Tax return: what is Donald Trump afraid of?
A few weeks before the presidential election, scheduled for November 8, the Republican candidate for the White House still refuses to publish his tax return. Enough to fuel doubts about his fortune.
Real estate mogul Donald Trump, Republican candidate for the White House, will he finally give in? This time, it is Reid Hoffman, one of the founders of the professional social network Linkedin who promises to pay up to $ 5 million to veterans, to support the action of a former Marine, if the candidate for the American presidential election publish its income before October 19.
The announcement by this Silicon Valley entrepreneur is actually a snub to Trump. In 2012, while Barack Obama is running for his own re-election, the billionaire pledges $ 5 million to a charity of Obama's choice, on the condition that the Democratic candidate makes public his university report cards and requests. passport, recalls Reid Hoffman, in a post on Medium.
At the time, Trump even called Obama "the least transparent president in the history of the country", even going so far as to doubt the veracity of his birth certificate, which was published by the president to put an end to the controversy. .
Do what I say...
But now, since that date, the champion of transparency has been very discreet. For months, Donald Trump has been claiming not to be able to make his tax return public, which has nevertheless been a prerequisite for presidential candidates since 1976. His excuse: he is audited of the American tax authorities which prevents him from revealing these famous documents.
Yet even his own camp ended up undergoing the traditional procedure. Mike Pence, his running mate, released his tax returns for the past ten years on Friday. "These statements are made public with the full support of Mr. Trump, who plans to release his own statements following a routine audit of which he is subject," however, said a statement from the team. campaign of the Republican candidate.
For her part, her Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, continues to keep up the pressure. Last week, she again hinted that this denial of transparency was revealing. He "really has something to hide," she said on the sidelines of his campaign in Florida.
Trump, not so rich?
In May, the Democratic candidate posted on Twitter a video devoted to "four things Donald could hide in his tax sheets."
Among the guesses evoked in this video, Clinton then advanced the possibility that Trump was lying about his true fortune. While the billionaire has shaped the image of an extremely wealthy and skillful business man in business (a pledge of his ability to lead the United States), a Guardian investigation, published a few weeks ago, wavers the "myth".
Thus, Trump's financial situation would be less rosy than he suggests: in 2012, he had $ 4.2 billion, according to documents submitted to the SEC, the policeman of the stock market, reports the Guardian.
In a survey published by Forbes in October 2015, the famous magazine known for its rankings of fortunes, claimed to have interviewed more than 80 sources and to have come to the following conclusion: Trump's fortune does not exceed $ 4.5 billion. An amount far from the 10 billion dollars announced by the principal concerned at the beginning of his campaign.
Another observation to add to the list, that of the New York Times. In an August 20 article, the newspaper reports that the Republican candidate's companies have accumulated debt of at least $ 650 million, double the amount Trump announced.
Bad payer ?
A few weeks ago, billionaire Warren Buffett, supporter of Hillary Clinton, invited Donald Trump to make his tax declaration public, saying that the Republican candidate was more "afraid" of voters than of the tax administration.
In an interview with CBS in August 2015, the candidate for the White House assured that he was fighting to pay as little tax as possible. "First, because I am a businessman, and that's how we're supposed to do it, "he explained on this occasion.
