The Note: Trump's 2005 tax return leaves a lot to be desired

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March 15, 2017

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Trump's 2005 tax return leaves a lot to be desired

The Big Story

If this slice of an old tax return wasn't leaked by someone in the close Trump orbit, it may as well have been, or someone wishes they had the idea, at least. What exactly do we know about President Trump – his finances, his business connections, his potential conflicts of interest – that we didn't know before Tuesday night? He paid a pile of money to the government after making a really big pile of money in one particular year. He would have paid less to the government if not for the Alternative Minimum Tax. And, well, that's about all that can be gleaned based on two pages of a 1040 from a dozen years ago. Yes, what we don't know is a reminder of why tax returns – the full documents – matter. Yes, the White House confirmation of authenticity explodes the myth that active audits have kept details of the president's taxes from public scrutiny. But the cable hype and confirmation that the president did pay federal taxes, at least during one year in the middle of last decade, will only make it easier for Trump allies to argue that he is under unfair attack. "CLIENT COPY" may be part of an elaborate scheme, or a huge clue, but the impact of this return is essentially the same.

The Sleeper Story

A (partial) snowstorm and a (partial) tax return can't obscure it: The health care overhaul that's, so far, favored by both House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and President Trump is in real danger in the place that passage was supposed to be easiest. Now House moderates are joining with conservative colleagues to back away from the measure, for opposing reasons that again tell the story of GOP divisions. It's a storyline that looks likely to end badly for the push to "repeal and replace," and could be equally bad for the tenuous Trump-Ryan relationship, amid talk that the Trump team may cut a deal without the speaker's overt blessing. "This is it," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday, again committing to this bill's being only the first of three "prongs" to overhaul, but an essential first step. Prongs can be wonderful, spiky things. But can they save the Trump/Ryan health care overhaul?

The Shiny Story

Yes, a campaign event – already, and again. President Trump hits the trail tonight in Nashville, Tennessee. Maybe he will need a pick-me-up at the end of what promises to be a long day. House members return to town in time to slam his health care bill; his travel ban hits courts from Maryland to Hawaii; the FBI director could make him miserable at any moment with a Russia update; the Federal Reserve is expected to boost interest rates; and, now, there's a new matter of taxes. But maybe there's something else – something digitally savvy, say – at work in the decision to hold 2020 events in early 2017. On the official invite page is this disclaimer: "You may only register up two (2) tickets per mobile number per event." So yes, there is an active effort to maintain email cellphone databases by the Trump operation. The president controls the message tonight, and his campaign operation churns on for new opportunities.

TLDR

Two pages from Trump's 2005 tax returns released Tuesday night show he paid $38 million in federal taxes on an income of over $150 million.

Trump paid $38 million in federal taxes in 2005

The White House said Tuesday night that Donald Trump paid $38 million in federal taxes on income of more than $150 million in 2005 after independent journalist David Cay Johnston obtained the purported first two pages of that return and published them online. Johnston also appeared on MSNBC Tuesday night to report on the documents, which he says were delivered anonymously to his mailbox. Johnston speculated that Trump, who is the first president in decades not to release his taxes, or someone close to him, may have been the source of the documents. ABC's JUSTIN FISHEL has more: http://abcn.ws/2lYA5wm

Happening Today -Trump expected to announce rollback of auto emissions regulations

President Donald Trump is expected to announce a rollback of Obama-era auto emission and fuel regulations in his visit to Ypsilanti, Michigan, this morning. Trump will use his meeting with auto executives and workers to announce a restart of the review of vehicle fuel efficiency rules, or CAFE standards, that the auto industry has called for, ABC's ALEXANDER MALLIN and AVERY MILLER report. The rules put forward by the Obama administration sought to raise the fleet average fuel efficiency to more than 50 miles per gallon by 2025 from 27.5 miles per gallon in 2010. But the Trump administration review is expected to challenge the feasibility of the 2022 through 2025 vehicle emissions rules. http://abcn.ws/2nDGVnw

March Madness Hits the Hill

Throughout the day at ABCNews.com, ABC's Rick Klein and ESPN's Andy Katz – co-hosts of the "Capital Games" podcast - will be on Capitol Hill with members of Congress as they fill out their brackets for the college basketball tournament. The action starts with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at 10 am, with guests including Sen. John McCain, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Senators Amy Klobuchar and Joe Manchin, and much more. Follow along at ABCNews.com/live.