This September, President Trump’s tax returns became publicized after years of keeping it private. After Trump kept his tax records a secret for almost 15 years, the New York Times announced that President Trump only paid $750 in federal income taxes in 2016, which is the year he took office. Ever since then, the President has been exposed to have been in a long state of dealing with financial challenges.

Although Trump has only paid $750 in federal income taxes, his battle with the Internal Revenue Service of claiming over $72.9 million tax refunds has set him up to pay back an estimated 100 million dollars.

However, this leak has sparked controversy about whether or not Trump’s tax return findings are true. Alan Garten, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, said “Over the past decade, President Trump has paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government, including paying millions in personal taxes since announcing his candidacy in 2015.”

On the other side, Trump has been known to be a self-declared billionaire, proven as he has spent $700,000 in consulting fees for his daughter Ivanka. Additionally, he has put much of his money into risky investments. 

Steve Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, said “In part, this reflects the changing nature of Trump’s business operations. He used to be a pure real-estate mogul, but in the last 15 years, he’s made more money as a television star who licenses his name to various products. He’s been incredibly unsuccessful at owning and operating stuff in that time.”

Due to these tax allegations, Trump is currently falling behind in polls for the 2020 election.