The Radical Left Democrats have weaponized everything, but remember, that is a dangerous two-way street!”
It would seem Trump is expecting miracles from Republicans when they take the House majority next week, but has repeatedly referred to the Republicans “taking over Congress.” It’s unclear if he thinks Republicans have gained both chambers of Congress, which they have not. Starting next week, the GOP will hold a slim majority in the House while the Democrats maintain a razor-slim majority in the Senate.
Trump seems to be hoping that his stalwart GOP allies will turn the so-called “weaponized precedence” to harry the Bidens.
But the GOP seems to have lost interest in Trump and his never-ending controversy circus, so if he expects that they’ll put their political careers on the line for revenge, he may be waiting for a long time.
It is, however, expected that the Republicans will use their committees in the House to investigate President Biden’s son Hunter Biden – but none of that is related to Trump and any perceived political revenge.
Trump’s statement then took a moment to boast about what he hopes the taxes prove, writing, “The ‘Trump’ tax returns once again show how proudly successful I have been and how I have been able to use depreciation and various other tax deductions as an incentive for creating thousands of jobs and magnificent structures and enterprises.”
What to Know about the Donald Trump Tax Release
I did a quick read of the just-released House Ways and Means Committee report on Donald Trump's tax returns and shot out a few tweets. Here they are as a thread. https://t.co/ggTIeBu6as
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) December 21, 2022
The fully released taxes come after a summary released by the Joint Taxation Committee.
ABC News writes, “According to a summary released last week by the committee, Trump and his wife, Melania, together reported $31.7 million in losses and reported $641,931 in net taxes during the first year of Trump’s presidential campaign, in 2015.
During the 2016 presidential election year, the two again reported losing $32.4 million in adjusted gross income and paid just $750 in taxes, according to the committee. During Trump’s first year in office, the couple reported losing $12.9 million and again paid $750 in taxes.
In 2018, their adjusted gross income went up, with them bringing in $24.3 million, and they reported paying $999,456 in taxes. In 2019, the two reported making $4.4 million and paid $133,445 in taxes.
In 2020, they reported losing $4.8 million and Trump paid $0 in taxes.”
Here are a few highlights to take away from the full return releases:
- Trump made no charitable donations in 2020. As a candidate, Trump promised to donate his presidential salary, but the tax filings showed that he made $0 in charitable donations during his last year as president.
- During 2020, Trump reported around $16 million in businesses losses, which left him with no federal tax liability. Instead of claiming the full refund available, however, Trump claimed around $5.4M in refund and applied the remaining $8M to his 2021 taxes.
- Trump’s own laws may have bitten him in the end. The New York Times reports “The tax law Mr. Trump signed in late 2017, which took effect the next year, contained some provisions that most likely gave him an advantage at tax time — including the scaling back of the alternative minimum tax on high earners. But one provision in particular drastically reduced the income tax deductions Mr. Trump could claim in 2018 and beyond: limits that Republicans placed on deductions for state and local taxes paid. The so-called SALT deduction disproportionately hit higher earners, including Mr. Trump, in high-tax cities and states like New York. In 2019, he reported paying $8.4 million in state and local taxes. Because of the SALT limits included in his tax law, he was able to deduct only $10,000 of those taxes paid on his federal income tax return. Those losses could have been mitigated at least in part by other sections of the law that were favorable to wealthier taxpayers like Mr. Trump.”
In today’s statement, Trump aims to make himself look extra business savvy – while ignoring the fact that the average American can’t take advantage of tax loops or post a $16M business loss and walk away from it.
It’s another case of Trump being extraordinarily out of touch with the average voter, but hoping they’ll come to his defense.
And time and time again, his supporters have come to his defense. But the chorus of “always Trump” supporters has gotten quieter as 2022 progresses, and it remains to be seen who will be left by his side in 2023.
Trump has dropped a few hints that he may run as a third-party candidate in 2024 if the Republicans don’t line up behind him – it’s a devastating threat that may get the reluctant GOPers to do exactly that to avoid a worst-case scenario.