Trump acquired the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan in 1988. He paid $400 million for the property and once again tapped Ivana to manage its operation and renovation.[60]
Later in 1988, Trump acquired the Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in a transaction with Merv Griffin and Resorts International.[61] The casino was opened in April 1990, and was built at a total cost of $1.1 billion, which at the time made it the most expensive casino ever built.[62][63] Financed with $675 million in junk bonds[64] at a 14% interest rate, the project entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy the following year.[65] Banks and bondholders, facing potential losses of hundreds of millions of dollars, opted to restructure the debt.
The Taj Mahal emerged from bankruptcy on October 5, 1991, with Trump ceding 50 percent ownership in the casino to the bondholders in exchange for lowered interest rates and more time to pay off the debt.[66] He also sold his financially challenged Trump Shuttle airline and his 282-foot (86 m) megayacht, the Trump Princess.[64][67][68] The property was repurchased in 1996 and consolidated into Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, which filed for bankruptcy in 2004 with $1.8 billion in debt, filing again for bankruptcy five years later with $50 million in assets and $500 million in debt. The restructuring ultimately left Trump with 10% ownership in the Trump Taj Mahal and other Trump casino properties.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=post&forum=1002&pid=8202155While the 1995 tax papers show a nearly $916 million dollar loss it could have been carried forward from earlier years back to the 1991 collapse. The Wikipedia article says Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts filed for bankruptcy in 1994 and again in 1999 so Trump probably had increased the losses he could carry forward.
I wouldn't doubt that the 2008-9 recession gave him more losses to set off against any income he might have. Another huge carry forward loss could have triggered the claimed IRS audit (said to be for the years 2009-2015).
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