Donald Trump Used Legally Dubious Method to Avoid Paying Taxes Photo Donald J. Trump in Atlantic City in 1990, seeking approval for his Trump Taj Mahal casino. Credit Associated Press Donald J. Trump proudly acknowledges he did not pay a dime in federal income taxes for years on end. He insists he merely exploited tax loopholes legally available to any billionaire — loopholes he says Hillary Clinton failed to close during her years in the United States Senate. “Why didn’t she ever try to change those laws so I couldn’t use them?” Mr. Trump asked during a campaign rally last month. But newly obtained documents show that in the early 1990s, as he scrambled to stave off financial ruin,