Late-night hosts reacted to The New York Times’ investigative report about the Trump family’s finances on Tuesday’s episodes of their shows. The report, which was published earlier that day, revealed that Donald Trump received at least $413 million from his father’s real estate empire and claimed that a portion of the money came from tax schemes in the 1990s.
“The article had all kinds of revelations. For example, Donald Trump has always claimed to be self-made,” Corden told his audience on The Late Late Show. “But apparently by age 3, he was earning $200,000 a year from his father and by age 8 he was a millionaire. Donald Trump was a millionaire as an 8-year-old. Now he’s just a millionaire who acts like an 8-year-old. It’s really come full circle.”
Corden continued, “Even more amazing, he learned how to file for bankruptcy at age 9.”
The host noted that it appears Trump was involved in his father’s real estate business from a young age. “As a preschooler, he was already foreclosing on Malibu Barbie’s dream home,” he joked.
Corden then shared some information about the tax schemes described in the article. “Donald Trump and his siblings once avoided paying half a billion dollars in taxes,” he said. “So it’s not just his wives that he cheats on.”
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“Trump just always claims that he’s a self made-man and I guess he is. He seems to have made up his very own tax laws,” he said.
Over on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the host told his viewers about the story. “He’s not just a con man. He was a con baby first,” said Kimmel about the revelations in the report.
“He was a millionaire, Donald Trump, on his own by the time he was 8 years old,” he said. “But he earned that money. He ate every piece of broccoli on his plate.”
Kimmel explained that the report says that Trump’s father found many ways to give his children, particularly Donald, money so that they could avoid gift and estate taxes. “It’s important to remember, you know when you’re a young man like Trump was, you can be guilty of something you may not be guilty of,” said the host.
“Trump’s lawyer released a statement today that there was no fraud or tax evasion by anyone. ‘The facts upon which The Times based its false allegations are extremely inaccurate,'” said Kimmel. “Gee, if there only was a way to know for sure. Maybe some kind of a tax return that could be released or something to clear this all up.”
“Trump was getting millions of dollars from his father until he was in his 50s,” Kimmel added. “Our president was a 50-year-old man who still got an allowance.”
Stephen Colbert also discussed the report on The Late Show. The host first shared a clip of Trump stating in an interview that his father gave him “a small loan of a million dollars” when he was starting off.
“Yes, just a small loan of a million dollars. That’s barely enough to silence eight porn stars,” said Colbert.
The host then shared the news that Trump inherited $413 million from his father. “Hey, $413 million. One million. What’s the difference?” asked Colbert with his Trump impression. “Oh, it’s $412 million? OK, I’ll trust you on that one. I’m not good with money.”
Colbert later touched on the report that Trump and his siblings hid their inheritances as gifts from their parents. “For some reason, the IRS missed the clue that Trump filed the paperwork for ‘Thanks Dad. I mean, thanks, business partners, LLC,'” Colbert said.
The host also commented on the revelation that Trump had received $220,000 in today’s money at the age of 3. “So let me get this straight. At one point Trump was an extraordinarily wealthy toddler and today he is still that,” Colbert said.
Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday to respond to the report. “The failing New York Times did something I have never seen done before. They used the concept of ‘time value of money’ in doing a very old, boring and often told hit piece on me,” he wrote. “Added up, this means that 97 percent of their stories on me are bad. Never recovered from bad election call!”
The Failing New York Times did something I have never seen done before. They used the concept of “time value of money” in doing a very old, boring and often told hit piece on me. Added up, this means that 97% of their stories on me are bad. Never recovered from bad election call!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 3, 2018
