The most hilariously incorrect things The Washington Post found in Trump financial statements
A month after Michael Cohen testified that President Trump frequently inflated his wealth as a businessman, The Washington Post has obtained financial statements it says are full of obvious exaggerations and misstatements.
The Post on Thursday obtained some "Statements of Financial Condition" Trump provided to lenders and investors as a businessman from 2002 through 2013. Here are some of the key details from the report:
1. In one statement, Trump allegedly claimed he had 55 home lots for sale at his golf club, when in fact he only had 31 lots available. The difference is the equivalent of $72 million in future revenue, the Post says.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
2. Trump allegedly described Trump Tower as a "68 story bronze glass structure," even though Trump Tower only has 58 stories.
3. Trump reportedly claimed to own a 2,000-acre vineyard, even though the vineyard in question is only 1,200 acres.
4. Trump reportedly claimed an estate he owned was valued at $261 million, when local assessors actually valued it at about $20 million. He apparently got to this inflated number based on homes he didn't officially have approval to build.
5. Trump intentionally did not include information about two buildings he owns in one statement so that "readers can't get a full picture of how much he owes, and to whom," the Post writes.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
6. Trump in on document claimed that his net worth was $8.6 billion because his "brand value" is worth $4 billion. This was not present in previous statements, the Post says.
7. The report raised questions about whether Trump may have committed fraud with these statements, with George Conway, Kellyanne Conway's husband, writing on Twitter, "people go to prison for things like this."
8. One expert told the Post, however, that disclaimers Trump's accountants provided along with statements might put him in the clear, also arguing the records being so obviously ridiculous and incorrect could actually work in Trump's favor. After all, they're so "humorous" that he wondered if anyone could have possibly believed them anyway.
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
Ted Cruz teases big 2028 movesIN THE SPOTLIGHT The Texas Republican is playing his cards close to his chest, even as others in Washington start looking for hints about the arch-conservative’s future
-
The 9 best dark comedy TV shows of all timeThe Week Recommends From workplace satire to family dysfunction, nothing is sacred for these renowned, boundary-pushing comedies
-
Music reviews: Rosalía and Mavis Staplesfeature “Lux” and “Sad and Beautiful World”
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
-
Trump pivots on Epstein vote amid GOP defectionsSpeed Read The president said House Republicans should vote on a forced release of the Justice Department’s Jeffrey Epstein files
-
Trump DOJ sues to block California redistrictingSpeed Read California’s new congressional map was drawn by Democrats to flip Republican-held House seats
