Donald Trump Files His Second Personal Financial Disclosure, Which Is Not a Tax Return
Donald Trump has apparently filed his second annual personal financial disclosure form—not to be confused with a tax return—with the Federal Election Commission. On the last one, Trump confused revenue with income.
“I filed my PFD, which I am proud to say is the largest in the history of the FEC. Despite the fact that I am allowed extensions, I have again filed my report, which is 104 pages, on time,” Trump said in a press release today. (Actually, he filed early! The deadline is May 25.) “Bernie Sanders has requested, on the other hand, an extension for his small report. This is the difference between a businessman and the all talk, no action politicians that have failed the American people for far too long.”
“I have built an incredible company and have accumulated one of the greatest portfolios of real estate assets, many of which are considered to be among the finest and most iconic properties in the world. This is the kind of thinking the country needs.”
The disclosure reveals that Trump has seen, in the past year, a “revenue increase of approximately $190 million dollars (which does not include dividends, interest, capital gains, rents and royalties),” according to the press release. If this is true, this would be all the more impressive given how much damage Trump’s presidential campaign has done to his business.
As it happens, personal financial disclosures are just about the most opaque form of disclosure required of presidential candidates. Bloomberg Politics explained this time last year:
The rules require candidates to list their sources of income, transactions, liabilities and assets, all within broad ranges. They also must release information about their spouses and dependent children.
For people with many different assets, adding up all of those ranges can yield unhelpful results. For example, someone with holdings of $2 million in 10 stocks would report them all as $1 million to $5 million, meaning that the public would know only that the holdings were worth a total of $10 million to $50 million.
“They report everything in ranges, and the higher the value of the assets, the bigger that range is,” Daniel Auble, a senior researcher at the Center for Responsive Politics, told Bloomberg. “Accuracy is a problem.”
Apparently, the disclosure claims Trump’s annual income as in excess of $557 million, and that his net worth now exceeds $10 billion. It is not yet available for public review.