Donald Trump's lost US$800 million in the past year - report

Trump Tower in New York (Getty)
Trump Tower in New York (Getty)

Running for President of the United States is expensive, even if you don't spend as much as your opponent.

Donald Trump's been relatively stingy on the campaign spending, but his net worth has dropped $800 million in a single year, according to financial magazine Forbes.

He's down to a measly $3.7 billion.

Mr Trump claims he's worth more than $10 billion, but Forbes says it's been tracking the property magnate for 35 years.

"Sometimes he's up, sometimes he down, and for much of the 1990s he was out of the three-comma club," Forbes reports.

The Republican nominee also fibbed in his filings to the Federal Election Commission, the magazine claims. In it, he claimed to have made $694 million in the past 12 months.

"In the document he freely mixed revenue with income, and it covers a period of 17 months," says Forbes.

So where did Mr Trump's wealth go? About $55 million has gone into his presidential bid. Though most of it's a loan to his own campaign, Forbes says it's unlikely he'll get it back.

But the biggest losses have come from the softening real estate market in New York. Trump Tower on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue fell in value, as did 40 Wall Street and his private beachfront club in Florida's Palm Beach.

His own penthouse in Trump Tower, where he lives, lost US$10 million in value.

He's also lost at least US$100 million in TV deals and other business agreements, including deals with NBCUniversal and Macy's.

His rival Hillary Clinton said at their recent debate he got a US$14 million headstart in business through his father, himself a wealthy property mogul. Mr Trump said it was in fact only a "small" loan of US$1 million.

The Wall Street Journal says the US$1 million loan was just the first of many loans and gifts Mr Trump received from his father, and that Ms Clinton's claim was right on the money.

Newshub.