News reports that President Donald Trump recently has paid as little as $750 a year in income taxes are “extraordinarily troubling,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday.
The New York Times has published the results a lengthy investigation into Trump’s tax records. Among other things, the report detailed huge business losses which allowed him to pay little in income taxes.
“When I think about the sacrifices that everyday Americans make to work their tails off just to put food on the table, clothing on the backs of their kids and to have shelter, and for someone to use every act possible not to pay his fair share and act like he’s this incredibly successful business man — disappointing is not the right word,” says Lightfoot.
Lightfoot added that the news puts a tax cut pushed through by Trump and a GOP-controlled Congress into new context.
“It doesn’t seem right and it explains why he’s going to great lengths to avoid allowing us as members of the public to take our measure of whether or not he’s living up to his responsibilities and his fair share,” she said.
“It puts the whole tax bill that he pushed through in a whole new light. I think it is extraordinarily troubling.”
Trump has fiercely guarded his tax filings and is the only president in modern times not to make them public. The Times reported he has paid no federal income taxes in 10 of the past 15 years.
The Times said it based its reporting on tax return data it obtained extending over two decades. Some details reveal a series of financial losses and income from abroad that could come into conflict with his responsibilities as president. The financial disclosures indicated Trump earned at least $434.9 million in 2018, but the tax filings reported a $47.4 million loss.
“It’s just a simple act of fairness,” said Lightfoot. “He needs to come clean and take ownership. If the reporting is true, he needs to apologize.”
Contributing: Associated Press
