Trump's tax returns - News Review

In the year Donald Trump became president, a report from the New York Times has claimed he only paid 750 US Dollars in federal tax. The president has dismissed the story as fake news. Tom and Catherine look at the vocabulary in the news around this story.

Related materials:
Stop Saying! More phrasals: https://youtu.be/Cqm3vyTgJ5U
A disaster at sea: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/10/course/lower-intermediate/unit-7/session-1

Video chapters
0:00 - Introduction
0:32 - The story
1:29- Headline 1: Trump lashes out at New York Times report alleging years of tax avoidance
4:27 - Headline 2: Will the New York Times taxes report sink Donald Trump?
6:57 - Headline 3: Tax bombshell reveals Trumps image is a sham
9:06 - Language summary

The story

The New York Times says it has two decades' worth of President Trump's tax returns and they show chronic losses and serial tax avoidance.
It says he only paid 750 dollars in federal income taxes, the year he became president. He's dismissed the reports as fake news.

Key words and phrases

sink
cause to fail
• Accusations of corruption may sink the political campaign.
• The lack of funding may sink the construction project entirely.

lashes out
criticises someone angrily and suddenly
• The chairman lashed out against critics of his conduct.
• Be careful - if you raise that point in the meeting, the boss may lash out.

sham
something intended to trick or deceive people
• The actor admitted that the marriage was a sham to please the press.
• Critics of the court decision are calling the process a sham.

To download the audio and test your understanding, go to our website: https://bbc.in/3jbkjYx
#bbclearningenglish #Trump #USelections #newsreview #taxes