Here's the proof that Donald Trump's assertion that financial information is superior to tax returns is false

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Trump has earned at least $ 434 million in 2018, which is – and this is a scientific term – a lot! But of course, we already knew that Trump was rich. So that you can debate just How It is rich, most of these conversations start with billions, which means you have a huge amount of money.

What this financial information does not show us – in detail – is a) how much, precisely, Trump did (and from where) and b) how much his business owes – and to whom.

The range in the financial disclosure report makes this kind of specificity laughable. Trump is only required to report income in general categories such as $ 1 million to $ 5 million or more than $ 5 million. This width renders useless any attempt at forensic analysis.

This brings me to Trump's usual thesis that financial statement forms are far more telling about his financial situation than his tax returns. (Trump is the only president after Watergate has refused to disclose his previous tax returns.) This is how Trump said that at a press conference he held in the aftermath of the mid-term elections. mandate of 2018:

"People do not understand tax returns, and now I have a (financial) deposit of over a hundred pages, I believe, in the offices, and when people went to see the deposit and have Given the scale They were very disappointed and they saw the – you know, the details.You get a lot more of that.And I guess we've classified this, now, three times.But you get a lot more of that than you could never get a tax return. "

You do not. Period. No tax expert or financial expert would say that. According to Forse Forse Peterson-Withorn, citing federal ethics laws: "Trump must disclose the companies he owns, but not their true value or the exact amount of his earnings. not to indicate who his trading partners are or disclose any of the debts held by his companies. "

With a normal president, this might not be such a big problem. After all, most presidents before Trump had not had the kind of gigantic global society he was sitting in before being elected. Former presidents also revealed at least some of their old tax returns. And in general, they place their businesses in a blind trust – meaning that their investments, their gains and losses were managed by a neutral third party – without any influence from the president.

Trump did not do any of these things. While Trump was saying that he was completely confiding Trump's affairs to his sons, Don Jr. and Eric, and that he was completely isolating himself from the company, subsequent reports showed that it's just not the case. As CNN's Jill Disis pointed out in 2017:

"He has the right to receive cash payments from companies when he wishes. (…) According to the clause, Trump may receive" net income or capital "from his trust when he asks for it and when the administrators managing his account, his two oldest sons and a leader of the Trump Organization – consider it necessary. "

Which does not really correspond to "isolate completely" from the company.

The reality of publishing its annual financial disclosure report is that Trump is simultaneously: a) the modern president who has the most fingers in various pots and sources of revenue and b) the least transparent modern president about his assets and its relationship while being in office for them.

Like him or hate him, these are facts. And they clearly indicate that Trump's financial transparency claims are just words.

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