The Trump Family Legacy: Wealth and Inherited Problems

the Trump family Legacy wealth and inherited problems the president has long sold himself as a self-made billionaire but at times investigation found that he received at least $413 million in today's dollars from his father's real estate Empire much of it through tax Dodges in the 1990s president Trump participated in dubious tax schemes during the 1990s including instances of outright fraud that greatly increased the for he received from his parents an investigation by the New York Times is found Mr Trump won the presidency proclaiming himself a self-made billionaire and he has long insisted that his father the legendary New York City Builder Fred C Trump provided almost no financial help but the time's investigation based on a vast Trove of confidential tax returns and financial records reveals that Mr Trump received the equivalent today of at least $413 million from his father real estate Empire starting when he was a toddler and continuing to this day much of this money came to Mr Trump because he helped his parents Dodge taxes he and his siblings set up a sham Corporation to disguise millions of dollars in gifts from their parents records and interview show records indicate that Mr Trump helped his father take improper tax deductions worth millions more he also helped formulate a strategy to undervalue his parents real estate holdings by hundreds of millions of dollars on tax returns sharply reducing the tax bill when those properties were transferred to him and his siblings these Maneuvers met with Little Resistance from the Internal Revenue Service the times found the president's parents Fred and Mary Trump transferred well over $1 billion in wealth to their children which could have produced a tax bill of at least $550 million under the 55% tax rate then imposed on gifts and inheritance the trumps paid a total of $ 52.2 million or about 5% tax record show the president declined repeated requests over several weeks to comment for this article but a lawyer for Mr Trump Charles Jade harder provided a written statement on Monday one day after the times sent a detailed description of its findings the New York Times allegations of Fraud and tax evasion are 100% false and highly defamatory Mr Harter said there was no fraud or tax evasion by anyone the facts upon which the times bases its false allegations are extremely inaccurate Mr Harter sought to distance Mr Trump from The Tax Strategies used by his family saying the president had delegated those tasks to relatives and tax professionals president Trump had virtually no involvement whatsoever with these matters he said the Affairs were handled by other Trump family members who were not experts themselves and therefore relied entirely upon the aforementioned licensed professionals to ensure full compliance with the law the president's brother Robert Trump issued a statement on behalf of the Trump family our dear Father Fred C Trump passed away in June 1999 our beloved mother Maryanne Trump passed away in August 2000 all appropriate gift and estate tax returns were filed and the required taxes were paid our father's estate was closed in 2001 by both the Internal Revenue Service and the New York state tax authorities and our mother's estate was closed in 2004 our family has no other comment on these matters that happened some 20 years ago and would appreciate your respecting the privacy of our deceased parents may God Rest their souls the times's findings rais new questions about Mr Trump's refusal to release his income tax returns breaking with Decades of practice by P presidents according to tax experts it is unlikely that Mr Trump would be vulnerable to criminal prosecution for helping his parents aade taxes because the acts happened too long ago and are past the statute of limitations there is no time limit however on civil fines for tax fraud the findings are based on interviews with Fred Trump's former employees and advisers and more than 100,000 pages of documents describing the inner workings and immense profitability of his Empire they include documents called from public sources mortgages and deeds propit records Financial disclosure reports regulatory records and civil court files the investigation also draws on tens of thousands of pages of confidential records bank statements Financial audits accounting ledgers cash dispersement reports invoices and canceled checks most notably the documents include more than 200 tax returns from Fred Trump his companies and various Trump Partnerships and trusts while the records do not include the president's personal tax returns and reveal little about his recent business dealings at home and abroad dozens of corporate partnership and Trust tax returns offer the first public accounting of the income he received for decades from various family Enterprises what emerges from this body of evidence is a financial biography of the 45th president fundamentally at odds with the story Mr Trump has sold in his books his TV shows and his political life in Mr Trump's version of how he got rich he was the master dealmaker who broke free of his father's tiny outer burrow operation and parlay a single $1 million loan from his father I had to pay him back with interest into a 10 Billion Dollar Empire that would slap the Trump name on hotels highrises casinos Airlines and golf courses the world over in Mr Trump's version it was always his guts and gumption that overcame setbacks Fred Trump was simply a cheerleader I built what I built myself Mr Trump has said a narrative that was long Amplified by of in credulous coverage from news organizations including the times certainly a handful of journalists and biographers notably Wayne Barrett Gwenda Blair David K Johnston and Timothy L O'Brien have challenged this story especially the claim that is worth $10 billion they described how Mr Trump peed backed off his father's banking connections to gain a foothold in Manhattan real estate they poked holes in his go to Talking Point about the $1 million loan citing evidence that he actually got $14 million they told how Fred Trump once helped his son make a bond payment on an Atlantic City casino by buying $3.5 million in casino chips but the times that investigation of the Trump family's finances is unprecedented in scope and precision offering the first comprehensive look at the inherited fortune and tax Dodges that guaranteed Donald J Trump a gilded life the reporting makes clear that in every era of Mr Trump's life his finances were deeply intertwined with and dependent on his father's wealth by age three Mr Trump was earning $200,000 a year in today's dollars from his father's Empire he was a millionaire by aing by the time he was 17 his father had given him part ownership of a 5 2unit apartment building soon after Mr Trump graduated from college he was receiving the equivalent of $1 million a year from his father the money increased with the years to more than $5 million annually in his 40s and 50s Fred Trump's real estate Empire was not just scores of apartment buildings it was also a mountain of cash tens of millions of dollars in profits building up inside his businesses banking record show in one 6ear span from 1988 through 1993 Fred Trump reported $19.7 million in total income now equivalent to $21.7 million it was not unusual for tens of millions in treasury bills and certificates of deposit to flow through his personal bank accounts each month Fred Trump was relentless and creative in finding ways to channel this wealth to his children he made Donald not just his salaried employee but also his property manager landlord banker and consultant he gave him loan after loan but many never repaid he provided money for his car money for his employees money to buy stocks money for his first Manhattan offices and money to renovate those offices he gave him three trust funds he gave him shares in multiple Partnerships he gave him $10,000 Christmas checks he gave him laundry revenue from his buildings what do you think of our video let me know in the comments section below before you go please hit the like button and subscribe to my channel thanks for watching