NYT Sees 'Highly Unusual' Trump Windfall in Tax Returns

$21M from his Vegas hotel came when his 2016 campaign needed it badly
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 9, 2020 2:20 PM CDT
NYT Sees 'Highly Unusual' Trump Windfall in Tax Returns
President Trump stands on the balcony outside of the Blue Room as returns to the White House on Monday.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The New York Times is out with an another story on President Trump's tax returns, and this time it's focusing on what is described as a "highly unusual" windfall of more than $21 million Trump received in 2016—just when his campaign needed it most. The money came from a Las Vegas hotel he owns with mogul Phil Ruffin. According to the story, the cash flowed through multiple Trump-controlled companies and then to Trump himself. Most of it, however, went through a firm called Trump Las Vegas Sales and Marketing, which "had little previous income, no clear business purpose and no employees," per the Times. It was all written off as a business expense, and the series of transactions strikes one financial expert quoted in the story as a little fishy.

"Why all of a sudden does this company have more than $20 million in fees that haven’t been there before?" asks Daniel Shaviro, a professor of taxation at the New York University School of Law. "And all of this money is going to a man who just happens to be running for president and might not have a lot of cash on hand?" If the money wasn't used for business expenses, Trump could run into legal trouble. The story reaches no conclusion on this, but it notes that Trump unexpectedly came up with $10 million for his campaign at a time when banks and GOP donors were hesitant to give him money. The infusion left "many people wondering where the burst of cash had come from." A White House spokesperson dismisses the story as "yet another politically motivated hit piece inaccurately smearing a standard business deal." Read the full story. (More President Trump stories.)

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