The only time Trump shut up last night was when he was asked to denounce white supremacy.

Donald Trump was talking at Joe Biden, and Joe Biden was talking to America.

That’s what happened Tuesday night during the first presidential debate of 2020. Trump was focused on smearing his opponent, and Biden was trying to connect with voters. Throughout the evening, Trump kept his sneering look fixed upon Biden, as he heaped abuse on Biden (and Biden’s son, Hunter). Trump rarely addressed voters. It was as if he was only bent on creating content for Sean Hannity. Biden, in a stark comparison, often peered into the camera and attempted to speak directly with viewers. At one point, Biden, while responding to yet another Trump assault on Hunter Biden, brought the debate straight to those watching: “This is not about my family or his family. It’s about your family.”

It was clear that the two men viewed their tasks rather differently. Trump’s goal was to bully and soil Biden. He constantly interrupted and talked over Biden, insulting him as much as he could (“there’s nothing smart about you, Joe”) and practically turning moderator Chris Wallace, the Fox News host, into road kill. He acted like a pathetic narcissist: Biden is the threat to his existence, destroying Biden is his only priority. He could not imagine a strategy beyond a DEFCON-1 personal attack. Reaching voters who were not already die-hard Trump devotees was not on his to-do list. Trump doesn’t give a damn about that. He only cares about the Fox-watching cultists who are already in his pocket.

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But Biden did all he could to pull out of the black hole created by Trump’s cray-cray. He often refrained from taking the bait. And when he could, he tried to escape the vortex and tell voters what he would do to help them. On health care. The economy. Climate change. Systemic racism. Sure, he got in his licks against Trump, calling him a “clown” and a “racist”—telling Trump to “shush” and “shut up,” as Trump repeatedly violated the debate rules he had agreed to. But Biden saw his primary objective as selling himself as a normal, caring guy who would go to work for you. He was aiming to appeal to voters, especially those not decided. He is an old-fashioned pol who does believe that trope that success in politics is about addition—adding voters to your coalition.

1) Tax is the least of it.

2) Trump appears to be an absolutely terrible businessman.

3) As a matter of net worth, Trump appears not to be rich (despite his having inherited a large fortune).

4) There is nothing wrong in principle with using true economic losses to offset the tax that would otherwise be due on gains – but it also isn’t clever tax planning.

5) The ongoing IRS audit dispute regarding a $72.5 million loss deduction looks very bad for Trump.

6) The consulting fees that Trump’s various foreign businesses paid to Ivanka Trump and others look potentially fraudulent.

7) Other improper deductions that may have been claimed fraudulently.

8) Trump appears to have used substantial foreign losses to offset tax that would otherwise have been due on domestic source income.

9) The 2013 Miss Universe Pageant in Moscow raises troubling issues (albeit not tax-related) about the potential funneling of cash from a Putin associate to Trump.

10) There is an old saying that one can never detect tax fraud purely on the face of a tax return – but this comes closer than usual.

I went to Donald J Trump State Park an hour north of NYC. Nobody knows it's there because it isn't a real park. It's barren land Trump bought for $2.75 M hoping to build a golf course. When it failed, he donated it to NY State—claiming it was worth $100 M—for a huge tax writeoff.