President Donald Trump broke tradition during his candidacy when he failed to disclose his tax returns—as all modern presidential nominees have done in their quest to sit in the Oval Office—citing an ongoing audit as the reason for his refusal. Last night (March 14), MSNBC show host Rachel Maddow shared two pages from his 2005 tax return.
The threat of the reveal pushed the White House to confirm Trump’s 2005 income ahead of the broadcast via a statement that begins, “You know you are desperate for ratings when you are willing to violate the law to push a story about two pages of tax returns from over a decade ago.”
The full statement appears below, courtesy of Reuters; note that the amounts do not exactly correspond to the numbers on the released return, which you can access here:
.@WhiteHouse statement on Maddow show @realDonaldTrump tax return via @ewstephe pic.twitter.com/nP8Z0o94p6
— David Shepardson (@davidshepardson) March 15, 2017
Watch The Rachel Maddow Show reveal below:
The returns were provided by journalist David Cay Johnston, who said they appeared in his mail unsolicited. He said on the show that it’s “entirely possible" that the forms, which are stamped “client copy” were actually leaked by the Trump Administration. He provided a breakdown of the return on the show and on DCReport.com.
Reactions to the release were mixed, with some focusing on the light the returns shed on Trump’s proposed tax policies, others wondering why Trump can’t release the other years if the White House had no problem supplying his 2005 numbers and still others cautioning the nation to keep some perspective.
About $33.5M of Trumps’ tax bill was from the Alternative Minimum Tax, which President Trump has proposed eliminating, @JimZarroli reports.
— NPR (@NPR) March 15, 2017
By claiming losses, President Trump apparently saved millions of dollars in taxes that he would otherwise have owed https://t.co/94qDk0tctO
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 15, 2017
What is stopping Donald Trump from releasing all his taxes? RT if you want to see them now. pic.twitter.com/CsvALxRcJN
— The Democrats (@TheDemocrats) March 15, 2017
Trump tax returns distract from white nationalist advisor distracts from Trumpcare distracts from crimes with Russia distracts from…
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) March 15, 2017
There’s a legit question to be asked, and @SRuhle just asked it: did someone from Team Trump release that return to change the narrative?
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) March 15, 2017
What do you think about the release of the president’s 2005 taxes? Tell us in the comments.