Donald Trump Claims He’s Worth $2.4 Billion. What’s the Truth?

Donald Trump Claims He’s Worth $2.4 Billion. What’s the Truth?

It’s generally known that former President Donald Trump is wealthier than most people who have been elected president.

Here's What You Need to Remember: Trump’s true net worth is likely only known to Trump himself, his accountants and financial advisers, and perhaps a prosecutor or two who has access to years of his tax returns.

It’s generally known that former President Donald Trump is wealthier than most people who have been elected president. He made his wealth, after all, a central tenet of his public identity, even before he entered politics.

But less is known about exactly how much net worth the former president actually has. Trump, famously, never released his tax returns, although bits and pieces of the returns have made their way into the press over the years. And prosecutors, including the Manhattan district attorney, have obtained the former president’s tax records, following a years-long battle that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

There exist various measurements of the net worth of well-known individuals, but such estimates are known to be just that, estimates.

Forbes currently lists Trump’s “real time net worth” at $2.4 billion, which would make him the only billionaire ever to be president.

“The bulk of his fortune remains tied up in New York City real estate,” Forbes said of Trump’s money. The magazine also listed Trump’s net worth at over $3 billion, as of the Forbes 400 in October of 2019, and said he was worth $3.7 billion in October of 2016, shortly before he was elected president.

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index, meanwhile, last listed Trump’s fortune at $2.3 billion, also stating that his net worth was over $3 billion at the time of his election. That represents a drop of about $700 million, in just over four years.

“His financial disclosures and loan documents, interviews with former executives and industry analysts, and a host of legal fights and investigations reveal just how much trouble Trump and his company could face,” Bloomberg said. “Covid has been hard on office buildings key to his wealth and hotels and resorts that bear his name. The fallout from the Capitol assault has hurt his relationships with brokers and lenders. At least $590 million in loans come due in the next four years, more than half personally guaranteed by Trump, and his scrapyard of failed enterprises has only gotten more crowded.”

CelebrityNetWorth.com, meanwhile, listed Trump’s fortune at $2 billion. The same site, by contrast, lists the net worth of Trump’s successor as president, Joseph Biden, at about $9 million. Following decades spent as an elected official, Biden made millions in the private sector, from speeches and book royalties, in the years between his tenures and vice president and president. Biden and his wife made $11 million in 2017 and $4.6 million in 2018, the site said, citing public tax documents.

Trump’s true net worth is likely only known to Trump himself, his accountants and financial advisers, and perhaps a prosecutor or two who has access to years of his tax returns.

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver. This article first appeared earlier this year.

Image: Reuters.