The AP points out that Donald Trump hasn't always been so reluctant to release his tax returns. When there's a profit to be had, the man does what he’s gotta do.

Pennsylvania gaming regulators were given at least five years' worth and eight boxes full of Trump's tax documents. Nevada, Michigan, Missouri, Indiana and other state gaming officials also had access to multiple years of his returns. Large banks that lent Trump money over the years have also obtained Trump's returns.

We're being facetious, of course. The difference between that and this is in those cases, Donald Trump had to release his returns to regulators in order to do business in their states, whereas in this case we're merely trying to determine whether a potential leader of the most powerful nation on earth is or is not a charlatan, crook, or a fully-owned subsidiary of some unknown foreign government. It's important stuff, but it’s not casino important.

The other difference is that Donald Trump simply doesn't want to be president as much as he wants to be a casino owner. This is indisputable, at this point—not releasing his tax returns in accordance with modern presidential custom is causing his campaign damage, if for no other reason than it is allowing everyone from Clinton to your uncle to broadcast their own speculations for what terrible things might be hidden inside. Releasing them, however—and the Trump brood has said this specifically, so we are not speculating here—would allow Trump's business competitors and others to tease out important details of his businesses, bets, and losses. That, according to the aforementioned brood, would be worse.

The only conclusion, then, is that Trump wants to protect his own business interests more than he's interested in being an actual president. He'll be fine if he loses. He won't be fine if ... random people across the nation see his taxes. Donald Trump very much wants to lead the country, just as long as it doesn't go against his own personal business needs. How ... patriotic?

Of course, this all presumes the hyper-belligerent lunatic is not an actual, genuine crook, and that there's nothing in his taxes worth seeing other than, as he himself insists, business details he doesn't want to share with other businesses. We're probably suckers for granting him even that much.

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