President Donald Trump on Wednesday defended himself after The New York Times reported that he had hundreds of millions in debt forgiven by lenders, saying this means he’s "a smart guy rather than a bad guy," on Twitter.
"As a developer long ago, and continuing to this day, the politicians ran Chicago into the ground," Trump tweeted on Wednesday. "I was able to make an appropriately great deal with the numerous lenders on a large and very beautiful tower. Doesn’t that make me a smart guy rather than a bad guy?"
The Times reported that Trump’s federal income taxes, which they have obtained, show that the president’s lenders have forgiven the $287 million in debt for a proposed Trump International Hotel & Tower that Trump never repaid.
Trump previously remarked in 2016, after the Times reported that he declared losses amounting to almost $1 billion in 1995, that not paying income taxes "makes me smart" during a presidential debate.
The newspaper reported last month that Trump’s federal income tax payments in 2016 and 2017 amounted to just $750 both years and that he holds loans and debts upward of $421 million, most of which is due within four years.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.