Trump only has $93m in cash after claiming to have eight times as much, financial report reveals
The former president’s wallet took a significant hit after 2016
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Financial statements reveal that former President Donald Trump has $93m in the bank, a far cry from the wealth he claimed to control.
Forbes magazine analysed publicly available financial statements that were released last week as a part of New York Attorney General Letitia James' inquiry into the Trump Organization.
While Mr Trump is not as cash flush as he previously led the public to believe, he is still extremely wealthy; his $93m is only a fraction of his wealth. The rest is tied up in real estate, golf courses and other ventures.
Mr Trump has been slowly rebuilding his cash holdings after spending nearly $40m between 2016 and 2017, the former president's first year in office.
In 2016, Mr Trump's holdings were listed as $114m. That number dipped to $76m in 2018, but rebounded to $87m in 2019.
By 2020 Mr Trump's cash holdings were up to $93m.
While that level of wealth is obvious to the majority of Americans, it’s less than what Mr Trump had led the public to believe.
In 2015, when Mr Trump first launched his bid to run for the presidency, his campaign's financial statement reported that he controlled $302m in cash and securities as of June 2014. That same year he said his net worth was nearly $9bn.
After Mr Trump was required to sign a financial statement with the federal government, his net worth estimate dropped from between $78m and $232m.
In 2015, Forbes met with Mr Trump to discuss his net worth. He attempted to sell the magazine on the claim that he controlled $793m. They were sceptical.
"As of today, I'm at $793m," he said at the time, a claim that more than doubled his prior year's holdings. "Why? 'Because I sell stuff."
The "stuff" Mr Trump was referring to were assets like the Miss Universe pageant, which he offloaded for nearly $30m.
Forbes did not buy Mr Trump's claims at the time and ultimately determined he controlled closer to $300m.
Mr Trump also reportedly overstated the size of his penthouse in Trump Tower, claiming his personal floor was $30,000 square feet when it was actually only 11,000.
The latest round of information on Mr Trump's financial are part of a larger investigation into the affairs of the Trump Organization.
Ms James is hoping to compel Mr Trump, his daughter Ivanka and his son Don Jr to testify as part of the investigation.
Her office claimed that it has "collected significant additional evidence indicating that the Trump Organization used fraudulent or misleading asset valuations to obtain a host of economic benefits, including loans, insurance coverage and tax deductions."
Mr Trump has called the investigations politically motivated witch hunts. The Trump Organization has denied any wrongdoing.
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