Last year, The New York Times published a bombshell report that found Donald Trump had inherited some $400 million from his father, much of it through possibly illegal, highly questionable tax schemes. And now, a follow-up investigation has shown what the “very successful” businessman did with that money: he lost it all and then some, to the tune of over a billion dollars in 10 years. For instance, tax documents show that in 1989 President Art of the Deal lost $181.7 million, after purchasing Eastern Airlines, which never made a profit, for $365 million. In 1990 and 1991, which coincided with the opening of the Trump Taj Mahal Hotel and Casino, the genius businessman lost a combined $517.6 million. According to reporters Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig—who just won a Pulitzer for their reporting on Trump’s finances—between 1985 and 1994, the president hemorrhaged “more money than nearly any other individual American taxpayer,” so much so “that he was able to avoid paying income taxes for eight of the 10 years.”

Days before the story published, Charles Harder, a lawyer for the president, told the Times that the tax information was “demonstrably false” without citing a specific errors, later adding that “I.R.S. transcripts, particularly before the days of electronic filing, are notoriously inaccurate.” But on Wednesday, the president tried a different tactic, making the case on Twitter that those 10 figures worth of losses? They’re actually just another example of his phenomenal, unrivaled business acumen.

“Real estate developers in the 1980’s & 1990’s, more than 30 years ago, were entitled to massive write offs and depreciation which would, if one was actively building, show losses and tax losses in almost all cases,” Trump tweeted. “Much was non monetary. Sometimes considered ‘tax shelter,’ you would get it by building, or even buying. You always wanted to show losses for tax purposes . . . almost all real estate developers did—and often re-negotiate with banks, it was sport.” (As he is contractually obligated to do, Trump also added that “Additionally, the very old information put out is a highly inaccurate Fake News hit job!”)

Responding on Twitter, Craig wrote, “Some fraction of Donald Trump’s losses can be attributed to depreciation. We found most of it was just bad business,” which is not that hard to believe! This is, after all, a man who managed to bankrupt a casino, tried to sell Trump-branded steaks through Sharper Image, and thought 2006 was “a great time to start a mortgage company.” The only thing he was successful at—besides pretending to be successful businessman on TV—was losing his father’s money. Speaking of which, the kicker to the Times story has got to hurt:

While Donald Trump reported hundreds of millions of dollars in losses for 1990 and 1991, Fred Trump’s returns showed a positive income of $53.9 million, with only one major loss: $15 million invested in his son’s latest apartment project.

Of course, according to the gang at Fox and Friends, losing $1 billion is simply more evidence of Trump’s sheer fucking awesomeness, and another reason we should scrap the 2020 election and just go ahead and name him supreme leader of the universe. “If anything, you read this and you’re like ‘wow, it’s pretty impressive, all the things that he’s done in his life,” is a thing host Ainsley Earhardt actually said of the Times report. “It’s beyond what most of us could ever achieve.” It sure is, Ainsley. It sure is.

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