Tax records show The Apprentice was a '$427 million lifeline' for Trump, New York Times found

The Apprentice came along in the nick of time for President Trump, The New York Times reports — the reality show's popularity allowed him to monetize his fame, and this "$427 million lifeline" gave Trump a huge boost financially after years of major losses.

The Times obtained tax return data for Trump covering more than two decades, and on Sunday, reported that he paid $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017. The records also show that in 10 of the previous 15 years, Trump paid no income taxes because he reported losing more money than he made. On Monday, the Times published part two of its deep-dive into the records, this time focusing on Trump's Apprentice years.

Over 16 years, Trump earned about $197 million directly from The Apprentice, and $230 million from licensing and endorsement deals linked to the show, with his face selling everything from Double Stuf Oreos to Serta mattresses to All laundry detergent. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Trump reported tens of millions in annual net losses on his income tax returns, but he began declaring positive adjusted gross income when the money started coming in from The Apprentice, the Times reports.

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Trump is an avid golfer, and when The Apprentice premiered in January 2004, he operated two golf courses and had two others that were undergoing renovations. From 2006 to 2016, Trump used his Apprentice money to buy 11 more golf courses, but they have been hemorrhaging money, the Times reports; tax records show from 2014 to 2017, Trump put $144.5 million into his Turnberry course in Scotland, despite the property reporting massive losses every year.

Trump had an arrangement with The Apprentice producer Mark Burnett, where they would split profits from product placements on the show, the Times reports. That helped Trump, but when ratings started to drop in 2011, Trump's Apprentice money also began drying up — he went from making $51 million that year to $21 million in 2014, and received less than $3 million in 2018. During the early 2010s, the Times says, Trump began selling millions in stocks and bonds and borrowed $100 million against his equity in Manhattan's Trump Tower. Read more at The New York Times.