Russ Buettner is an American investigative journalist who works for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. In 2019 he and two colleagues received the

Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting The Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting has been presented since 1998, for a distinguished example of explanatory reporting that illuminates a significant and complex subject, demonstrating mastery of the subject, lucid writing and clear p ...

for a 2018 series of articles about the finances of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. Buettner graduated from

California State University, Sacramento California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California, United States. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is part of the California State Universit ...

, where he wrote for the student newspaper, ''The State Hornet''. He subsequently attended the

Missouri School of Journalism The Missouri School of Journalism, housed under the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, Columbia, is one of the oldest formal journalism schools in the world. The school provides academic education and practical training in of journalis ...

. Since 1992 he has reported from the New York City area. Before joining the ''Times'' in 2006 he worked at ''

The New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in tabloid format, and rea ...

'' and ''

New York Newsday ''New York Newsday'' was an American daily newspaper that primarily served New York City and was sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The paper, established in 1985, was a New York City-specific offshoot of ''Newsday'', a Long Island- ...

''. He was part of the ''Times'' team that investigated and published Trump's 1995 state tax returns, after they were anonymously mailed to his colleague

Susanne Craig Susanne Craig is a Canadian investigative journalist and author who works at ''The New York Times''. She gained prominence for her reporting on Donald Trump's finances, revealing his 1995 tax returns during the 2016 presidential election and ...

in October 2016. The ''Times'' analysis found that he had declared a $916 million loss that year, which could have allowed him to pay no taxes at all for 18 subsequent years. Since then the primary focus of Beuttner's research and reporting has been Trump's personal finances. In June 2016 he and a colleague wrote a widely cited report about Trump's bankrupt Atlantic City casinos, saying that Trump put very little of his own money into those enterprises while collecting millions of dollars in salary, bonuses, and other payments. In 2018 Buettner and colleagues reported that despite Trump's claims to be a self-made billionaire, he had actually received more than $400 million (in 2018 dollars) from his father

Fred Trump Frederick Christ Trump Sr. (October 11, 1905 – June 25, 1999) was an American real-estate developer and businessman. He was the father of the 45th and 47th U.S. president, Donald Trump. Born in the Bronx in New York City to Germans, German ...

, most of it in ways that avoided paying gift or inheritance tax. The 14,000 word report was one of the longest investigative articles ever published by the ''Times''. The 2019

was awarded to authors Buettner, Craig, and

David Barstow David Barstow (January 21, 1963) is an American journalist and professor. While a reporter at ''The New York Times'' from 1999 to 2019, Barstow was awarded, individually or jointly, four Pulitzer Prizes, becoming the first reporter in the history ...

"For an exhaustive 18-month investigation of President Donald Trump’s finances that debunked his claims of self-made wealth and revealed a business empire riddled with tax dodges". He and the same two colleagues also received the 2019

George Polk Award The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the awar ...

for Political Reporting. In September 2020 the ''Times'' team acquired more than two decades' worth of Trump's tax records, including the first two years of his presidency. Their reporting showed that he paid no federal income taxes in ten out of the preceding fifteen years, and only $750 in each of two other years. They described "struggling properties, vast write-offs, an audit battle and hundreds of millions in debt coming due."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beuttner, Russ Living people Year of birth missing (living people) California State University, Sacramento alumni Missouri School of Journalism alumni The New York Times journalists Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism winners George Polk Award recipients