While Donald Trump’s tax returns have been an issue since he put himself forward as a potential Republican candidate in 2015, the issue was still front and centre when he stood for re-election in 2020.
The release of his tax returns for the years 2015 to 2020 by the House Ways & Means Committee has shed new light on claims he made during that campaign, as a resurfaced video clip highlights.
On 29 September of 2020, he faced off against Joe Biden in the first presidential debate at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
Moderator Chris Wallace, then of Fox News, now of CNN, specifically asked the then-president about his federal income taxes.
“I know that you pay a lot of other taxes but I’m asking you the specific question if you paid $750 in federal income taxes for each of those two years [2016 and 2017]?” asked Wallace.
“I paid millions of dollars in taxes, millions of dollars in income taxes,” replied Mr Trump, going on to say he paid $38m one year and $27m another.
Pressed further, as Mr Biden called for him to release his taxes, the then-president again said he paid millions of dollars in 2016 and 2017.
As we now know from the publication of his returns he in fact paid just $750 in federal income taxes for each of those years.
Mr Trump went on to tell Wallace at the debate that he did not want to pay taxes.
The amount of tax the former president paid during his time as a candidate and during his time in office is just one of the many details revealed by the publication of his personal and business returns.
Foreign bank accounts, a lack of charitable donations, and the former first lady’s modelling career are among the notable finds in the documents.
