By Steve Eder and Kitty Bennett
New York Times
Last August, Donald Trump was busy igniting a feud with Megyn Kelly, getting under Jeb Bush’s skin and flying around the country to thrill his supporters with promises to build a wall on the Mexican border.
That month, Trump announced a new hotel and tower in Bali, Indonesia. Then he embarked on a venture in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. And he soon set up another business in India with a focus on Kolkata.
While Trump has hopscotched the United States as a presidential candidate during the past year, it has been business as usual at the Trump Organization’s headquarters in New York, complete with new endeavors and international partnerships, according to entries in a 104-page financial disclosure form from Trump that was made public on Wednesday by the Federal Election Commission.
The document offered new details on the enterprises and the financial picture of Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee. The limitations of the form, however, made it impossible to calculate his specific net worth or to verify his claim that he is worth more than $10 billion.
Trump’s campaign said in a statement this week that the disclosure was “the largest in the history of the FEC,” saying it would show “tremendous cash flow,” including an increase in revenue, which was directed to new construction projects, reducing debt and funding the campaign, among other things.
A review of the disclosure form, which covered a period from January 2015 to the present, shows reported income of at least $615 million, an increase from $380 million a year earlier. Portions of the new income came from Trump’s sale of the Miss Universe franchise, as well as increased revenues from his golf courses and a reduction in some investment account holdings. Trump reported assets valued at a minimum of $1.5 billion.
The elections commission requires the forms so as to alert the government, and the public, about potential conflicts of interest for those seeking office. Candidates typically file the forms grudgingly, wary of divulging too much about their assets and debts, but Trump has wielded the forms like an advertisement of his wealth and his success as a businessman.
By contrast, Trump has been unwilling to publicize his recent tax returns, a traditional disclosure by major party candidates that is not required by law. His tax returns could provide a more precise figure than the financial disclosures of how much he actually earns each year, as well as how much he pays in taxes. Trump has cited Internal Revenue Service audits as a reason for not releasing his returns, and has pointed to his personal financial disclosures — which provide dollar figure ranges, but not actual amounts — as giving an alternate view of his wealth and income.
Trump has increasingly relied on his adult children to manage aspects of the business, freeing him to focus on his campaign.
But Trump is still involved, and the outsize disclosure form underscores the reach of his dealings — listing 564 “positions held” by Trump and 188 assets or sources of income. But it also highlights the potential for conflicts down the road if he is elected, and shows how he has juggled his finances as he uses his own money for his campaign.
For example, Trump reduced his holdings in several Baron mutual funds, which were worth between about $7.5 and $33 million when he made his disclosure a year ago. Those holdings now have minimal value, the form showed.
Trump also reported a new loan for at least $50 million from Deutsche Bank on the Old Post Office development in Washington, a hotel project. He reported overall liabilities of at least $315 million.
While Trump added new businesses, some went away. In one instance, Trump sold the Miss Universe pageant amid a squabble with television partners over remarks about immigrants he made during the campaign, a sale that resulted in income of about $50 million. Likewise, Macy’s terminated its agreements to sell his licensed products.
With an extensive stable of books, Trump reported income between $1 million and $5 million from his latest offering, “Crippled America.” A year earlier, he reported at least $85,000 in income from books. He reported royalties of $50,000 to $100,000 from his most famous book, “The Art of the Deal,” published in 1987.
His portfolio of golf courses continued to account for a dominant share of his revenue, including income of about $132 million from his course in Doral, Florida; $20.5 million from one in Bedminster, New Jersey; and $18 million from his course in Turnberry, Scotland.
Over the years, Trump has celebrated his ability to collect lucrative speaking fees. But his disclosure showed that he had halted that income stream during his campaign.
© 2016 The New York Times Company