Forbes is not the floor of Trump net worth estimates, nor are their net worth estimations thought to be particularly accurate. But let's pretend that first sentence doesn't exist-- you're not concerned with discrepancies like this? You're basing a large part of your assessment of who Trump is on this figure, and you don't think it's important that there is no reasonable consensus on what it actually is?

You're right, seeing his tax returns would not settle anything, but it would be one more data point, and a significant one at that. I can publicly claim to be a billionaire with essentially no consequences and essentially no way for you to discredit my claim. Claiming false things on my tax returns carries much greater consequences

Btw, I get that it's easier to argue against the position you want me to have, but that's not my position. I did not claim what you have attributed to me. I am asserting that the best supported position on the matter is one of agnostic skepticism. Pointing out the weak foundation your claim is built on is not the same as claiming its opposite.

Again, Forbes' calculation is not thought to be reliable, especially when it comes to individuals who have much of their net worth in privately held businesses. You're right, 3.5 billion is an impressive number, but it's not even a number we can be sure of. And again, my claim is not that he is "only" worth 500 million, or 10 million, or 5 billion-- my claim is that straying any distance from agnosticism is an unsupportable position.

My point in mentioning how Trump turned his exploits of tax loopholes into a political plus was giving props. Lemons to lemonade.

This is a great example of something I think you all too readily do-- you get triggered by a string of words and then it's off to the races. Read it in context-- I'm not making a moral judgement here, I'm pointing out that his finances are not transparent, it's intentional, it's admirably clever, and he's playing both sides of it-- something that was claimed upthread couldn't be done. The point of the 50 cent anecdote is that it's extremely clever, but onlookers that aren't his audience are reasonably going to be left agnostic as to his actual wealth