President Trump says he is considering releasing his tax returns — once he’s out of office.
In an interview with The Economist, he was asked whether he would release his returns in exchange for Democratic support for tax reform. He first said that he doubted he would do it, and he insisted “nobody cares” about his returns except reporters. (Polls and protests show otherwise.)
Trump went on: “Oh, at some point I’ll release them. Maybe I’ll release them after I’m finished because I’m very proud of them actually. I did a good job.”
Moments later in the interview, he suggested he would never release the returns because he is being audited.
“As you know I’m under routine audit, so they’re not going to be done. But you know, at a certain point, that’s something I will consider. But I would never consider it as part of a deal. I think that would be unfair to the deal. It would be disrespectful of the importance of this deal.”
Contrary to what Trump says, nothing prevents a person under audit from releasing his or her tax returns. Presidents’ taxes are always audited, yet presidents have released their tax returns for several decades.