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AFP
WASHINGTON
THE WHITE HOUSE has acknowledged that Donald Trump paid $38 million in taxes in 2005, a rare peek into the president's jealously guarded finances that was leaked to the US media.
Trump reported an income of $150mn 12 years ago, and paid an overall tax rate of around 25%, according to a leaked summary of part of his tax return.
The document also shows that he wrote off more than $100 million in business losses to reduce his tax burden. The White House described it as a"large-scale depreciation for construction."
But the two-page partial return does not reveal the source of Trump's income, the key question that has fuelled demands for him to disclose his tax history in line with standard practice for US presidents.
The full tax document, which would be dozens of page in length, could notably shed light on whether he has controversial business ties -- including with Russia, as some Trump critics suspect.
The White House confirmed late Tuesday the details of Trump's 2005 taxes just before David Cay Johnston, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, and MSNBC revealed the short filing.
On Wednesday, Trump attacked the reporter on Twitter, questioning his account of how he obtained the document.
"Does anybody really believe that a reporter, who nobody ever heard of, 'went to his mailbox'and found my tax returns? @NBCNews FAKE NEWS!"
Appearing with left-leaning MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, Johnston said he did not know the source of the leaked return, which was placed in his mailbox.
But Johnston suggested a member of Trump's entourage -- possibly even, he speculated, the president himself -- anonymously delivered the tax documents to him.
"Let me point out it's entirely possible Donald sent this to me,"he said."Donald has a long history of leaking material about himself when he thinks it's in his interests."
