Public curiosity about President-elect Trump’s unreleased tax returns is high and rising, according to a new poll, despite his claims that only journalists care.
Seventy-four percent of Americans responded that Trump should release his tax returns, when asked in an ABC News/Washington Post poll released Monday, including half of his own supporters.
It appears that the country has become more interested in the former businessman and reality TV star’s tax returns following his election victory. In September, 63 percent of respondents to the same poll said that Trump should not keep his tax returns from the public.
Just last week, Trump insisted in a press conference at Trump Tower in New York that the “only one that cares about my tax returns are the reporters, OK?”
The poll released Monday shows greater acceptance of Trump’s new plan to reduce conflicts of interest between his presidential office and his private business, with 52 percent responding that his plan to leave his businesses in a trust to be managed by his sons is sufficient.
Nevertheless, some ethics experts, as well as Democratic and some Republican members of Congress, have said that releasing tax returns is necessary for transparency.
At Wednesday’s press conference, for example, the question about Trump’s tax filings came in the context of a line of questioning about whether he has any business in Russia. Trump said he did not, a claim that could be checked against his tax returns.
