Do Trump’s Taxes Show He’s a Failure, a Cheat, or a Criminal?

The New York Times exposé of President Donald Trump’s taxes is chock-full of tantalizing revelations. According to the report, the president avoided paying federal income tax in 10 of the 15 years preceding his election. In 2016, he paid $750 in federal income tax, less than one night’s stay in a suite at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.

But the story also left some big questions unanswered. How exactly has a self-declared billionaire avoided federal taxation for the better part of this century? Do these records prove that he’s poor, or astonishingly good at hiding how rich he is? And what’s the deal with all the money he’s losing on golf courses?

When I talked with several tax experts recently, including some with direct knowledge of Trump’s past tax records, three somewhat overlapping interpretations emerged: , , and . I wrote most of this before