You can't escape Trump news at the moment, but like it or not, entrepreneur and game-show host Donald J Trump is now the leader of the free world, However, given the choice, I imagine there are a few stories The White House would like to see disappear.
There are his policies, his controversial appointments, the reports of civilian deaths during his first authorised military operation, and of course the fabled dossier. I could carry on, but I'm going somewhere with this and I do want to get there.
From banning Muslims to repealing the Affordable Health Care Act, there are at least some promises president Trump intended to keep, but chief amongst those he did not, is the issue of his tax returns.
There has been much speculation over this, and despite Kelly Ann Conway's assertion that only the press want to see them, according to an ABC/Washington Post poll, 74% of the public do too.
So why won't Trump bow to pressure and hand them over?
There are two favourite theories doing the rounds. First, there's Hillary's suggestion that he doesn't pay tax. An assertion that came during the second of the live televised debates and one to which he enigmatically added that if it were true, it would mean he was 'smart'. The second theory is a bit more cloak and dagger, and suggests the real reason President Trump won't release his tax returns is to prevent folks from seeing where his money comes from.
Hushed words in dark corners allege that the President has ties to Russia and other shady players on the world stage. Could the Trump regime be hiding secret contributions? The truth is we may never know. But what if there was a third reason, something less clandestine; a simple rational explanation hiding in plain sight? What if Trump didn't want to disclose his tax returns because he is broke?
Stay with me on this one; it's not as far-fetched as it sounds. You don't need to be a detective to work out Trump's business dealings are opaque, but respected newspaper the Wall Street Journal did manage to get under the lid. Its investigation discovered that Trump's debt is at least $1.5 Billion higher than anyone had previously thought.
What else is Trump Hiding?
If you take those figures into account and then consider his refusal to place his business interests into a blind trust, there's an argument that things aren't as rosy in Trump town as we've been lead to believe. Then there was the story in Vanity Fair about Trump's campaign staff walking out because they weren’t paid - and it's common knowledge the Trump organisation is no stranger to bankruptcy. Even the former president Barack Obama had a pop at Trump's business acumen, going as far as to say that Trump had left a trail of lawsuits.
There's been much talk about President Donald J Trump’s motivation for running. Some are unfair, others only outright tin hat tomfoolery, but if this journalist had to guess...
well, I can't help but wonder if it's all about the money. We may never know for sure, because if President Trump was penniless before he entered the White House, chances are he's set to refill his coffers. An interesting article entitled A Trial Balloon for a Coup, on Medium noted earlier in the week that the President has already filed his intent to stand in 2020. This means he's already eligible to accept campaign donations.
Ignoring the obvious potential conflicts of interest involved in the chain of Trump hotels, gold course and even the fact that US taxpayers are hiring apartments from him to house his secret service, Trump now has the power to make dollar slump or soar with just 140 characters.
I sincerely doubt President Trump's anti-Islamic immigration policy will do anything to make the USA safer, but as the dollar buckled in the aftermath of its announcement, I had to wonder just how money he made. Oh, and I can't help wondering, since he is seldom off it, just how much President Trump and his sons have invested in Twitter.
