Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
President Trump will not be releasing his income taxes
A senior aide says the president has no plans to release his tax returns, despite his pledge during the campaign.
Kellyanne Conway, a senior aide to President Donald Trump, said Sunday that Trump has no plans to release his tax returns, a marked shift from his pledge during the campaign to make them public once an audit was completed.
“The White House response is that he’s not going to release his tax returns,” said Conway, counselor to the president, during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos. “We litigated this all through the election.
“People didn’t care,” Conway added. “They voted for him, and let me make this very clear: Most Americans are — are very focused on what their tax returns will look like while President Trump is in office, not what his look like.”
Presidents are not required to release their tax returns, but presidents dating back to Richard Nixon have routinely done so.
A Washington Post-ABC poll last week showed that Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns continues to be an unpopular decision, with 74 percent of Americans saying he should make the documents public, including 53 percent of Republicans.
Conway was questioned about a petition page on the White House website that allows citizens to ask government officials to take up issues of importance to them. Under former President Barack Obama, the White House would note any actions related to petitions that garnered more than 100,000 signatures online.
As of Sunday morning, a petition for Trump to immediately release his tax returns had received more than 200,000 signatures.
During the campaign and since then, Democrats consistently criticized Trump for not releasing his returns, saying the information was needed to evaluate conflicts that might be posed by his vast business holdings.
“You know full well that Trump — President Trump and his family are complying with all the ethical rules, everything they need to do to step away from his businesses and be a full-time president,” said Conway.
Also Sunday Conway confirmed that Trump will meet at the White House with a bipartisan group of congressional leaders Monday.
The meeting comes as Trump and Republicans are planning a sweeping legislative agenda that includes the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act, tax reform and a major infrastructure package.
Trump is also pushing for confirmation of his Cabinet nominees.
Rex Tillerson, the former Exxon Mobil executive with close business ties to Russia, saw his prospects of becoming secretary of state brighten Sunday after gaining the support of two influential Republican senators who had wavered on the nomination.
“Though we still have concerns about his past dealings with the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin, we believe that Mr. Tillerson can be an effective advocate for U.S. interests,” Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a statement.
Monday’s meeting, first reported by Politico, will come on a day when Trump is also expected to continue trying to reshape policy through executive actions.
During an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said to expect executive orders this week related to trade, immigration and national security.
Priebus did not directly answer whether those orders will include one to undo an Obama administration policy that defers deportations of roughly 700,000 young immigrants in the country illegally.
Trump also plans to make an appearance at a Republican congressional retreat later this week in Philadelphia.