CLEVELAND, Ohio (NBC) – The first presidential debate is Tuesday night and on the eve of that long-anticipated showdown, a New York Times report about President Trump’s taxes has added a highly charged new talking point.
Before ever stepping foot in the debate hall in Cleveland, President Trump is already on defense fighting Democrats’ allegations that he “gamed the system” to avoid paying taxes.
President Trump will face pressing new questions about his taxes after the New York Times reported he paid just $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and ’17 and no federal income tax in 10 of the previous 15 years.
“It’s fake news,” Trump said of the report. “It’s totally fake news, made up, fake.”
President Trump is still bucking decades of tradition by refusing to release his tax returns while he’s under audit.
NBC News has not independently reviewed the 20-years’ worth of records the New York Times obtained. But according to the paper, the Trump business empire reported losing more money than it made, using those losses to avoid paying taxes.
Joe Biden’s campaign released a new video comparing taxes paid by teachers, firefighters and nurses to the president’s.
Some voters are voicing frustration, others are unswayed.
The New York Times also reported that over the next four years, more than $300 million in loans the president has personally guaranteed will come due. It’s unclear to whom he owes that money.
A Trump organization attorney told NBC News the Times investigation is “riddled with gross inaccuracies,” noting the president “has paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government.”
President Trump has paid federal taxes like Medicare, Social Security, and the Alternative Minimum Tax. He’s claimed in the past that his ability to avoid income taxes makes him a smart businessman.
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