Former President Donald Trump on Friday filed his personal financial disclosure report with the Federal Election Commission – offering the public a first look at his post-presidential finances.
The reports, however, provide an imprecise financial picture because candidates are only required to report their assets and liabilities in broad ranges. Friday’s filing allows Trump to avoid paying a $200 late fee after missing an earlier deadline to file the report, the first of his 2024 candidacy.
The 101-page report provided some new insights into Trump’s finances since he left office, including his social media business venture, and last year’s sale of digital trading cards known as NFTs, or non-fungible tokens.
Details from Trump’s post-presidency finances
The filing includes the listing of hundreds of Trump’s assets, from properties like his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to royalties from his books.
Trump reported more than $5 million in income from speaking engagements, according to the financial disclosure report.
The former president also reported earning between $100,001 to $1 million in income from NFTs according to the filing.
Additionally, he reported that Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., an umbrella company connected to his social media venture, Truth Social, is valued between $5,000,001 and $25 million. But Trump, who owns 90% of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., reported little to no income from that asset.
The filing underscores the global reach of Trump’s business interests as he campaigns for president yet again. He reported, for instance, more than $5 million in royalties from what is described as “DT Marks Oman LLC.”
The New York Times reported in November that the Trump Organization had struck a deal with a Saudi real estate company to build a Trump hotel, villa and golf course in Oman as part of a $4 billion project.
A Trump campaign spokesman did not respond to questions about the filing Friday evening.
Of the 16 books listed by Trump, “The Art of the Deal” – his 1987 memoir that dispensed business advice – was the biggest money-maker, netting royalties between $100,000 and $1 million, according to the disclosure. Most of the books drew royalties of less than $201.
According to the filing, the majority of former first lady Melania Trump’s income comes from royalties through MKT World LLC, which she lists between $1 million to $5 million, as well as rental income from a real estate deal in Slovenia, which provides between $1,000 to $15,000 in income.
Trump reported paying off six mortgages and taking on two more on his existing properties. Two of the mortgage payoffs, for Miami and Washington properties, were loaned by Deutsche Bank – which said it would refrain from future business with Trump in the wake of the January 6, 2021, insurrection. His Washington mortgage that was paid off was for the Old Post Office Building, which housed a Trump hotel near the White House. Trump’s company sold the lease on that property last year.
Late filing
Last month, Trump attorney Derek Ross wrote to the FEC, saying the former president needed “an additional 30 days” to finalize and file his report, given the “complexities of his financial holdings.”
Trump had previously sought and secured two, 45-day extensions on the filing deadline – the maximum allowed. Trump’s filing – after securing the two extensions – had been due March 15.
The Federal Election Commission’s Acting General Counsel Lisa Stevenson wrote in response to Ross’ request that Trump had exhausted all of his extensions. And she warned that Trump could face a $200 fee if he didn’t turn in the report within 30 days, under the federal law governing these disclosures.
“President Trump has significant financial holdings, and we have advised the Federal Election Commission that additional time is needed to file his financial disclosure report,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in an email to CNN, when asked about the delay last month.
Most presidential candidates – and White House officeholders – also release their tax returns for a more detailed picture of their finances. Trump steadfastly refused to do so during his previous candidacy and White House tenure.
Filing follows release of tax returns
Last year, House Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee released six years of Trump’s tax returns from 2015-2020, the culmination of a yearslong legal battle over their disclosure.
The thousands of pages of financial documents – which the committee sued to obtain after Trump broke decades of tradition of presidential candidates releasing their tax returns – provided the most detailed look to date at Trump’s finances, revealing that the former president paid little or no income taxes several years after claiming huge business losses before and during his presidency.
A Joint Committee on Taxation report on Trump’s tax returns showed that Trump carried forward huge net operating losses that often zeroed out his tax liabilities. Trump paid $750 in taxes in 2016 and 2017 and $0 in 2020 as he reported millions in losses.
The returns showed that Trump had business income, taxes, expenses or other financial items in nearly two-dozen countries, as well as multiple foreign bank accounts, including an account in China from 2015 to 2017.
Trump’s financial disclosure form filed in 2020 listed at least $446 million in revenue from dozens of sources, including his hotels, resorts, golf courses and royalties from books and television programming. Trump’s financial disclosure form appeared to list revenues for the Trump Organization as “income,” which is typically used to report only personal take-home pay or share of an asset – a move that gave an inflated view of Trump’s wealth.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
Source: www.cnn.com