PUEBLO — Donald Trump began a speech here in this southern Colorado city with a pointed defense of his personal taxes, two days after The New York Times reported on what he called “alleged” tax filings.
“I have legally used the tax laws to my benefit and to the benefit of my company, my investors and my employees,” Trump said to a raucous crowd of hundreds at a downtown convention center. “I have brilliantly used those laws.”
He said he believes he has a fiduciary responsibility to pay as few taxes as legally possible.
“And I must tell you, I hate the way they spend our tax dollars,” he said.
Media, Trump said to loud boos, are “obsessed” with a Times story reporting the real estate mogul could have avoided paying taxes for two decades.
The conditions facing real estate developers in that time were bad, he said, flanked by teleprompters.
“I was able to use the tax laws of this country and my business acumen to dig out of the real estate mess … when few others were able to do what I did,” he said.
Trump did not dispute information in the tax filings obtained by Times.
