Donald Trump had about $93 million in the bank as of 2020, Forbes reported, citing documents.- It is a far cry from the $793 million he claimed to have at hand in a 2015 Forbes interview.
Donald Trump had about $93 million in cash during the final year of his presidency, a sum substantially smaller than he had claimed to have in the bank in previous years, Forbes reported Monday.
Forbes based the valuation on documents released last week by New York Attorney General Letitia James as part of a civil investigation into possible fraud schemes at the Trump Organization.
The magazine compared it to previous, larger claims Trump has made about how much money he has — notably in a 2015 interview in which he claimed to have $793 million in cash.
Trump's precise wealth has long been difficult to pin down, given the complexity of his business dealings and his reluctance to release independent evidence.
The publication noted that cash is only one part of the picture, given Trump's portfolio of real estate and businesses.
Nonetheless, the cash figure differed vastly from a string of other valuations, including one Trump gave directly to Forbes in the hope of convincing it to elevate him on its annual rich list.
In 2015, when Trump announced his bid for the presidency, his campaign released a statement claiming he had $302 million in liquid assets — cash and other readily available funds — as of June 2014.
A financial statement he was required to submit as part of his presidential campaign put the sum lower, between $78 million and $232 million in mid-2015.
According to Forbes, Trump boosted the figure even more in a sit-down interview with the magazine in his office in Trump Tower in 2015.
"As of today, I'm at $793 million," he told the publication, citing a figure much higher than previous ones.
Forbes said Trump said the increase was "because I sell stuff," noting the sale of the Miss Universe pageant for nearly $30 million.
"'Here's your cash number here—or market value: 793," Forbes reported Trump saying. He is said to have held up a blank piece of paper with "793" written in Sharpie as his only evidence.
Forbes said that it estimated his cash holdings as $300 million for that year, a figure it now believes might still have been too much.
According to the documents released by the New York AG and reviewed by Forbes, Trump's cash and liquid holdings were listed at $114 million in 2016.
They were listed at $76 million in 2018 and $87 million in 2019, rising to $93 million in 2020. It reported that his cash value might have been boosted to about $280 million by a recent refinancing deal for two New York City skyscrapers he partly owns.
Trump's cash holdings could fluctuate entirely legitimately as a result of his business activities. But the rarity of full disclosures from Trump and his efforts to talk up his wealth in the past have prompted intense scrutiny.
The investigation James is pursuing against the Trump Organization also centers on the possibility he has misrepresented his finances. James' office has alleged that the company exaggerated the value of its assets over the course of several years with a seriousness that could amount to fraud.
The company is facing a parallel, criminal inquiry into its financial affairs by the Manhattan district attorney.
Insider contacted a spokesperson for Trump for comment on the claims.
The Trump Organization has denied any wrongdoing and says the investigations are politically motivated.