Donald Trump’s tax returns emerge on eve of debate

  • Video report by ITV News Washington Correspondent Robert Moore

With devastating timing, just a day before the first presidential debate, Donald Trump’s elusive tax returns have finally been revealed.

The New York Times has finally broken the story that so many investigative journalists have been pursuing for so long. It follows the oldest mantra in American politics: follow the money. The president has kept his tax returns from public view for years, leading to mounting questions about what he was hiding.

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Now we have a glimpse - not a full picture but a powerful look - into his financial affairs.

To no-one’s surprise, Trump has apparently been paying little tax. Well, not just a little. Astonishingly little. Like, a few hundred dollars. In other words, a man who owns major hotels and magnificent golf courses pays less tax than the humblest janitor or a young nurse.

The emergence of Donald Trump's tax returns is a gift for Joe Biden, ITV News Washington Correspondent Robert Moore explains

Among the key findings: - The year he became president, 2017, he paid $750 in federal income tax; - In 11 of 18 years, he paid no federal income tax at all; - He has reported huge losses on many of high-profile businesses, including golf courses - a well-known method to reduce a tax bill;

- He has taken tax deductions for his lavish homes, aircraft, and for $70,000 in hairstyling; - He is under mounting financial pressure as he battles to keep a $72 million tax refund he received from the government. To be fair, the president has denied it all, dismissing the scoop as fake news. In a late evening press conference, he said the report isn’t true. To state the obvious, since the President has - by the reckoning of reputable fact-checkers - made 20,000 false or misleading claims, no one is likely to believe the denial.

Perhaps the president will be most distressed not by the revelations that he has been paying little or no tax, but by the newspaper claim that his wealth is largely a mirage. That is likely to puncture his reputation as a shrewd businessman who can help boost America’s economy. And that, after all, was his main point in running for the presidency in the first place. On Tuesday he walks onto a debate stage.

Democrat opposition Joe Biden is looking at an open goal.