Why has Donald Trump never released his tax returns in public knowledge? (Image Credits: @WhiteHouse/x)
Donald Trump's evasive response to publicly disclosing his tax returns has kept many investigative minds going in circles. The fact that the U.S. President has consistently declined to disclose them has fueled widespread suspicion. Moreover, Trump's past association with Jeffrey Epstein has repeatedly served as a reminder that the reality may be far different than previously assumed.
Recently, Trump expert, journalist, and author Michael Wolff spoke about what may have been the reason behind Trump's decision to withhold such a crucial detail. Wolff, who has penned four books on the U.S. President, claimed that this behavior aligns with the mindset Trump operates within. He spoke on The Daily Beast's podcast and traced it back to the 1990s, when the former businessman had accumulated nearly $1 billion in debt.
This was the time when his short-lived Trump Airlines venture had failed spectacularly, and several other ill-timed investments were also at risk. According to Wolff, Jeffrey Epstein emerged as a key figure for Trump and helped him orchestrate a fraudulent arrangement with banks to forgive his loans.
Additionally, he helped Trump find a way to avoid paying taxes altogether. Wolff said, "His situation was so extreme that, effectively, the banks had to agree to take a bath on this. They said, 'We are going to forgive you these debts.' That part of the story is totally unclear, but they forgave him these debts of up to $1 billion."
Wolff went on to mention that once the banks agreed to waive Trump's debts, the amount he owed ended up becoming his income. And theoretically, he was then supposed to pay taxes on this money as well. Forgiven debt for an individual actually counts as taxable income. It meant that Trump should have owed tens of millions again, but this time in the form of taxes. This time, it was Epstein who stepped in and helped Trump avoid the looming tax bill.
In fact, according to 1995 tax records, Trump had incurred a $916 million loss, which then permitted him to legally avoid paying federal income taxes for up to 18 years. But it was Epstein who made him believe that forgiven debt was not taxable, as he sidestepped IRS rules.
The author explained, "And it was, again, Epstein chortling his claim, that he was the one who told Trump that, actually, none of this was because of the nature, the nature of this, you really haven't gotten the money. It has never come in as income. And forgiveness sort of exists, in a different order of ether, unknown to the IRS, you just don't have to pay it, which Epstein would then come to later maintain was one of the key reasons that we've never, to this day, seen Donald Trump's tax returns."
There is no concrete proof of this alleged secret pact between Trump and Epstein. Nonetheless, if it proves to be true, it could turn out to be one of the most shocking cases of tax fraud committed by a U.S. president. As such, there has been considerable conjecture over Epstein and Trump's alleged links, particularly in relation to sex trafficking allegations involving Epstein at his estate.
Their relationship has long been viewed as complex, with recently released Epstein files purportedly showing that Trump spent hours with one of Epstein's victims at his residence. In response, the U.S. president has repeatedly denied any involvement with the offender and has dismissed all speculation as politically motivated.