 In a tour de force of hard-won reporting, the New York Times has put numerical clothing on what we've known about President Donald Trump for decades — that, at best, he's a haphazard businessman, human billboard and serial bankruptcy artist who gorges on debt he may have a hard time repaying. The Times, in a news story published Sunday evening that disclosed years of the president's tax returns, also put a lot of clothing on things we didn't know. Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes in 2016, the year he was elected president, and the same amount the following year, when he entered the White House. In many years recently he hasn't paid anything at all. He has played so fast and loose with the taxman that he's entangled in an audit. He paid his daughter Ivanka lush consulting fees that he deducted as a business expense even though she helped him manage the Trump Organization. And he's taken questionable tax write-offs on everything from getting his hair coifed to managing his personal residences. Step away from the tragicomic tawdriness and grift that the tax returns define, however, and focus on what they reveal about Trump as the most powerful man in the world and occupant of the Oval Office. Read the whole thing. Trump Just Delivered the Ultimate October Surprise — John Authers A Trump Propaganda Campaign Goes Very Wrong — Jonathan Bernstein Inside a California Covid Revolt — Michael Lewis A 28-Year Old Billionaire Wins the SPAC Lottery — Chris Bryant War in the Caucasus Will Draw in Russia and Turkey — James Stavridis Erdogan Puts Himself in a Bind in Azerbaijan-Armenia Conflict — Bobby Ghosh Oil Heavyweights Look Ready for a Showdown — Julian Lee Amy Coney Barrett Is No Threat to Obamacare — Ramesh Ponnuru Trump Could Get His Vaccine Before Election Day — Sam Fazeli This is the Weekend Edition of Bloomberg Opinion Today, a roundup of the most popular stories Bloomberg Opinion published this week based on web readership. | 
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