Is this why he's been hiding his taxes?

How much did you pay in federal income taxes in 2016? Donald Trump paid $750. He paid another $750 in his first year as president. He paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years—largely because he reported losing much more money than he made. Whether he's just a lousy businessman or exploited loopholes in the tax system generally unavailable to average Americans, there's a lot to be concerned about in Trump's taxes. No wonder he has fought so hard to keep the American people from seeing them.

• — This is "successful?" The documents show that Trump's finances are under stress, beset by losses and hundreds of millions of dollars in debt coming due that he has personally guaranteed. Also hanging over him is a decade-long audit battle with the IRS over the legitimacy of a $72.9 million tax refund that he claimed, and received, after declaring huge losses. An adverse ruling could cost him more than $100 million.
•  
• — Conflicts of interest. Trump's decision to keep his business while in the White House means he depends more and more on making money from enterprises that put him in potential and often direct conflict of interest with his job as president.
•  
• — National security threat? With his financial challenges mounting and so many business entanglements in geopolitical hot spots, he is more inclined to make deals in countries led by strongmen seeking access or favor. Such deals might help him personally, but they have the strong potential to compromise the foreign policy of the United States. —The New York Times

Cardillo: 'Tragically short' on national security

"While it is natural for there to be tension between the intelligence community and senior policymakers, President Donald Trump's decision to rely upon the word of dictators like Vladimir Putin is an unprecedented betrayal of his oath to the Constitution. Our current president bases his decisions on his instincts, and his instincts are based upon a personal value proposition—what's in it for me?" —The Denver Post

Ed. Note: Robert Cardillo retired as the director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency after 36 years of public service.

MORE: Trump's former Coast Guard chief: 'Our constitutional rights are being infringed upon' —The Hill

Amy Coney Barrett nominated for SCOTUS

Despite some late speculation that he might pick Barbara Lagoa, or a number of other Federalist Society-approved judges to fill the Supreme Court seat of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, President Trump went with the obvious choice—nominating Amy Coney Barrett during a Rose Garden event on Saturday.

• — A conservative favorite. The 48-year-old judge, who serves on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, has been at the top of Trump's Supreme Court shortlist for some time. Many social conservatives were disappointed in 2018 when he nominated Brett Kavanaugh rather than Barrett to fill retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy's seat. —New York Magazine
•  
• — Homage to RBG. In accepting the nomination, Barrett paid tribute to Ginsburg, praising the justice as a pioneer who "not only broke glass ceilings," but "smashed them." She said, "Should I be confirmed, I will be mindful of who came before me." —CBS News
•  
• — Notorious ACB? A Republican fundraising group wasn't so mindful. It was widely criticized for copying a nickname affectionately given to Ginsburg and using it on a T-shirt design to support Barrett. —Independent

MORE: Voters believe winner of election should fill court vacancy, poll shows —The New York Times

Russia knows him so well

Last week, President Trump publicly refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the November presidential election, and during a meeting with Republican attorneys general on Wednesday, he said the Supreme Court would likely decide the outcome of the election. He wasn't the first to make the prediction. Serendipitously, Russian state media publicly concluded that the Supreme Court—including Trump's nominee—would decide the outcome of the upcoming presidential election, three days before Trump made his ominous pronouncements. Always on message. —The Daily Beast

• — Here's a good laugh. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for a truce between the U.S. and Russia, asking for both countries to agree not to meddle in this year's elections. In a statement, he proposes "guarantees of non-intervention into internal affairs of each other, including into electoral processes..."
•  
• — "These measures are aimed at building up trust between our States, promoting security and prosperity of our peoples," Putin said in the statement. "They will significantly contribute to ensuring global peace in the information space." Uh huh.
•  
• — "Dialogue like this is obviously hard to take seriously with Russia, China, Iran, or any other party that continues to interfere in our election process," a senior administration official said in a statement. —Business Insider

MORE: The Kremlin's plot against democracy: How Russia updated its 2016 playbook for 2020 —Foreign Affairs

Wright: Unrest? Maybe. Color revolution? No

"The United States is not an autocracy, but Trump has embraced this paranoia. As [Alexander Cooley, the director of the Harriman Institute at Columbia University] noted, fears of unrest are borrowed from the Russian hymnbook: 'Fear of the street protests, never spontaneous, never motivated by a sense of injustice, activists always paid, always a nefarious agenda—it is straight from the Kremlin's talking points.' Accusing an opponent of what he is accusing you of—in this case, stealing the election—is a tactic [Russian President Vladimir] Putin routinely uses to muddy the waters." —The Atlantic

Ed. Note: Thomas Wright is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and the author of "All Measures Short of War: The Contest for the 21st Century and the Future of American Power."

MORE: Pelosi begins mustering Democrats for possible House decision on presidency —Politico

ICYMI: Quick takes from the weekend

If you were too busy with early autumn activities this weekend to check on the news, good for you. Here's a roundup of stories you may have missed...

• — The fall surge? The coronavirus is surging once again, with cases rising in 22 states over the past week. The U.S. is now averaging more than 43,000 new cases of COVID-19 per day, a 16% increase from a week ago, leading some public health experts to suggest that the beginnings of an anticipated autumn spike are upon us. —Axios
• 
  — "Everything he says is false." Dr. Robert Redfield, who leads the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suggested in a conversation with a colleague on Friday that Dr. Scott Atlas, a new member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, is pushing incorrect information about the pandemic. Redfield says Atlas is misleading President Trump—and the American public—on a range of issues, including the efficacy of masks, young people's susceptibility to the virus, and herd immunity. —NBC News
•  
• — Crisis averted in Portland. The Proud Boys, a far-right group that has been associated with White nationalist rhetoric, rallied in Portland, Ore., on Saturday—a gathering some feared would turn violent. Fortunately for the beleaguered city, only a few hundred members, rather than the thousands predicted, showed up. The group, which has a reputation for sparking fights with the far-left that devolve into mayhem, reportedly is attempting to rehabilitate its image. Good luck with that. —The Washington Post
   
• — TikTok lives. TikTok won't be kicked out of U.S. app stores—at least not yet. A federal judge yesterday partially granted TikTok's request for a temporary injunction against a push by the Trump Administration to ban the China-based app. The ruling blocked the ban on downloads of the app just hours before the policy was to take effect. —CNN
   
• — "We went and got him help." The president's former 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale, was taken to a Fort Lauderdale hospital last night after his wife called police saying he had firearms and was threatening to harm himself. After a three-hour standoff with police, Parscale was eventually physically taken down and detained by several officers and had 10 firearms seized from his home. —The Daily Beast

Ridge: Vote for decency and rule of law

"With just about one month until Election Day, President Trump continues to claim the only way he can possibly be defeated is a rigged election. Can you imagine the hubris? Can you imagine any other president in our lifetime—or ever—saying something so dangerous and un-American? We are in the midst of a health crisis, when we should be doing all we can to help citizens vote safely, yet he continues to cast doubt on the sanctity of the vote." —The Philadelphia Inquirer

Ed. Note: Tom Ridge is a former Republican governor of Pennsylvania and the first U.S. secretary of Homeland Security.

MORE: Darby: 'It's the corruption, stupid' —The Montana Standard

A place to learn

James Ortega started his seventh-grade school year with a Zoom class from his bed in Gaithersburg, Md. He didn't have much of a choice—he didn't have a desk. Online learning is challenging enough for everyone, but not having a dedicated workspace makes it even harder to be focused and organized. Fortunately, James and his younger brother, Steven, got a special delivery a few days ago.

• — It was from Jessica and Al Berrellez, who also live in Gaithersburg. They've spent the past several weekends delivering desks and chairs to students in Montgomery Co. who don't have them. Al makes some of the desks in his spare time, and friends and other volunteers make or donate the rest.
   
• — Remote learning has only "exacerbated a lot of the inequalities" students face in the classroom, Jessica said. They started their project, "Desks by Dads," as a way to level the playing field for students who don't have desks or other workspace furniture at home. So far, they've organized the delivery of 39 desks.
•  
• — "Every kid deserves to have their own little workstation," Al said. "This was something, to me, that seemed simple enough to do but that would make a big impact in these children's lives." —The Washington Post
   
• Thank you to Michael A., Maryland, for suggesting this story!

The United States is home to a little over 4% of the world's population. So far, it has seen more than 20% of all cases and deaths from COVID-19. A little math tells us that most of the world has weathered this pandemic five times better than the U.S., a country with arguably superior medical technology and expertise.

Why has our "great" country faired so poorly? Look around you, and you see people who don't just ignore, but defiantly reject the guidelines that experts have recommended to protect themselves from the spread of disease. Talk to these people, and they tell you that mask-wearing and social distancing don't help. Some even argue that they exacerbate the problem. These notions reflect the baseless disinformation being pushed on social media and even on network news.

So why do people favor wild conspiracy theories over expert advice, even at such a cost? Mixed messages from top officials, which sometimes even agrees with the drivel being fed to the public by the likes of QAnon, have spawned a deep distrust in institutions like the CDC or WHO. Afraid, confused, and misled, people make poor choices over who to believe, and it is literally killing us. In the U.S., disinformation has become a worse epidemic than the novel coronavirus.

Our president has proven he stands behind any message that supports his intentions, baseless deceptions and conspiracy theories included. He would have us believe we should thank him for keeping the death toll in America at a "mere" 200,000+. I am compelled to oblige:

Thank you, Mr. President, for discrediting and sowing seeds of distrust in our governing institutions, inspiring so many to recklessly endanger themselves and others close to them. Perhaps someday those who remain will take that lesson to its extent, and learn to distrust you as well.

Spoiler alert: many of us already have. —Brian S., Illinois

The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.