This blog is open to any who wish to comment on Australian society, the state of the environment or political shenanigans at Federal, State and Local Government level.
In
recent months international news and commentary have been full of
Donald J. Trump. Spanning his time as U.S. president-elect
from 5 November 2025 through to his inauguration as the 47th U.S.
President on 20 January 2025 and up to the the tenth day of his
second term in office.
Although
the tone of commentary often reflects a sense of disapproval, unease
or alarm, I have yet to come across an article or interview that
attempts to gauge the mood of the American population in any depth.
I
certainly do not have the resources to attempt such a task,
What
I did is what most people do when seeking information, go to Google and ask a question and in this case look for that particular question being asked in the United States of America.
Here is a Google Trends graph covering a 7 day period from 3-10
November 2024 which shows a sharp increase in the U.S. of use of the search
term "moving to" [using just five countries] with the peak
occurring on presidential election day and falling away thereafter
but not disappearing completely.
Click on Image to enlarge
A
second Google Trends graph created for a 7 day period covering
22-28 January 2025 shows use in the U.S. of the search term "moving to"
[using the same five countries] having a sustained level of interest across the board level.
Click on image to enlarge
In
the first graph Canada was the preferred destination, followed by
Ireland, with Mexico and New Zealand jockeying for third place and
Australia coming in fourth.
While
in the second graph the destination choice average was first Canada,
followed by Mexico, then Ireland, with Australia coming in third and
New Zealand a close fourth place.
Compared
breakdown by sub-region
The
colour intensity indicates percentage of searches across the states.
NOTE: All graphs & map apply only to the particular days chosen and because of the small number of days and searches undertaken cannot be relied on except as snapshots.
Leader
of the Opposition and Liberal MP for Dickson Peter Craig Dutton is on the record as
admiring Donald John Trump and even seems to be looking forward to working with him
should the Liberal-Nationals Coalition win government at the
forthcoming federal general election - indeed he claims that a number
of his close colleagues are well connected with members of the Trump
Administration.
This
is Peter Dutton opining to the mainstream media since 20 January
2025.
Opposition
leader Peter Dutton has argued that young men are ‘fed up’ with
feeling ostracised and are sick of being treated like ogres.
He
believes push-back on “woke” practices, such as being overlooked
for jobs under affirmative action policies, was gaining momentum, and
the decline of “wokeism” would be accelerated after the election
of Donald Trump as US president.....
Speaking
on Mark Bouris’ Straight Talk podcast, Mr Dutton said in the US and
elsewhere young males felt “disenfranchised and ostracised”.
“They’re
saying, ‘Well, hang on, I have nothing but respect for women, and I
would never treat my female friends differently than my male
friends’,” he said.
“But
I’m being told that I’m some sort of ogre, or I have some belief
structure which is true to that, which I know is, is, you know, what
I hold in my heart.
“I
think there’s just a point where people are fed up and they are
pushing back and saying, ‘well, why am I being overlooked at work
for a job, you know, three jobs running when I’ve got, you know, a
partner at home, and she’s decided to stay at home with three young
kids, and I want a promotion at work so that I can help pay the bills
at home’ and so I think all of that has morphed.”
‘They’re
excited by Trump’: Dutton’s inclusion strategy
Amid
the “revolution” of Donald Trump’s return to the White House is
one cause that has caught the Coalition’s eye: the dismantling of
diversity, equity and inclusion efforts....
One
Liberal MP expects this tone will have some influence on the
Coalition in Australia’s election campaign. “They’re excited by
Trump. They will try and use mechanisms from his playbook here. And
they do it already, right?”
Dutton
has championed what he describes as “anti-woke” issues since his
first term as a backbencher. “I
think there is going to be a new revolution that comes with the Trump
administration in relation to a lot of the woke issues that might be
fashionable in universities and at the ABC,” Dutton told a
sympathetic Sharri Markson on Sky News this week.
“They
just aren’t cutting it around kitchen tables at the moment, where
people can’t pay their bills under the Albanese cost-of-living
crisis.”
In
her Sky News interview, Markson was one of the few journalists to
raise with Dutton the executive order signed by Trump recognising
only “two sexes, male and female”.
In
her Sky News interview, Markson was one of the few journalists to
raise with Dutton the executive order signed by Trump recognising
only “two sexes, male and female”.
He
responded that people are “sick of being ostracised and vilified”,
but he did not engage on the question of gender. Rather, the
opposition leader shifted to Indigenous recognition.
On
Thursday, Coalition deputy leader David Littleproud was less guarded,
telling Sky News the issue of gender needed to be reconsidered in
Australia. “It doesn’t need to get emotional…” he said. “It
comes back to respectingthat
biological basis that we can’t get away from when we’re
born.”....
‘Had
enough’: Peter Dutton predicts anti-woke revolution for Australia
Peter
Dutton has declared he would be the better PM to deal with US
President Donald Trump amid a worldwide political revolution as
voters decide they have had enough of the “woke” agenda.
But
despite hinting he could ride the wave of the Trump victory all the
way to the Lodge, Mr Dutton declined to expressly dump the
Coalition’s current commitment to the Paris agreement on climate
change.....
Mr
Dutton has recently declared he will not display two flags at
official press conferences if elected.
“We’re
not going to have reconciliation when we have people living under
three different flags,’’ Mr Dutton said.
We
have one national flag, and that’s incredibly important.”....
Peter
Dutton has announced a long-awaited shadow ministerial shake-up
before this year’s federal election, appointing former immigration
minister David Coleman to the foreign affairs role....Senator
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, took on the new government efficiency
platform, which echoed the new US Department of Government Efficiency
(Doge), led by Elon Musk.
Given
that it appears that Dutton is more than flirting with the idea of
emulating Donald Trump's election campaign and some of his divisive policies perhaps it would be
sensible to take a closer look at the 47th US President aka
Trump 2.0 in the year of 2025.
Donald
J. Trump has been the 47th US President for seven days now and during
this period he has signed at least fifty-seven Executive Orders, with
forty-six signed on the day of his inauguration.
20
January 2025 immediately after the inauguration ceremony on first day
of the presidential term
On
that first day Donald Trump signed at least 45 Presidential
Actions/Executive Orders.
There
was also Executive Order "ProtectingThe Meaning And Value Of American Citizenship"which
sought to remove the right to citizenship going forward for those children born to
non-citizen parents whether those parents were in the United States
lawfully or unlawfully.
Also
amongst these orders were presidential actions withdrawing from the
World Health Organisation, dismantling environmental protections,
opening untouched areas up to mining exploration, rolling back
climate change mitigation measures & regulations and denying the
rights of women to reproductive choice and reasserting the position
that all living persons remain the biological gender assigned to then
at birth with this position to be adopted by all federal agencies and
employees.
>
Executive Order 14087 of October 14, 2022 (Lowering Prescription Drug Costs for Americans)which means that
a) medical insurance became inaccessible to potentially millions of
American citizens and b) prescription drugs just became very
expensive again and in practice inaccessible to the poor, vulnerable
and to many with chronic life-threatening conditions.
Public
Citizen, Inc.,
American Federation Of Government Employees and
State Democracy Defenders Fund filedCivilCase 1:25-cv-00164bringing
an action seeking declaratory, injunctive, and mandamus relief
against Defendants Donald J. Trump, in his official capacity as
president of the United States, and the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB), an agency of the United States, to ensure that the
so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) complies
with the requirements established by the Federal Advisory Committee
Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C.§§ 1001 et seq
The
Trump State Department implements a landmark "One Flag
Policy" barring U.S. outposts at home and abroad from flying
any other flag but the Stars and Stripes, effectively blocks U.S.
embassies and outposts from flying Pride and Black Lives Matter
flags.
21
January 2025 the second day and first full day of the current
presidential term
Let
me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put there trust
in you. And, as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the
providential hand of a loving God.
In
the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our
country who are scared now.
There
are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican
and Independent families, some who fear for their lives.
And
the people, the people who pick our crops and clean our
office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking plants,
who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night
shifts in hospitals. They may not be citizens or have the proper
documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.
They pay taxes, and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of
our churches and mosques, synagogues, madaras,
and temples. I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our
communities whose children fear that their parents willbe
taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and
persecution in their own lands, to find
compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we
are to be merciful to the stranger for we were all once strangers in
this land.
Massachusetts,State of California,State of Colorado, State
of Connecticut, State of
Delaware,District of
Columbia,State of
Hawai‘I,State of
Maine,State of
Maryland,Attorney
General Dana Nessel for the People
of Michigan,State of Minnesota,State of Nevada,State of
New Mexico,State of New York,State of North Carolina,State Of Rhode Island,State of Vermont,State of Wisconsin and City and County of
San Francisco, filed Case No. 1:25-cv-10139bringing
an action to protect their states, localities, and
residents from the President’s flagrantly unlawful attempt to strip
hundreds of thousands American-born children of their citizenship
based on their parentage.
The
States of Washington,
Arizona, Illinois,
and Oregon filed Case
2:25-cv-00127-JCC bringing an action to protect
the States—including their public agencies, public programs, public
fiscs, and state residents—against the illegal actions of the
President and federal government that purport to unilaterally strip
United States citizens of their citizenship. Seeking
an emergency temporary restraining order.
Note:
This brings the total of state entities opposing the contents of one
executive order issued by President Trump in court to twenty-five.
22
January 2025 the third day of the presidential term
In
response to the Executive Order of 20 January 2025 "Granting
Pardons And Commutation Of Sentences For Certain Offenses Relating To
The Events At Or Near The United States Capitol On January 6, 2021",
threeUS District Court judges asserted the independence of
the Court. The first in Criminal
Action No. 21-00073 (BAH) by not going beyond what
established law required. In her reasons stating; No “national
injustice” occurred here, just as no outcome-determinative election
fraud occurred in the 2020 presidential election. No “process of
national reconciliation” can begin when poor losers, whose
preferred candidate loses an election, are glorified for disrupting a
constitutionally mandated proceeding in Congress and doing so with
impunity. That merely raises the dangerous specter of future lawless
conduct by other poor losers and undermines the rule of law. Yet,
this presidential pronouncement of a “national injustice” is the
sole justification provided in the government’s motion to dismiss
the pending indictment." and denying the request that
this dismissal be “with prejudice.”
While
the second in Criminal
Action No. 22-413 (CKK) ended her reasons with All of
what I have described has been recorded for posterity, ensuring that
what transpired on January 6, 2021 can be judged accurately in the
future.
and
the third in Criminal Action No. 24-CR-135 (TSC)the
Order transcript opening with; The Government’s Motion
to Dismiss the Indictment pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal
Procedure 48(a), ECF No. 29, is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.
The
Government’s only stated reason for pursuing dismissal with
prejudice is that the President, in addition to pardoning the
Defendant, has ordered the Attorney General to do so.
See
Gov’t’s Mot. at 1, ECF No. 29 (citing Unnumbered Proclamation, __
Fed. Reg. __ (Jan. 20, 2025).1
The
Court does not discern—and neither party has identified—any
defect in either the legal merits of, or the factual basis for, the
Government’s case. Indeed, while a pardon exercises the Executive’s
“exclusive authority and absolute discretion to decide whether to
prosecute a case,” United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 693
(1974), it “does not necessarily render ‘innocent’ a defendant
of any alleged violation of the law,” United States v. Flynn, 507
F. Supp. 3d 116, 136 (D.D.C. 2020).
More
broadly, no pardon can change the tragic truth of what happened on
January 6, 2021. On that day, “a mob professing support for
then-President Trump violently attacked the United States Capitol”
to stop the electoral college certification. Trump v. Thompson, 20
F.4th
10,
15 (D.C. Cir. 2021). The dismissal of this case cannot undo the
“rampage [that] left multiple people dead, injured more than 140
people, and inflicted millions of dollars in damage.” Id
23
January 2025 the fourth day of the presidential term
Trump
addressing the World Economic Forum
at Davos via a live feed.
Excerpt
from official
transcript of Donald Trump's Davos speech taken from
the Question and Answer segment with Trump speaking:
And
the big problem is we need double the energy we currently have in the
United States — can you imagine? — for AI to really be as big as
we want to have it. Because it’s a very competitive — it will be
very competitive with China and others.
So,
I’m going to give emergency declarations so that they can start
building them almost immediately.
And
I’m — I’m — I think it was largely my idea, because nobody
thought this was possible. It wasn’t that they were not smart,
because they’re the smartest, but I told them that what I want you
to do is build your electric generating plant right next to your
plant as a separate building, connected. And they said, “Wow,
you’re kidding.” And I said, “No, no. I’m not kidding.”
You don’t have to hook into the grid, which is old and, you know,
could be taken out. If it’s taken out, they wouldn’t have any
way to get any electricity.
So,
we are going to allow them to go on a very rapid bas- — basis to
build their plant — build the electric generating plant. They can
fuel it with anything they want, and they may have coal as a backup.
Good, clean coal.
You
know, if there were a problem with a — with a pipe coming in — as
an example, you’re going with gas — oil or gas — and a pipe
gets blown up or, for some reason, doesn’t work, there are some
companies in the U.S. that have coal sitting right by the plant so
that if there’s an emergency, they can go to that short-term basis
and use our very clean coal.
So,
that’s something else that a lot of people didn’t even know
about. But nothing can destroy coal — not the weather, not a bomb
— nothing. It might make it a little smaller, might make it a
little different shape. But coal is very strong as a backup. It’s
a great backup to have that facility, and it wouldn’t cost much
more — more money.
And
we have more coal than anybody. We also have more oil and gas than
anybody.
So,
we’re going to make it so that the plants will have their own
electric generating facilities attached right to their plant. They
don’t have to worry about a utility. They don’t have to worry
about anything. And we’re going to get very rapid approvals.
24
January 2025 the fifth day of the presidential term
In addition by the fifth day Trump had publicly withdrawn federal protective services fromhis former national security adviser John Bolton, former top health official Dr. Anthony Fauci, his former top diplomat Mike Pompeo and former Iran envoy Brian Hook. All of whom have been out of favour with him and perceived to be 'critics'.
Trump stated a general preference that in future the
states take care of disasters. Let the state take care of the
tornadoes and the hurricanes and all of the other things that happen.
And I think you’re going to find it a lot less expensive. You’ll
do it for less than half, and you’re going to get a lot quicker
response.
So,
that seems to be the recommendation, but we’ll be making that
recommendation over the next couple of weeks.
Any
additional federal aid to California in relation to the Los Angeles
wildfires will come not through FEMA but through the White House and
have specific conditions attached before it can be accessed by this
Democrat governed state. With Trump stating two prerequisites:
I want to see two things in Los Angeles: Voter ID, so that the
people have a chance to vote, and I want to see the water be released
and come down into Los Angeles and throughout the state. Those are
the two things. After
that, I will be the greatest president that California have ever —
has ever seen.
As
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement intensifies its efforts to
apprehend and deport undocumented immigrants throughout the country,
concern is rising among Indigenous communities residing in urban
areas about reports of Indigenous people being detained in the
Valley.
Since
President Donald Trump issued his executive order for an increase in
ICE raids, Navajo tribal leaders have received alarming reports that
their tribal members are being detained, heightening uncertainties
over the implications these actions have for their communities and
the safety of their people.
“We
now know that Navajo people and enrolled members of other tribes are
being detained in Phoenix and other cities by ICE,” Navajo Nation
Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley said during a committee meeting on
Thursday. “The reports that we have received indicate that we need
to coordinate an operation or some type of response to help our
enrolled tribal members here on the Navajo Nation.”....
In
State of Washington et al v Donald Trump et al filed
as CASENO.C25-0127-ICa
US District Court Judge granted a 14 Day Temporary Restraining Order,
stating in part; Plaintiff
States face irreparable injury as a result of the signing and
implementation of the Executive Order. and
There
is a strong likelihood that Plaintiffs will succeed on the merits of
their claims that the Executive Order violates the Fourteenth
Amendment and Immigration and Nationality Act.
TheLaken
Riley Acthaving
passed both Houses this week awaits Trump's signature to become federal law.
This
Act
requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain certain
non-U.S. nationals (aliens under federal law) who have been arrested
for burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting. The bill also
authorizes states to sue the federal government for decisions or
alleged failures related to immigration enforcement.
Under
this bill, DHS must detain an individual who (1) is unlawfully
present in the United States or did not possess the necessary
documents when applying for admission; and (2) has been charged with,
arrested for, convicted of, or admits to having committed acts that
constitute the essential elements of burglary, theft, larceny, or
shoplifting.
Deportation flights have begun.
President Trump is sending a strong and clear message to the entire world: if you illegally enter the United States of America, you will face severe consequences. pic.twitter.com/CTlG8MRcY1
For
the second time, 78 year-old Donald John Trump will be inaugurated as president
of the United States of America shortly after noon on a Monday, 20
January.
This
47th swearing-in ceremony of a president will begin shortly after 4am Sydney
time tomorrow morning, Tuesday 21 January 2025.
It is also unchartered territory for America's trading partners and political allies, having to
deal with a president and administration whose actions after 20
January 2025 the US Congress appears to have little to no ability or
desire to mitigate or constrain.
Before midnight on Wednesday, 6 November 2024 in Australia, news out of America was that Donald John Trump, court declared rapist, convicted fraudster and national security risk, was set to be elected as the 47th U.S. president having been its 45th president from 2017 to 2021.
Trump aka 'Putin's Bitch' declared victory after he reached and past the 270 Electoral College votes required to be declared elected - depending on which U.S. news outlet one was viewing - by around 6pm AEDST.
At first, second and third glance Australia remains unimpressed by the man and the politician.
There were isolated but genuine expressions of pleasure from some international quarters....
‘Numerous
investigative reports have revealed that the former President,
through the complex arrangements of his personal and business
finances, has engaged in aggressive tax strategies and decades-long
tax avoidance schemes, including taking a questionable $916 million
deduction, using a grantor trust to control assets, manipulating tax
code provisions pertaining to real estate taxes, and extensively
using pass-through entities. Media reports have also revealed that he
benefited from massive conservation easements, and that certain of
his golf courses failed to properly account for wages paid to
employees, raising questions about compliance with payroll and Social
Security tax laws. As President, he took pride in “brilliantly”
maneuvering the tax laws to his personal benefit. Even as he was
championing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the former President
referred to the tax code as “riddled with loopholes” for “special
interests—including myself.” ’
It
is perhaps well to remember that whilst the cronyism,
venality
and often
industrial scale corruption
of national governments is well known in
history,
here in Australia we appear to hold the quaint notion that as a
democracy we will not
be
led by the likes of a
Pahlavi,Marcos or Putin.
Men
who sought not
only authoritarian
power but also to enrich themselvesfrom
the public purse and their nation’s resources.
But
does the
example of the former Morrison Government and what
is happening in the U.S. right now not make one wonder if we here
in Australia need
to clearly
definelimits
to the powers held by
a prime minister and, perhaps also require all members of any
federal Cabinet or outer ministry to present their tax returns to
the Parliament for
formal audit every year they are in government?
For
that matter, perhaps it is well past time that members of a federal
government are denied
access to
taxpayer
funds to defray court ordered financial penalties & legal costs in relation to
defamation or sexual harassment proceedings.
Both
Morrison & Trump ignored democratic principles and processes
whenever they chose, with Trump’s action being perhaps the more
egregious.
However, one
has to wonder if profiteering from public office was something both
national governments did – if
not to the same scale at least with the same frequency.
In
Australia we will never know because we have such weak mechanisms to monitor or prevent such things. The Parliament often being reluctant to police members' specific pecuniary interests, the Constitution not shutting the door firmly
enough on profiting from the Crown and theRegister
of Members’ Interests
being nothing more than
a risible fig leaf covering suspected dodgy trusts and self-managed super funds.
Consider
former U.S. president Donald Trump’s financial affairs and ask
yourselves: Could some of the prime ministers and/or ministers in
office between September 2013 and May 2022 have conducted their own
financial
affairs in a similar manner?
To
call the business structure
that Donald
John
Trump
built – carried with him into the White House and
back out again -
‘Byzantine’ is being kind.
It
appears to be a maze of est.
500inter-related
companies, subsidiaries, partnerships,
trusts,
overseas
bank accounts
and possibly
shells,
potentially
designed
to literally push financial
bullshite
uphill until a businessincome
loss or tax credit could be established on paper for
personal benefit.
As
president he continued to falsely complained that his tax affairs were under
almost continuous Internal
Revenue Service (IRS)
audit so it was impossible for him to release them.
Once
the nation voted him out of office Trump went to the U.S.
Supreme
Court
in an attempt to stop the release of his tax returns for the years
2015
through to 2020.
A
legal battle he lost in TRUMP,
DONALD J., ET AL. V. COMM. ON WAYS AND MEANS, ET ALon
22 November 2022.
He
was so successful
in his resistance up
until then that
only one incomplete mandatory
IRS audit
occurred during
his presidency - being ordered in September 2019 for the tax year
2016, but never completed and
appears to have been quietly abandoned.Trump
appointee as IRS Commissioner, Charles P. Rettig,reportedly
excused the then president from the mandatory auditing process sometime during his tenure as commissioner.
On
16 June 2021 the U.S.
Congress House Committee of
Ways
and Meanswrote
to the Treasury
Secretary
seeking
details of the
required annual mandatory audits of Trump’s personal tax returns
during his presidency, unaware of the true state of affairs.
whether
an IRS examination of the returns took place and the present status
of the audits, the applicable statutes of limitations, and the issues
considered:
1.
The Federal income tax returns of Donald J. Trump (Form 1040),
2.
The Federal income tax returns of the Donald J. Trump Revocable
Trust,
3.
The Federal income tax returns of DJT Holdings LLC (Form 1065),
4.
The Federal income tax returns of DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC
(Form 1120-S),
5.
The Federal income tax returns of DTTM Operations LLC (Form 1065),
6.
The Federal income tax returns of DTTM Operations Managing Member
Corp (Form 1120-S),
7.
The Federal income tax returns of LFB Acquisitions Corp (Form
1120-S),
8.
The Federal income tax returns of LFB Acquisition LLC (Form 1065),
and
9.
The Federal income tax returns of Lamington Farm Club, LLC d/b/a
Trump National Golf Club-Bedminster (Form 1120-S).
Trump’s
personal tax returns were joint filings with his wife Melania and
listed
one son as a dependent. He stated his main source of income was
derived
from “Management
Services”,
“Aviation”,
“Speaking
Engagements”,
“Real
Estate”,
“Golf”,
“Ice
Skating Rink”,
and
“Restaurant”.
For
a man who repeatedly
bragged about his business acumen and wealth in the billions, his
2015
personal
and business tax
returnsindicated
that he carried forward business loses of US$105.15
millionand
he
and his wife declared
a 2015 calendar
year joint
negative
income of $31.7 million leaving a nominal tax bill of $0.
So
by
2015 either
he was fast approaching the need for yet
another
strategic corporate
bankruptcy
or he had applied
the most ‘creative’ accountancy when dealing with the U.S. IRS
for that year and the following five years.
Either
way, once in the Oval Office Trump appears to have continued
to follow his own unique tax return template so
that by 2020 he was still paying low tax or no tax – apparently due in part to sizeable business income losses at
two of the nine
entities
whose tax returns were requested by the House Committee on Ways
and Means –DJT
Holdings Managing Member LLC and
DTTM
Operations LLC.
It is interesting to note that 2020 was also
a
year devoid of charitable donations by Mr. & Ms. Trump and,
it seems that there is some suspicion that previous
charitable
donation figures may be largely unsupported by appropriate
documentation.
Page 2 of the House Committee on Ways and Means Final Report spells out some specific accounting concerns:
•
Charitable
contributions—whether the 2015 conservation easement deduction of
$21 million
and other large donations reported on the Schedule A were supported
by required substantiation.
•
Verification
of Net Operating Loss Carryover Schedule—whether the amount of net
operating loss carryover in 2015 of $105,157,825 and future years was
proper.
•
Unreimbursed
partnership/S corporation expenses—whether the terms of the
partnership agreements supported unreimbursed expense deductions
totaling $27 million over six years.
•
Related
party loans—whether loans made to the former President’s children
are loans or disguised gifts that could trigger gift tax.
•
Cost
of goods sold deductions by DJT Holdings—whether these deductions
of about $126.5 million over five years is appropriate when it is not
clear what DJT Holdings is selling from the face of the return.
•
LFB
Acquisition LLC—whether there is any support for changes in the
management fees and general and administrative expenses of LFB
Acquisition that were significantly
higher in 2017 ($1.9 million and $2.8 million, respectively) than
2016 ($750,000 and $549,000, respectively) and 2018 ($707,000 and
$570,000, respectively).
In
fact when it comes to actually paying personal income tax Donald and
Melania Trump paid
US$641,951 tax
in 2015,
$US$750
in 2016,
$US$750 in
2017,
US$999,466
in 2018,
US$133,445 in
2019 and
US$0 in
2020, claiming
a refund of US$5,468,593.
Then
there is the matter of the two shell companies set up by Trump’s
then personal attorney Michael Cohen in 2016, Resolution
Consultants LLC
and Essential
Consultants LLC.
The former
allegedly
created
for the US$120,000 purchase
and then suppression
ofa
story
by
former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal about her involvement with
Trump and
the latter created to pay US$130,000 to former adult-film star
Stephanie Clifford, professionally known as Stormy Daniels.
It
has been reported that Trump had
claimed the
second personal expense of $130,000 as a business expense though
whether he did that in his 2016 tax returns or later I have been
unable to ascertain.
It
is noted that,
in the
three years from 2017 to 2019 Trump donated the
annual US$400 million presidential salary “solely
for public purposes”
in order to get a back
acombined
total
of
US$1,200
million as
a deduction
on his tax bills,
according
to The
Washington Post.
As
for an overview of Trump’s business practices…..
To
quote Page 5 of the House Committee on Ways and Means’ 20 December
2022 Final
Report:
Numerous
investigative reports have revealed that the former President,
through the complex arrangements of his personal and business
finances, has engaged in aggressive tax strategies and decades-long
tax avoidance schemes, including taking a questionable $916 million
deduction, using a grantor trust to control assets, manipulating tax
code provisions pertaining to real estate taxes, and extensively
using pass-through entities. Media reports have also revealed that he
benefited from massive conservation easements, and that certain of
his golf courses failed to properly account for wages paid to
employees, raising questions about compliance with payroll and Social
Security tax laws. As President, he took pride in “brilliantly”
maneuvering the tax laws to his personal benefit. Even as he was
championing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the former President
referred to the tax code as “riddled with loopholes” for “special
interests—including myself.”
BACKGROUND
The
House Committee
on Ways
and Means “REPORT
ON THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE'S MANDATORY AUDIT PROGRAM UNDER THE
PRIOR ADMINISTRATION (2017-2020”
FinalReport
of
20
December 2022 can
be found at:
On
30 December 2022 the House Committee on Ways and Means released a zip
file containing
all Donald John Trump’s personal & business tax returns via
Attachment
E.
Links
to the full range of documents the Committee has released can be
found at the bottom of this document at:
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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
[Adopted and proclaimed by United Nations General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948]
Hi! My name is Boy. I'm a male bi-coloured tabby cat. Ever since I discovered that Malcolm Turnbull's dogs were allowed to blog, I have been pestering Clarencegirl to allow me a small space on North Coast Voices.
A false flag musing: I have noticed one particular voice on Facebook which is Pollyanna-positive on the subject of the Port of Yamba becoming a designated cruise ship destination. What this gentleman doesn’t disclose is that, as a principal of Middle Star Pty Ltd, he could be thought to have a potential pecuniary interest due to the fact that this corporation (which has had an office in Grafton since 2012) provides consultancy services and tourismbusiness development services.
A religion & local government musing: On 11 October 2017 Clarence Valley Council has the Church of Jesus Christ Development Fund Inc in Sutherland Local Court No. 6 for a small claims hearing. It would appear that there may be a little issue in rendering unto Caesar. On 19 September 2017 an ordained minister of a religion (which was named by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in relation to 40 instances of historical child sexual abuse on the NSW North Coast) read the Opening Prayer at Council’s ordinary monthly meeting. Earlier in the year an ordained minister (from a church network alleged to have supported an overseas orphanage closed because of child abuse claims in 2013) read the Opening Prayer and an ordained minister (belonging to yet another church network accused of ignoring child sexual abuse in the US and racism in South Africa) read the Opening Prayer at yet another ordinary monthly meeting. Nice one councillors - you are covering yourselves with glory!
An investigative musing: Newcastle Herald, 12 August 2017: The state’s corruption watchdog has been asked to investigate the finances of the Awabakal Aboriginal Local Land Council, less than 12 months after the troubled organisation was placed into administration by the state government. The Newcastle Herald understands accounting firm PKF Lawler made the decision to refer the land council to the Independent Commission Against Corruption after discovering a number of irregularities during an audit of its financial statements.The results of the audit were recently presented to a meeting of Awabakal members. Administrator Terry Lawler did not respond when contacted by the Herald and a PKF Lawler spokesperson said it was unable to comment on the matter. Given the intricate web of company relationships that existed with at least one former board member it is not outside the realms of possibility that, if ICAC accepts this referral, then United Land Councils Limited (registered New Zealand) and United First Peoples Syndications Pty Ltd(registered Australia) might be interviewed. North Coast Voices readers will remember that on 15 August 2015 representatives of these two companied gave evidence before NSW Legislative Council General Purpose Standing Committee No. 6 INQUIRY INTO CROWN LAND. This evidence included advocating for a Yamba mega port.
A Nationals musing: Word around the traps is that NSW Nats MP for Clarence Chris Gulaptis has been talking up the notion of cruise ships visiting the Clarence River estuary. Fair dinkum! That man can be guaranteed to run with any bad idea put to him. I'm sure one or more cruise ships moored in the main navigation channel on a regular basis for one, two or three days is something other regular river users will really welcome. *pause for appreciation of irony* The draft of the smallest of the smaller cruise vessels is 3 metres and it would only stay safely afloat in that channel. Even the Yamba-Iluka ferry has been known to get momentarily stuck in silt/sand from time to time in Yamba Bay and even a very small cruise ship wouldn't be able to safely enter and exit Iluka Bay. You can bet your bottom dollar operators of cruise lines would soon be calling for dredging at the approach to the river mouth - and you know how well that goes down with the local residents.
A local councils musing: Which Northern Rivers council is on a low-key NSW Office of Local Government watch list courtesy of feet dragging by a past general manager?
A serial pest musing: I'm sure the Clarence Valley was thrilled to find that a well-known fantasist is active once again in the wee small hours of the morning treading a well-worn path of accusations involving police, local business owners and others.
An investigative musing: Which NSW North Coast council is batting to have the longest running code of conduct complaint investigation on record?
A which bank? musing: Despite a net profit last year of $9,227 million the Commonwealth Bank still insists on paying below Centrelink deeming rates interest on money held in Pensioner Security Accounts. One local wag says he’s waiting for the first bill from the bank charging him for the privilege of keeping his pension dollars at that bank.
A Daily Examiner musing: Just when you thought this newspaper could sink no lower under News Corp management, it continues to give column space to Andrew Bolt.
A thought to ponder musing: In case of bushfire or flood - do you have an emergency evacuation plan for the family pet?
An adoption musing: Every week on the NSW North Coast a number of cats and dogs find themselves without a home. If you want to do your bit and give one bundle of joy a new family, contact Happy Paws on 0419 404 766 or your local council pound.
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