PALM BEACH, Fla. — Former President Donald Trump's tax returns are now public and show years of business losses.
Trump, who is preparing for a big New Year's Eve party at Mar-a-Lago, is clearly not happy about his taxes being released.
In a statement, he blamed radical left Democrats and said it was a dangerous two-way street. He also said the returns show how proudly successful he has been.
The thousands of pages of tax returns released Friday cover five years — 2016 to 2020 — and map out the finances of the former president.
"I think there are an incredible amount of red flags," Miami attorney Mark Schnapp said.
Schnapp specializes in defending financial cases and spent several years with the U.S. Attorney's Office in South Florida. He said the returns are long overdue for the former president.
"The bigger question, of course, is why he paid little or no taxes, particularly during the time he was president," Schnapp said. "If I were a postal worker, I would be concerned why the president of the United States is paying less tax than me."
According to the returns, there were significant losses totaled up among the Trump businesses and properties.
The returns showed that Trump paid only $750 in taxes each in 2016 and 2017 while claiming a $5 million refund in 2020.
While there may be questionable issues over accounting, deductions and interest payments, Schnapp said he doubts there is anything illegal. However, he said it is still important information for the American people to know.
"Here's a person who is running the United States as a president and yet he's running his businesses at a huge loss," Schnapp said. "This is really things the American public should have seen."
Also, despite pledging to donate his presidential salary, Trump's 2020 tax return does not show any charitable contributions, but they were reported in the three previous presidential years.