-One of the greatest tax cheats
in American history, a criminally negligent sociopath
who lost the popular vote and is overseeing
the preventable deaths of hundreds of thousands
of Americans is on the verge
of putting a third justice on the Supreme Court, and Republicans
are full steam ahead. This has been "A Closer Look." Oh! Wait. I'm sorry. I meant, it's time
for "A Closer Look.". ♪♪ Every day, every single day,
Donald Trump, one of the most irritating,
unlikable, off-putting individuals
in American history invades our national
consciousness by commandeering the spotlight,
saying something psychotic, and forcing us all
to think about him. On top of everything else that
sucks about the Trump era, it's exhausting. When my head
hits the pillow at night, I think in his voice, [ As Trump ]
Did I leave the oven on? I should go check. Of course, if it's on,
that's not my fault. Seriously, I have a 4-year-old
and a 2-year-old, and even they don't demand
my attention this much. Because even
on their worst days, kids don't [bleep] themselves
every five minutes. Again? I just changed you. For example, Trump has learned
he can distract from the news of the day
and force the media to cover whatever crazy nonsense
he feels like saying by pretending to hold a news
conference at the White House that almost always ends up
turning into a campaign rally/therapy
session, and apparently, I'm not the only
one who feels this way, because as Fox News tuned into
Trump's latest gripe session last night at the White House,
a hot mic caught someone expression their frustration
live on air. -I guess we have
the president here. -Oh [bleep] -I hear you, disembodied voice.
I hear you. Wait, was that...the voice
of the White House? Has the White House resisted
using its magical power of speech for centuries,
only to finally cave at a Trump press conference to
utter an exhausted "Oh [bleep]"? Like, are we just gonna start
hearing the internal monologue of the building itself now? -I guess we have the president
here. -Oh, here we go again
with this [bleep] guy. And stop getting ketchup
on my curtains. They're not napkins.
-[ Laughs ] Trump used the occasion to spew
his usual BS from his deranged claim
that Joe Biden is on performance-enhancing
drugs to the lie that mail balloting
leads to fraud. But even Trump with his vast
powers of distraction could not pull focus away from
Sunday night's bombshell story. "The New York Times" reported
about Trump's serial tax cheating
and business losses, and this story
didn't go back decades to dig up some embarrassing
details about Trump's early years
in real estate. This was about how much
he paid in taxes as a candidate
and then as president. -President Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes
in both 2016 and 2017. That's according to a report
by "The New York Times," which says it obtained more than
two decades of tax return data for the president
and his companies. According to "The Times,"
Mr. Trump paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous
15 years, largely because
he reported losing much more money than he made. -That's such a great picture
of him in that "New York Times" story. It's like they asked him
to pose for it. "Yeah, we just want to get you
through the window of your car. I don't know, just look like
someone that doesn't pay taxes." Also, $750?! I paid more than that
in Blockbuster late fees. I'm serious, in 1993, I took out
a copy of "The Prince of Tides," then I loaned it
to my stoner friend who sold it in a yard sale,
and when Blockbuster shut down, I owed 'em 750 bucks. So I hope you enjoyed
Nolte and Babs, Scooch. I hope you enjoyed 'em. Seriously, I'm having trouble
wrapping my head around just how corrupt this is. A man who claims to be one
of the most successful business moguls in America who
claims he's worth $10 billion, who's cast himself
as a patriotic hero of the working class
paid $750 in taxes to the federal government while he was president
of the United States. Jesus, dude, we are paying
your room and board. You can't even make it
an even grand? On top of everything else,
it's so brazen. I'm shocked we don't have
surveillance video of Trump sneaking out of Fort Knox
with gold bars stuffed in his pockets. Maybe that's why his coat's
always so bulky. Just stole a bunch of coins
from the US Mint. "Mr. President,
just before takeoff, we're gonna need
everybody's weight." [ As Trump ] Well, let's see.
I'm like a buck-80, but Melania,
she's like an even 1,200. [ As Melania ] Donald!
[ As Trump ] Be cool, Melania. My coat's full of loot. Just be cool for once, Melania. [ Normal voice ]
In fact, that basically is what Trump's been doing. He's been bilking donors
and taxpayers for millions of dollars
at his private clubs and golf courses while lobbyists
and foreign officials pour money into his hotels
to curry favor with him, and now we know why --
The dude's broke! "The Times" reports
President Trump's core businesses,
from his golf courses to his Washington, D.C., hotel, had been losing millions
of dollars year after year. Also dangling over
the president's head, a decade-long audit by the IRS
over the legitimacy of a nearly $73 million tax
refund that Trump received. An adverse ruling in that case
could cost Mr. Trump more than $100 million,
and he's personally responsible for loans and other debts
totaling $421 million, most of it coming due
within four years. -So now we know
why Trump's so desperate to stay in the White House. He needs the free housing.
He need a place to crash. He's your deadbeat friend
who refuses to get a job because he's still working on
his idea for an app that tells you which
Chipotle locations have the hottest cashiers. "I just need to crash with you until I get Chipot-bae
off the ground. And then, it's just soaring
to the skies." Trump's the Dupree
of the White House. Oh, that's another one I forgot
to return to Blockbuster. I hope you enjoyed the laid-back
antics of Owen Wilson, Scooch. I hope you did. So, Trump paid virtually nothing
in taxes in 2016 and 2017. It's one thing to do this while you're just a New York
real-estate grifter, but it's especially brazen
to do it while you're a sitting
president. That means
he was in the Oval Office on the phone with his accountant
saying, what, [ As Trump ]
890 bucks seems like a lot. Could we get it down to $750? It was $750 last year. I feel like that was
more than fair. [ Normal voice ] But because
of his business entaglements across the world,
which by the way, are almost certainly
unconstitutional, he did pay a lot more
to foreign governments. In 2017, the president's $750
contribution to the operations of the US government was dwarfed
by the $15,598 he or his companies
paid in Panama, the $145,400 in India, and the $156,824
in the Philippines. Amazing, the president
of the United States paid more in taxes to Panama than he did
to the United States. Maybe that's why Trump
keeps asking other countries to help in the election.
He thinks they owe him. [ As Trump ] Hello, Philippines, do you have any dirt
on Joe Biden? If you do, I will pay my taxes
in full again this year. And by the way,
this report is not isolated. We already know Trump
is a prolific tax cheat who's swindled the American
people for decades. "The Times" previously reported
that Trump lost $1 billion in over a decade
in the '80s and '90s and avoided paying income taxes
for 8 of those 10 years. And in congressional testimony,
his ex-fixer Michael Cohen told Congresswoman
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that Trump may well have
committed tax fraud by lying about the value
of his assets to save money. -To your knowledge, was the
president interested in reducing his local real-estate bills,
tax bills? -Yes. -And how did he do that? -What you do is you deflate
the value of the asset and then you put in a request
to the tax department for a deduction. -Of course, with Trump it
was probably hard to tell that he was deflating
the value of his assets since everything he owns
eventually turns to [bleep] anyway. He says his casino's worth $0, but I guess that makes sense, the slot machine only
has two reels. Now, what Cohen alleged
there is illegal. And we know Trump is already
under investigation by both the Manhattan D.A. and the New
York State Attorney General. With the D.A.'s office
even suggesting Trump could be indicted for tax fraud. But to my mind, what's legal is
just as much of a scandal here. Trump took advantage of
a labyrinth tax system designed to protect his wealth and shield him from
consequences. In fact, he and his allies
have long argued they'd rather be ashamed
of this behavior. He should be proud of it. -The reality is, this
is part of our tax code. The man's a genius, he knows
how to operate the tax code. -There's no one who's shown more
genius in their way to maneuver around the tax code as he rightfully used
the laws to do that. -As a businessman and
real-estate developer, I have legally used the tax laws
to my benefit. I have brilliantly -- I have
brilliantly used those laws. -Maybe he doesn't want
the American people, all of you watching tonight,
to know that he's paid nothing
in federal taxes because the only years
that anybody's ever seen were a couple of years when he
had to turn them over to state authorities when he was
trying to get a casino license and they showed he didn't
pay any federal income tax. So, if he's paid --
-That makes me smart. -No one who's actually smart
ever says, "That makes me smart." When Einstein unveiled his
theory of relativity, he didn't lean into
the mic and say, "Get ready, guys,
it's genius o'clock." More importantly, it
doesn't make you smart, it makes you powerful. There are plenty of smart people
who pay their taxes in full every year, because they don't
have the armies of accountants and vampire lawyers that
rich people like Trump or companies like Amazon have. Regular Americans can't
get away with this stuff because the law or the IRS would
come down hard on them. A ProPublica investigation
found that the five counties with the highest audit rates are all predominantly
African American, rural counties in
the Deep South. Meanwhile, the Trumps
and Amazons of the world skate by without any consequence
and that's because the system is rigged to protect them. if the IRS found out you did
what Trump is accused of, your response would be... That's the big takeaway here.
Trump is not unique. He's the product and enabler
of a corrupt system that shields the wealthiest and
most powerful in our society while crushing everyone else. 91 companies paid no federal
taxes in 2018. Companies like Amazon,
Chevron, or Starbucks. Meanwhile, tens of millions of
Americans are out of work, facing eviction, struggling
to afford health care, and waiting in line
at food banks. Trump and his allies don't just
benefit from that system, they're trying to preserve it,
which is why they're so deeply invested in making
sure he stays in power any way they can.
Remember, the 2017 tax law that wrote in so many obscure
tax loopholes to benefit the wealthy, they were literally
scrawling in the margins of the bill at the last minute. -It's the night we're gonna
be voting on the tax bill. I just got the tax bill
25 minutes ago. This is the tax bill. See how thick it is. [ Thuds ] This is what it looks like. Oh, no, let's look at the bill. This is what it really
looks like. I want you to take a
look at this, folks. This is your government at work. Here's the bill as it's written. Here's the modifications
that are in it. I can read one word, it's called
"Add this language." Can you tell me what
that word is? If you can, you got
better eyes than me. -They scribbled tax loopholes
in the margins like a high school senior
signing a year book. "K.I.T. C U next year!!!" Trump and the people
like him were protected and enriched
by a rigged system. Then they got in office
and rigged it even more and now they're desperate
to preserve that system, which is why they're pulling
out all the stops to raise to get a 6-3
conservative super majority on the Supreme Court after people have already
started voting. Trump's nominee, Amy Coney
Barrett, has a history of ruling against workers and consumers
and for big business. Which is why right wing
billionaire Charles Koch has already launched a campaign to get her confirmed on
Saturday. Trump officially announced
his nomination of Barrett. Although, I have to say, he
didn't sound quite as excited as you'd expect. -Now we gather in
the rose garden to continue our never-ending
task of ensuring equal justice and preserving the impartial
rule of law. The entire Notre Dame law
facility and faculty, everybody -- everybody
at that school also, we got so many letters
also wrote, letters of support of Amy's
nomination to the 7th Circuit. -Classic facility
and the faculty. Buddy, you call Biden
low energy? You sound like a transistor
radio that's low on batteries. I'm surprised he didn't have
to slap himself in the face like a long-haul trucker
trying to stay awake. [ As Trump ] Only 12 hours till
Phoenix. You can make it! [ Normal voice ] The reality
is Trump is bored because he couldn't care less
about the Supreme Court or the Constitution
or whatever else Stephen Miller wrote for him
to say on Saturday. I guarantee you he flipped
through that speech five minutes before he gave it
the way you flip through a "Golf Digest" at
a dentist office. This was the bargain Trump
made with conservatives in the institutional
Republican Party. They'd put up with his racism
and his corruption and his incompetence
and his abuses of power as long as he gave
them the tax cuts and the conservative Supreme
Court majority they've long wanted.
Over 200,000 Americans are dead from an out of control pandemic. And the president has just been
exposed as one of the greatest tax cheats in American history. And the strongest condemnation
Republicans can muster is... This has been "A Closer Look." ♪♪ God's Love We Deliver
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Hey wait a minute...since Trump screwed the IRS, shouldn't they get more than $750 in hush money? 🤔