5 hours ago, Tippaporn said:

By what stretch of the imagination does a president's debt equate to national security issues?  The absurdity does not go unnoticed.

For the same reason the  NSA, CIA, FBI and every other government agency responsible for the security of the nation have strict rules in regard to employees who are in debt: It makes them vulnerable to; coercion, corruption and  other wrongdoing.  At the time of his election only one major bank was still willing to transact with Trump. His debts will soon be coming up for refinancing and his sons run the business in his absence. Trump is vulnerable.

57 minutes ago, Mick501 said:

That would rule out articles from NYT etc.

If you believe the article was incorrect, please provide  something substantive to challenge the article. NYT says it has seen the tax returns. Trump can make this all go away and   provide his personal income tax return for the years.  I will be the first to  praise him if he does.

54 minutes ago, rebekkahr said:

Which is why Trump now accuses the Times of stealing those documents? 

Why steal something that he has said is fake news?

 

6 hours ago, Tippaporn said:

By what stretch of the imagination does a president's debt equate to national security issues?  The absurdity does not go unnoticed.

Since I'm assuming you have no experience in intelligence and have never held a security clearance, I will try to explain why it is of great significance.

 

Before anyone is granted a security clearance, particularly something like TS/SCI, a thorough background investigation is carried out to try to uncover if there is any compromising information in one's background. Debt levels are part of that. (A POTUS automatically gets a security clearance without any background check, so 45 would have avoided such an official investigation, unless something disconcerting came up in the normal course of intel collection, e.g., hearing foreign individuals discussing him).

 

The reason debt is a concern, and high debt normally disqualifies, is that it gives the lender leverage. The lender can threaten to call loans unless the borrower does something the lender seeks. The source of the funds is also of great import, because a foreign entity could have enormous leverage over someone by virtue of the debt.

 

45 runs a highly leverage enterprise. He has made foreign policy moves that make no sense to anyone (e.g., allowing Turkey to take control of Syrian lands where Peshmerga Kurdish allies of the US, but who are an enemy of Turkey, were present. Subsequent info revealed that 45's company was then granted licenses for business and construction in Turkey. It's a very bad optic, if nothing else.)

 

45 has known funding from China of at least $30 million. Other funding comes from Deutsche Bank, albeit via SIVs (Special Investment Vehicles), which are off-balance sheet entities and where Deutsche funnels large depositor funds to special borrowers. This is not illegal per se, but the covenants of the loans and the sources of the funds are important. If the loans are callable, that gives the lender enormous leverage, as calling loans can render an organization instantly insolvent.

 

THAT is why it is a national security issue. In the espionage business, high debt is one of the hooks case officers use to 'encourage' targets to reveal classified information. The corollary is that high debt is a reason why the US would decline or revoke a security clearance on a US Govt employee.

53 minutes ago, kwonitoy said:

https://www.robinsonandhenry.com/colorado/bankruptcy/debt-and-security-clearances/

https://www.debt.org/veterans/military-security-clearances/

https://www.bondnbotes.com/2019/03/01/security-clearance-financial-issues/

 

Try getting a top level clearance in the FBI, CIA, Army, Navy, etc etc if you have debt problems. These are R-E-A-L issues for anyone other than the *president*

Yes. If you're in the agency, you file a financial disclosure form every year. It is reviewed by the Office of Security and if there is anything untoward, it is likely you're existing clearance will either be revoked or downgraded. Employees also must undergo a swirl---polygraph---at any time the Office of Security deems it necessary. There is also an official re-poly every so often that every single employee, from the char force to the DCI, must take.

 

One of the key issues---besides such things as unreported foreign contacts---is debt. Debt was what led folks like Jim Nicholson and Aldrich Ames to become moles working for the KGB, and was one of the factors that led to the KGB recruitment of Edward Lee Howard.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/08/troubling-overlap-between-jared-kushner-business-interests-and-us-foreign-policy

7 hours ago, Matzzon said:

That´s great Mr. Trump! On your own, you just created another reason for not hiding your statements. 

This man is so dumb, that he do not understand when he shoots himself in the foot. Guess it doesn´t hurt either. 

he said, NYT report was fake news... ok then, to support that he has the obligation to provide the "real" return ones 555

6 hours ago, J Town said:

This is one of the basic standards of getting a security clearance. If you are in debt to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars to foreign nations (which 45 is) this can be used as leverage against you to make decisions that favor them.

Putin / Russia and it's oligarchs comes to mind

6 hours ago, Tippaporn said:

I thought posting false information was not allowed on TVF?

Therein lies the problem.

 

”someone must be picking up the tab”.

Putin? ... asking a question

 

 critical thinking results in no false information being stated.

3 hours ago, Opl said:

it's better to ignore Trump lies, like Trump followers have to

are you saying, when Trump says NYT report is fake news he's lying  555

1 hour ago, pennine said:

So why does he not just release his tax information in order to prove that it is fake news?

He can't. He won't. His guilt prevents that. He will continue to lie and deflect. That is what the fake master does best. He even lies about his successes, even though he has 17 major business failures and his companies have been losing money for decades. He is a failure. On all levels. Lock him up! 

4 hours ago, Susco said:

Maybe they try to beat Trump in making claims without evidence, but I'm sure nobody can beat him in that

The tax returns are evidence. How could anyone possibly say otherwise. Lies? So sue, big time for libel. But do remember in the USA you cannot sue for libel defamation ... if the statements/accusations are true.

6 hours ago, Thailand said:

Is it possible Trump is lying?

Heaven forbid! Kayleigh McEnany herself said that the president doesn’t lie. She also promised reporters she would never lie to them. And she managed to keep a straight face while saying that, so it must be true. 

33 minutes ago, Walker88 said:

One of the key issues---besides such things as unreported foreign contacts---is debt. Debt was what led folks like Jim Nicholson and Aldrich Ames to become moles working for the KGB

A few years back an actress was being interviewed and mentioned she once worked a civilian job in the US military with a high security clearance.  Asked if she ever felt pressured by it, she said only once: she bought a stereo system on a store's credit plan.  A little while later she got called down to HR and they asked her about this new debt, looks like they keep an eye on financial activities.  She told them about it, and they told her such things should be done through the employee credit union.  And this was only a few hundred bucks.

We all know the Russians have something on him, obvious as hell if you have a brain (no offense to the brainless, your ____ is a great man, the greatest that ever lived etc).  When will there be action taken on this?

 

 

1 minute ago, bendejo said:

When will there be action taken on this?

The noose is tightening, I believe just in time.

From Wikipedia with their sources... 

In its 2020 billionaires ranking, Forbes estimated Trump's net worth at $2.1 billion^[a] (1,001st in the world, 275th in the U.S.)^[58] making him one of the richest politicians in American history and the first billionaire American president.^[58]

During the three years since Trump announced his presidential run in 2015, Forbes estimated his net worth declined 31% and his ranking fell 138 spots.^[59]

When he filed mandatory financial disclosure forms with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) in July 2015, Trump claimed a net worth of about $10 billion;^[60] however, FEC figures cannot corroborate this estimate because they only show each of his largest buildings as being worth over $50 million, yielding total assets worth more than $1.4 billion and debt over $265 million.^[61]

2 minutes ago, Donga said:

From Wikipedia with their sources... 

In its 2020 billionaires ranking, Forbes estimated Trump's net worth at $2.1 billion^[a] (1,001st in the world, 275th in the U.S.)^[58] making him one of the richest politicians in American history and the first billionaire American president.^[58]

During the three years since Trump announced his presidential run in 2015, Forbes estimated his net worth declined 31% and his ranking fell 138 spots.^[59]

When he filed mandatory financial disclosure forms with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) in July 2015, Trump claimed a net worth of about $10 billion;^[60] however, FEC figures cannot corroborate this estimate because they only show each of his largest buildings as being worth over $50 million, yielding total assets worth more than $1.4 billion and debt over $265 million.^[61]

It is time to stop with Trump claimed' and come up with 'Trump showed' or 'Trump proved'.

yes, but what tax rate?  what percent of income did the trump pay?

 

Trump criticised Obama for only paying 20.5% tax in 2012 — a new NYT report shows Trump paid no income tax that year

 

https://usa-onlinenews.com/2020/09/28/trump-criticised-obama-for-only-paying-20-5-tax-in-2012-a-new-nyt-report-shows-trump-paid-no-income-tax-that-year/

8 hours ago, oompie69 said:

"Trump departed from decades of tradition among presidents and presidential candidates when he refused to release his federal income tax returns the first time he ran for president in 2016"

Because he knew he did not have a chance in hell of getting the nod from the Republican Electoral College

had they been privy to this information.  Or did they know?

If he paid so little tax how did he live the life he did? Or did he live on "grants" that do not attract income tax? Somebody must have been picking up his tabs, for sure.

Private expenses written up as "company expenses" perhaps?

 

8 hours ago, oompie69 said:

Somebody must have been picking up his tabs, for sure.

Why do you think that he moved the American embassy to Jerusalem?

2 minutes ago, maxx58 said:

Why do you think that he moved the American embassy to Jerusalem?

I don't think there are financial incentives there, except maybe permission for a Trump tower or so.

 

I think the decision to move the embassy was made because his son in law said so, and he doesn't care.

1 minute ago, stevenl said:

I don't think there are financial incentives there, except maybe permission for a Trump tower or so.

 

I think the decision to move the embassy was made because his son in law said so, and he doesn't care.

And to please the Christian right and major GOP donor Sheldon Adelson.

44 minutes ago, rebekkahr said:

And to please the Christian right and major GOP donor Sheldon Adelson.

Yes, agree.

9 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

Trump said the NY Times article is fake news then said it obtained the info illegally. Make up your mind, you cannot have it both ways.

Fake news.

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

It is time to stop with Trump claimed' and come up with 'Trump showed' or 'Trump proved'.

Proved what?

The submission of assets was not substantiated to his valuation . The document was shown not proved to be correct.

It's simple enough.  If the New York Times are issuing fake news then Trump has a watertight case to sue them.  Or of course Trump can just blow their claims out of the water by handing over his tax returns.  Of course he will do neither of these things because, as always, he is lying through his teeth.

 

And still his dumb as ditchwater followers suck it up.  Beggars belief! 

56 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

Proved what?

<snip>

Yes, that is my point. He should start proving in stead of claiming.

49 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

he is lying through his teeth.

His teeth or are they part of the debt issue??

 

9 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Yes, that is my point. He should start proving in stead of claiming.

That would be a good start, if the narcissism was not in control

 

10 hours ago, Tippaporn said:

By what stretch of the imagination does a president's debt equate to national security issues?  The absurdity does not go unnoticed.

Only to the ignorant.