Trump’s Golf Empire Is A Billion-Dollar Tax Shelter

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IN SEPTEMBER 2025, staff from an environmental nonprofit descended on Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida. Over three days, they looked for the kind of things that excite naturalists—bird species, bat calls, plant varieties—then recorded their discoveries in a 180-page report. It barely mentioned the thing they were really looking for: a tax break for Donald Trump. The president needed one, desperately. Trump’s return to the White House, and his eagerness to profit from it, yielded $1.4 billion of crypto earnings in 2025. His real-estate empire supplied more than $200 million on top of that, according to Forbes calculations. The president’s projected tax bill snowballed to over $500 million. Enter the environmentalists. Among the many peculiarities of the U.S. tax code is a provision allowing landowners to cut their bills by giving up development rights—even if they retain the land itself. The premise is straightforward: Forgoing development can preserve natural habitats, a public benefit that can qualify as a charitable gift. The 180-pager made the case that Trump’s golf course qualified as a natural habitat worth protecting. He then donated the right to further develop it to an environmental nonprofit—without giving up ownership of the golf club itself. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2026/10/19/trumps-golf-empire-is-a-billion-dollar-tax-shelter/ Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1 Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more: https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes: http://forbes.com Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.