The Post’s David Fahrenthold has written a few fantastic articles regarding Trump’s Foundation, including the November 22 piece that proclaims that Trump admitted to violating the ban on self-dealing in the 2015 tax form, meaning that Trump donated money to himself or members of his family that year and previously. David stresses that “from 2009 until this year, the charity was funded exclusively with other people’s money,” and during the presidential campaign Trump used at least $300,000 from the foundation to “help himself” in settling legal disputes by donating to the injured party’s charity, and for purchasing artwork and memorabilia that Trump then displayed on personal or business premises. While David states that it is unclear from this return exactly how Trump was self-dealing, I think the line about the Conservative Union and an incoming payment from a Ukrainian foundation offer telling clues.
Based on this close review of Trump’s available tax records, it is easy to project what his latest tax return will state. It will report a net operative loss, and it will claim the benefit of past bankruptcies to avoid paying taxes on current profits. The millions Trump spent on hotels, food and entertainment during the campaign will be written off as expenses. He will surely still owe money for the two houses he bought in the nineties. He will maintain chairmanships in some suspect foreign corporations, despite reporting no profits from many of these activities.
Meanwhile, he will also write off millions for suing to suppress the freedom of the press, as he complains of libel (i.e. negative publicity). And he will pay himself even more for all of his non-divested conflicts-of-interest chairmanships while he is president than he paid when he was running for the spot. I hope this glimpse into the unknown will help those who have been reading this mystery under suspense, and might now suspect that Trump will never reveal the conclusion himself.
Anna Faktorovich, Ph.D.: is the Founder, Director, Designer and Editor-in-Chief of the Anaphora Literary Press, which has published over 200 titles in non-fiction, fiction and poetry.
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