President Donald Trump may be planning to use his extensive golf course portfolio to dodge billions in taxes, a bombshell new report alleges.
For years, Trump, 80, has used a tax loophole that lets him donate rights to acreage from his golf courses to local governments and environmental nonprofits, netting him an estimated $1.2 billion in deductions so far, Forbes has revealed.
Despite the “donation,” Forbes reports that the president retains ownership of the fairways.
New Jersey environmentalist and chair of Trump’s Environmental Advisory Task Force, Edward Russo, advised the president on the tax strategy, according to the report. His golf course in Doral, Florida—which netted him around $323 million in tax breaks—was turned into a nature preserve that costs $625 per visitor, with plans for additional preservation efforts on three other courses, Russo told the magazine.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump has long been plagued by accusations of dodging taxes, beginning with a wealth transfer from his parents to a “sham corporation” established by the president and his siblings, according to The New York Times. Fred and Mary Trump reportedly transferred over $1 billion to their children while paying only $52.2 million in taxes.
Another Times report showed that Trump paid zero in income taxes in 10 of 15 years before his re-election bid in 2020, reporting that he lost more money than he made in those cycles. In 2010, the president reportedly claimed nearly $73 million in tax returns by utilizing a provision under the 2009 stimulus law that allowed him to use losses to receive back pay for years he did pay taxes.
This year, the president and his sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of the 2010 tax returns. In May, the Trumps voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit after reaching a settlement that gave them immunity from IRS investigations.
If Trump continues his alleged tax-break scheme, he could net over $3 billion from his golf courses in Washington, D.C., California, New York, New Jersey, and several other states, Forbes estimates.
With Eric at the helm of Trump’s financial management, he donated the development rights for the Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida, last year. The development rights were handed to a Georgia nonprofit, which has been accused of accepting donations from developers the IRS has accused of fraud, Forbes found.
If the family decides to deploy this alleged strategy with every golf course it currently owns—12, not including the ones it gave up rights to—the president will reportedly be allowed to forgo paying anywhere from $2.5 billion to $3.8 billion in taxes.
“These numbers are f---ing huge,” a Trump Organization insider told Forbes. “Huge!”
