If Trump had done nothing but invested the 'small loan' his father gave him, he'd still be worth around $2 billion today

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If Trump had done nothing but invested the 'small loan' his father gave him, he'd still be worth around $2 billion today

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Donald Trump

Sean Rayford/Getty Images

President Donald Trump was a millionaire by the time he was 8-years-old, according to an expansive report from The New York Times.

  • A new bombshell report from The New York Times on President Donald Trump's finances questions his claim that he's a self-made billionaire.
  • The report found Trump's father lent him around $60 million, far more than the "small loan" of $1 million he claimed he received during his presidential campaign. 
  • The report also showed if Trump had done nothing but invest the money his father gave him in an index fund that tracks the Standard & Poor's 500, then he'd still be worth around $2.1 billion today.
  • Overall, Trump received around $413 million in today's dollars from his father's real-estate empire, largely because he helped his parents evade taxes, the report showed. 
  • Trump's net worth is currently estimated to be around $3.1 billion. 

A new bombshell report from The New York Times on President Donald Trump's finances questions one of his fundamental claims: that he's a self-made billionaire.

According to the report, which was published Tuesday, Trump received far more money from his real-estate mogul father than he previously acknowledged, and was a millionaire by the time he was 8 years old. 

Trump once claimed his father gave him a "small loan" of around $1 million dollars to help him get started in the real estate business, but the Times' analysis showed that "Fred Trump actually lent him at least $60.7 million, or $140 million in today's dollars." Much of this loan was reportedly never repaid. 

The Times said that if Trump had done nothing but invest the money his father gave him in an index fund that tracks the Standard & Poor's 500, then he'd still be worth around $2.1 billion today. 

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Trump's net worth is currently estimated to be around $3.1 billion, according to Forbes. 

The New York Times report is based on hundreds of thousands of documents on Fred Trump's business empire, including mortgages and deeds, probate records, financial disclosure reports, regulatory records, and civil court files.

The Times also interviewed former employees and advisers of Fred Trump and analyzed tens of thousands of confidential records, which included bank statements, financial audits, accounting ledgers, cash disbursement reports, invoices, and canceled checks. 

"Most notably, the documents include more than 200 tax returns from Fred Trump, his companies and various Trump partnerships and trusts," the report states. 

The report found the president over the course of his life received $413 million in today's dollars from his father's real estate empire, much of which the Times said was acquired because Trump helped his parents dodge taxes.

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In October 2015 during the midst of his presidential campaign, Trump claimed, "My whole life really has been a 'no' and I fought through it. It has not been easy for me. It has not been easy for me."

Trump added: "I started off in Brooklyn. My father gave me a small loan of a million dollars. I came into Manhattan and I had to pay him back, and I had to pay him back with interest. But I came into Manhattan, I started buying up properties, and I did great. I did a good job. But I was always told that would never work."

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