Donald Trump earned $197 million from appearing on The Apprentice and a further $230 million from deals that followed, tax records show.
The reality TV show and the licensing and endorsement agreements it brought were among his biggest money-makers, The New York Times reported on Monday.
Thanks to a deal he made with producers of the show in 2005 alone, Trump raked in $47.8million because of a deal which entitled him to half the show’s profits.
The money handed Trump a financial lifeline, the Times said Monday. He had relied on heavy losses across his business empire to help nearly erase his federal income tax bill, according to the paper’s report Sunday.
The details of the tax filings published Sunday complicate Trump’s description of himself as a shrewd and patriotic businessman, revealing instead a series of financial losses and income from abroad that could come into conflict with his responsibilities as president.
The president’s financial disclosures indicated he earned at least $434.9 million in 2018, but the tax filings reported a $47.4 million loss. Losses in the property businesses solely owned and managed by Trump appear to have offset income from his stake in ‘The Apprentice’ and other entities with multiple owners.
Trump dismissed the story as ‘fake news’ at a news conference on Sunday.
Donald Trump earned $197 million from appearing on The Apprentice and a further $230 million from deals that followed, tax records show
The report shows how in total, between 2000 and 2018, he made $197 million from the show. Licensing deals sprang up afterwards, netting him another $230million. They included $500,000 from Domino’s in 2005
He also netted 3.8million from Serta Mattresses in 2013
The report shows how in total, between 2000 and 2018, he made $197 million from The Apprentice. Licensing deals sprang up afterwards, netting him another $230million.
They included $500,000 from Domino’s in 2005, $3.8million from Serta Mattresses in 2013, $11million from a Trump International Hotel Waikiki licensing deal in 2010 and $2.9million from Trump Towers Istanbul licensing deal.
Trump, who campaigned for office as a billionaire real estate mogul and successful businessman, also netted half a million to sell Double Stuf Oreos and $850,000 to pitch laundry detergent All brand.
Seminars that promised ‘the secrets and strategies that have made Donald Trump a billionaire’ also made him cash. He made $300,000 at one event speaking in Dayton, Ohio. He earned royalties of $1.4 million from book Think Big and Kick Ass: In Business and Life.
Trump had told an NBC producer: ‘Even if it doesn’t get ratings, it’s still going to be great for my brand.’
Apprentice producer Bill Pruitt told The New Yorker in 2018: ‘We walked through the offices and saw chipped furniture.
‘We saw a crumbling empire at every turn. Our job was to make it seem otherwise.’
In the two years before The Apprentice Trump had made less than a million in ad campaigns; in the two years after it started that figure reached $5.2 million.
Trump neckties, shirts and underwear netted him $15 million; he took $100,000 from Warner Music to appear on cellphone ringtones.
The president has been aggressive in claiming certain business expenses that further shrank his tax bill, according to the Times.
That includes $70,000 in hairstyling expenses tied to ‘The Apprentice,’ his former television program, and classifying a New York property described by the Trump Organization as a family retreat as an investment property to write off millions in property taxes.
Trump Tower and Trump World Tower in Manhattan are also money makers. The first made $336million in profit between 2000 and 2018, and the latter made $167million in profit in the same time period.
Trump has a 30 percent stake in two other office buildings that are operated by Vornado, one of the city’s most prominent commercial landlords, which netted him $176.5million.
But The Times report also found that Trump has been feuding with the Internal Revenue Service for the last decade over a nearly $73 million tax refund he previously claimed.
If the IRS were to prevail in its audit, which has seemingly stalled in recent years, Trump could be responsible for paying over $100 million to the government.
Trump, who campaigned for office as a billionaire real estate mogul and successful businessman, also netted $850,000 to pitch laundry detergent All brand in 2005
onald Trump speaks at The Learning Annex Think Big Day at the Convention Center in 2006
When Trump announced his candidacy in 2015, The Apprentice was axed by NBC Universal and Miss Universe also cut ties with him. It was a costly move, taking away a chunk of his income. He had been making $2million-a-year from Miss Universe
Trump said on Monday he paid ‘many millions of dollars in taxes’ and that he had many more assets than debt
The president has frequently pointed to his far-flung hotels, golf courses and resorts as evidence of his success as a developer and businessman.
Yet The Times reported that Trump has claimed $315 million in losses since 2000 on his golf courses, including the Trump National Doral near Miami, which Trump has portrayed as a crown jewel in his business empire.
Likewise, his Trump International Hotel in Washington has lost $55 million, the Times reported.
Trump bought up golf clubs and properties to turn into golf clubs after raking in hundreds of millions of dollars through The Apprentice and endorsement and licensing deals that were associated with it.
They however continue to labor his portfolio of businesses with their losses.
Thanks to a deal he made with producers of the show in 2005 alone, Trump raked in $47.8million because of a deal which entitled him to half the show’s profits
When Trump announced his candidacy in 2015, The Apprentice was axed by NBC Universal and Miss Universe also cut ties with him. It was a costly move, taking away a chunk of his income.
He had been making $2million-a-year from Miss Universe.
However it boosted memberships at Mar-a-Lago, his ‘winter White House’. In 2016, the club took in $7.8million in membership fees.
Many signed up enthusiastically with the hope of getting access to the president, who frequents social events at the property.
Trump, who has fiercely guarded his tax filings and is the only president in modern times not to make them public.
In 2016 and 2017, he paid just $750 in federal income taxes, according to the Times.
In 10 of the previous 15 years, Trump paid no federal income taxes at all. Despite reporting hundreds of millions of dollars in income, Trump effectively erased his tax bill by reporting heavy losses across his business interests.
The Times reported that Trump appeared to be responsible for $421 million in loans coming due in the next four years.
Trump’s lawyer Alan Garten, said that ‘most, if not all, of the facts appear to be inaccurate’.
He added: ‘Over the past decade, President Trump has paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government, including paying millions in personal taxes since announcing his candidacy in 2015.’
Bill de Blasio announces investigation into whether Donald Trump paid city taxes saying it’s ‘a foregone conclusion’ that he ‘cheated New York City’ out of millions
The mayor of New York has said he will task the city’s finance department with investigating whether Donald Trump has paid his city taxes, in the wake of a bombshell New York Times investigation into the president’s finances.
Bill de Blasio said on Monday night that he had his suspicions that the president swindled his hometown.
Trump paid zero federal income taxes in 10 out of 15 recent years, the New York Times reported.
‘I think we can guarantee based on the information in the New York Times that he hasn’t paid his city taxes the way he should have,’ the mayor said, speaking on NY1.
Donald Trump, pictured on Monday, has been accused of paying only $750 in income taxes
Bill de Blasio, mayor of New York, has said his city’s finance department is investigating
‘Our city finance department will get to work right away to determine if in fact the president of the United States cheated New York City on his taxes.
‘I think it’s a foregone conclusion at this point, given everything we’ve seen from this guy.’
Trump paid just $750 in income tax in 2015 and 2016, the Times reported Sunday.
The president was quick to dismiss the revelations as ‘fake news’, although he was unable to pinpoint specific inaccuracies.
De Blasio described the findings in the Times report as ‘appalling.’
‘I think a lot of his supporters are going to look at this and be very angry,’ he said.
Donald Trump has lived in Trump Tower since 1983, but is now registered in Florida
A year ago, in late September 2019, Trump switched his primary residence from New York to Florida, according to documents filed with the Palm Beach County Circuit Court.
Melania Trump, the first lady, also changed her residence to Palm Beach in an identical document.
Each of the Trumps filed a ‘declaration of domicile’ saying that the Mar-a-Lago Club, Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, will be their permanent residence.
Florida, which does not have a state income tax or inheritance tax, has long been a place for the wealthy to escape the higher taxes of the Northeast.
By contrast, New York state’s top tax rate is nearly 9 per cent, and New York City’s top rate is nearly 4 per cent.
The New York Times had laready obtained copies of Donald Trump’s tax returns from 1995. Pictured are published pages of those returns
At the time, however, Trump insisted the relocation was nothing to do with taxes, and was rather a response to the hostility he has faced from the city’s leaders.
‘They haven’t treated me properly,’ he said.
‘I pay millions of taxes. Millions and millions of dollars in New York and they’ve never treated me, you know, since I became president, they just haven’t treated, I think the office with the kind of respect.’
He then added: ‘I don’t mind paying the taxes. New York is a very expensive place to live.’