The White House released President Trump’s tax return from 2005 on Tuesday, which showed that he paid $38 million on $150 million in income. This disproves the premise of a major New York Times story in the lead-up to the November election.
The Oct. 1 Times story was headlined: “Donald Trump Tax Records Show He Could Have Avoided Taxes for Nearly Two Decades, The Times Found.” The New York Times reporters wrote: “Donald J. Trump declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax returns, a tax deduction so substantial it could have allowed him to legally avoid paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years, records obtained by The New York Times show.”
This report was so substantial that Trump was asked about it at a presidential debate and responded that he used tax deductions in order to not pay federal income taxes, but did not say for how many years.
The tax return released Tuesday shows that the most time Trump could have deducted money from his 1995 tax return to avoid paying taxes is nine years. This is half the amount of time the Times implied was the case.
President Trump has attacked the Times throughout his presidency as a “failing” paper and “fake news.”