Fact Check

Did Trump's Tax Returns Reveal He Claimed Ted Cruz as Dependent?

A routine review of content labeled satire.

Published Feb. 27, 2021

US President Donald Trump greets US Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, upon arrival on Air Force One at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston, Texas, October 22, 2018, as he travels to hold a campaign rally with Cruz. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)        (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
Image Via SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
Claim:
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's tax return documents revealed that he claimed U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz as a dependent.

On Feb. 25, 2021, The New Yorker published an article positing that former U.S. President Donald Trump's tax returns showed he had claimed U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz as a dependent:

Trump’s Taxes Reveal He Claimed Ted Cruz as Dependent

In the first major bombshell to emerge from the handover of Donald J. Trump’s tax returns, the Manhattan district attorney has announced that the former President claimed Senator Ted Cruz as a dependent.

Speaking to reporters, Cyrus Vance, Jr., said that listing the Texas senator as a dependent was “highly unorthodox, to say the least.”

This item was not a factual recounting of real-life events. The article originated with Andy Borowitz's "The Borowitz Report," which describes its output as being humorous or satirical in nature, as follows: "Satire from the Borowitz Report: Not the News."

For background, here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.