14 questions for Mr. Trump

Were I asking questions at Monday night’s presidential debate, here are some I would pose to Donald Trump, whom I have reported on for the last 28 years:

1. You have talked publicly about running for President for three decades, so presumably you have studied the official job description for President. Please tell us precisely where that job description can be found and what it says about the duties, powers and limitations of the job.

2. You have said that, if you become President, you will stop Ford, Nabisco and other companies from building factories in Mexico. What gives a President the power to tell private businesses where to build — and how would you have reacted if President Obama had told you not to put your name on hotels and golf courses, as you have, in the Middle East?

3. Since you won’t reveal your taxes, will you provide copies of the form letters saying you are being audited and a summary for each year since, say, 1978, with your adjusted gross income, gifts to charity and federal income tax paid? And if not, why not?

4. By your own account, any audits of your tax returns through 2008 are closed, so will you release your 1977-2008 tax returns? If not, why not?

5. On your presidential disclosure form, you value your Westminster Golf Club at more than $50 million; you told property tax authorities it was worth only $1.3 million. You claim your Palos Verdes, Calif., golf club is worth more than a quarter-billion dollars. For tax purposes, you claim it’s only worth $10 million. How do you justify this?

6. In 1983, you were among those named in sales tax fraud at the Bulgari store on Fifth Ave. You bought $65,000 worth of jewelry and evaded the tax by having empty boxes mailed out of state. Mayor Ed Koch said at the time that you and other customers should be jailed for 15 days as tax criminals. Should this fraud disqualify you from becoming President? If not, explain why.

7. When you had a New Jersey casino license, the man who supplied your helicopters for high rollers and managed your personal helicopter, the Ivana, was indicted as a major drug trafficker. After Joseph Weichselbaum confessed, you wrote a letter pleading for a light sentence, describing the drug trafficker as “conscientious, forthright and diligent” and “a credit to the community.” Why?

8. State court papers identify you as the person who authorized an alleged quarterbillion tax fraud involving Trump SoHo hotel profits through a reorganization involving an Icelandic bank and a Russian oligarch. What prompted you to authorize the deal that is now alleged to be a tax fraud?

9. You were party to more than 4,000 lawsuits, many of them brought by workers and small businesses who say you refused to pay for services rendered and by investors who say you swindled them. What conclusion should Americans draw from the sheer number of lawsuits, especially when you settled many on the condition that court files be sealed?

10. Throughout your campaign, you have talked about taking military action in the Middle East to end violent Islamic extremism. Given the important factions within Islam, please articulate the difference between the beliefs of Sunnis and Shias and how those differences would influence your decisions about sending Americans into combat.

11. You have promised as President to eliminate ISIS. Please tell us how the religious doctrine of ISIS leaders influences your thinking, and how their core beliefs about what they claim will soon happen at Dabiq influences your assessment.

12. You say on your campaign website that the Second Amendment protects all of our rights. Are you suggesting that the threat of armed resistance by the American people is an important element in our liberties, and, if not, what are you trying to say?

13. You have urged that Chicago, at least, adopt the stop-and-frisk policies that were found to be unconstitutional in New York City. How do you explain advocating an unconstitutional policy?

14. Trump family members have long received excellent health care from the Trump Organization. But soon after your father died, you cut off health insurance for your grandnephew William, an infant who twice stopped breathing, citing a dispute over your father’s will. When Heidi Evans of the Daily News asked you about cutting off the sickly child’s health coverage, you replied, “Why should we give him medical coverage?” When asked if this seemed cold-hearted, you said, “I can’t help that. It’s cold when someone sues my father.”

What should the American people think of your character and compassion since you put an infant’s life in jeopardy over money?