Summary

Chapter 12 is titled “Golf and Taxes.” Trump owned several golf courses, including the Trump National Golf Club Westchester at Briarcliff Manor, near Trump Tower. Trump wrote on his presidential campaign financial statement that the property was worth $50 million, but he argued with tax assessors and insisted the property was worth less than $2 million. After newspaper and television stories about the situation, Trump increased his tax value to $9 million, which was still far below what he had claimed on this presidential financial report.

Trump also bought the 580-acre farm that belonged to John DeLorean, who created the famous car with his name. Trump built a golf course there and used a series of tax loopholes, including a pen for goats to justify the property as agricultural, to drop his property taxes to about $1,000. In California, he set aside a piece of property as an...