Trump says he lost $1 billion in 10 years for 'sport'

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Trump's response to an explosive New York Times report on his incredible business failures is a sight to behold.

Trump is a spectacularly bad businessman, according to an explosive New York Times report from Tuesday night, which shows he lost more than $1 billion over the course of a decade — and that he reported losing more money than almost every other taxpayer in the entire United States.

And Trump's response to the bombshell story was almost as bad as his business skills.

In a pair of tweets Wednesday morning, Trump claimed he reported so much in losses because it was a game of "sport."

Of course, according to the New York Times' report, reporting that much in losses wasn't "sport" for everyone. For example, Trump's father, Fred, reported a positive income and only one loss in the years of Trump's most catastrophic business losses, 1990 and 1991 — and it was a $15 million investment in an apartment project Trump launched. Go figure.

Trump's excuses for his abysmal business acumen didn't end there.

He went on to, in the same breath, legitimize the New York Times' data as simply being "old information" before claiming the Times' report was "fake news."

In sum, Trump's response made absolutely no sense.

Susanne Craig, one of two New York Times reporters who broke the story on Trump's business losses, knocked down Trump's assertion that the massive amount of money he lost can be chalked up to depreciation of his real estate properties.

"Some fraction of Donald Trump's losses can be attributed to depreciation. We found most of it was just bad business," Craig tweeted in response to Trump.

What is clear is that Trump is a total fraud.

He is not the successful businessman he's portrayed himself to be, but rather a horrible businessman who somehow nearly went bankrupt despite being handed millions by his dad, committing out-and-out tax fraud, and owning casinos.

Perhaps that's why Trump's defense of his finances was so bad: There simply is no excuse.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.