An unverified copy of President Trump's 2005 personal income tax return states that he paid $5.3 million in federal income tax and $31 million in alternative minimum tax on the $150 million income that year, paying an effective rate of 25 percent that year, MSNBC reported late Tuesday.

David Cay Johnston, a Daily Beast columnist and author of the anti-Trump book The Making of Donald Trump, published what he said were the first two pages of Trump's tax return from 11 years ago shortly before appearing on "The Rachel Maddow Show" to promote his findings. Johnston said he obtained the partial tax return from an anonymous source.

Prior to the show, the White House took proactive action by releasing a statement that revealed the amount Trump had paid in taxes in 2005.

"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," a White House spokesman said in a statement. "Before being elected President, Mr. Trump was one of the most successful businessmen in the world with a responsibility to his company, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required. That being said, Mr. Trump paid $38 million dollars even after taking into account large scale depreciation for construction, on an income of more than $150 million dollars, as well as paying tens of millions of dollars in other taxes such as sales and excise taxes and employment taxes and this illegally published return proves just that."

"Despite his substantial income figure and tax paid, it is totally illegal to steal and publish tax returns. The dishonest media can continue to make this part of their agenda, while the President will focus on his, which includes tax reform that will benefit all Americans," the official added.

Trump refused to release his tax returns during the campaign despite substantial pressure to do so from Democrats and even members of his own party. At the time, Trump said his organization was under audit and suggested he would not release financial information until that audit was completed.

Maddow's presentation of the partial tax return on her program Tuesday was mocked on social media for its length and lack of substance.

Trump's effective tax rate of 25 percent — a rate that includes federal income tax and an even greater sum paid in alternative minimum tax — was higher than the average rate paid by wealthy people in his income bracket. According to the Tax Foundation, the average earner in the top 0.1 percent of households paid just 22.48 percent in taxes in 2005, the year for which the leaked tax return was filed.

Although pressure on Trump to release his tax returns has faded significantly since the campaign, Trump has still faced calls to publish more detailed financial information than the statement of interest required of all candidates.

Democratic critics have questioned why Trump has declined to reveal his tax returns for so long, dismissing his claims of being under audit as an excuse. Some of Trump's political opponents have even suggested that Trump's financial documents are somehow connected to allegations of inappropriate ties between Trump, his associates and Russian operatives.

But Trump's allies have noted that the issue of Trump's taxes was litigated heavily during the campaign and argued that his electoral victory was proof that voters do not care.

The tax documents unveiled on MSNBC Tuesday evening were not the first leaked financial records to make their way into the hands of journalists. The New York Times published Trump's 1995 state tax return in October, at the height of his bitter race against Hillary Clinton.